Author: Michael Chalk

Music videos at the Reservoir Baptist Church

Michael ChalkLeave a commentUncategorized

I went down to the Reservoir Baptist Church, where Yvonne and Paula have been wrestling with the machinery.. to get it under control. Internet, printers, the data projector.. and extension cords!  I was hunting around for more musical sites and found this one: Lyrics Training which actually has cloze activities at multiple levels for some videos.  We hooted in the Merrilands teacher room because  the Chris Isaak video is so suggestive. Would this motivate your students, distract them or upset them?Here’s one that might be more suitable: ABBA plays “Money Money Money”. Plus 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 Easi Speak adds Journalistic Effect

Michael Chalk1 CommentUncategorized

Someone in the PRACE office bought a new set of the Easi-Speak microphones, before the new year. Well done, someone! (i think it was Jennifer. Champion.) These little gadgets are (reasonably) easy to use: the Red button to Record, and the Green button to Play. It’s a bit more complex than that, but each kit has a microphone, a set of instructions, a big A4 version of the most important bits in the instructions, and a cable to connect to the computer. Essentially, you need to know what the flashing Read More …

Motivation, an animation

Michael Chalk1 Commentprofessional development

Great adaptation of a talk by Daniel Pink on what motivates us. i watched this again last night.. and i love the way this group has added so much to the talk visually. According to this talk: The science is “a little bit freaky”. Recent research shows that while paying more money gets good results for physical labour and simple tasks, for cognitive and advanced tasks it can have the reverse effect. Much more important are things like: => autonomy: creative freedom and self-direction, => mastery: people love to feel Read More …

Great walls of fire

Michael ChalkLeave a commenttechnology

i’m currently working in a very large country north of Australia, which is renowned for having a “Great Firewall”. i should begin by acknowledging that this is a tremendous cultural experience, and i’m thoroughly overwhelmed by the sense of opportunity. However, sure enough there is no access to => facebook or twitter, => google docs, => anything on blogspot. (So Dale, if you were thinking of exporting your free ESL club to the good people of Szechuan.. think again. The international blog community only extends so far, ironically blocked by Read More …

e-mentors share their insights, aka "Who wants to be a mentor?"

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, e-learning

This Friday morning (9am i think) at Converge10, the Victorian e-mentors and champions are presenting under the banner of “Who wants to be a mentor?” Here’s an audio presentation we’ve put together (using voicethread), with plenty of rich insights into the program, and into the whole process of integrating e-learning into program delivery. Great to see a lot of participation from people in the project. Currently in a dress rehearsal for the big day. This voicethread is an added resource, with the aim of adding to our live presentation.

Learning skills of the future

Michael ChalkLeave a commentprofessional development

Here’s an interesting video with a bunch of educators talking about how the future might work. Names i recognise include Daniel Pink and Greg Black (of education.au). i’ve taken some brief notes on what the educators are talking about, but haven’t really commented with my own response. Many people have been saying this kind of thing in recent years: Schools are like factories, following models of the industrial age; students have more enriched experience outside of schools than in; US schools rank lowest out of all industries surveyed for technology Read More …

Embed media in a wikispaces page

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, how to

Jill and i were working with Ursula and Trish over at Thornbury Women’s Neighbourhood House the other day, showing them some new skills in wikispaces. So many Adult Community Education (ACE) educators are taking up the wikispaces toolset, especially given ACFE’s private domain label wikispaces for Victorian ACE providers. Afterwards i remembered that i had once made a couple of video screencasts for wikispaces. (Look for the full screen button if you need it, in the video controls). a) how to embed media (such as video) into your page

Take charge of your learning (a talk by Stephen Downes)

Michael Chalk2 Commentsprofessional development

Stephen Downes is full of good ideas. i’ve followed his thoughts for many years now. A Canadian education researcher, Stephen is an incredibly articulate and rigorous thinker who is definitely worth listening to, and i believe he listens to others really well too. In his first Huffington Post article, he gives an overview of the PLENK massive online course, and his perspective on connected and networked learning. (PLENK = Personal Learning Environments, Networks and Knowledge.) “That is not to advocate throwing learners off the bus to fend for themselves. It Read More …