Conference Papers

Thanks to all presenters who contributed to our 2007 conference. Presentations will be added here as they become available.

Some presentations were in the form of PowerPoint and these have been converted to PDF documents. However check the file size before opening or downloading as some are still very large.

Traditional Welcome
Audio file (MP3 2MB)

Keynote: New literacies, new selves
Margaret Somerville, Professor of Education at Monash University Gippsland
Audio file (MP3 16MB)
Powerpoint converted to PDF (4.6MB)
In the process of making (place) literacies with Aboriginal people I have often been the learner, the unknower. For both myself and the people I am working with, we are stitching together a whole out of fragments. We have visited places, told stories, made maps, taken photographs, looked at old photos, listened to songs, language, music and poems. In this process we have stitched these fragments together into a temporary whole, a fragile hope. It is a process in which we are making new literacies and new selves.
In this talk I will explore the elements of self, home, belonging, place, language and story, in one of these productions, and how new digital technologies facilitate the process of making new literacies and new selves.

Margaret Somerville is Professor of Education (Learning and Development) at Monash University Gippsland. After raising four children, she began her academic career with teaching Aboriginal adults returning to education in northern NSW. Margaret has always been interested in questioning academic knowledge and writing. Two of her four books, 'Ingelba and the Five Black Matriarchs', and The Sun Dancin’, were published with Aboriginal co-authors. 'Body/landscape journals' and 'Wildflowering: the life and places of Kathleen McArthur' continue her exploration of experimental writing and alternative knowledges. More recently this experimentation has led her into digital technologies using visual and aural forms. Place literacy is a major research focus. She believes that new technologies radically challenge our understanding of basic print literacy in ways that value the alternative and tacit knowledges that underpin our human desire to communicate with each other.

A2 Square Pegs: Why ACE is working in VCAL where others have tried (and failed)
Food for thought (PDF 30KB)
What is performance? (PDF 670KB)
Louisa Vale, Bright Adult Education,
As VCAL continues to expand across Victoria, ACE providers are becoming key players in community delivery. What is the Community VCAL model? Why does it work and what are the outcomes?

A4 Science Alive
PowerPoint converted to PDF (700KB)
Maria Santburn, CAE; Jo Ross, Holmesglen TAFE; Felicity Woodward, BRIT
Very much a living literacy, Science may be described as a dialogue with nature and the world. Join the fun, discuss the curriculum, do some hands on activities and get some handouts to involve you with science in the classroom and our community. Three teachers, who have worked with Science for adults, will look at the how, what, when, where and why of engaging with the new CGEA Science Units. The session will look at an outline of the units, possible excursions and links to useful websites.

A6 Please switch your mobile phones ON in the classroom!
Audio file (MP3 30MB)
Presentation (PowerPoint 200KB)
SMS Glossary PDF 40KB)
Debbie Soccio, Victoria University
 In a recent survey of over 1,000 students (2006) at Victoria University, it was found that 98% of students had a mobile phone. This new technology is relatively affordable and easy-to-use technology that we all have access to. Have you considered how you could use this with your class?
The session will outline some of the research that surrounds the use of mobile phones for educational purposes. It will present some of the data gathered concerning the pedagogical theories (and hopes) surrounding the use of SMS and mobile phone technologies.
Further, the session will aim to increase your knowledge about SMS delivery possibilities and give you some quick and easy ways you can use mobile phones in your classrooms... and if you have ways you are using them, bring them along to share!

B4 Certificate I in Vocational Preparation
PowerPoint converted to PDF (3.2MB)
Anna Morton, University of Ballarat
Showcasing a program first implemented in 2006 targeted at 45+ or single parents eligible for support under the TAFE Pathways Program.
The Certificate I in Vocational Preparation course was used to deliver a program designed to equip participants with skills required for future work or further study. To do this both online and traditional practices were used via a WebCT shell. Students completed practical placement, an employability skills portfolio and many vocational skills such as first aid, basic food handling and other work readiness skills. Particular emphasis was also given to personal development skills.

