Education Support a Pathway to Teaching – Project Update

GippsTAFE has developed a pathway for students undertaking a qualification in Education Support that caters for people without formal secondary qualifications. Completion of the TAFE Diploma allows students to progress to a degree in primary education at Monash University.

Previously training was delivered following a traditional distance education model using paper based workbooks but trainers at GippsTAFE reported that many students felt isolated. With this in mind the trainers want to develop a more engaging model of delivery with an emphasis on online community. The program will use online technologies such as online discussion and reflective blogs to build a supportive community that will allow students to interact with and learn from each other. Learners gain practical experience through work placement in a school and draw on this and a range of other resources to complete a series of online activities. This project is funded under the National VET E-Learning Strategy, E-Learning for Participation and Skills.

Three units from Certificate IV in Education Support have been chosen for this pilot program. The units are:
• CHCEDS408A Support students’ mathematics learning for numeracy
• CHCEDS409A Support students’ literacy learning
• CHCEDS312A Work with diversity in the education environment

Moodle is being used to deliver this training. Each unit includes some theory based information for learners to read through but it is expected that much of their learning will occur through their own research as they complete the four online activities for each unit. Two of the online activities for each unit are discussion based forum activities and these will give learners the opportunity to learn from each other as they would in a classroom based program.

As well as the unit based activities learners will develop an individual learning plan for each unit highlighting their individual goals and achievements. This activity will give them the opportunity to reflect on their learning journey. Learners will be encouraged to share this information by making postings in the course blog.

The program commenced with an intensive orientation week to introduce the learners to the online program. Introductory activities were set up to give the learners the opportunity to get used to some of the online tools they will use. They were encouraged to have a go and given the opportunity to ask lots of questions.

Each unit will be delivered over a two week period and learners are aware that they need to undertake the activities during those two weeks in order to make the program a success. A trainer will be actively supporting the students as they participate in each unit.

We were pleased with the amount of activity that occurred during in the orientation week and positive attitude to learning online that many learners have expressed. The first unit is now underway and we can see that some learners have already made a start.

Learning for Employment – Project Update

GippsTAFE is currently delivering training to a group of learners in South Gippsland who have a disability. This training forms part of the project funded under the National VET E-Learning Strategy, E-Learning for Participation and Skills.

The training is now under way and the learners are making good progress and, more importantly, they are having a lot of fun using a range of apps on their iPads.

PuppetPals has proved to be a popular app and is a great way of improving the learners’ literacy skills.

Lisa Kuhne has organised the training program and is currently delivering the training sessions. She has found that using iPad apps alongside traditional worksheets and group work is a successful mix. The learners are engaged and happy with their learning. Apps that include levels to pass are proving to be the most successful as the sense of achievement felt when a new level is passed provides great motivation to the learners.

 Some of the students at a recent training session.

Lisa reported the following achievements from this weeks session:

• One learner completed 17 levels of a maths app and was incredibly proud. He refused to take a break as he wanted to keep going.
• Another learner, usually very hard to engage, worked for over half an hour on a money recognition app.
• The money recognition app was popular with another learner but he had lots of trouble adding up money so next week we are going to give him actual coins to work alongside the app.
• One learner with more advanced skills took it upon herself to do further investigation of apps to find ones that would challenge her further.
• Another learner was so motivated  that he would not stop for a break as he wanted to continue on his maths app. He reached level 7 today which was a huge effort.

eLearning Forum: Thursday, 21 February 2013

Over 70 staff from Monash and GippsTAFE attended the eLearning Forum held on Thursday, 21 February 2013 at the Switchback Gallery, Monash University, Gippsland Campus. Our two very important themes for the day were centred around assessment and student engagement within the online environment. The Forum was aimed at sharing ideas about online delivery, highlighting innovation in the development of online assessments, showcasing good teaching practice, and providing networking opportunities for staff from both organisations.

We have collected most of the presentations given on the day and provide them here for you to view.

Presentations

Morning session:  Theme – Designing relevant online assessment

• Michael Dyson, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Education, Monash University:
  Assessment case studies and examples
  
• Lynn Huguenin, Bron Beach, Davin Nicholas, Lecturers, GippsTAFE:
  Online assessment methodologies and examples Part 1
  Online assessment methodologies and examples Part 2
• Barbie Panther, Lecturer, School of Applied Sciences and Engineering, Monash University:
  Showcase – Interactive online assessment tasks
  

 Afternoon session:  Theme – Engaging students online

• Brad Beach, Director, Business and Community Programs, GippsTAFE:
  Communicating effectively online
  
• Karen Crinall, Cathy Trembath, Debra Manning, Lecturers, School of Applied Media and Social Sciences, Monash University:
  Showcase – Online rejuvenation – Master of Human Services Management
  

ConVerge12

The GippsTAFE Innovation Department recently attended the online learning conference conVerge12. The very successful project Making the Most of Moodle, which was part of the GippsTAFE eLearning Grant for 2012, was featured at this conference.

Click here to view the presentation.

The GippsTAFE Table at the Showcase.

ePortfolios in Mahara

Recently GippsTAFE staff members attended a training session to introduce them to the use of Mahara ePortfolios. The session focussed on  the use of ePortfolios as a way for students to gather evidence of their skills and  experiences and present this for the purpose of Recognition of Prior Learning assessments or to document tasks undertaken by apprentice or trainees in the work place.

The concept of creating views that could be used as templates for specific purposes was also discussed as well as how to use ePortfolios as evidence of engagement for auditing purposes.

Staff were encouraged to create their own ePortfolio as a way of exploring the tool and its application to their individual teaching needs.

The presentation for these sessions can be found at:
Introducing Mahara Presentation

A webinar for a group of students was also conducted. During the webinar students were shown how to:

•  Add information to their Mahara profile
• Complete their online resume
• Upload files
• Create and share views

A recording of the webinar can be found at:
Webinar recording

Learning for Employment – Project update

The major focus of this project will be the use of mobile technologies.

Members of the project team have been busy working on different aspects of this project:

• Lynn attended a webinar organised by the ACE network called Using iPads to enhance teaching and learning. The focus of this presentation was the need to get students using iPads to create digital objects and then combine these into a project rather than just using these tools as a way to access the internet. Click here to access the recording.
• Lisa is investigating the toolbox Basic Skills in the Cybercentre and is liaising with Yooralla to discuss the specific requirements of the potential participants to ensure this program will meet individual needs
• Malcolm has discussed promotion of the program with the GippsTAFE Marketing Department
• Paul suggested the use of the app Scene Speak with this cohort, unfortunately this is not a free app

Education Support a Pathway to Teaching – Project update

E-Learning Strategy

This project will use an e-learning strategy that involves the inclusion of specific weekly tasks for students to complete in the online space (GippsTAFE Online – Moodle). It is intended that these tasks will be building blocks for the students as they work towards their final assessments for each unit. Students will be encouraged to complete the tasks with specified time frames to ensure that collaborative activities, such as forums, function in a successful manner. This strategy is based on Gilly Salmon’s model which uses E-tivities to enhance online participation.

A document was prepared for use by the project team and teachers that listed Moodle Resources and Activities including a short description of each so that they can begin planning. Teachers were also referred to the, very useful, Moodle Guide for Teachers.