Merry Christmas

For this post I have searched for free animated gifs and used the embedded code. The same technique can be used in wikis and Moodle. 

Phone blog your progress here via our iPadio phonecast channel

Below is a phone blog posted by Jill to our North West e-Mentors ipadio channel. Phone blogging is very easy to do - once you're feeling confident with the technology you could even create a channel for your students to use.

Please consider joining us here with your first phone blog.



Our iPadio channel is open for business: using ipadio you can call a special number (from anywhere in Australia it's 1800-802569) from either your landline or mobile and follow the prompts to provide the registered phone number and PIN.

(iPadio will detect that you're not calling from the registered phone - don't worry about that, just enter the registered number and PIN.)

You then say what you want to us to hear, that's right, no-one will interrupt you! When you're finished, just hang up.

Here are the details:

1. Call 1800-802-569
2. When prompted, enter the registered phone number: 613-9347 2739 and press #
3. Enter PIN: XXXX (ask us in person)
4. TALK and then hang up.

So we look forward to hearing your phlogs about your e-learning adventures. And we will also embed the phlogs here for your colleagues in the North west to share.

Here is Panayota from CNLC talking about how her teaching has benefited from having access to the internet and a data projector in the ESL classroom this year. Good on you for going first, Panayota! (She's using the CNLC ipadio channel).

E-learning livens up at Lalor

It's probably time to profile one or two e-projects and their early progress. The other day I took the opportunity to visit Assunta and Carmela at Lalor to assist them with their first e-project and to review some of the resources available for their e-learning and networking generally.

Neither of the two e-leaders are teachers of ICT yet they are targeting their first project to beginner ESL students entering the computer room for the first time: developing an enhanced Powerpoint presie showing how to sit, use a mouse and log on to the computers, an e-learning 'object' that can be played whenever needed by students in the computer room. It will have photos, captions and audio narration.

Let's Google it!

It seems that not only has 'Google' entered the English language as a verb describing the most ubiquitous web searching tool/ process on the planet, but its other components are becoming equally obligatory work tools.

This year is the Year of Google Documents: not only can you share your docs in the cloud but you can invite others to collaborate, that is, to edit them anywhere anytime - even simultaneously whilst you're working on the very same one!

Other must-have features include: a neat Revisions History that reveals each editor's edits in a different colour, text chat Comments in a sidebar so you can have a running commentary about content and immediate autosave (though I'm not sure if you can ever get access to previous versions...).

Of course, as your collection of docs in the cloud grows, you'll need to Organise them - this entails adding them to - you guessed it - Collections (rather than folders).

Do you think Moodle will meet your needs?

Prabhakar from AMCS and Joanne at Djerriwarrh are both considering using a "learning management system (LMS)" known as Moodle.

What is it, and how do you get it?

Fundamentally, moodle is an environment where you can set up discussion forums and course outlines. *

1) Talk to eWorks. They can set you up with a "TrainingVC" account, which gives you access to your choice of Blackboard or Moodle (both of these are learning management systems with forums, space for resources, student tracking etc). I think the initial outlay is $2000.

CAE uses this option (is that right, Ann?)

2) Find an alternative moodle host, such as:

• Education Services Australia (ESA, formerly EdNA) groups
• One of the recommended "Moodle hosting partners" listed on the support site.

** There's a huge help document in the moodle community - link here. 

3) Get the software and run it on your own web server. This is tricky, but some people do it, for example:

• Tim at Werribee Community Centre (?) explored a software called "BitNami" that lets you run moodle on your local windows network. (But then you may need to open your network to the wide world.)
• Stuart from Milang Old School House, South Australia, was one of the first to go down the moodle road in a community organisation [Here i wrote about an online forum where he presented in 2007.] 

4) Or find a web host who provides a "one click install" for popular free and open source software, such as moodle, wordpress, joomla. At PRACE, we use a Queensland-based crowd called "Fluccs" who offer free hosting for community & non-profit organisations. (And their paid options are reasonable too.)

Follow the stream from Converge conference

This could be too much information (TMI) for some of you, but there is some great activity at the Converge conference in Preston right now. I'm currently in a session on the moodle "learning management system" (LMS), where Michael Coghlan is presenting in the room, and co-presenting with Stephen Schmidt who is in Adelaide.

If you're interested in following some of the activity and links emerging from the conversation, you could follow this link, to the "twitter feed". Many of the people here at the conference are using twitter to communicate amongst each other.

