Category: ace

ACE e-learning showcase: "yes we can"

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace

Closer by the minute, the “E-Learning Showcase ’09: Celebrating good practice in e-learning in ACE” is looking terrific already. The theme of the day is “Yes we can“, and it’s all about finding the easiest ways to give your students more flexible options for learning. Multimedia, group writing, social networking .. online resources for your classroom. With Delia Bradshaw giving her perspective on “The Power of e”, and Michael Coghlan on “Tools and technologies for forming communities: Yes We Can” .. it’s going to be an inspiring day. Friday 20th 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 …

a literacy class goes well

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, adult literacy, classroom

We’ve been studying the local shops and businesses. The other day, students used (digital) cameras to photograph some of the shops. We brainstormed a huge list of all the shops in the area. Then people wrote short descriptive pieces about some of the shops. They could work in ms publisher, powerpoint or on paper. As a group, we created texts on the big screen in powerpoint, and then added audio to the powerpoint slides. Most of the learners were not game to put their voice on record, so i recorded Read More …

Live session between classes

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, community, innovation

Today was a roaring success, as we held a Live Session between two classes, one at Merrilands Community Centre and the other in Broadway in the heart of Reservoir. Both groups comprised English as a second language (ESL) learners. Tina and Jan and i came up with a way to use Skype to develop people’s language skills. Lately the students have been practising their descriptive skills, so we decided that each student would describe themselves over the skype phone, and the other group would guess who was speaking. Each group Read More …

Mainstreaming e-learning in ACE .. an impossible dream?

Michael Chalk2 Commentsace, e-learning

i’d be interested to get comments from anyone in ACE: is e-learning still out on the fringes, a strange and wacky add-on only for geeks? Or has it begun to come in from the cold? Is e-learning becoming part of the mainstream in ACE? For this live conference session (details below) Josie Rose started us off by leading some group brainstorming: what does ‘mainstreaming’ mean to you? On the whole, it was about normalising, acceptance, integration. Josie then spoke of the wonderful “e-mentor” program that she has pioneered, and which Read More …

Fill in forms .. on CD

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, adult literacy, classroom, e-learning

Chris couldn’t do the whole research project, but i still wanted her to be involved; so we talked about how to use audio technologies with her very beginner, low literacy ESL learners. Filling in forms is a crucial survival skill, but the language is reasonably advanced. Chris’ students find it hard to remember written text or even recognise words on the page.. so we decided to prepare an audio CD allowing the text to be both on the page and on the CD player. She would have them do the Read More …

mm, the 'ease' of screencasting

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, professional development

So, Lisa was having some issues finding a straightforward way to incorporate audio technologies into her classroom. i suggested some ‘preparation-free’ activities such as : recording the presentation live in class (audio only) recording the screen demonstration live in class (screen and audio) We thought this might work, and i’d had some fun using “jing” for making a screencast. Looked easy to me. So i turn up at Lisa’s workplace, laptop at the ready. What could possibly go wrong? my laptop can’t connect to the Moreland network, and Jing will Read More …

Australian ACE e-learning network

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, e-learning, professional development

Great to be involved in a national e-learning network for Adult Community Education (ACE). Mary Hannan from Adult Learning Australia (ALA) has taken on the role of bringing together some e-learning people in the community sector. Just got together with some people around the continent, in a meeting where Josie Rose told us all about the Victorian ACE e-mentor project, a regional approach that’s emerged from the ’07 Access ACE research trials; Georgina Nou (of Deadly Mob fame) showed us around Second Life, and inspired me to have another go Read More …

Ceres, goddess of excursions ..

Michael Chalk2 Commentsace, adult literacy, classroom, community

Way back in February, Leigh Blackall wrote about his journey to Melbourne, and to Ceres Environmental Park. He raved about the luxury of having such a wonderful site so close to the city – and recorded a couple of interviews with the locals there. Yes Leigh, we’re lucky here in Melbourne. i’m really lucky, i can go visit Ceres any time i like, and often buy my organic vegies there. They also have a second-hand market on a Saturday morning, and let me tell you i’ve found some real bargains. Read More …