eVALBEC 
July 2014 | VALBEC | Web version
In this Issue
Committee News
1. Scholarships to the ACAL Conference
2. Adult Numeracy Resource to grow – input wanted
Professional Development
3. 2014 ACAL Conference Literacy: a learning spiral for life
4. 2014 VALBEC Conference ' and the learning goes on ...' on the web
5. 23rd National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference 'No Frills'
Fine Print
6. Edition 2 coming soon
7. Fine Print Archive
Resources
8. Lesson ideas
9. Productivity Commission paper - adult literacy and numeracy skills and labour market outcomes
Committee News
The new 2104-15 committee welcomed Meg Cotter who works at Yarraville Community Centre.
Feedback from the conference was very positive and everyone agreed that William Angliss again provided great service with the venue and catering. Presentations (see below) and photos have been uploaded to the VALBEC website.
1. Scholarships to the ACAL Conference
In May VALBEC announced two scholarships would be offered for VALBEC members wishing to present at the 2014 ACAL conference. The committee received six applications and two were selected by VALBEC and approved by ACAL. These were Elizabeth Gunn - NMIT and Rhonda Raisbeck - Holmesglen.
2. Adult Numeracy Resource to grow – input wanted
VALBEC is expanding the content of their on line Adult Numeracy resource Building Strength with Numeracy with new content focusing on decimals and measurement. Beth Marr will be undertaking this work during the next six months and would appreciate input from current practitioners. If you are teaching numeracy either stand-alone, or integrated with literacy or language, and are interested in assisting, then we would like to hear from you.
There are several ways to have input. You could participate in an advisory group which would discuss priorities and make suggestions at monthly meetings over the next semester. These meetings, in a central Melbourne location, would also provide opportunity for stimulating discussion and networking. Other welcome input includes trialling and providing feedback on new activities as they are developed or emailing advice re your favourite existing activities and any successful extensions you have used.
Please email bethmarr@westnet.com.au.
[Advance notice - on July 30 Beth will be conducting a webinar about the current resources.]
Professional Development
3. 2014 ACAL Conference Literacy: a learning spiral for life
Early bird registration closes on July 31
Keynote speakers
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Stephen Reder, Professor of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University
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Professor Diana Coben, Director of the National Centre of Literacy and Numeracy for Adults at the University of Waikato, New Zealand
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Trevor Gale, Professor of Education Policy and Social Justice at Deakin University
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2014 Arch Nelson Address to be given by Dr Darryl Dymock, Senior Research Fellow at Griffith University
4. 2014 VALBEC Conference ' and the learning goes on ...' on the web
Thanks to those speakers for providing presentations and session notes which are now available on the VALBEC website.
A1 Progressing the Foundation Skills Strategy for Adults (Wing-Yin Chan Lee, Anita Roberts, Louise Wignall)
A2 EAL Teaching resource - Fish Forever (Meg Cotter and Anne McLaughlin)
B1 What is FSAT? Just another acronym to add to the list or is it more? (Dave Tout)
B2 Learn Locals working with business (Judy Bowman and Carolyn Goode)
B3 Using Moodle (Hilary Dolan and Gilda Alavuk)
plus B3 reference list
C1 Don't forget the numeracy in LLN (Dave Tout)
plus Dave's numeracy resource list
C2 Facilitating LLN skills in informal work-based learning (Debbie Sperandio)
C3 Higher Order Thinking Skills and the Adult Learner (Rhonda Raisbeck)
plus Planning Grid
C4 Getting Beginners to write – using formative assessment (Natalie Nawrocki and Ana Paula Balica)
D1 Why e-learning is in need of a facelift (Daniella Mayer and Tracey Amman)
This is a blog created specifically for the session.
D2 Measurement skills for work (Tina Berghella)
D3 Sing for your English (Sharon Duff and Carmel Davies)
5. 23rd National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference 'No Frills'
Register now for the National VET Research Conference, co-hosted with Holmesglen, 9 -11 July in Melbourne. Keynote addresses by:
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Steve Sargent, President and CEO of GE Mining, and Coordinating Chair of the B20 Human Capital Taskforce.
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Mark Burford, Executive Director, Mitchell Institute for Health and Education Policy, Victoria University.
Fine Print
6. Edition 2
Coming soon: Edition # 2 will focus on aspects of learning - lifelong and life wide, formal and informal, visual and multimodal. Featured articles from Allie Clemans, Barry Golding, and from Canada, Susan M. Holloway, will engage and inspire readers.
Do you have feedback on any of the articles in Edition #1? We would love to hear from you.
7. Fine Print Archive
See past editions of Fine Print.
Resources
8. Lesson ideas
VALBEC is observing 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming, as well as celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family and offering some related lesson materials and ideas.
In the sixth of the series, committee member John Radalj has discovered a practically relevant series of free youtube videos on Maths in Real Life: Farming and food: What it means to be a farmer.
See John's ideas and those from previous months.
9. Productivity Commission paper - adult literacy and numeracy skills and labour market outcomes
The Productivity Commission released a paper that profiles the literacy and numeracy skills of Australia's adult population and assesses how important they are for two labour market outcomes - employment and wages.
Research for Australia has found that having better literacy and numeracy skills increases the likelihood of positive labour market outcomes. This paper profiles the literacy and numeracy skills of Australia's adult population and assesses how important they are for two labour market outcomes – employment and wages.