The DEN July

THE

DEN

Distance Education Newsletter

Issue 23

July2011 The CSU Distance Education Newsletter

Features

Poetry Volunteering Money Saving Tips Environmental Scholarships

Regulars Quiz CSU News Colouring DE Report E-Portfolios Senate Report Through the Lens Gardening with Krystal Shaggy’s Recycled Crafts

©The DEN is a Rivcoll SRC Publication

The DE. Issue 23, July 2011 1

From the Editor Hi everybody (DE students and others) This month is a little light in the content department, I am hoping that next moth all the articles that I was promised for this month turn up in my inbox. Thank you to those that did contribute.

Richard has given us a thorough report on the student senate which is worth a careful read and the photographers have been out in force for the topics of winter, city and country. Tim Lee discusses residential school issues and encourages you to post a comment on the DE page.

As I rush to get this finished the sun is shining and I am going to spend 2 days in Sydney attending a Publicity Seminar with the CWA, the head office and accommodation is in Potts Point so this country girl will be right in the city for a couple of days.

Hope everybody is progressing well with their studies but can find a litle more time to send articles and photos in for The DEN next month. Our topic is PETS (and their humans) so I hope to read and see a lot of feathers, furs and fins this month.

Sandra Stewart Editor, The DEN

Issue 23, July 2011 FEATURES

12. Environmental Scholarships 14. Money Saving Tips

9. Through the Lens - City 10. DE Report - with Tim 16. Quiz - Which Country?

15. Poetry - Colours

17. Shaggy’s Recycled Crafts Pencil Cases

20. Volunteering

18. Colouring from June

REGULARS 3. CSU NEWS. CSU Green, School Equity Grant 4. Through the Lens - Winter 6. Senate Report - with Richard

19. July Colouring 21. Gardening with Krystal - composting 22. e-Portfolios - Epcop MOOC

24. Quiz Answers. Next Month

COVER PHOTOS: City Meets Country - Sandra Stewart Snow in Lithgow - Jessica Leard Mandala - Caroline Allen

CONTRIBUTORS

Caroline Allen, Krystal Brosz, Sharon Crossett, Sarah Curran, Rebecca Fraser-Goring, Sharon Gwyn, Tim Lee, Richard Maher, Sandra Stewart, Stewart Woodcock, AJ Zauner De-Ville

8. Through the Lens - Country

Email letters to the Editor & submissions to theden@live.com.au Disclaimer: The DEN is a Rivcoll SRC publication and the opinions expressed within are not necessarily those of the editor, staff or student members. Association by persons or companies with ‘The Den’ does not necessarily reflect the religious, political, sexual or racial beliefs of those parties. The Editor and Rivcoll SRC do not accept any responsibility for any omissions, errors, inaccuracies, or the views and opinions contained in any article accepted for publication. The editor reserves the right to edit or reject any articles submitted for publication.

2 The DE. Issue 23, July 2011

CSU News

CSU News

CSU Green

h t t p : / / w w w. c s u . e d u . a u / c s u g r e e n / c s u - g r e e n - h o m e

CSU Professional Placement Equity Grants (PPEG)

N

The Professional Placement Equity Grant (PPEG) is a CSU initiative to assist CSU undergraduate students who are completing a compulsory professional placement as part of their course requirement.

J

If you are a CSU undergraduate student who has a compulsory placement for a Session 2, 2011 enrolment, you may be eligible for a PPEG to assist with the costs associated with your Placement.

ational Tree Planting Day

CSU Green held a tree planting day at four of its campuses as part of National Tree Planting Day on Friday July 29.

uly 31st is National Tree Planting Day: National Tree Day and Schools Tree Day combine to make Australia’s biggest community treeplanting and nature care event. These are special days for all Australians to help out by planting and caring for native trees and shrubs to improve the environment in which they live. National Tree Day was co-founded by Olivia Newton-John and Planet Ark in 1996 and since then more than 2 million volunteers have planted over 15 million native trees and shrubs! It’s a day to get down and get your hands dirty to help the planet! http://treeday.planetark.org/

The funds allocated will depend on the length of your placement, number of eligibility criteria met, funds available balanced with the number of applications received.

For more information on the eligibility criteria and how to apply for the PPEG via the online application form, please visit the PPEG website at: http://www.csu.edu.au/division/studserv/mystudies/equity/ppes Applications open Monday 18 July 2011 and close midnight Sunday 14 August 2011.

