Cecile Bower and George Dragovic with the worlds biggest computer
A while back a team at CLI in partnership with OTEN and TAFE teachers from SWSI carried out an ‘action learning’ project on using mediawiki to create a briki, a wikipedia-like site for Building and Construction teachers. It was hosted on wikieducator.org and as such was an open site with creative commons by share alike attribution. We built it with some seed contributions from 2 Building and Construction teachers. We built it, and although they said they would come, they didn’t!
Anecdotal research (ringing them up and asking them) revealed amongst other things that being on an open public site was a deterrent to sharing content (also a lack of computers, internet connection speed, available time and skill, and fear of other competitors internal and external taking advantage of the content).
We are now taking one tiny step back but hopefully then two steps forward by migrating the briki to an open TAFE NSW branded Resource Wiki hosted by Illawarra Institute. This time we will further populate the Briki with links to relevant resources including TAFE NSW resources for which users will need a DET log on. I welcome any resource suggestions.
I am working with Steven Parker from the Illawarra Teaching and Learning Initiatives, George Dragovic, Head teacher, Building and Construction, North Wollongong campus and two head teachers from Hunter and New England.
We met last Tuesday at the Illawarra Teaching and Learning Initiatives at North Wollongong campus to discuss:
- George using Moodle for his Building and Construction students–George is looking for a random generator of quiz questions from a back end database (Paul Wray at CLI has developed one for welding and hopes to create more for other vocational areas. .
- Resources George would be happy to share on the briki–over the years George and his teachers have refined several booklets for various units published as pdfs. he sends out each reiteration of these booklets to all Building and Construction faculties around the state with the proviso that they will not be supplied with the next edition unless they provide him of a critique of current one. Quality is very important to George, more of that later.
- Resources George would like from the Illawarra Teaching and Learning Initiatives and possibly from us at CLI–I told George about CLI’s new TAFE engagement model and he was very interested to know how he could put his hand up for
- high quality production of short demo videos.
- capability building for his teachers to think before they point a camera when they make their own videos. I told him about Capture (could not find it when searching the LRR under that title). I think George will use the same model with his teacher generated videos as he has with his booklets, carrying out reiterations each year until they cant get any better!
- How the briki could integrate with his moodle courses.
After our meeting we went to George’s building workshop, a large hangar-like space set up for a brick-laying course. George is an inspiring teacher and leader. Currently his Building and Construction students, along with students from electronics, sign painting, carpentry, welding and many more are building a large computer. Harvey Norman has provided a large plasma screen. The keys are cut down from bricks – that gives you a sense of the size of the keyboard. Each key will be connected to a switch and all will be connected to a laptop/motherboard/ that make it a real computer. It will get lots of publicity for the campus and each key will be sponsored by a local business! In the past George, his teachers and Wollongong campus students have built a 16 ft replica of a galleon in bricks and a comfy lounge area again in bricks not leather!
Back to Quality: George has a lot of local industry engagement and he wants to make sure if they see any of the faculty’s resources that are quality resources. An interesting perspective in the use-generated world we are moving in. I don’t think he minds if his teachers make demo videos but he wants to make sure they know what they are doing before they do.
With Steven Parker’s help I am currently migrating the Briki content to the new site. Have a look but http://openwiki.illawarra.det.win/wiki/index.php?title=Category:CPC_-_Construction,_Plumbing_and_Services Keep in mind that we are having a few and very fixable problems with the layout. Early days.
