Why Workshop?
The “open-to-all VET practitioner” workshop series lets the Toolbox Champ reach into the VET community and connect with teachers, trainers and managers who have an interest in Toolboxes, flexible learning and the Framework. VET educators see the word Toolbox next to words like Web2 or Self Opening CDRom or WebCT/Learning Management System and are instantly curious about the workshop subject matter. They are happy yo come along to a workshop to find out what its all about. The workshop registration process and post workshop follow-up often leads to invitations to deliver organization specific Toolbox training and showcases…. because when teachers have the chance to experience a Toolbox for the first time they are always impressed by the sheer quality, innovation and relevance of these resources. Veteran Toolbox users continue to enjoy the workshop series because each event is a chance to catch a new ideas, pick up a new skills and meet other teachers and trainers. Smart people don’t come to these events for the coffee.

So.. what are some of the 2007 additions to the workshop series?
Customizing with Web2 shows users just how easy it is to incorporate Web2 applications in Toolboxes and Toolbox learning objects in order to add further immediacy and interactivity to Toolboxes resources.
Building on the way Toolboxes have spaces for educators to add chat, email and forums – framing, syndicating, embedding and linking are methods by which teachers can incorporate youtube videos, news sites, blogs and del.icio.us tag clouds in a way that is sympathetic to their use of the Toolbox. The workshop gets teachers and trainers discussing when it is best to frame or embed, link or syndicate from an educational perspective and shows how easy it all is to do using sites like htmlbasix.com and feed2js.org that generate the html script for you! ( Thank you Alan Levine for creating this site some time ago).

From the Repository to the CD was very popular with small RTO’s who have limited server technology or just want a way to use TLO with students via a different format or with students who perhaps have limited or no internet access.

We need to remember sometimes that when we step outside a capital city in Australia (and in the ACT we don’t have to step far) we step into a world of pretty poor ICT infrastructure, little choice of ICT provider, and into towns and villages where incomes are generally much lower: both these factors can make internet access a bit of a luxury. The CD can plug the gap between the internet haves and the internet have-nots by at least making sure both have access to the same Toolbox or TLO resource.

Toolbox Learning Objects and WebCT is directly designed to support teachers who are trying to incorporate a TLO as a resource for teaching an element of competence or part of a subject topic and who are doing so through a learning management system (LMS) such as WebCT. LMS’s have different ways of dealing with such objects and these are not always obvious, easy or satisfactory!!!

There are of course other workshops that have been added to the series, but these have not been about customization but about, among other things, unconventional ways to apply Toolbox resources in the ACE sector. Customization issues still remain of keen interest to experienced and new Toolbox users and continue to attract workshop participants.

Sourcing Workshop Skills
These workshops have been developed with the knowledge of people like Moir Holms, who first raised the Repository to CD idea with me, and with the flexible learning expertise of fellow FLS educational designer Margaret O’Connell and the Flexible Learning Team at Canberra Institute of Technology.

Developing the simplest and educationally sound approaches to framing and embedding, and working out how to do the CDRom stuff – was something I had to discover for myself!!!!!

Moblogging, or mobile blogging, is an actviity that requires you to be ‘on the move’ (i.e. mobile) and that you can access the Web whilst on the move. You may also need a mobile phone and a blog set up on the Web. As for its use as a workplace assessment enabling tool, I’ll let Marg Bell tell you about the rest!

| View | Upload your own

This is one of the NSW Learnscope projects for 2007. Check out more here.

Are you inspired to get online? )

technorati tags:moblogging, mobile, workplace, assessment, online_assessment, blogging

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Multi media overlay in a Jazz piano video makes a fantastic advanced teaching and learning tool! Im something of a jazz piano fan and an amateur player so was impressed to find Doug McKenzies work on Youtube. Throughout Doug’s video the viewer is able to analyse Doug’s jazz approach to the song Some Day My Prince Will Come not only by watching the performance, but by reading the brief , intermittent explanatory script that accompanies the performance onscreen and following along with the onscreen keyboard that is lighting up showing the chords as they are played. It provides a top platform for advanced analysis of the player’s interpretaion and jazz style!!

This could be a useful teaching framework to enable advanced analysis of a complex task…?

Toolbox Learning objects are reuseable digital resources – mini web sites – that have been stripped from their parent Toolbox and made avaliable in the Toolbox learning object repository for free download. While this might sound unaccountably cruel for both the object and the Toolbox, for us teachers it means quick access to 1300 free, easily customisable, WebCT compatable resources from a goodly number of the 100 Toolboxes currently in use.

There are objects avaliable for example in effective communication; a clever and comprehensive sequence covering most aspects of communication in a office setting… and 1299 other objects covering topics too many to mention.

It is a relatively simple process to upload these objects to a content module in WebCT or if that sounds like too much trouble just link to the object live from The Framework site to your WebCT course page.

If you would like to know more visit The Framework Toolbox site and try a few searches or call me, Helen Lynch, 74031 for more details.

Australian Flexible Learning Framework – E-learning Networks

If you haven’t already registered, then I’d suggest you do so for the Online Event taking place in November 7th-9th! Check out the key speakers, Ron Oliver, Janine Bowes and Jonathan Finkelstein – I’m certain you won’t be disappointed!

From the Networks page:

The FOCUS of the event is on showcasing some of the latest developments in e-learning and future directions both in Australia and Internationally. Find out about how to use e-learning for a range of client groups and for industry business solutions. Learn how to integrate collaborative Web 2.0 tools within workplace practices, especially for sharing and networking with colleagues.

You can check out and circulate the flyer available here (PDF).

Waht are you waiting for?! )

technorati tags:elearning_networks, AFLF, Framework, November2007, 2007, online_event

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