 |
 |
THE LEARNING POWERHOUSE: Sustaining the Spark
Friday, 10 August 2007
Session details
- Keynote Speakers
- Concurrent Session 1 -- 11:25 AM - 12:10 PM
- Concurrent Session 2 -- 12:20 PM - 1:05 PM
- Concurrent Session 3 -- 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM
- Concurrent Session 4 -- 2:10 PM - 2:55 PM
- Concurrent
Session 5 -- 3:05 PM - 3:50 PM
Learning for Sustainability, The NSW Environmental Education Plan 2007 - 2010 - Why is this relevant for TAFE NSW teachers?
Presentation
Theatre
Dr Ronnie Harding
Chair, NSW Council on Environmental Education
Our sustainable use of resources has become a pominent matter for government and business decision making. Receiving most attention at present are energy use/climate change and water use and availability. These two issues alone are set to have an increasing influence, and for many situations a cental role, in decision-making in our industrial, business and domestic activities. Is TAFE currently equiping its students for this 'changing world'? What curriculum change is required for 'learning for sustainability'? Whare are the opportunities and challenges to achieve this?
MP3 Audio Duration: 36:35 File size: 8.37 MB)
Video for Broadband | Video for Dialup
Mixing it Up - a journey into the electronic frontier of workplace and online learning
Presentation
Workplace Learning
Bob Thurlow
Teacher, TAFE NSW Western Sydney Institute
Tim Smith
Head Teacher, TAFE NSW Western Sydney Institute
What would happen if you took a group of traditional face-to-face TAFE teachers and asked them to bring workplace and online students virtually, electronically into the classroom, alongside their face-to-face students? What if you gave off-campus students the option of attending online either synchronously or asynchronously with a face-to-face class? The IT Section at Richmond College of TAFE did just that. We had the technology and we knew how to use it, but were we able to teach the same course, over the same time frame, in an environment that effectively deprived us of much of the five senses we take for granted in face-to-face teaching?
This presentation will describe the evolution of our approaches, technology and pedagogical strategies on our journey into the electronic frontier of workplace and online learning. There will be time for discussion around the challenge of using technological skills, and more critically, pedagogical skills to relate to students with whom we seldom or never come face to face. We’ll also be addressing the issue of how teachers must learn to adapt to an online world without many of the visual, audible and non-verbal cues they've taken for granted throughout their teaching life.
- Mixing it Up - a journey into the electronic frontier of workplace and online learning
- Mixing it Up - a journey into the electronic frontier of workplace and online learning
Knowledge and workplace learning
Conversation
Workplace Learning
David Wallace
Manager Industry Projects, Learning Design & Resource Development, Centre for Learning Innovation
The VET focus on workplace learning challenges beliefs about the nature of underpinning knowledge and theory and how this can be acquired. It also raises the more fundamental question as to what level of underpinning knowledge and theory that is needed. These questions arise at a time when there is need for more ‘knowledge workers’ but what has been accepted as ‘knowledge’ is under scrutiny. You are invited to join a conversation that looks at how we determine what underpinning knowledge and theory is essential. It will begin with the following questions: When is it better to ‘google’ than to know something? When is it better to know something than to ‘google’? 'Google’ is used here as a metaphor for searching for information as and when it is needed. There may even be time to explore: What is an educated person? How do the current approaches to VET develop an educated person?
Conversation
Recognition
Janet Hewson
Chief Education Officer, TAFE NSW ICVET
Should the principles of assessment, validity, reliability and currency be informed by the key element of sufficiency when testing these elements?
If so what does sufficiency mean?
RPL requires assessment decisions which are often made by the individual assessor and using their own frame of reference, often in situations where they have little or no prior knowledge of the candidate, or formative assessment evidence to support their judgement. When faced with assessing these “grey areas” or using holistic assessment methods, such as interviews based on life and work experience, how can assessors be confident enough evidence has been gathered.
This question is further exacerbated by the notion of quick and simple RPL as a key element of the National Reform Agenda. Can sufficient evidence be gathered quickly and simply?
Conversation
Other
Robyn Jay
NSW Learnscope Manager
Alex Hayes
Project Officer, NSW Learnscope
Mobile learning is generally thought to encompass all kinds of activities where learning happens outside formal classroom situations and makes use of digital mobile devices such as mobile phones, PDAs and personal digital media players (iPods, MP3 players).
Quality m-learning takes advantage of the learners’ mobility, of being on location and being connected, and acknowledges that learning takes place across our lives and beyond formal settings. It enables authenticity, immediacy, relevance, convenience, flexibility, and accessibility in real life contexts.
In the session we’ll consider the potential that m-learning offers VET programs and the issues we need to tackle in making it happen.
Bring your mobile phone
Conversation
Recognition
Penelope Lees
Chief Education Officer Recognition Project, TAFE NSW Sydney Institute
Katy Gould
SEO Educational Development, TAFE NSW Western Sydney Institute
Maia Trevaskis
Manager, Western Sydney Institute
The Western Sydney Institute Recognition Project manager has been working with Western Sydney Institute colleges to engage Directors Education, Managers Educational Programs, Head Teachers and Teachers in activities that challenge current thinking and practice in providing RPL, and to support the development and implementation of streamlining recognition strategies.