Here's the link: http://twitter.com/#!/search/converge11

Otherwise, you could wait for a summary of some of the best stuff.. i'll try to post here next week.

kind regards, michael

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Photo credits: Thanks very much: Jason Cartwright from the workshop on Big Blue Button, an alternative to Blackboard Collaborate.

Best gadgets for audio recording?

Reel to Reel?

Meg and Frith over at Yarraville were asking, "What's the best audio recording gadget?" Here's what we know, but we're definitely on the hunt for more information.

A lot of people use the Easi-Speak (for example Sarah Phillips when she was at Continuing Education Bendigo). We  recommend getting the "professional" one, ie a level up from basic.

Josie and Ann at the CAE have been using "The Yeti". Ann says, "The Yeti has been a great tool for both our classes and meetings. Basically the Yeti runs through the USB port and uses Audacity. (I originally thought that this device would be the same as the easi speak microphones which convert straight to MP4 files but no you will need to use Audacity and convert using Lame)."

What's holding you back? [Please give your input here]

We'd like to hear your views about some of the constraints that may be inhibiting your progress at this (early) stage? Could you please fill out the survey below so that we can plan future opportunities to connect and progress the projects?

So what are the common constraints?

The most obvious ones are lack of physical resources (many sites still don't have ease of access to computing and data projector in their classrooms). Some of the sites visited need a general upgrade of computing resources OR just some IT assistance with loading programs such as Flash and Java so that videos will play and other programs like Blackboard Collaborate will run.

And lack of time and human resources - it's hard to estimate how much time it takes to master a skill or develop a resource.  What we do know is that you can pick up many tips and skills online through existing support networks. That's why we urge you to join this blog, the ACE NING and join the Blackboard Collaborate e-series available for free. These informal networks rely on the generosity of the participants so we encourage you to share your knowledge too, however modest you think that is.

Please fill out the Happiness survey below (after the break: "Read More")

Common threads across the North-West

Common strands of e-ndeavour

From our perspective, joining a mentor program to improve your understanding and implementation of e-learning (or "e-business") isn't just about what happens in house. It's also about the connections you're making with the people and networks around you. Many people have been saying in recent years that professional development these days is about strengthening and expanding your "Personal Learning Network" (PLN).

So what do you have in common with the other organisations in the North-West e-mentor projects?

There are some clear strands emerging from our discussions with the e-leaders and e-participants at each of the 11 sites we have visited in the last month. We thought we would summarise these with you and perhaps feature one or two sites as a case study to show similarities in scope, progress and constraints.

Develop a staff communication and networking hub

• AMCS: using a combination of Google sites. docs and possibly Moodle;
• CNLC: build on Staffroom wiki from 2010 by integrating Google docs and calendar;
• Carringbush: a staff wiki to build skills and eventually store teaching resources;
• Djerriwarrh: investigate capacity of Sharepoint to have a wiki interface for communication hub;

The Ten Step Wiki Plan

Now that we've nearly finished our round of initial site visits to the 11 centres involved in the E-mentor project in 2011, it seems that the Ten Step Wiki Plan originally developed for staff at Carlton Neighbourhood Learning Centre (CNLC) last year to identify component e-skills has universal and immediate application for a number of centres.

If you're thinking of starting and developing a wiki for students or for staff, or even generally building people's e-skills for producing internet-ready teaching resources, then this stepped plan will be useful to you.

I've uploaded it to Google docs now so that any changes will be 'live', that is, you can access them too. Also as I'm learning about the features of Google docs, you can now comment on the doc and I can incorporate any feedback or improvements suggested by you. I like the idea of an evolving document - a truly collaborative effort. So let me know what you think of it for application in your centre: either by replying here or in the doc itself (of course, if you haven't already got a 'google identity' you might not be able to comment in the doc - not sure about that...)

Just in! ***Wiki Training Camp*** 

I found this new resource at the wikispaces blog and it looks really easy to follow. Print Training Camp worksheet pdf as a 'takeaway' to study on the tram.

Mindmapping tool

As you work through your e-plan you may want to mindmap some of your ideas to assist with the layout or design. There is nothing worse than starting the site and changing your mind half way through or forgetting to insert a page!

Ann likes mindmapping as a technique as it is essentially creating a storyboard where I create connectors that will become my pages or external links.

