Difficult to change (word processor)

Michael ChalkLeave a commenttechnology

i’m curious to find out more about Open Office, so i’m writing a staff-support document in Oo Writer. It can be frustrating .. when you know one application so well .. to try the same task in another app. i’ve never been a fan of microsoft, but i am a big fan of microsoft word (except for beginner users with adult literacy needs); and i know the program so well, that i can make the computer whatever i want (except place images on the page and keep file size low). Read More …

games for learning change .. ethical?

Michael Chalk2 Commentsclassroom

Recently, David was looking for networked games, to reward the students for doing their work effectively. He couldn’t install software directly, so we went looking for web-based “learning games”, and found this list from “mission to learn”. The hit of the day was the McDonalds Videogame. It’s challenging in its literacy and numeracy demands, as well as the ethical / critical literacy considerations. The goal is to boost company profits by razing rainforest, exploiting workers and corrupting officials. David came back in saying, “They’re all taking it seriously, i’m worried Read More …

death of education .. dawn of learning (?)

Michael Chalk2 Commentse-learning, technology

Some very good “video bites” in this short piece about how schools need to change. i like the way the video is put together – short, snappy and sharp; with plenty of good ideas about how young people are learning more outside of school these days, via the social networking sites – which are all blocked inside schools. But 21st century learning will need to dig deep into wider educational networking possibilities, say these talking heads. i spoke recently with someone from one of the bigger TAFE colleges .. who Read More …

mmmm .. AutoText brings me typing bliss

Michael ChalkLeave a commentinnovation, technology

“language and literacy” Oh the joy of writing those words! i should say, the ease and simplicity of writing three words, with only three keystrokes. i write those words all the time, so i need a way to do it more easily. I have found the magic of “Auto Text” … 1) i key in double-L, and then 2) the full stop / dot / period key. My autotext program (AutoHotKey) does the rest. Three keys, to write 21 characters. mmmmmmmmm Surely you’ve used – or at least heard of Read More …

CommUnity makes you feel good

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, community

A few weeks ago, we had the 15th anniversary of Preston Reservoir Adult Community Education (PRACE). Fifteen years !! As “MC”, aiming to keep the crowd engaged, i asked who had been involved with PRACE for one year, two years, three years etc. The record holders were Kerry and Jo, at around 4-6 years. Until someone turned it back on me and asked how long i’d been working there. Twelve years, yes 12. People seem surprised, as nobody works that long in the one place any more. These days most Read More …

Issues for '08

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

Over in the AFLF Networks Forum, Coach Carole has suggested discussion around our “top Ten list of issues and technologies would you like to explore in 08 (and why)” Link to the Forum here (login req’d .. but i was too slow to respond.) These are the ideas that fascinate me at the moment: Issues: Digital literacies and participatory digital culture, Development of professional expertise within the ACE sector, Shared writing spaces for adult literacy learners, Audio books on the web, Sharing resources across adult community education (ACE), Professional development Read More …

Hopes and fears for flexible ACE

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, e-learning, innovation, research

Looking back over 2007, it was an extraordinary year, but i rarely had the energy to write here at all. I’d intended to use this place for reflecting on my research readings. i ended up just writing the thesis instead. One of the best projects in years was “Access ACE“, an investigation into flexible learning in Adult Community Education (ACE). Josie Rose managed somehow to negotiate with all of the regional and central managers at ACFE (the Adult Community Further Education board), and win them over to see the potential Read More …

tried to make me go to Wiihab

Michael ChalkLeave a commentinnovation

A very funny take-off of Amy Winehouse, here we have Amy Brickhouse singing about the Wii. Why did they call it a Wii? (Oh, of course, it’s wireless and the (ii) represents two people standing, waving their arms in 3D space.) i wonder how long before we’ll get wii-based games in the classroom? They could suit some people better, because of the different physicality – you’re really bodily involved in the game (from what i gather .. never touched one. What a dullard.) Must confess i’m waiting for the day Read More …

Fix the Web?

Michael ChalkLeave a commentUncategorized

i thought this was a joke video at first. You know, the web is broken, and you can fix it from your own work station. No, i hadn’t thought what the punchline might be, which is why i watched the video. An engaging, well-told three-minute overview of how you can fix web sites that you don’t like, using Greasemonkey, a plugin for firefox. i’ve had the plugin for ages, but never known what to do with it; always seemed too technical, even for me. But this quick flick shows you Read More …

Bad Luck can Lead to Low Literacy

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, adult literacy, classroom

Great article in this month’s Literacy Link from ACAL. Steve Goldberg writes about his work running the national Reading Writing Hotline over the last seven years. He’s always inundated with requests for radio interviews, occasionally from shock-jocks who try to make him say that the education system is cracking up, and urge him to name the blameworthy. i love the way Steve tells his story .. these interviews are his favourite, because he gets to challenge all the “loaded assumptions about adult literacy”. And then he’ll tell some real life Read More …

