Tag Archives: professional

Why should I beta-test the new NZCALNE online with Pathways Awarua and ALEC…?

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Screenshot 2017-04-18 09.36.16

What do I get out of it?

Well… it’s a fair question.

Here are some reasons why you might wanna have a look at the new NZCALNE online as a beta-tester. A beta-tester is someone who tries out a brand new product and provides feedback.

  1. One great reason might be that you are actually enrolled anyway and you’re working on one of the first three assessment tasks. We’ll have the rest of the content up and live soon.
  2. Or perhaps you are a manager and you’re looking at professional development options for your staff. Have a look and then get back to us with questions.
  3. Another reason might be because you didn’t like the old NCALNE or Unit Standard 21204 and you want to see if we’ve been able to fix any of the issues. We are locked into the new NZQA unit standards, but we’ve also been able to deal with a lot of what we didn’t like about the old system.
  4. Perhaps you just love either Pathways Awarua or ALEC. Great, we love you too…! Go on… have a play and tell us what you think.
  5. You dislike what others are doing. There is at least one other competitor product to the NZCALNE out there. We’d love to know if ours is better. We think it is.
  6. You want to learn something new. Good for you. This content includes a bunch of new stuff as well as our current thinking on everything else. We’re biased of course, but this is the best work we’ve ever done.
  7. You just love the literacy and numeracy space. Nice one. So do we. It’s great to stay current.

Now get amongst it.

Ring Graeme on 0800-ALEC-1-2 or email assess@alec.ac.nz for more information

 

Beta testers wanted for the new NZCALNE (Voc) with ALEC and Pathways Awarua

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Screenshot 2017-04-18 09.03.42.png

Greetings friends of ALEC and Pathways Awarua…!

We need some people to test the three new Collections we launched for the start of the new NZCALNE (Voc) online.

That means we need people who are happy to have a look through this new content and try it out. And hopefully, give us some feedback.

Steve Jobs never launched a perfect iPhone. And while we’ve proofed the material, we wanted to get it out into cyberspace as fast as possible.

That means there could be a few bugs. Also, if you can provide us with some feedback now, it’s likely that this will help us as we design, write, and launch Collections 4 to 7.

Do I have to be enrolled as a student to test the new NZCALNE (Voc)?

No, you don’t have to be enrolled. Of course, if you are enrolled then that would be even better. Here are the criteria:

  • As long as you’re someone with an interest in this professional development you can test the new Collections and their modules.
  • You need to register on Pathways Awarua as a new tertiary educator if you don’t already have an account.

This means that you might be:

  • A graduate of the older NCALNE or NCALE.
  • A tutor or manager who has an interest in foundation learning including literacy and numeracy.
  • Someone who is looking at this training as an option for staff.

Shortly, we’ll be looking to shift all of our existing ALEC students onto the new NZCALNE (Voc) with this new material.

What if I already know all this stuff but I don’t have the qualification?

We’ll also be launching our Portfolio+ version of the NZCALNE (Voc) which is a hybrid training and credentialing process for experienced tutors who have existing evidence.

If you’re interested in beta-testing this process then let us know as well.

How do I contact you?

Through the usual channels: assess@alec.ac.nz or call Graeme on 0800-ALEC-1-2

Literacy & Numeracy Jobs Wanted: Setting Up LN Job Board

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job-board-shutterstock

Are you looking for staff with literacy and numeracy expertise and credentials?

If you have a literacy and numeracy related job to advertise, I will post it here for free. The same thing applies if you are looking for a contractor or consulting expertise relating to adult literacy and numeracy.

At the moment, I am only interested in jobs offered, not jobs wanted.

This is an experiment… And I’m happy to give it some time and energy thanks to the responses I got the other day (check out the comment section if you’re interested).

For the present time, I’m happy to post any literacy and numeracy related positions, jobs or contract work. I will post positions for literacy and numeracy related work in New Zealand, Australia, for online or remote work, and internationally if I get them.

This includes work where the job is for someone who is a dual professional, e.g. a specialist in some content area other than numeracy and literacy, but who has the skills to embed literacy and numeracy into that content. NCALNE qualified trades trainers and vocational tutors fall into this category.

And of course, I’ll post jobs that are for literacy and numeracy specialists.

Terms and conditions are whatever I feel like at the time and I reserve the right not to publish your company’s job or position if I think it’s dodgy or breaches my sense of ethics or any other rules I make up at any later stage.

Possible ideas for job postings could include any or all of these:

  • Vocational and trade-related training at levels 1 and 2 where literacy and numeracy are embedded.
  • Workplace Literacy (WPL) and numeracy education.
  • Intensive literacy and numeracy (ILN).
  • Adult literacy and numeracy education including professional development and related employment or contract work.
  • Any other foundation learning focused training where literacy and numeracy are required or desired.
  • Any management, support, coordination, or consulting positions where the focus is on supporting tutors or trainers in any of the roles above.

How do I do I get a job posted here?

For the present time, if you want to post a job here you can leave a message in the comment section of this blog post (or any post on my blog), and we’ll work out how to exchange the info.

I’ll probably ask you for the following:

  1. An relevant image that I can upload, e.g. your company logo or branding.
  2. The text for the job advertisement.
  3. An expiry date for the post.
  4. A commitment to answer any questions that people leave on the site regarding the job.
  5. A commitment to come back and comment when or if the position is filled.

I’ll probably just post your text “as is” but I also reserve the right to edit it or make comments as well.

