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**Babunang On The March!**

 * Manager:** Grace Ferguson – grace.ferguson [at] tafensw.edu.au
 * Facilitator:** Diana Khabbaz - Diana.khabbaz [at] tafensw.edu.au


 * Sponsoring RTO:** EORA College - Sydney Institute of TAFE


 * Target client groups:** indigenous; youth

Sydney Institute’s Eora Centre is an Aboriginal College providing for a diverse student body from a wide geographical background. This project provides an opportunity to empower director, teachers, librarians and support staff with e-Learning skills to deliver Aboriginal Studies and Literacy & Numeracy courses in an innovative learning environment. The project will focus on:  Improving college e-Learning capacity to streamline offerings for better employability outcomes for Aboriginal students  Further investigating e-Learning strategies for engaging and motivating the Indigenous, 15-19 year old youth, long term unemployed and disengaged young people Exploring options for broadening the student base particularly in offering Aboriginal Studies courses to rural and remote regions
 * Project summary:**


 * Online presence**


 * Postcard from the Field due date:** week staring 9 October


 * Proposed LearnScope visit/s:** ¦ Aug. 21 ¦


 * Team events**


 * FURTHER DETAILS:**

The specialist nature of the Eora Centre as an Aboriginal College and the general nature of its student body make for a transient educational experience– many students are required to travel at short notice for family or other reasons. Students have difficulty completing their courses and the “dropout and subsequent re-entry” rate is quite large. The Centre is faced with the challenge of moving students to e-Learning delivery while overcoming a number of fears and skills inadequacies. Our project also complements the Sydney Institute’s Result & Services Plan 2006 to  Drive innovative, flexible and adaptive teaching, learning and services  Improve learning outcomes for students from targeted group including Aboriginal, NESB, students with a disability, women and 15-19 year olds young people  Expand the educational opportunities for students from targeted groups  Strengthen the Institute and community through collaboration within our region and with industry, local groups and other educational providers
 * Background to the project:**

In addition, our project also aligns with the following themes of the Aboriginal Education Review  Extending quality teaching and learning  Engaging Aboriginal students  Applying Aboriginal cultural knowledge  Collaborating in partnerships  Building community capacity  Challenging racism

Participants in this project include management, library and teaching staff from EORA College and other experienced e-Learning practitioners from across the Institute. The student groups identified as benefiting from this project are Indigenous and youth 15–19 year old. Through this project, the participants will develop knowledge and skills in implementing an e-Learning environment that provides opportunities for the students with family relocation issues to continue their studies. It can also benefit the Centre to improve the “dropout and subsequent re-entry” rate. Participants will also investigate the application of youth relevant technologies, such as Blogs, MP3 & Mobile technologies in education to motivate and engage target student groups. In order to deliver courses to those students who relocate their family to remote regions, participants will develop skills to facilitate lessons using video/voice conferencing tools and Web2.0 software applications. The project team has also considered students in remote areas who may have difficulties in accessing the technology. Community Linkage with the Community Technology Centre (CTC) Association Inc will be established and will provide these students with appropriate access in Community Technology Centres to achieve their learning goals.
 * Proposed project outcomes:**
 *  Teachers, Librarian and Support Staff trained with higher e-Learning skills to support the implementation of an e-Learning environment at the Centre
 *  E-Learning resources identified and delivery strategies developed for Certificate III and Diploma in Aboriginal Studies
 *  Community linkages established with local youth and indigenous community-based organizations, Links-to-Learning Program from Community Grants Program DET NSW and Community Technology Centres Association Inc.
 *  Scenarios of the best examples of e-Learning delivery documented and shared with the e-Learning community at large
 * Benefits to client group:**
 * Benefits to client group:**
 * Benefits to client group:**

A review team will be established with local youth and Indigenous community-based organisation, students, teachers, experienced e-Learning practitioners and management of Eora Centre to evaluate and provide feedback on project outcomes. Learning journals, portfolio and/or checklists will be used to record and share the participants’ learning experience across Sydney Institute as well as the AFLF community. Interviews and/or focus groups will be conducted to collect feedback on the impact of our project on our students, teachers and our indigenous community.
 * Evaluation strategies:**

The project team will use the following strategies to capture the learning at various stages of the project:  All participants will undertake a pre and post online skills audit. The pre skills audit will shape the skills development direction of the project  Minutes of meetings and records of online discussions will be kept to provide a storyline behind our journey  Team members will be encouraged to develop a personal blog to provide both an ‘online’ experience but also a personal learning journal  Success stories will be shared in the project blog and/or EdNA groups
 * We are capturing our learning via:**

Collaboration within and beyond the organisation will be undertaken through a number of activities including: · Regular meetings to plan activities, share learning and pool information. · A range of activities including participating in on-line events, site visits · Use of facilitator and mentors to maximise the learning The project will closely link with the Institute’s Learning & Innovation Team, other Institute funded e-Learning initiatives and the Institutes Virtual Learning Community (CoP). The learning journey and materials developed will be made available to all learning areas across the Institute. The learning will be shared by: · Collaborating with other teams through the Institute Virtual Learning Environment · Publishing the learning through Communication News Sheet and Institute web site - SydNet · Presenting the learning at the Institute Learning and Development Showcase Day on the 1st December 2006 · Presenting the learning at the end of year LearnScope Showcase Day and any relevant conferences
 * We hope to share our learning :**

The learning will be shared by: · Collaborating with other teams through the Institute Virtual Learning Environment · Publishing the learning through Communication News Sheet and Institute web site · Collaborating and sharing with other similar LearnScope projects · Identifying and linking with other Indigenous projects · Linking with an Institute e-Learning Networks project on Web2.0 technologies · Linking with other communities through EDNA and other state and national projects · Presenting the learning at the Institute Learning and Development Showcase Day · Presenting the learning at the end of year LearnScope Showcase Day and any relevant conferences
 * We’ll connect with others via:**

The project will record outcomes and success stories using the following media: MP3 and/or Video · All activities will be recorded in either MP3 or Video format and posted on the project blog
 * Proposed project products/outputs:**

Postcards & Digital Stories · Participants will be encouraged to records their learning activities through development of Postcards & Digital Stories

Learning Journal / Portfolio · Participants will record their learning experience & success stories in a learning journal that captures and reflects the learning · Learning journals will be published in selected web-blog

Evaluation Forms and Interviews · An evaluation will be administered at the completion of each training workshop