If you require further information on the PPEG please contact the CSU Scholarship Office on ppeg@csu.edu.au or telephone (02) 6051 9435 Posted in CSU What’s New 29 July 2011

The DE. Issue 23, July 2011 3

Through the Lens

Through the Lens

WINTER

Snow i Lithg n ow on 21 June 2011.

Jessic a Leard

Winte r.

Kryst al and Rhea (L Krysta ) l Brosz

4  The DE. Issue 23, July 2011

Winter

Through the Lens

WINTER

Left and below: Taken in Orange :A. J Zauner-De Ville

Above Right: Winter turns a paddock in Bonegilla back into a wetland. Photo taken at sunset. Rebecca Fraser-Goring

Above: Our fireplace with the camera lens left open for awhile, a smouldering piece of wood being moved around. I think I also played in Photoshop a bit. Sandra The DE. Issue 23, July 2011   5

Senate Report

Richard’s Senate Report Hello All, I hope this finds you all well after the nonteaching period and that all you’re exams went well? On a personal note I got accepted into the Honours program for the Bachelor of Arts which I have deferred until the start of next year; I hope to complete local church history.

So down to some news....

Student representation has been in a significant transition period recently. With the start of the new financial year, student senate has been busy nominating students to various boards and committees within the university. We still have some vacancies which I will tell you a bit more about later in the article.

Working Parties at CSU On the working representation front, two significant working parties have been active during the exam and non-teaching period. The “assessment” working party and Modes of Delivery of Teaching & Learning Working Party (aka: Third Mode). Although I am not in a position to write about the assessment working party as I am not the regular student member, I am the student rep on the third mode working party. Dean White is the SRC rep on the Assessment working party, and I will update you all when he updates me, however I can inform you all that assignment marking time is a current issue being raised by Dean on this working party.

Third Mode: On 23 JUNE 2011, this newly established working party held its first meeting via teleconference. The terms of reference are to review the current modes of delivery for subjects across CSU, specifically, if a third mode of subject delivery to accompany Internal and Distance Education is needed and, in what capacity it would be appropriate to establish 6 The DE. Issue 23, July 2011

a third mode and to report back to Academic Senate on our findings with recommendations.

In order for third mode to progress, the working party has indentified the following questions for students, which I would appreciate some feedback.

These questions will also be discussed at student senate. At present the working party is using the following definitions compiled by Dr. Andrea Crampton who is chairing the party.

The following definitions have been created to assist with the gathering of stakeholder interest in a third mode of offering. In no way do these definitions reflect a recommendation from the working party but should be regarded as working definitions to be refined later in response to feedback. Student Senate has agreed to work with these definitions in order to answer some questions detailed below after the definitions.

3 Mode Model Internal Mode – Majority of activities occur on campus in the presence of an educator (lecturer). Students are provided with a minimum of X hours per week of face-to-face (including via synchronous video) interactions. The online environment is used primarily for dissemination of notes, formative assessment (eg. quizzes) and communication of relevant information from subject coordinator.

Blended/Tutorial – Learning activities include both face-to-face (internal) and online interactions. Students experience a minimum of 12 hours of face-to-face interaction with an educator, per session. The face-to-face interactions may be compulsory (eg. residential schools, work placements, industry visits) or optional (eg. weekly tutorials or residential sessions). The online environment is used for content delivery, synchronous and asynchronous interactions, peer learning, formative and summative assessment and communication of relevant information from subject coordinator.

with Richard

Student Representation ExternalAll learning activities occur online, although attendance at a designated examination centre may be required. The online environment is used for content delivery, synchronous and asynchronous interactions, peer learning, formative and summative assessment and communication of relevant information from subject coordinator.

2 Mode Model Internal Learning activities include both face-to-face, video conference and online interactions. Students experience a minimum of 12 hours of face-toface interactions per session. The face-to-face interactions may be compulsory (eg. laboratory classes) or optional (tutorials, lectures). The online environment is used for content delivery, asynchronous interactions, peer learning, formative and summative assessment and communication of relevant information from subject coordinator.

ExternalAll learning activities occur online, although attendance at a residential school and designated examination centre may be required. The online environment is used for content delivery, synchronous and asynchronous interactions, peer learning, formative and summative assessment and communication of relevant information from subject coordinator.

