eLearning Workshops

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A Skilled eLearning Mentor, Facilitator and Digital Expatriate

Heather Blakey is a skilled facilitator who manages Global Teacher, Global Student, a Victorian Education Department blogging environment.

Heather Blakey, a former secondary school teacher, with over thirty five years of teaching experience in both primary and secondary schools, has been living and working within a digital communication landscape for over ten years. Heather has facilitated ICT professional development for students and teachers since the late 1990’s and has effectively addressed a wide range of online safety issues throughout this period.

Heather, who built and manages the world recognized Soul Food Cafe, a vibrant online community,believes that it is essential to keep abreast of current communication trends and emerging issues within the digital landscape.

For the past two and a half years she has been at the forefront of Education in Victoria, delivering the concept of team blogging to the educational sector, under the direction of the Victorian Education Department and SLAV (State Library Association of Victoria). She has been using programs like Blogger, WordPress and Squidoo to provide online mentoring, build niche communities and provide support for people from all walks of life.

For many years Heather has been working in to raise awareness of the potential of Web 2.0 tools. In 2007 she designed comprehensive Web 2.0 Calendar to encourage staff and students to experiment and learn about the new and emerging technologies that are reshaping the context of information on the Internet today. The objective of this program was to encourage exploration of Web 2.0 and new technologies and to provide staff with new tools that will engage students and develop literacy skills. Those who have worked through this calendar have become familiar with blogging in particular, and have learned important lessons about digital citizenship.

Heather currently manages a number of innovative curriculum projects, including projects with VITTA, which demonstrate how teachers can safely apply a wide range of web tools within their curriculum delivery.

Heather is a member of a number of projects like the Second Classroom. The Second Classroom is a project to explore ways in which educators can create projects for students using immersive media such as Second Life, MMOPRG and social networks. Second Classroom blends Web 2.0 technologies, including, blogs, wiki's and 'virtual worlds' for collaborative learning of both teachers and students.

Heather actively supports steps being taken to provide a common place to learn and share ideas. She believes that educators can leverage the power of new media to engage students and provide opportunities that might otherwise not exist.

Become an Expatriate 

Live in the Digital World Students Inhabit

Heather Blakey helps pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary staff who, without just a little support, might be sorely tempted to take a chain saw to their P.C. She helps teachers gain confidence in the digital landscape their students are so familiar with. By the time she has done a makeover with staff their students will barely recognize them and the school yard will be abuzz with excitement.

Heather begins by helping teachers create an account with Twitter. This enables staff to participate, within a cluster of like minded teachers, who will act as a support group and help solve problems.

The benefit of using a service like Twitter, which is like a free messaging facility, is that teachers can benefit from the exchange of information and resources.

An Intensive 

Three Sessions That Will Fully Equip Staff Wanting To Blog

Imagine this... your students work collaboratively on an essay using Google Documents. Then they publish this essay on a blog and fellow students from your school, interstate and internationally, respond, enriching the discussion and contributing additional resources and ideas.

Blogging has grown in popularity as the use of the internet explodes. Our students use this technology for communication. learning and fun every day, and it's now second nature for them. Perhaps more importantly, this is how industry is using the array of Web 2.0 tools that we are now presented with.

Blogging is being used by many innovative teachers to engage with students and enhance their learning

These sessions have been specifically designed, for teachers across the curriculum, to help them engage with student and provide learning experiences that they will be able to take out in to industry with them.

This program will run over three sessions on three different days.

Session Descriptions

1. Basic Blogging Tutorial

Heather Blakey has been a Secondary teacher for thirty years teaching VCE English, Humanities and junior level English and SOSE. She became interested in the use of ITC in the late nineties, reinvented herself and is the webmistress of the internationally recognized Soul Food Cafe a 'quirky', interactive resource for artists and writers from around the world. In this session Heather takes staff on a guided tour of impressive blogs and will have them actually blogging within two short hours. Participants are provided with a printed tutorial to support their learning.

2. Blogging Content

Heather Blakey will work with teachers to examine their curriculum content and provide innovative web applications. She encourages staff to bring along samples of units that they are working on and will offer spontaneous advice and provide actual blogging activities which demonstrate the potentiality of this medium.

3. Practical Applications

Experienced staff who are working with blogs will demonstrate practical applications from their schools. This will be a hands on session, where Heather Blakey works with these staff to ensure that participants actually publish online and are introduced to other programs which they can use with their students.

