Ultranet Plans

Plans for August 9th.

Looking into the Meeting schedule to deliver information that passwords will need to changed.
Staff will need to register on the IDAM. Maybe this can be done on the same day to avoid wasting time on August 9th.

Jennie interested in putting together a powerpoint.
The staff to be split into 2 groups.
F1 and F2 to be used.
The most important part we felt of the training was letting us play around. We would like to emulate this.
Using the laminated cards to set people on some small simple tasks in the morning.
The treasure hunt task we completed would be good for the afternoon.
Minh should be available for technical problems on the day.

Areas of focus.
The eXpress spaces good for engaging initial contact.
Tasks could include:
Understanding applications.
Changing profile.
Control Panel.
Finding people.
Writing a blog.

Design space
It would be good to find excellent examples to show staff. At the moment this is the most valuable part of the Ultranet.


Beyond August 9th.
No student access until staff have had adequate training.
This is not a race and the DEECD have told use we are to make out own decisions implementing.

eCurriculum Matters Term 2

Seems like there is so much going on this term and I can't quite get in top of it.


Recently we had our Studywiz updated. Apparently it was many versions behind. There is still a few issues we are dealing with.
Studywiz is currently over capacity with the amount of user inputted into it.
My technician is receiving error messages that we have emailed the Studywiz support team.
Staff are finding Activities from past teachers that they cannot delete nor can I.

The ultranet is coming. Unfortunately, I'll refrain from blogging about it until more information has come about. There are many things that may come from this, including extra work for different people.

We have asked the staff to complete ePotential. There is some people who cannot access it.

On the PIC side things are traveling along ok.

2010 - Back into it the swing of it.

The mystery tour was held The Boulevard. The morning consisted of PD. This is a PDF outline of the instructional Model called E5 which it seems the Department is introducing. It reminds me of how we teach VET subjects, such as Multimedia and the photography classes at PIC. The model has 5 Domains: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate. Each Domain then has a set of capabilities then, for progressive level of skill. I found the discussion some what useful as it does seem to be a good way to discuss and describe particular parts of practice.

After lunch, and I must say the food was very good, a few brave souls headed out, onto the golf greens to embarrass themselves for the greater good. Led by our courageous PE teacher Rick, we all preceded to bash the golf balls in every direction. It was good fun, expect for the small amount of sunburn I realized I had later on that evening.

Professional Activities List 2009

Activities List.
The following is a list of other school activities that I have been involved in or attended during the first half of 2009:

PIC Photographic Imaging College Staff Meetings
Hawthorn Secondary College - VET Multimedia Staff Meetings
Removal Of Staff Room, before renovations
S.R.C. End Of Term BBQ
Annual Photographic Camp to the Otways
Student counseling
VET Report writing
Excursions to NGV
PIC Sound and Image Night
Alfred Brash Sound House Moderation Meetings

The following is a list of activities I have had co-ordinated:

Conducted formalized interviews of applicants to the college
Liaison with S.R.C and planning and production of events.
Assisted in planning and production of off campus workshops.
Helped, plan, prepare and run the annual camp.
Updates and contributions to the college Blog
Updates and contributions to the college Myspace
Updates and contributions to the college website.
Updates and contributions to the college Facebook.
Plan, prepare and ran folio excursions to National Gallery Of Victoria, CCP, Brunswick Street Gallery.
Planned, ran, and kept minutes for the PIC Staff meetings.
Kept minutes for the Hawthorn Secondary VET Multimedia Staff Meetings.
Production of college promotion, publicity, exhibition, of the Sound and Image Night
Updated and maintained information and records on College Database

HSC's Digital Take Off

VITTA Slide To Open

I was recently asked to attend the VITTA's (Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association) to sit in a product council for one of the peices of technology that we use at the HSC. Unfortunately, I signed a Non Disclosure Agreement so I can't talk about the product too much but I can talk about the conference! Most of the booths at the conference I was familiar with. Studywiz and Smarthboard, both had stands. I didn't really see anything of interest for HSC. Now, this doesn't disappoint me, just makes me realize more that the technologies in place are excellent, and the skills of all the stand using the technology needs to be updated and maintained regularly. In saying this I think Hawthorn has made significant leaps and bounds to implement PD strategies, ie The Introduction of more Interactive Whiteboards and the focused introductions to Studywiz.