Michael has been using the free tool called FreeMind Portable. This is a mindmapping tool that allows you to effectively brainstorm your ideas, linking your thoughts and expanding on your ideas. It runs on any system that has java installed (a web plugin) - mac, windows or linux.

Example mindmap from the induction day:

Relevant links:

• Freemind web site.
• Download files page (freemind).
• Links to a portable version of freemind, for your usb stick (windows only, depends on java).

Other links (enthusiasts only):

• Lifehacker gives their top 5 mind-mappers (not all free). 
• Here are michael's "Diigo bookmarks" on the topic.
• ..and wikipedia has dozens more.

Next steps for the North-West

Wonderful. Thanks to all the NW e-learning leaders for keying in your availability for the site visits and the regular online drop-in sessions. You'll see from the calendar page that almost everyone has organised a time for their site visit now. Please be in touch if the offered times don't suit at all.

We've also decided to set up a regular online drop-in session. This can be loosely structured, depending on the needs of the people who make it along. From people's input, we've decided to go with 3pm on a Friday, starting on 21 October. We did think about a Thursday evening, but there's another terrific series of workshops on e-learning at that time, run by a group called the Australia e-series.

(more after the break)

Calendar for e-mentor projects

Here are the upcoming events for the ACFE LearnLocal e-mentor projects. We've also made a page with this calendar, so don't worry when it scrolls out of view. Look to the list of pages instead (here it is). Let us know if you'd like to subscribe to the calendar, and we'll show you how.

North-West: the overview

Here is the presentation we used in the "induction sessions" in late September. You'll see your own words and comments in several slides. We're aiming to continue adding examples of good e-learning practise as we go. [Look for the fullscreen button for viewing.]

September 15 and 23 Induction sessions: ideas for possible projects

Jill starts: 

I really enjoyed meeting the new project participants today, and, of course, seeing a few who are continuing from last year.

In the short time available to brainstorm the vast realm of everything 'e', we mapped our different students and contexts, identifying immediate needs and a range of 'wish list' skills and possible projects.

Centres and course covered: vocational and pre-vocational certificates, VCAL, ESL Certificates and a range of short courses (too numerous to mention). Needs included:

• communication technology for web conferencing (online staff meetings, verification meetings, VCE holiday intensives, PD drop-in, skill-focused workshop)
• some sort of course management system (CMS) for secure e-lodgement of assessments (eg. Moodle, Wikispace with custom permissions,

Getting started

Consider your e-learning needs

First thing to do is take a look at your own teaching/learning or centre/course management practices and decide where and how you may want to improve them using e-learning strategies such as:

• networking with others in your field
• communicating in real time online
• storing and sharing resources
• creating or sourcing innovative learning resources
• exploring relevant web 2.0 tools for specific purposes
• getting help with an e-learning project
• setting up a learning management system

e-learning adventures in the North-West

So it's time to set off on some new journeys and adventures. Here in the North-West metro region of Melbourne, we're welcoming a huge nine new organisations and two continuing organisations on board for the 2011-12 e-learning mentor projects.


The organisations are:

• Australian Multicultural Community Services
• Carlton Neighbourhood Learning Centre (CNLC) *
• Carringbush Adult Education Inc
• Djerriwarrh Employment and Education Services
• Lalor Living & Learning Centre Inc.
• Laverton Community Integrated Services Inc.
• Living & Learning Nillumbik
• Meadow Heights Learning Shop Inc
• SPAN Community House *
• Wingate Avenue Community Centre
• Yarraville Community Centre

* Centres continuing from 2011.


We've decided to establish this blog as a platform for sharing resources and for e-leaders and e-travellers from each organisation to reflect on their progress in a truly collaborative environment.

E-projects in 2010: 'North West Cafe' opens for business

Just to give an idea of what happened last year, the following organisations participated:

ACE NING North west Cafe Group

• Olympic Adult Education (OAE)
• Australian Vietnamese Women's Association (AVWA)
• Carlton Neighbourhood Learning Centre (CNLC)
• Span Community House (in Thornbury)
• Yooralla (Flinders Lane, City of Melbourne)
• Thornbury Women's Neighbourhood House (TWNH)
• Diamond Valley Learning Centre (DVLC)

Participants explored a number of tools via the Victoria-wide web conferencing workshops that we conducted on: wiki for content management, Moodle course management, voice technologies and Flip video. We also arranged some site visits to come out and discuss projects and assist with specific tasks. We had a group in the ACE NING, a virtual meeting place like this, but with a Forum and a few other additional features.