Started a Blog I mean! I have though about it on and off for ages and thanks to Sue Waters (and her original Mobile Technology in TAFE wiki) I actually know the difference between a blog and a wiki.

My main problem with starting this was what to write about. I didn’t think I could split myself in two the way Sue does and manage two separate blogs (Mobile Technology in TAFE and The Edublogger) with their associated sibling rivalry! So I decided to write about everything in one place and as my focus is “E-stuff” of all sorts E-verything seemed to fit the bill.

I am an educator in Western Australia currently lecturing in the Vocational Education and Training sector in a TAFE College (currently CY O’Connor) based in the WA Wheatbelt region. The Wheatbelt is a very large sparsely populated area so e-learning is becoming more and more important in providing learning opportunities for the people who live there. Many of our students are geographically isolated and often also socially isolated from their peer group on the same course. Mobile phone coverage is poor as is access to broadband. Thus we have an increasing focus on online learning (synchronous and asysnchronous) but with the requirement that we also keep it a simple as possible.

As well as my usual lecturing (mainly literacy/numeracy but also some IT and Business at low levels) I have also been fulfilling a professional development role in training and mentoring colleagues in their uptake of e-learning tools and strategies for delivery and assessment. This has included facilitating several Australian Flexible Learning Framework funded projects over the last two years.

Here you will find my thoughts (if and when I can organise myself to post them) about using various e-tools and strategies in learning contexts – including the trials and tribulations of getting my head around new applications for me (eg Flash).