A primary school in a growing suburb on the outskirts of a major Australian capital city decided to install interactive whiteboards in all teaching rooms. Within several months all teachers were using the technology. In fact, so rapid was the surge in teachers acceptance that the term 'digital take-off' was coined. - "Leading a digital school." Mal Lee and Michael Gaffney

I think HSC is in a bit of a 'digital take-off.' Most staff members I have approached have been trying to or using the technologies we have implemented into the school. To reiterate the point, with the Ultranet coming to Victorian schools in 2010, directed eCurriculum PD in the new year is a must.

Guzzle It 2 - 2009

I was recently involved in organizing a small annual exhibition of photography at The Workshop Bar, Melbourne. The show is organized by students and staff and precedes the major end of year exhibition. It gives the students who are more passionate and involved to present work and be presented alongside their mentors. The show ran for two weeks and there were many positive responses.

Sept 7th - Quality Indicators Workshop.

Background and context
QI is a compliance issue. It must be done.
Assist RTO's to collect and use data.
1st July and Learner Engagement and Employer Satisfaction Quality Indicators based on 2009 Activity. REGISTERING BODY REPORT.

Continuous Improvement
Why do we need continuous Improvement?
It is important because it keeps the course relevant and current. Feedback from clients helps answer the questions are we doing the job properly. To comply with the AQTF standards.
Ongoing cyclical process for improvement.
Making small improvements in processes based on evidence. Focusses on on outcomes rather than processes.

Continuous improvement cycle.
Planning Continuous Improvement > Selecting Learners to Survey > Using the Learner Questionnaire > Administering the Survey > Analyzing Data > Improving Training > Review Results >

Everyone should know what it's about and how it informs out continuous improvement.

Data
The types of data collected are:
Surveys - QI, Clients and Staff.
Enrollments and Completion
Employment outcomes
Complaints
Finances

Everyone should be involved in these processes.

Surveys and SMART Software
Learner Questionnaire - The first page is mandated.
The second page is demographic data that does not need to be collected.

Employer Questionnaire

ACER Smart Resources
http://www.acer.edu.au/aqtf/improvement.html
Email ACER for relevant password.

The ACER online system has the capacity to create online links for students and employees to complete surveys.

Analyzing the QI
What key questions should be 'asked" of the data?

Who should be involved in the analysis of the report? All staff.
How often will the analysis be done. Once a year at least for 222
What results or issues are you expecting to find from the analysis? Where learners are dissatisfied with their learning.
What are the key training questions we want to answer ffrom the analysis of this data? What areas specifically need to be improved.

Reading the data.
How do our learners and employers rate our training?
How well do we rate compared with our 'like' competitors?
Are there any scale that rate poorly?
Are these results what we expected?
What other data can inform the issues raised by the surveys?
What can we do to improve out service based upon the survey results?
How could this analysis inform our long term strategic planning?


Improvement Strategy

PIC Planning Issues and Choices
Using the the ACER software we can email or provide a link to students to complete survey.
We would need to have at least two groups. 1st Year and 2nd Year.
We can also have a employer surveys.
This would be best used for testing the process because the data is not compulsory yet.
This data only needs to be collected once a year.
The data needs to be collected this year and used by the 1st July 2010 as a compulsory activity implemented by the AQTF.
Currently we have a X amount of hand written surveys by students.
Not all students have completed but we have more then majority so this data will be fine.
This will need to manually entered into the SMART software and a report produced and sent off to AQTF.
VET Multimedia will also be surveyed for this year. Different groups should be used.