Questions for consideration.

1.

Would the 3 mode model, noting that not all 3 modes would be available for every subject, clarify issue relating face to face versus online interactions?

2.

Would the internal definition provided for the 2 mode model, along with the workload descriptions provided as part of the implementation of the CSU subject (eg. x. Hours lectures, x hours of assessment, x hours of prac), provide sufficient clarity around opportunities for Face to Face vs online interactions and expectations From a personal perspective I am in favour of the tutorial mode being re-established at CSU (I bought

this up at the working party); however only in the case of 2nd to 4th year undergraduate subjects (obviously depending on course also as this may be inappropriate for some courses) to replace the more structured “internal”. However, I would like internal to remain for 1st year internal students were a more “school like” mode of delivery may be best appropriate for inexperienced students. Tutorial in my view may be best suited to DE subjects that also offer compulsory residential schools; I see no point in having a DE option, that is essentially off campus (as per definition) and then making students attend on campus studies for res school, in my opinion saying a subject is DE and then having internal classes is not consistent or clear... I appreciate your thoughts here.

University Boards: At the start of this article I said that there are some positions still open to enrolled CSU students. I would love for some mature age DE students to get involved in these. If you are interested please email David Bate, Senate President (senate@csu.edu.au) or Jean Ryan, SSO (jeryan@csu.edu.au).

Arts Faculty Board: One POST-GRAD student Business Faculty Board: One UNDER-GRAD and one POST-GRAD student Curriculum Learning and Teaching Committee: One more student Current Student Reps Although recently student senate has nominated numerous students to boards; these are yet to be officially confirmed by those boards. I will provide a list of all CSU student reps for your information once all these have been confirmed.

Very best regards, Best Regards, Richard (Dick) Maher General Secretary, Student Senate CSU Member, Academic Senate CSU Director, RIVCOLL SRC Rivcoll Phone 02 6933 2033 The DE. Issue 23, July 2011 7

Through the Lens

Through the Lens

Country

Sharon Gwynn: Two views from the gate of her parent’s farm.

Urbane Winter

Sharon Gwynn

8 The DE. Issue 23, July 2011

City & Country

Through the Lens

City

City Meets Country

Sandra Stewart

The DE. Issue 23, July 2011   9

DE Report

DE Report with Tim Lee

DE Students very unhappy with Res School

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ivcoll SRC has had a large focus on DE students all through last session. Its now time to release exactly what we know.

CSU prides itself as being the DE University, it boasts a great number of DE students (23367 in 2010) and a very sizeable chunk of its revenue comes from Distance Education. Internal studies can get stuffed when compared to the money and amount of students that is DE. Advertisements on billboards say ‘Go the Distance’ Rivcoll has found that Distance Education students have a very differing experience of CSU. This changes from subject to subject, academic to academic. This is a problem with the structure of the Uni.

Rivcoll has found that Distance Education students have a very differing experience of CSU.

Take Res School for instance. The sum amount of organisation that happens for a compulsory Res School is a lady in Bathurst who organises a timetable and room bookings, students also maybe (we found that not all students did) get a confirmation email of on campus accommodation.

DE students apparently used to be sent an eBox message just before an upcomming res school… This has not happened for years.

When doing my research, I also visited a few Schools to see what Schools sent out to their DE students regarding Res School. I came out empty handed. In one school, I got talking with an academic. This is when I discovered that as far as Res School went, it is run on an academic by academic basis! Who tells the students that they don’t have to use Uni accommodation? Who tells them about the Uni bus going in and out of town all day?

Who tells them library and opening hours? Food and where to get it? The academic might.

No wonder there is such a massive differing flavour of responses! CSU has left the running of Res School to the academics when it is not and should not be their job!

No orientation is given for DE

We found that DE students were critical of the services provided, opening hours of library, food services, accommodation, lack of texts (sometimes one textbook between 6) etc. We also found that they were simply not using services because they did not know they exist… probably the most important one being the Uni bus service.

Internal students are very lucky to be orientated. No such orientation is given for DE. Hell, they don’t even have their own forum! Instead the Uni tells them to use the MAF forum in which Rivcoll DE reps, Gash and Prani have to filter through all the posts of ‘my son has chipped a tooth what do I do?’ to find their actual CSU related DE issues.

