flairandsquare.com

Yesterday I interviewed one of the teachers at North Coast Institute, TAFE NSW about the current use of technology to engage trainees and industry. Linda Johnston, a Community Pharmacy Teacher and e-Learning Contact for the THRAPS Faculty (Tourism, Hospitality, Retail and Personal Services) was happy to share her experiences with me.

This podcast covers the use of Adobe Connect as ‘Virtual Classrooms’, the use of various Social Networking and collaboration tools, such as wiki’s, blog’s and Facebook to engage trainee’s in industry.

Linda also talks about the mutual benefits to TAFE and Industry and the importance of these tools for life-long learning.

Fight for good design!
Fight for usability!
Fight for a decent looking, user friendly, cool and stylish interface!
Why?

For a better customer experience, a satisfied customer, to be competitive. The next generation is coming (Generation Z) and they are more fashion and design conscious than ever before. Be ready!

What is Social Media? “Social media is an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and “building” of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories, and understandings. ” Wikipedia

Inspiring colleagues

Regan Harding Guest BloggerA couple of things have made me decide to finish this series of challenges. The first being regular gig for Regan Harding as guest blogger on the engageme.net/blog, Regan is one of our team members and her posts have been very inspiring and I would like you all to go visit them… and the second, a link to a very interesting blog that I received by email today;
Using Blogs to Promote Authentic Learning in the Classroom

What a great list of resources! In particular, check out the Student Safety and Responsible Blogging section

Now for Task 4 - Email a Reader

This challenge is about thanking readers that commented on your blog and contributors from way back if you’ve been blogging for a while now. My suggestions would be to do it via a personal email.

Why?

What do you think about blogging in education? Why doesn’t it work for you? Does it work for you? Is it just another thing you need to do? Can you see any benefits yet? I’d like to invite you to comment on this post and start a conversation about it. What are the issues?

Regan Harding shares some of her thought provoking experiences with Youth at Risk and Generation Y students and the treasures within. While Kate Jones had a clear message, there’s no need to recreate the wheel, there are plenty of great media rich resources out there.