Posted on March 13, 2015 by johart1

ALaN WA Newsletter – March 2015

Welcome to edition 17 of the Adult Literacy and Numeracy Network of Western Australia Newsletter!

Views expressed by contributors to the newsletter are their own and, unless expressly stated, do not reflect the opinions of their employers/organisations.

This contents page links individually to each article enabling you to go immediately to those of your choice. Alternatively, if you go to the main blog link, you can access the articles by scrolling down the page.

We welcome your comments and contributions to our newsletter. If you are an Adult Literacy/Numeracy practitioner in Western Australia or indeed, anywhere in the world, we invite you to subscribe and comment. If you are interested in joining the GoogleGroup for our network, please visit our “How to join” page and complete the online form.

Contents

1. A look at the updated CGEA Implementation Guide

2. This year’s WA Adult Literacy Council (WAALC) Conference

3. A new social media Community of Practice for LLN (Foundation Skills) Practitioners

4. Professional learning coming up in WA

5. Conferences in the next few months

Posted on March 13, 2015 by johart1

Updated Implementation Guide for CGEA

The latest Certificates in General Education for Adults (CGEA) curriculum was accredited in 2013 and a free Implementation Guide is now available.

I found the new guide to be quite an improvement on the previous version. The focus is mainly on showing users how to integrate units in various ways so students get the chance to use authentic texts. Case studies are used to demonstrate what the writers mean by this.

I liked the Case Study that showed how a class organised a fund raiser morning tea as an official part of the Cancer Council’s Australia’s Biggest Morning tea.

This offered a reasonably simple class activity that could provide assessment opportunities for a number of units.

Case study 3 is based on assessment activities for the Initial CGEA course based around the local library. The writers used this activity to show how to record the integrated mapping of four units focusing on Reading and Numeracy. There is also a recording sheet to allow evidence to be captured while watching a student interact with online information. You will need to do some adaptation as the online resources suggested are Victorian. This year’s WAALC conference will have a session on how Western Australian libraries are now accessible 24/7 which will offer ideas on how to adapt the activity for higher level students.

I will be using the new Guide in this year’s Introduction to the CGEA Part 1 workshops for teachers new to CGEA. But even if you are a more experienced user of the CGEA courses, you might want a quick browse through this Guide to see what it has to offer you.

Cheryl Wiltshire
Department of Training and Workforce Development

Posted on March 13, 2015 by johart1

This year’s WA Adult Literacy Council (WAALC) Conference – preview

Our very own WAALC Conference is coming up in April. It is definitely time to register for this great WA event. Keynotes from:

Donna Carr who is working with Murdoch’s Aspirations and Pathways for University (MAP4U) with young people in the Rockingham, Kwinana and Peel regions
Michelle Circelli, Research Management Branch, NCVER and the 2013 Fulbright Professional Scholar in Vocational Education and Training

Lots of exciting sessions with practitioners from around the state and elsewhere – some key words and ideas from session descriptors in the Wordle wordcloud below will give you a “feel” for the conference

For the program and detailed session information visit the Program Overview and register online or download a form from the Registration Page

Posted on March 13, 2015 by johart1

A new social media Community of Practice for LLN/Foundation Skills) Practitioners

As some of you will know I am involved as a Foundation Skills Champion with the National Foundation Skills Strategy Project. Our small Community of Practice made up of the Champions is working to extend our network to ALL Foundation Skills (LLN/Employability Skills) practitioners throughout Australia, so that we form a National Network (Community of Practice). This will give us wider opportunities to connect and share and a greater voice to participate in discussion. One of the strategies we are adopting is the use of social media for online networking. We are initially using Facebook and also Twitter.

PLEASE JOIN US – the more people who join and participate the more vibrant and sustainable our network will be!

Through Facebook and Twitter we can:

Use posts and comments to discuss ideas and issues in Foundation Skills delivery
Seek feedback and reflect on activities
Share and find resources, links and information about Foundation Skills
Ask those “just-in-time” questions when we need help with ideas, activities, resources
Have real time discussions (using Twitter chats) on “hot topics” that can be archived for later access
Gain the experience to meet our students on their own “home” e-ground

If you are already on Facebook then visit and join the FS Teach Group: or type http://bit.ly/FSTeachGroup

If you are already on Twitter then follow me @JoHart and tweet me with the #tag #FSTeach

If you are not yet on Facebook and/or Twitter visit Online social networks for PD and networking or type http://bit.ly/SocNetForPD for info on signing up to either or both and getting started.

Please also download our “Building on our Foundations” flyer and share with colleagues to encourage them to join.

Hope to “see” you on Facebook and Twitter very soon. 🙂

Posted on March 13, 2015 by johart1

Professional Learning coming up in WA

Introduction to CGEA Part 1 workshop delayed

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the 11th March workshop, Introduction to CGEA Part 1 , is delayed. The Semester 1 workshop will now be Wednesday 6th May 2015. Semester 2 is still on Wednesday 12th August. More details and registration through the DTWD website.