If you think this is useful to someone, particularly someone in management who might not regularly see my blog, please consider sharing this post with them via one of the sharing buttons below. Or just message them with the short link to this page: http://wp.me/p1JmwP-LP

If I get any traction with this I may revisit my idea for some kind of voluntary “opt in” register of LN credentialed professionals who are currently active. Thanks for the support so far.

How to get started on Assessment 2 of the NCALNE (Voc) on Maori Literacy and Numeracy

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Kete

If you’re feeling like you’re having a tough time getting started on Assessment 2 of your NCALNE (Voc) on Maori Literacy and Numeracy there are quite a few resources here on my blog.

Some are feeling a little dated now and are likely to get a refresh over 2015 and moving forward, but for now here’s a plan that you could follow:

  1. Make sure you’re familiar with the latest version of our assessment template. Email us on assess@alec.ac.nz if you need a copy.
  2. Also, all of the content for Assessment 2 is on Pathways Awarua and the instructions are here if you need to register. We have a unique join code we can supply if you haven’t already joined.
  3. Don’t forget that you probably have our ALEC Study Guide and you could skim through the material in Section 2 relating to Maori LN.
  4. Make sure your familiar with the concepts and approaches listed here.
  5. There is video content available on our Youtube channel and my blog relating to Maori LN as well which includes most of the slides I use when I do this training live with groups.
  6. You can listen to me talking through the assessment requirements here in an audio-only podcast.
  7. There’s a nice easy-to-read piece by Dr Pita Sharples here.
  8. There’s a timeline of key events in Maori LN history available here.
  9. There are a few links to different Maori LN initiatives here.
  10. You can watch a short explanation of Te Whare Tapawha here by Aroha Puketapu from the TEC.
  11. There’s also some content on Pacific LN initiatives here which relates to one particular question.
  12. Get started on Assessment Task 1: You’ve got two choices here. EITHER you can click on the Assessment Module 1 in Pathways Awarua and do it online. The Assessment modules are below the orange ribbon (the content modules are above the ribbon). OR you can work from the template in the ALEC Assessment Guide.
  13. Get in touch if you have any questions. If you’re not sure what to do then get in touch with us. Again, send an email to assess@alec.ac.nz or ring or txt me. My phone number is in the course materials as well. Happy to talk anytime and provide whatever support or guidance you need.

Now… go for it…!

Calling all Literacy Numeracy Professionals…

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LNP

I’ve been turning this over in my mind for a while… I’m not sure whether there are so many opportunities for this, but having worked in such a narrow area of education since 2007 I feel that I’ve now got a fairly sharp lens through which to analyse certain kinds of training.

This is particularly for programmes that have (or are supposed to have) an embedded literacy and numeracy component. I was lucky enough to experiment with some of these ideas this week with one of my clients. 

I think that I’ve got the basics of a framework that I could apply in a whole range of situations and parts of this draw from the specific NCALNE (Voc) work that I’ve been doing over the years (and will continue to do).

There are several dimensions to this framework and they go something like this:

Evaluative Questions

This is the same idea behind the NZQA’s external evaluation and review (EER) approach, but my questions are much more specific to embedded literacy and numeracy. For example:

  1. Context: How are you contextualising this training to the needs of your learners? And how well are you contextualising it?
  2. Principles: What is the approach to embedded literacy and numeracy that underpins your design and delivery? What principles of adult teaching and learning underpin your training?
  3. Process: How are you embedding literacy and numeracy into all aspects of your design and delivery? What about with regards to needs analysis, diagnostic assessment, learning design, materials and resource design, training, assessment, and evaluation?
  4. Practices: What are the embedded literacy and numeracy practices that your trainers and tutors use and model? How explicit or visible are they? What are the embedded literacy and numeracy practices and observable behaviours that you expect to see in your learners? And what do you actually see and observe? 
  5. Product: How do you measure the success of the final output? For example, when the programme is complete what are the critical success factors that allow you to compare this programme against another? This includes business related factors (e.g. was this repeat business with a previously satisfied customer) or educational factors (e.g. learners scores improved significantly on the assessments.

I think that an organisation could use this framework to benchmark programmes internally. Currently, the tertiary environment doesn’t support or reward organisations for benchmarking externally. However, this kind of framework could be a start, and at least companies could customise the different dimensions to suit their own culture and context.

There’s one other part to this though…

A register of credentialed embedded literacy and numeracy trainers

Here I’m thinking of an external quality mark which has nothing to do with NZQA. I’ve written about this idea before. Basically, my idea would be as follows:

  • It’s voluntary.
  • It’s free or cheap to join.
  • You join as a trainer or tutor.
  • You have to meet some minimum criteria including NCALNE (Voc) credentials.
  • You have to be actively working to embed literacy and numeracy into some context.
  • You could join on a number of different tiers (working towards meeting the criteria, attaining the minimum criteria to register, and then exceeding the criteria because of extra work or study that relates).
  • You have to renew your membership yearly.
  • Organisations could join too, but only on the basis that they have tutors or trainers who have met the criteria. For example, a company or organisation with a full cohort of staff that meets the ALEC “Good Tutor” profile could then apply to join under this criteria. Or if not a whole organisation, then perhaps a particular department within an organisation.

This would allow tutors and trainers to benchmark themselves against others and some kind of recognised standard. And it would allow organisations to benchmark themselves against others. E.g. Organisation A has 10 tutors who all meet the Good Tutor profile in a particular academic year versus Organisation B who have 5 tutors who are working towards this as a goal.

Having data on which tutors and trainers see themselves as active in the field of embedded literacy and numeracy could also help us drive more effective and ongoing professional development as we’d have a database of engaged users to survey in terms of what they need to stay engaged and keep developing.

Would you join?