Thank you to the Victorian Department of Educations’ Virtual Conference Centre for passing on the following free professional learning opportunities for all Victorian teachers (irrespective of type of school – government, independent and Catholic are all welcome).

There are some exciting professional learning opportunities coming up in the Virtual Conference Centre in the coming weeks:

· Tech-Talk Tuesdays: Using Images Online

· Gaming and Social Networks in Education

· Tech-Talk Tuesdays: Learning Adventures

· Connecting Kids and Culture: The Floating World Project

· Professional Development for SRC (Student Representative Council) Teachers

· Becoming Asia Literate Grants to Schools Briefing

· Monthly ESL Matters: Out of school hours opportunities for ESL students

Most of these do not even require you to sign up. Full details of these sessions are below.

Further information about upcoming events can be found on the Virtual Conference Centre calendar at: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/researchinnovation/virtualconferencecentre/program

Tech-Talk Tuesdays: Using Images Online

WHEN: Tuesday, April 20, 2010, 3:45 – 4:45pm

PRESENTER(S): Online participants general discussion

SUMMARY: Are you an educator who is interested in integrating ICT into your lessons? Do you hear about the exciting learning opportunities that technology offers to students, but want to find out more from others before you dive in head first? Then Tech-Talk Tuesdays are for you! Resizing images is important for online use e.g. emails, blogs, wikis and other web2.0 based programs. This will be a sharing session amongst participants on some free tools to use, appropriate sizes to work and different ways of displaying them online e.g. slideshows, Flickr etc. Bring your ideas along and share or if new to online publishing, come along with your questions.

SESSION LINK: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2007026&password=M.4A3A8EB8D5FEAC01D361317AAB4923

Gaming and Social Networks in Education

WHEN: Thursday, April 22, 2010, 4 – 5pm

PRESENTER(S): Adrian Camm – Adrian is Head of Mathematics at McGuire College. His pioneering use of current and emerging technologies is impacting positively on student engagement and learning outcomes across the state of Victoria and beyond. Adrian was awarded two awards at the 2009 Australian Awards for Teaching Excellence. He was awarded Best National Achievement – The Ministers Award for Excellence in ICT and also the Highly Commended Excellence by a Teacher award.

SUMMARY: In the global, networked environments of the 21st Century, we are seeing a growing divide between how students learn and the curriculum that is being offered in most schools. Come and see how gaming can be used as a vehicle for learning and how social networks are enabling conversations that can highlight the tentative nature of scientific inquiry and the need for collaborative, critical thinking.

SESSION LINK: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.F77B2A1C837A1623640D8BA2B01EFE

Tech-Talk Tuesdays: Learning Adventures

WHEN: Tuesday, April 27, 2010, 3:45 – 4:45pm

PRESENTER(S): Adrian Camm and Anne Mirtschin

SUMMARY: Are you an educator who is interested in integrating ICT into your lessons? Do you hear about the exciting learning opportunities that technology offers to students, but want to find out more from others before you dive in head first? Then Tech-Talk Tuesdays are for you! In order to model a more constructivist educational setting, Gary Stager coined the term ‘learning adventures’ to replace ‘assignment’ in describing classroom activity. He argues that this simple rhetorical shift has a profound impact on teachers spirit and effectiveness in teaching. In this session, Adrian Camm from McGuire College will focus on the participation in learning adventures that are deep, rich, have inherent cross-curricular opportunities and can be used in your own classroom.
SESSION LINK: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.AD73E31E227D8087B58F321FE57CC1

Connecting Kids and Culture: The Floating World Project

WHEN: Tuesday, April 27, 2010, 4 – 5pm

PRESENTER(S): Jean-Pierre Chabrol and Craig Smith

SUMMARY: Introducing the Pictures of the Floating World – an exciting new online resource for teachers and students to explore Japanese art, music, animation and story telling. Presented by Jean-Pierre Chabrol (National Gallery of Victoria) and Craig Smith (INP Division), Pictures of the Floating World was developed with 20 Victorian schools, who used the resources in learning areas such as primary and middle years literacy and narrative/storytelling, Japanese LOTE, Art, Visual Communication and Design, Dance, Photography, Drama, SOSE, ICT (including animation and digital storytelling), Japanese history and culture. Come and hear Jean-Pierre and Craig share some of the stories behind the development of the resources and its positive impacts on teaching and learning outcomes.
SESSION LINK: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.4A3AA147C67874D4BDBA492D2CFC49

Professional Development for SRC (Student Representative Council) Teachers

WHEN: Tuesday, April 27, 2010, 6 – 8pm

PRESENTER(S): Scott Duncan and David Mould

SUMMARY: VISTA is the Victorian Institute of SRC Teacher Advisors. It is the professional association for both primary and secondary teachers working across all sectors (government, catholic and non-government schools) who are responsible for working with student councils. As the SRC Teacher Advisor, is your pigeon hole becoming the dumping ground for every organisation that wants you school to sell something, raise money for something or hold another “day” for them? Join us as we explore why SRC’s need to fundraise, how to manage your money, what to do with it when you get it and new ways you can earn your SRC some cash.
SIGN UP LINK: http://eventactions.com/ea.aspx?ea=Rsvp&invite=0sd8m278cr2zvmk7ab29ps057r3tj0fdes4m2e51nfn1d6t5h61a

Becoming Asia Literate Grants to Schools Briefing

WHEN: Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 4 – 5pm

PRESENTER(S): Lindy Stirling and Jessie Mitchell

SUMMARY: The National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Project (NALSSP) opens the second round of Becoming Asia Literate Grants to Schools online on 4 May 2010.
The grants are between $20,000 and $40,000 for individual schools or a cluster of up to 5 schools. The grants are to support the Studies and Languages of China, Indonesia, Korea and Japan. Last year the application process was very competitive, so a briefing on Elluminate is being offered to all teachers who wish to learn more about the process and maximise their application’s potential for success.
SESSION LINK: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.73230EB4B374C96CBD88E82C887828

Monthly ESL Matters: Out of school hours opportunities for ESL students

WHEN: Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 4 – 5pm

PRESENTER(S): Anita Calore and Robyn Tribe

SUMMARY: The Monthly ESL Matters series offers practical advice for supporting ESL students in your class. Each month will have a particular focus with expert ESL teacher input with tips and sharing of ESL learning and teaching strategies. This session will focus on out of school hours opportunities for ESL students. DEECD has a partnership with The Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY) to coordinate Learning beyond the bell. There are 20 programs funded in locations with high numbers of refugee students. How can you set up a program in your school or improve an existing program? CMY can assist with training, ideas and resources.

SESSION LINK: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2007026&password=M.295E4AAC429702A6E6F55AC242C7DB

No username or password necessary, just click on the relevant session link no earlier than 30 minutes before the scheduled session.