Tag: prace

Video interview with Sia Gazis

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace

Fiona introduced Sia and Michael, and suggested they create an interview-style promotion together for the introductory massage course. Using some footage and photography shot by Lauren, Michael shot and edited 15-20 minutes of additional footage down to 4 minutes. The editing was done in a free, professional-grade software called Lightworks (free for a mildly limited version). There’s a learning curve, of course, but michael would definitely recommend this software to anyone who doesn’t have access to iMovie. If you have iMovie.. use that instead. Future suggestions: Any teachers who are interested Read More …

Michael Chalk appears on television: A House around the Corner

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, e-learning

So, recently I was on television, in my role as an ‘e-learning specialist’! (channel 31) Being interviewed was a bit scary, but the wonderful team at “A House around the Corner” have edited the whole thing very well. Definitely worth following their youtube feed, as there’s plenty of other great stories about LearnLocal in Victoria. (Edit: the site seems to be down in 2017.)

More voice-overs for PageTurners (via Soundcloud)

Michael ChalkLeave a commentadult literacy, technology

So, as well as embedding voice-overs into the PageTurners website, i thought there must be a way that other people could embed the stories in their own sites as well. Sure enough, these days there are a few different ways to do this. One i’m trying out now is via Soundcloud. Woo-hoo! It works. But does it work in the land of iPad? Okay, back to editing the audio originals. Ned Kelly next, by Anne Dunn.

Red Dog, the PageTurner

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, adult literacy, technology

Anne Dunn wrote a story called “Red Dog” a few years ago for the PageTurners series of books for beginning adult readers. I don’t know why she’s not getting any royalties from the movie. Apparently someone else wrote the same story for a different audience. Anyway, both books are based on the true-to-life story of a dog who travelled the highways of Western Australia for many years. This dog would hitch a ride quite regularly. This is one of my favourite PageTurners stories, and i’ve heard the movie is good Read More …

Easi-speak microphones at PRACE

Michael Chalk1 Commentace, adult literacy, community, e-learning

Somebody bought a set of 5 new Easi-speak recording gadgets for the teachers at PRACE. How exciting! Early in the term we showed them around the staff meeting, and soon after that i’m in the classroom with Chris and her beginning English as a second language (ESL) group. They’re on the computers working with the AMES “That’s Life” reading and listening software.. so only a few people are open to taking a break to try something new. But Chris is getting a good feel for how they work, and coming Read More …

New bloggers on the 23 things project

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, professional development

As well as Ancy and Soheir from PRACE, and Megan from Thornbury.. we now have Trish from Thornbury and Deb from Employment Focus joining us on this adventure. What about going to visit their site.. and offer them support with a comment? Oh go on, do! thanks and kind regards, michael Remember all the course learning materials are online at the 23 Things site. image and photo credits: licensed under creative commons at flickr: Thanks very much: pyjama.

Colleagues diving into web2 with gusto (flickr)

Michael Chalk2 Commentsace, e-learning, how to, professional development

Imagine my delight when Jane the wonderful VCAL co-ordinator at Preston Reservoir Adult Community Education (PRACE) said she wanted to try out flickr for building a slideshow on our website!! 1) Jane had already chosen the photos to go online, and copied them into a folder on her desktop. We used a free image editor called XNview to re-size and optimise for the web. XNview is great because you can do the whole folder in one “batch process”. .. (More details about xnview over on my wiki page .. including Read More …

Workshop at Converge (Can You Hear Us?)

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, e-learning, innovation, professional development

Reflections on the session for Can You Hear Us? .. at the Converge08 e-learning conference (5Dec). The workshop went reasonably well. Really interesting people in the room, and many of the people there had used some kind of audio technologies .. including Skype, language laboratory setup, Wimba voice boards. i came up with a kind of jigsaw / find your partner activity, that i think went well and was fun. (Each person opens a wiki page with instructions for what to do. Eg some people have to wink .. and Read More …