1. VALBEC forum

Working with learners experiencing family violence - how to respond and what to do

VALBEC in conjunction with Safe Steps are hosting a forum about how to refer and respond to disclosures of  family violence from  learners and / or participants.

Front of house staff, volunteers, teachers, managers and coordinators are all invited to attend.

Where: Olympic Adult Education, 233 Southern Road, Heidelberg West Map
When: Tuesday 14th November at 4:00 – 6:00 pm
Cost: Members free, Non-members $25.00

2. ACAL Webinar – 'Evidence as a tool for contesting the incontestable assumptions of adult learning policy'

Following the ACAL AGM October 18, 2017

In a political environment where the so called pragmatics of economic policy are used to dismiss any suggestion of alternative purposes for adult learning outside of skills for economic participation, is there any room for an alternative discourse? And if so, on what basis can we argue against the overwhelming imperatives of knowledge for the sake of economic growth?

In this short webinar, John Guenther will draw on research conducted in remote parts of Australia over the last 15 years to suggest ways in which research evidence can and should be used to challenge the often untested assumptions of policy and its strategic priorities. He will argue: 1) that we don't need more data – or even better quality data; 2) that evidence of system failures –or the lack of evidence for success — demands a system response; and 3) that the logic of service delivery frameworks need to be tested and, where they are found to be deficient, challenged. John will draw on his research findings and its utilisation to demonstrate how this can be done, in the context of education, training and adult learning.

Dr John Guenther is the Research Leader Education and Training, with Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education. Over the last 14 years John has conducted research and evaluation projects which have focused on remote contexts, particularly in the Northern Territory of Australia.

3. Fine Print

Fine Print Editor sought

VALBEC and the Fine Print Editorial Committee are seeking an experienced LLN professional with Editing and Journal production skills to apply for the role of Commissioning Editor of Fine Print for 2018.

For more information please see the full statement of the role and responsibilities or email / phone Sarah Deasey (sarahd@cnlc.org.au 0401 765 415) or Linno Rhodes (linno.rhodes@oae.vic.edu.au 0402 673 992).

Fine Print #3

In Fine Print Edition #3, Pauline O'Maley and Tao Bak write about their work as Academic Language and Learning (ALL) specialists in Victoria University's Academic Support and Development (ASD) team. They challenge us to honour our learners' rich and diverse cultural backgrounds and 'to be attuned to responding to the needs of refugee background students in our classes'. They suggest that, 'it is educationally important that we aim to know our students well, and particularly as fully realised individuals rather than as one-dimensional stereotypes'. Make sure you read the rest of this article and consider how you might write a response. 

Send your contributions to info@valbec.org.au

4. Resource Gems - Edpuzzle.com and web.seesaw.me

The internet now allows for a myriad of teaching and learning resources to be shared between LLN practitioners. The wealth of information available to practitioners means that finding quality resources can take time and effort. This year, VALBEC committee members will identify some 'gems' amongst the resources freely available online. Each month, a committee member will share a quality teaching resource to support your classroom teaching and professional practice. These resources may take the form of a blog, an educational podcast, a downloadable teaching resource or a Youtube channel. As always, we are interested to hear what you think. Have you used this resource before? Do you know of similar resources? Send us your feedback or comments to info@valbec.org.au

This month's contribution comes from Ruth Ryan, EAL teacher at Chisholm Institute and curriculum developer for the EAL delivery program.

Edpuzzle.com and why you should start using it in the classroom…yesterday

My 12 year old son had to make a simple game using Scratch software for IT. There were 12 video tutorials within the software showing how to create games – all very basic step-by-step instructions. I watched the first couple and they were dead boring and not terribly clear, but that was part of the assignment – to watch the tutorials before you made your game. I found that out later. My son doesn't read instructions. He went straight to YouTube and searched for 'make a Scratch game', and here's the number of video tutorials available: About 8,650,000. He made a fun game, but failed the assignment because he still hasn't watched the tutorials.