Cost $400 per two hour session. No more than 15 participants

The Magic Garden Package 

a template upon which to develop engaging curriculum

The Magic Garden is a Web 2.0 project designed to show educators and their students how good curriculum can be delivered and the outcomes published, using new technology such as blogs, writeboard, photo board and many other exciting applications.

Cora Zon, a professional storyteller and Heather Blakey, an experienced web publisher and webmaster of the Soul Food Cafe, work collaboratively and demonstrate how educators can marry the ancient craft of storytelling, apply current curriculum and publish using state of the art blogging software. Cora tells the enchanting Kazakha story of the 'The Magic Garden' while Heather Blakey delivers a curriculum package that climaxes with self publication on a constellation of Global Teacher, Global Student blogs. Watch, in wonder, at the way this virtual garden is growing as staff, students and the wider community contribute by responding to the activities within the Magic Garden Project.

The Magic Garden is an example of delivering curriculum in an IT rich, WEB2 environment without discarding tried and true practice.

The $6000 package for schools includes a number of modules:

1. Storytelling session with Cora Zon. Become immersed and hear the story of the Magic Garden as told by a professional story teller.

2. Curriculum Outline that relates to VELS and Progression Points. Provision of creative stimuli that promotes cross curriculum work and engages all members of the school community, including parents and all support staff.

3. Beginner blogging session provided for staff.

4. Extended, one to one assistance, over two terms, to help establish teacher, class and student blogs. These blogs act as containers or digital folios, to store outcomes. Access to the latest freeware technology and inclusion in online support groups.

5. Ongoing coaching, mentoring and online team-teaching during implementation of the curriculum activities. Access to Web 2.0 specialists.

6. Expert support to evaluate, showcase and communicate the outcomes of the program

7. Membership into a fully supported network of innovative teachers. Inclusion in other stimulating, global projects, such as Priscilla Queen of Cyber Space, that will engage students.

8. Publication of outcomes on collaborative blogs such as Global Teacher, Global Student and the Web 2 Telegraph. Publication of work related specifically to the Magic Garden project on a collaborative Magic Garden blog.

9. Access to comprehensive assessment rubrics.

10. Cyber safety and Digital Citizenship sessions.

11. Quirky Web 2.0 fund raising that engages the whole community.

12 Engagement in VITTA Web Star Challenge

Personal Mentorship 

within two hours individuals or a group of no more than five staff will have

1. Been given a guided tour of key Web 2.0 features at the Soul Food Cafe.
2. Engaged in an activity which can be published on a blog.
3. Established a Twitter account and joined Global Teachers.
4. Created a Global Teacher and Global
Class blog and learned how to drive their new blogs.
5. Learned about safe digital practice and shown how to create blogs with students.
5. Been provided with a tutorial that will assist with the makeover of blogs.
6. Learned how to scan, resize images and add them to a blog
7. Know how to add PDF and Video files
8. Been introduced to social networking systems like Twitter and social bookmarking providers like Stumble Upon.
9. Been taught how to present curriculum in a Squidoo, module based, internet page.
10 Encouraged to publish student outcomes in Squidoo and Blogging environments.
11 Shown immersive media networks like Second Classroom at Ning.
12 Blogged a piece of their own work.

Cost $350 per two hour session.

For School Council Members and Parent Groups 

Heather Blakey, mother of two, is just the person to invite to talk to parents about the digital world their children are living and working in on a daily basis. Heather has a broad range of experience and is able to handle all queries about cyber and mobile phone safety. She will also introduce groups to innovative ways of fund raising in an online setting.

One Hour Presentation $200

A Fund Raiser 

Invite a group of parents to come along for cocktails and nibbles. Then take them to the computer room for a fun online tour. The group will be shown how to Twit and will join a Style Hive, a social group which beats any bus shopping tour you may have planned as a fund raiser.

Cost for Facilitator $300 for two hour session.

Any Questions? 

Lensmaster

Jodhiay wrote...

This does so much to help keep teachers and their students really engaged in learning.

ReplyPosted April 29, 2008

Lensmaster

Anita Marie wrote

Thumbs up and a big hug too!
Your Number 1 fan
anita marie

Reply Posted April 27, 2008

by heatherblakey

Heather Blakey, is the creative mixologist, the artistic midwife and purveyor of creative stimuli who built The Soul Food Cafe from scratch. Heather i... (more)

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