10 The DE. Issue 23, July 2011

with Tim

DE Report with Tim Lee

They now pay $70 per night which may be reasonable for a cottage, but they also pay that for Butler!

No choice offered. On top of that the free bus pickup that was offered by the Uni has been outsourced to the airport bus guy. He charges $25 one way $45 return! It is cheaper for two DE students to band together and catch a cab from the Airport… should work out to be a little over $15 each. Hell!

Someone grab a van and charge $10 per passenger. You would make a killing!

“Go the Distance” is what CSU encourages you to do with them voice will actually be heard.

“Go the Distance’ is what CSU encourages you to do with them. As far as reschool organisation goes I wish CSU would go the distance for their DE students.

Please read and reply on the article on the Rivcoll SRC site....

More CSU staff check up on that then the forums, so your

We ask that you use your CSU email on your post to maintain credibility as a CSU student when we take your additional concerns to CSU. It is administered and owned by Rivcoll SRC. http://rivcoll.com/?p=720 Regards, Timothy Lee President, Rivcoll SRC MAF 28.07.11

I wish CSU would go the distance for their DE students

Rivcoll is Wagga.

Bathurst SRC should be checking and posting on the forums as we do. They should also be representing DE students as we do.

Bathurst along with the other SRCs do not have websites and do not have any easy way of contacting them. The best you can hope for is a possible Facebook Group. The only Campus I have been successfully able to reach without going through their Student Support Officer is Albury.

Student Senate which is the governing body of the SRCs and made up of members of each SRC is meant to take care of cross campus issues and petition to the Uni on a higher level. One of the Rivcoll members for senate (Dick) sits on the Senate. Earlier this year Rivcoll made a push to the Senate for them to get the SRCs more interested in DE issues, even set up a DE sub committee. This was turned down.

As such Rivcoll has pretty much taken on the whole load of DE representation at CSU. I am actually planing to increase the size of my board to have a full time remote DE rep in addition to our two DE officers so that we have a bit more of an idea what it is like to be a DE student.

You can direct your concerns to us and we will hit them up at Senate level or get Bathursts SSO to pass it on. Hopefully we will get enough response from DE students to trigger a campus wide review and hit the lot up that way.

Tim Lee The DE. Issue 23, July 2011 11

Bayer Boost

Bayer Boost

Environmental Scholarship Scheme The Australian Geographic Society has funding from Bayer that they have had no applications for. High Schools and some universities have been contacted but the message is not getting to the students which is a real shame as the funding is just sitting there. I Bayer, the company putting up the money through Australian Geographic isn’t even asking for any media on this and Australian Geographic is offering a short 300 word report with a picture on their website at the completion of whatever project gets the funding. No one has applied for the funding.

Stuart Woodcock Ph.D Student, School of Environmental Sciences, ILWS BAYERBoost Environmental Scholarship Scheme GUIDELINES FOR STUDENTS, ACADEMIC SUPERVISORS AND HOST ORGANISATIONS BAYERBoost is an annual environmental scholarship scheme designed to give senior secondary and undergraduate students work experience in the environmental sciences while at the same time providing financial support to them for further study. It is funded by Bayer Australia and administered under contract to Bayer AUSTRALIA by the Australian Geographic Society (AGS) according to defined terms of reference.

Bayer AUSTRALIA is the principal sponsor of BAYERBOOST, while the AGS is responsible for the scheme’s administration. The scheme is open to Year 11 – 12 school students and tertiary undergraduate students from Australia academicinstitutions. Students must be either an Australia citizen, a permanent Australian resident or have a permanent humanitarian visa, and be aged between the ages of 16 and 24 at the time of applying.

The objective of the scheme is to foster and support, in young Australians, anunderstanding and awareness of Australia’s unique environments and the issues surrounding the environment. It is planned to achieve this objective by enabling young Australians to: - experience the application and use of science and technology in environmental studies; - gain experience in working with an accredited organisation involved in research or action for the environment; - recognise environmental studies as rewarding and worthwhile career options; - enhance understanding of, and positive attitudes to, science, nature and technology.

BAYERBoost scholarships are available for the summer vacation period i.e. from 6– 12 weeks to enable students to engage in practical work with host organisations in a specific environmental project.

