Tag: prace

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 …

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 …

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.

Refurbished iPads

Michael ChalkLeave a commenttechnology

Suppose you want to buy an iPad, but you don’t want to pay a fortune for the latest and greatest.. what can you do? I’ve done a basic search for “Refurbished iPad in Melbourne“, and found that Apple themselves have specials on their website as low as $309 for an old model (which is still a lot of money, but less than $700, right?) Also, not sure who these people are, but they explain “Refurbished” quite well – “MacpricesAustralia“. Other than that, it could be worth asking at your local Read More …

PageTurners has now launched series 7

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, adult literacy, community

Very exciting news – PRACE PageTurners has just launched its 7th series of books for adult learners, and we’re about to launch a new shopping-cart style website as well.. stay tuned! Some great stories in this collection, about a missing dog, a woman who crosses the world to realise her dreams, a mysterious car crash in the desert, and a drink machine that seems to have evil intentions.

Help – how can I upload files into the google drive space?

Michael ChalkLeave a commenthow to

Teachers at PRACE need to store audio recordings from class in a shared online space. Lately we’ve been using google drive for this. Sometimes you can upload files directly from your iPad to the “Gdrive”. Other times you might save them to USB stick or a folder on your computer. Here’s a video showing how to upload from ordinary computer (windows), into the Gdrive space. Let us know in the comments below if this seems clear or helpful in any way (or not). It moves pretty fast, you may need Read More …

Sharing files from Quick Voice (..when the free version doesn’t let you share)

Michael ChalkLeave a commenthow to, professional development

A few teachers at PRACE have been using the iPad app “Quick Voice” to record students talking. Unfortunately, the free version has a limit on the file size you can share via email (and also via google drive i think). We experimented a bit, and found that you can get around this by sharing the file 1) firstly share across to a different app known as “Voice Record Pro (VRP)” 2) and then you can “Share .. Open in” google drive. (This will only work if you have VRP installed Read More …

Chris Mooney talks about using the iPads with students

Michael ChalkLeave a commentclassroom, technology

A while back, I asked Chris Mooney how she was experiencing the iPads in her English as a second language (ESL) classroom. She replied that so far, they have already been looking at YouTube videos and information texts, and it’s been fun. In future, Chris would like to find ways to: play interactive games on the overhead, get the group doing gap-fill (cloze) activities together, get into reading information texts as a group. You can hear the whole one-minute conversation here: What about you – what have you done with an iPad Read More …

Q&A session at Spring St Campus – many many questions!!

Michael ChalkLeave a commentace, professional development

So, the session we had at Spring St was more chaotic than the one we had at Reservoir Neighbourhood House. Again, we started with brainstorming questions, but this time we dived straight into responding before the full list had built up. 06 May at Spring Street Airdrop – what is it and how does it work? Much of this session focussed on Airdrop, as many of you wanted to experiment and get hands-on with it. We tested out sending photos and documents from one iPad to another. How do we Read More …