Tracks to Two-Way Learning Induction

On Thursday 9 April and Friday 10 April 2015 at Statewide Services Resource and information Centre, 33 Giles Avenue, Padbury. This course is “An introduction to leading professional learning in Aboriginal English and Two-Way bidialectal education.” It is “relevant for educators working in all phases of schooling and training, including VET language and literacy teachers; and of benefit to people working in other systems and sectors who deal with Aboriginal clients.” The flyer has more details and the registration form

Teach Me Grammar 2015

A new program for Teach Me Grammar will start in July. If you are interested in Teach Me Grammar visit Teach Me Grammar Program 2015 to get more information and the application form.

Posted on March 13, 2015 by johart1

Conferences in the next few months

NEXT WEEK Australian Workplace Practitioners’ Network (AWPN) Conference 2015 Refresh, Rebrand, Re-engage: Foundation Skills at Work to be held 18-20 March 2015

WA Adult Literacy Council 2015 State Conference at Central Institute of Technology on 16th and 17th April, 2015. The conference is titled Great Expectations: literacy, the individual and the economy.

The 25^th biennial conference Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT) will be held 6–8 July 2015 in Adelaide, SA. The theme is “Mathematics: Learn, Lead, Link”

ACER Research Conference 2015 – Learning assessments: Designing the future. 16-18 August, Crown, Southbank, Melbourne
A conference to connect teachers, education leaders and policy makers with the latest assessment research to inform teaching and learning.

ACAL National conference 2015 – Resilience, Risk, Preservation – held held at the Adelaide Zoo in Adelaide on 24th and 25th September 2015.

Posted on February 10, 2015 by johart1

ALaN WA Newsletter – February 2015

Welcome to edition 16 of the Adult Literacy and Numeracy Network of Western Australia Newsletter!

Views expressed by contributors to the newsletter are their own and, unless expressly stated, do not reflect the opinions of their employers/organisations.

This is our first newsletter for 2015. We hope you all had a great break and we look forward to sharing again this year.

1. Collaborative numeracy program Take 2

2. Professional learning coming up in WA

3. CAVSS local leaders project

4. Digital literacy for “offline” students

5. Conferences in 2015

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Cheryl

Collaborative Numeracy program Take 2

Beth Marr will be returning to Western Australia in late February to start a second set of workshops developing teacher’s skills to apply collaborative learning techniques to adults learning numeracy.

The 2014 pilot program will form the basis for a series of videos. Whether you need to refresh your skills and re-visit the concepts, or start learning about the ideas from scratch, the videos will allow you to do this in your own time and place. Sorry, but 2015 program participants will not get the chance to be in a video!

I would love to hear from anyone who has tried some of the models of activity that Beth taught us last year – you can comment here publicly so the whole world can see if they wish or, if you prefer, in our membership-only ALaN Network Google Group.

More of Beth’s work is available at “Building Strength With Numeracy” on the VALBEC website.

Let me know if you missed out on a place in the program. There are still a couple of spots available.

Cheryl Wiltshire

ALaN Network WA

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Cheryl

Professional learning coming up in WA

Introduction to Certificates in General Education for Adults (CGEA)

This induction program for new CGEA teachers is scheduled on Wednesdays in 2015 (11 March and 12 August).

Teach Me Grammar 2015

A new program for Teach Me Grammar will start in July. If you are interested in Teach Me Grammar, checkout the GoogleGroup or visit Teach Me Grammar Program 2015 to get more information and the application form of the previous program.

Collaborative numeracy: working together to build numeracy skills in adults

Collaborative numeracy: working together to build numeracy skills in adults is a program of professional development for teaching numeracy to adults and young people in vocational training and other adult learning contexts.

Program starts 26th February 2015. Any late applications as soon as possible please. Contact Cheryl.Wiltshire@dtwd.wa.gov.au

Posted on February 10, 2015 by johart1

CAVSS Local Leaders Network Project

This is an ALaN Network project funded by the WA Department of Training and Workforce Development and being carried out by C Y O’Connor Institute.

The aim of the project is to create an online “course” providing information and scenarios for decision making about using CAVSS, promoting greater understanding of the CAVSS Business Rules for all managers.

Two on-line surveys, one for CAVSS managers and one for CAVSS lecturers, have been conducted and responses analysed. Responses to these survey have helped us identify the skills and knowledge that are key to undertaking the CAVSS Manager’s job

The surveys show areas of concern that can be grouped under three main issues:

Expecting that CAVSS will solve every problem
Lack of systematic process to ensure that team-teaching model is set up and then monitored
Failure to understand and value the skills and knowledge profile of the literacy/numeracy teacher.

CAVSS Business Rules that are most difficult to comply with are graphed below. Rule 13, Selecting teachers to deliver CAVSS, being the most difficult.

The surveys show we need to highlight the importance of having the right teacher… not just another vocational lecturer.

The development of the on-line course is well underway and will be trialled before launching. We are creating the course with Articulate Storyline – a rapid e-learning development tool.

With this tool we can create interactive content using quizzes and scenarios as well as a variety of images, video, text and audio.

Lina Zampichelli

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