Whilst engaging sections and teachers in recognition activities it has become apparent that people become more confident about their ability and skills as they exchange stories. A flexible approach to RPL in teaching sections occurs through trial and error of different approaches. Teaching sections have similar issues and barriers which, when shared, are either overcome by using fresh approaches or are lessened because they are shared.
The conversations we would like to have are framed by these questions,
1.How much evidence is necessary to assess a person as competent?
2.What are the risks of RPL?
3.How can industry be engaged in RPL assessment?
4.What is validity in RPL?
When Speaking Louder Doesn’t Work
Workshop
Workplace Learning
Catherine Robinson
Teacher, Numeracy and Literacy TAFE NSW Hunter Institute
Raylee Allin
Teacher, TAFE NSW Hunter Institute
This workshop session describes the challenges faced in providing for the flexible delivery of competency unit TAALLN104A 'Addressing the Language, Literacy and Numeracy Issues within Workplace Training and Assessment' to 19 supervisory staff at a large Sydney Hospital, as part of a Workplace English Language and Literacy (WELL) program. The unit was delivered in an innovative and participatory manner through a combination of face-to-face workshops and online delivery. However with a high proportion of staff having low literacy/numeracy levels or coming from a Non English Speaking Background (NESB) it was necessary for supervisors and trainers to be more aware of how to adapt and customise training materials to meet the needs of these employees
MP3 Audio Duration: 38:20 File size: 8.77 MB)
Flexible training for Family Day Care workers
Presentation
Workplace Learning
Christine Hitchens
Teacher, TAFE NSW Hunter Institute
Gai Ellerington
Teacher, Children's Services, WELL Programs, Family Day Care, TAFE NSW Hunter Institute
The presentation will outline the development of a partnership that has 'sparked' the interest of enthusiastic workers in the Family Day Care industry and addressed the training needs of this industry. The Family Day Care Scheme is an essential service, providing a quality child care option for thousands of working families throughout Australia. The nature of the industry makes it very difficult for carers to attend traditional training options. Carers are the sole workers in their own business, operating their service from their own homes, working long days and sometimes weekends as well. Although accredited training is available, carers are not always able to commit to long term attendance or to the completion of self -paced training packages without inbuilt support. The WELL Hunter TAFE partnership with a number of Family Day Care schemes now provides a real opportunity for carers to participate in accredited training that is flexible with inbuilt support critical to successful participation for the Family Day Carers
MP3 Audio Duration: 26:13 File size: 6.00 MB)
- Flexible training for Family Day Care workers
- Flexible training for Family Day Care workers
Games and Virtual Worlds: Custom Training Materials with Standard Desktop Tools
Presentation
Other
Dr Thomas Benjamin
Senior Researcher TAFE NSW Centre for Learning Innovation
Despite much publicity surrounding the use of computer games in education most applications have involved either expensive games for high-end users or force-fitting of commercial games to the academic environment. There have been few controlled studies to find the ‘active ingredients’, let alone account for placebo. The success of non-games such as The Sims and Second Life suggests that it is the virtual world interactivity rather than game elements which is creating the addictive interest. What is well-established, however, is a demand for learning objects which can be dis-aggregated, customised, and adapted to curricula, rather than vice-versa. This requires low cost resources with flexibility, attractiveness, and a quick learning curve. Such materials have been sitting under our noses for some years in the form of the later additions to spreadsheets. The venerable spreadsheet can now serve as a presentation (ie- like PowerPoint) storyboard, quasi-animation tool, and game hub. This presentation draws together the recent advances in Control Box form tools, clip art human characters, special fonts, and modified Charts (ie- graphs) to produce the look and feel of virtual worlds without special programming, macro’s, or plug-ins.
- Games and Virtual Worlds: Custom Training Materials with Standard Desktop Tools
MP3 Audio Duration: 15:25 File size: 5.29 MB)
Automotive Partnership in Sydney's Heartland
Presentation
Partnerships and Entrepreneurships
Michael Cochrane
Head Teacher, Automotive TAFE NSW, Western Sydney Institute
Teachers in the Automotive Section at Blacktown College established a partnership with the Heartland Holden Group to meet the present and future staffing needs of Heartland Holden. The strategy developed involves training delivered at the College and on-site at the Heartland Holden Head Office and their dealerships across Western Sydney. TAFE teachers deliver a broad range of underpinning knowledge and skills to the students and this allows the industry trainer to concentrate on specific product knowledge in the workplace. Through this strategy, Heartland Holden can now beter match training with job requirements for each apprentice, apprentices now spend less time off the job, resulting in better productivity for the company and quicker skills acquisition by the apprentices and teachers report that a high standard of training outcomes is being achieved.Heartland Holden are now keen to provide a clear training pathway for each of their employees from entry level through to the Diploma of Automotive Technology.
In this presentation, the teachers will describe how this industry partnership was established, the current successful arrangements for training and assessment and how they have built on this success in other delivery areas. Time will be provided for discussion with participants, including how this model may apply to other sections and contexts.
MP3 Audio Duration: 24:22 File size: 5.57 MB)
- Automotive Partnership in Sydney's Heartland