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

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 …

Looking back: the last 12 months at PRACE

People often ask, “Why e-learning?”  For me, it’s about providing a strong balance of flexibility and access. Ideally learners (and teachers) can connect with their peers and explore the learning materials outside of set class times and independently of location, in ways that are simple and straightforward. Wherever you are, at a time that suits you.  At PRACE, people continue to explore these themes of flexibility and access in more and more practical ways. Here’s the quick overview of what’s happened at PRACE in the last year. Please tell us Read More …

North West region “community of practice”

Victoria Market I’ve just met with some wonderful teachers and managers of the North-West region and Sue O’Brien of the NW ACFE regional office, in at the AMES “Multicultural Hub” opposite the Victoria Market. From the agenda, i was expecting to give a presentation with an overview of blended learning, and some examples of who’s doing it around the regions. Because it was about 10 of us around a table, the session quickly turned into a conversation where i hope most people had some input. We tackled the really fundamental Read More …

Easi-speak microphones at PRACE

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 …

Pacific Black Box film chosen for festival

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

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 …

[cck08] initial connections .. on the map

So i’ve listened to some audio/video recordings, i’ve read a couple of articles, i’ve finally made it into the forum areas .. and most importantly, i’ve put myself on the map. Rodd (the Clever Sheep ..from Canada i think) set up a shared map within the google-o-sphere, and created a neat screen cast to show the rest of us how to join in. Yay Rodd. (Yes i did have to watch the video to work out how it is done.) A few fellow Australians already there, including Howard Errey, Alison Read More …

Ceres, goddess of excursions ..

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 …