ELS+Case+study

**ELS Case Study**
As my mentoring involved training a group of lecturers and introducing the use of e-learning technologies within a teaching section of TAFE SA, I will include the outcomes of the training within one case study

The teaching area in which I have focused my mentoring is within TAFE SA English Language Services (ELS).

The student profile within ELS is as follows:

• Adult Migrants and Refugees learning English through the Adult Migrant Education Program (AMEP) • Limited time in the AMEP • Varied backgrounds, education levels and life experiences • Study the Certificates in Spoken And Written English (CSWE), levels 1, 2 and 3 • Language learning ability and learning pace varies within groups (classes)

**My project**

The aim of my mentoring as part of the LTM program was to introduce e-learning technologies to lecturers within TAFE SA English language services, and to make myself available for mentoring in other sections of TAFE SA if required.

The technologies looked at are mainly Moodle, Wikis and e-portfolios, and others to a lesser extent.

The mentoring was done by running multiple sessions to introduce the technology and to help individual lecturers in implementing their use.

Sessions were run weekly, sometimes twice weekly, and across campuses to ensure reaching as many lecturers as possible.


 * Progress of lecturers**

All those trained and mentored started with minimal or no knowklege of e-learning technologies and had varying abilities in adapting to this type of technology, some requiring a lot of help while others could get uinderway with minimal training.

Lecturers who attended training sessions and who were helped individually were surveyed. The survey was to find out increases in skill levels as well as increases in levels of confidence in using the technology.

A summary of the survey results is as follows:

Participants targeted = 14 Number of responces = 12

The following are some of the ways lecturers within ELS have indicated they would use Moodle and Wikis:
 * Feel more confident now using the technology ||||  Would use the technology in future classes  ||||  Want more training in use of the technology  ||  Still feel need much more training before using the technology  ||
 * 9 |||| 6 |||| 9 || 3 ||
 * || Would use Moodle  ||  Would use other technologies  ||  Require a lot of training  ||  Require a little more training  ||   ||
 * || 2 || 4 || 5 || 4 ||  ||


 * Uses of Moodle**

- Have resources on Moodle that can be used for 'extra' work and/or homework to consolidate work done in class. - For lower level students, pictures to practise writing descriptions of, for example, people, places, things etc. Students can view the pages and when they feel ready to attempt the writing (self paced). - Lessons can be placed on Moodle for students to review, or to access if they miss lessons. - Pictures of relevant books can be added to enable students to recognise materials (Eg grammar book below).



(Photocopied pages from relevant books can be added to familiarise students with resources)


 * Use of Wikis**

- Wikis can be used for assignments or group projects. Encourages students to collaborate and correct each other's work. - Can introduce students to the concept of online learning. - Can be used for homework projects for higher level students and to access materials out of class time for review. - Even just sharing class photos or making a list of things to bring to an excursion - encourages interaction.

Ric Lopresti