That's a pretty good example of how people are learning to do what they want, when they want, and edpuzzle is the best friend a teacher could have because it gives you the opportunity to harness the billion plus videos across YouTube and pretty much any video publicly available on websites, or you can upload your own, and create a lesson from them. You can crop a video down to whatever size you want, include open questions or multiple choice to check comprehension, add your voice to comment or ask questions, and you can see how they fared by checking and correcting their results, which also shows you how many times the student watched a particular section, and results can be exported to Excel. Students watch the video at their own speed and, potentially, on their own time – anyone thinking 'flipped classroom'?

You can create folders to hold your videos that you are not ready to assign, you can create multiple classes, assigning videos when you are ready, and you can share videos with other teachers by sharing the edpuzzle generated link. That part is all free, but if your institution is prepared to pay, edpuzzle allows you to share unlimited numbers of your prepared videos with other teachers within your institution, and gives you access to gradebook to keep track of your students' progress.

web.seesaw.me – perfect balance in the student portfolio arena

This is my new favourite and it will be yours as well once you start using it. You open a class, import or type in your class list and choose the option for a once only sign in for your students, or you can play around until you find the options that are right for your class. Your students download the app and you give them a live code (it only lasts for 60 minutes), and once they've joined the class by ticking their own name, they can submit all manner of things.

They can take photos and videos in the app which are then automatically added to their portfolio, they can link to websites or their own YouTube, Vimeo or other videos, and they can upload documents. You can take photos or videos, with their permission – or parent/carer permission where necessary, and allocate them to corresponding student folio/s. Parents can also be given access to see what their kids are creating. Once the term/course/year has finished, you have the option of printing a folio for each student.

These two websites with their super simple apps are for the best teacher tech-dummies! Try them out and I promise both you and your students will love them!

Images: edpuzzle image from edpuzzle.com, seesaw image from web.seesaw.me

5. What resources are needed? ....... have your say!

This 5 minute survey is to ascertain what resources people use to support adult literacy learners and where there are gaps in the availability of, or access to resources.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/litconnect

Survey extended to October 9

This survey is for all people who support adults improving their literacy skills, such as teachers, tutors, trainers, volunteers, librarians etc. For the purposes of this survey, literacy skills may include English as an Additional Language (EAL) and numeracy, and hence will be referred to as adult language, literacy and numeracy (adult LLN).

To thank you for your time you can put your name into a draw to win
Prize 1 – Book pack from the State Library of Victoria

Prize 2 - $50 Readings voucher courtesy of City Library of Melbourne

The information collected by this survey will be used by the ‘Adult Literacy Connect’, (a group of Adult LLN teachers and librarians, led by VALBEC - Victorian Adult Literacy and Basic Education Council) to ascertain needs of practitioners and how to address any identified gaps.

Please pass this survey link onto relevant people and encourage everyone to have their say about Adult LLN Resources!

We appreciate your input. 

6. 'Building Strength with Numeracy'

'Building Strength with Numeracy' - practical, tested resources for teachers to use in a range of settings and made accessible online.

Each section of each topic is a PDF allowing immediate downloading, printing and use by teachers and students.

The first six topics are provided as a free download for all numeracy practitioners.

** The topics 'Decimals and 'Measurement' are free to VALBEC members and available for a small charge for non-members.

7. 'A Fuller Sense of Self'

The original book

Six people described why they returned to education and how that decision shaped and changed their lives for the better. Their stories were published in 2011 as ‘A Fuller Sense of Self – a collection of stories told by adult literacy students’. The stories illuminated their lives and learning experiences, describing the challenges they faced, the events that provoked their return to ‘school’, and ultimately how their lives had changed and shifted following that decision.

A Fuller Sense of Self 5 years on – The Digital Stories

Five years on we revisit these students and their stories, to find out where they are now and to discover if and how learning continues to influence their life journey. We tracked down three of our original storytellers – Linda, David and Sue. This time our storytellers kindly and courageously shared their thoughts on camera.

8. 2017 Winners and finalists for the Victorian Training Awards

9. VALBEC Facebook page

'Follow, Like, and Share' VALBEC on Facebook@valbec.org.au