B6 Thinking beyond numbers: Numeracy for the future workplace
Audio file (MP3 24MB)
PowerPoint converted to PDF (600KB)
Jan Hagston, Swinburne University of Technology - TAFE, Beth Marr
This session will report on the finding of a NCVER funded research project that was undertaken last year. The research sought to build knowledge about how numeracy is conceptualised in workplaces, and the relevance of industry's definitions and concepts to current and future needs. It also examined how workers acquired workplace numeracy skills and considered how best to support workers to enhance their numeracy skills in the workplace. The research looked at three different worksites in different industries the numeracy skills used by a group of workers, how they acquired those skills, their general feelings‚ about numeracy and how they preferred to learn numeracy. The research also looked at the type of numeracy skills managers and key stakeholders wanted workers to be able to perform both now and in the future.

C2 Setting the Scene: investigating learning outcomes in ACE
Audio file (MP3 24MB)
PowerPoint converted to PDF (700KB)
Anne Walstab and Veronica Volkoff, The University of Melbourne; Cheryl Wilkinson, ACFE
This seminar will present the findings from the three-year ACE Longitudinal Study. Commissioned by the ACFE Board, the project has measured the ACE sector’s impact, effectiveness and community reach, by addressing the following questions:
• does ACE make a difference (and, if so, how do we know?)
• for whom does ACE make a difference?
• what is it about ACE that makes a difference?
A substantial cohort of participants were tracked from their initial ACE study in 2004, in order to identify patterns of participation in study and work, identify long-term outcomes and benefits of participation in ACE.
It will also draws upon investigative background research undertaken in 2006 by the University of Melbourne to inform the ACFE Board in setting priorities around research and curriculum to gain improved learning outcomes. This study examines the broader context and ACE research conducted in Victoria and Australia from 2000 to 2006.

C3 Virtual Worlds for VCAL students
Audio file (WAV 13MB)
PowerPoint converted to PDF (3.2MB)
Glenda McPherson, GippsTAFE, Tracey Taylor
In 2006 GippsTAFE undertook a 'New Practices' project investigating Virtual Worlds as learning tools. VCAL students in Warragul completed their 'Work Related Skills' unit by 'becoming' the staff at a Holiday Resort they built in the Virtual World called Second Life. The project culminated in 'tourists' from across Victoria, Australia and oversees visiting the Resort and undertaking activities coordinated and managed by the 'staff' - the Warragul VCAL students. Come and hear about our amazing adventure!

C4 Finding the Threads - a story telling project with retrenched textile workers
Audio file (MP3 14MB)
PowerPoint converted to PDF (2.2MB)
Maree Keating, Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia, Tricia Bowen, and possibly (depending on shift work) a retrenched worker participating in the project
In October 2005 the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union started a twelve month program of post retrenchment support to a group of 165 retrenched Textile workers from Feltex Carpets in Braybrook. From this practical program of training, re-skilling and Employment support and advocacy with 165 workers, a unique story telling project emerged, funded by a local council, and culminating in an exquisite book of stories and photos as well as a moving exhibition of workers' own photographs. Maree and Tricia tell the story of this project, the broad based learning approach adopted, and some ways of using the resources that came from it in language and literacy programs.
Article in 'The Age', Saturday, March 31 (PDF 490KB)

The Power of Story: A keynote by Arnold Zable
Audio file (WAV 13MB)
Stories are singular. Stories defy prejudice. Stories humanise and provide a voice to the voiceless. As such they have an important role to play in the teaching of language and literacy. At the heart of story telling lies the art of listening. If the listener is patient, she will allow the teller to find his voice. The listener comes to understand that it is not only the story, but the way it is told that defines its uniqueness. The relationship between teacher and student, between the listener and the teller is, ideally, a two way process. Both are enriched. Doors to new worlds and new understandings are prised open. I will draw on a range of examples that come from years of listening to the tales of refugees and immigrants that illustrate the power of stories, and the light they shed on the teaching of language and the immigrant experience.

DIY Housing CGEA Literacy Resource
Winner of the Innovation in ACE Learning Award for 2006  DIY Housing is now available.
 The resource, details presented at 2006 VALBEC Conference, is a teacher friendly resource relevant to the new Certificates in General Education for Adults.
More details