Updates and work changes

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, community, technology

So, it’s clearly been years since i’ve posted in this place. There’s been a whole lot going on in the meantime, including pandemic etc. Since 2017, my teaching has focussed mainly on technology aka “digital literacy” within adult community education (ACE), and i haven’t done much in the way of language and literacy teaching at all. I’ve been working as a “learning facilitator” aka Tour Guide at the Polly Woodside Museum, with the National Trust. For those who didn’t grow up in Melbourne, Polly Woodside is an old sailing ship, Read More …

Writings Reclaimed

Michael ChalkLeave a commenttechnology

I decided to bring posts to this blog from other projects, such as: Digital Learning at PRACE Digital Learning at Lalor Living and Learning ACFE Learn Local Communities of Practice the North-West e-mentor projects from ACFE Learn Local iPad for Seniors at PRACE the 23 Things project from ACFE, CAE and PRACE.   Having written nearly all the text in those places, i wanted gather it all together. It was relatively easy to export from Blogger, and then import into WordPress here. Unfortunately, now i’ve discovered several roadblocks, namely: the Read More …

Mark Hopkins’ story translated into many languages

Michael ChalkLeave a commentadult literacy

You remember Mark Hopkins, the adult learner from PRACE who told his story so well, not only in our publication, but also on the SBS Insight tv program last year? Well, some of the stories from this Resilience collection have been translated into other languages for the EPALE* site, and the first story to be translated was Mark’s. *EPALE: Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe. https://goo.gl/XqROOX

Adult Learners in Conversation – “A Fuller Sense of Self”

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, adult literacy, community

Last night Tricia Bowen spoke about her experience of reconnecting with the adult learners who have shared their stories in this volume. I talked about how great it was to join with Tricia and Lynne in the whole creative and collaborative process of editing. Then Lynne Matheson invited us to launch the video into the world, so we all made rocket-launching sounds, and the champagne flowed. * It was such a good experience filming and editing these stories with Tricia. I would love to hear any feedback, especially related to Read More …

Reading between the Lines – SBS Insight focus on Adult Literacy

Michael ChalkLeave a commentadult literacy

If you think Australia is a highly literate nation, watch this recent episode of Insight from SBS. This powerful and moving episode features Mark Hopkins one of the students from PRACE. I spoke with Mark as part of the “Stories of Resilience” project, and it’s really heartening to hear his voice in this national forum. All these adult learners show real courage and vulnerability, as they describe their experience for people who have no idea of the extent of this hidden problem. Over 40% of Australians experience some level of difficulty Read More …

Dark Side of the Comment Section

Michael ChalkLeave a commentcommunity, technology

If you’re involved with any kind of online facilitation, you may appreciate this article from The Guardian. They’ve done some research into the comment section, finding that much more abuse is directed at female writers than male. (Also, for web designers, some really good layout effects, especially the way they’ve integrated the graphs and the “how would you moderate this comment” bits.) There’s a whole series around this research, articles interviewing people who have experienced the maelstrom of massive online shaming and bullying.. and articles on ideas for making things Read More …

PageTurners has a new online shop

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, adult literacy, community

Just sent out the latest PageTurners newsletter, letting people know that the new shopping-cart style website is up and running!! It’s taken me much time this year to get the site all updated and e-commercey, so i’m very happy that we’ve finally launched. Woot. You can read the newsletter here. Take a look at the site, tell us what you think. Oh, we need a feedback form don’t we. If you’re not subscribed to the PageTurners email list, you can join via the website.

iPad apps especially for Seniors??

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, technology

I wondered if there are any iPad apps that would be especially useful for people over 55, so i searched the web for  “best apps for ipad for seniors“. Sure enough, there are many many lists: “16 helpful apps for seniors”, “27 bet iPad and iPhone apps for senior citizens”. But are any of them useful.. and how many of these apps are FREE..? Well, some of them are designed to help people by improving things like: Visual accessibility: Silver Surf is a web browser with “large navigation buttons, dynamic text Read More …

Some help files for blogger

Michael ChalkLeave a commenthow to

Here’s a basic intro that Michael made – for low level students really (link: pdf stored in google drive). GCF LearnFree don’t have an intro to blogger, but they do have a great section talking about blogs in general, and an intro to Tumblr instead. Tumblr is much more visual than blogger, which can be text-heavy. Google themselves have a fairly decent help section. Grovo has a few videos showing the basics, including this overview. But they’re a commercial mob, and they’ll want you to pay for more. What good Read More …