Category: innovation

Indigenous Australian map.. inspiring & interactive use of google maps

Michael ChalkLeave a commentadult literacy, e-learning, innovation

Impressive use of google maps over at the ABC web site. Moira and i were discussing this map of indigenous Australian languages.. so i looked to find some copies online while she looked in the book-on-shelf style atlas. Snap! We got our results at the same time. Since i first viewed the map (large poster print), i’ve loved the way it gives a sense of how geography has shaped cultural and language groupings over many thousands of years. You can almost see the mountains, the desert, the rivers reflected in Read More …

e-mentors set to soar

Michael Chalk1 Commentace, e-learning, innovation, professional development

Amazing work from the network of Victorian ACE e-mentors. Each (ACE) region across Victoria has one (or 2) mentors to support teachers and organisations learning to develop their plans for e-learning at strategy and classroom levels. On Friday there were demonstrations of “all things google” – how to chat with gmail, how to synch your google calendar, use the reader for following student blog feeds .. set up groups and sites, use the gmail app for your domain. (Coach Carole, Michael Gwyther, Sarah Phillips) .. and a session on gadgets Read More …

Snapshots and stories: e-learning ’08

Michael ChalkLeave a commente-learning, innovation

Via Rose on the innovations blog (gone now), found this video (below) showcasing stories from the 2008 e-learning innovations projects. People talking about different tools, such as wikis, web conferencing, scenario based learning, blended learning, using a virtual classroom for companionship and classroom buddies. These are many people i worked with as part of the Flexible Learning Framework’s Community Engagement projects. Snapshots and Stories: 2008 E-learning Innovations Projects from E-learning Innovations on Vimeo. All sorts of good stories, including these: Georgina Nou on how they recreated the Alice Springs Telegraph Read More …

Yummy Web2 Session

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

At the recent ACE e-showcase, Michael Gwyther from YUM productions gave a great account of how they have used web2 technologies in one of their multimedia courses. Here’s the list of tools they’ve used: Blog Social Bookmarks (delicious) RSS Feeds Podomatic Slideshare Flickr Video RSS Feed reader! (Bloglines) The key for Michael is RSS feeds. As multiple students post their course reflections and assignments to their blog, he is able to read the updates from a single place .. his RSS feed reader. For a feed reader, i like google Read More …

Holographic, networked interfacing?

Michael ChalkLeave a commentinnovation

The POV wearable computers in my earlier post had me thinking about how technologies might be integrated more closely with human bodies in future. Not only portable, but wearable. i stumbled upon a TED talks video which demonstrates a new wearable computer-like device. Camera and projector work together with your phone to create touch screens anywhere, linked in with the “hive mind” (portable projection). .. or you can download it yourself from their site. Fantasy and technology continue to converge. In this charming “World Builder” video, a man builds a Read More …

POV camera .. meets Taser !

Michael ChalkLeave a commente-learning, innovation

Great initiative via Leigh Blackall over in Otago, NZ. He and Michael and Alex have been experimenting with a wild new concept known as the Point of View (POV) camera. Worn on glasses, or on a head torch, the gadget allows you to video exactly what you’re doing, hands-free. Not sure whether it has audio recording built in yet. (Check: yes it does.) What also caught my eye (and my similarity radar) was an article on Wired, where the law enforcement agencies are investigating similar options .. a wearable computer, Read More …

Top 10 Tips – planning innovation (update)

Michael ChalkLeave a commente-learning, how to, innovation

Via amazing Rose inside the Australian flexible learning framework, a video with Top Ten Tips for success in e-learning innovations. (See my viewing notes further down the page.) Great to see Dora and Josie first up, and then Georgina coming in second, followed by Brad and Vanessa. All visionaries with the practical genius to get things done. Top Ten Tips for your E-learning Innovations Project in 2009 from E-learning Innovations on Vimeo. “Successful 2008 project participants share their advice on how to approach your 2009 Australian Flexible Learning Framework E-learning 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 …

Pacific Black Box film chosen for festival

Michael ChalkLeave a commentcommunity, innovation, technology

One of the films made during Georgia’s Pacific Black Box project .. has been selected for screening in the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival. Good work ;-] Georgie (formerly with PRACE VCAL) went to Bougainville and the Carteret Islands earlier in the year to teach people how to use digital storytelling so they could bring the world into their lives .. You can see some of their films over on the blogspot. ( PS: holdthepress: the film won an award! from community prophets. Brilliant. ) Here’s one about the 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 …