Interested students should apply with a proposed host organisation and project to the AGS selection panel. Scholarships will be awarded to those applicants and projects deemed to be most worthy. In the first year of the scheme three scholarships will be awarded. Each scholarshipwill be worth: - $6,000 for a tertiary student who will be required to work for 12 weeks over the summer vacation, - $5,000 for a Year 12 student who will be required to work for 10 weeks, - $3,000 for a Year 11 or 12 student who will be required to work for 6 weeks.

The AGS is able to assist in finding suitable Host Organisations. Applicants should email: BAYERBoost@ausgeo.com.au or contact Kylie Piper on 02 9263 9825.

12 The DE. Issue 23, July 2011

Environmental Scholarship Scheme

About Bayer Australia Ltd Bayer is an international, research-based group with major businesses in healthcare, crop science and high-tech materials.

Employing more than 108,400 people worldwide, and almost 840 in Australia/New Zealand, the Bayer Group has a portfolio of more than 5000 products and operations in nearly every country. Worldwide operations are managed from group headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany.

In Australia, Bayer aims to make a positive contribution to the community, not only by providing innovative solutions, but also through our educational partnerships and our environmental initiatives. For example, Bayer supports CarbonKids, an educational program developed by the CSIRO which involves students in hands-on projects that combine the latest climate science with sustainability education. Through this program school communities are learning to understand climate change and take positive steps to foster environmental sustainability.

About the Australian Geographic Society The Australian Geographic Society (AGS) was established by Dick Smith in March 1988 and he described it as, “a group of people sharing similar fundamental aims and contributing funds and support for projects and activities.”

These were defined as: >

funding scientific research

>

conserving the environment

>

recognising and encouraging the spirit of discovery and adventure

>

spreading knowledge of Australia to Australians and to the world

The AG Society has a group of trustees that act as advisers and representatives of the AG Society, selected because of their enthusiasm and expertise in their particular field of endeavour.

Adventurer and Environmentalist Grants Each calendar year the AG Society donates approximately $150,000 to maintain its program of sponsorship of Australian adventurers, scientific and environmental research, and community projects. Over the years it has spent more than $8 million supporting Australian endeavour in all these fields. Australian scientists, community organisations and individuals developing projects across the country and abroad are welcome to apply for AG Society sponsorship.

Contact details Website: www.BAYERboost.com.au Email: BAYERboost@ausgeo.com.au

BAYERboost Bayer Australia 875 Pacific Highway Pymble NSW 2073 Australia Phone: (02) 9391 6000 Fax: (02) 9391 6111 www.bayer.com.au

BAYERboost Australian Geographic Society Level 20, Civic Tower 66-68 Goulburn Street Sydney NSW 2000 Phone: (02) 9263 9825 Fax: (02) 8116 9377 www.australiangeographic.com.au

Science For A Better Life

Science For A Better Life

The DE. Issue 23, July 2011 13

Money Saving Tips

Money Saving Tips from CSU students •Close your doors and curtains when trying to keep heat * soak mop heads in in. nappysan/nappysoak • Use space heaters to heat a single room. to get more life out of • Only boil as much water as you require in a mop. Nappysoak kills kettle. and cleans mop • Always use the bathroom plug when shaving. * ditch cleaning • Try to thaw products for vinegar. your frozen foods It'll clean anything, and completely before disinfects too. cooking them. * add bakebeans/chick peas to mince to • Only run your make it go further dishwasher with a full Shaz load.

Sarah Curran

i always put all my silver coins in a money tin then when it gets full, take it into the bank to put into my account and i usually find i have about $100 or any money i earn that i dont spend that week i put into a separate account that earns more interest and dont touch it unless * Make your own lunch and take it to work. absolutely necessary! Jess Leard Put the money that you would have spent in a jar see how much you save in a month. * Have coffee mornings at home or in the garden with friends rather than going out, rotate venues to share the catering.

* Think twice before you purchase, particularly on impulse, instead walk away from the item. Often you will find that you don’t return to purchase it.

14 The DE. Issue 23, July 2011

Poetry

Colours sandwiched between darkness and fear in layers abound hopes of recognition and understanding defy appearance when darkness reins all manner of forms appear layers of pain, hurt, fear converse to harm the soul over time, chinks form in the formidable armour glimpse of hope like a bloody wound on the skin pulses to the surface yet the colour is not red a metamorphosis occurs deep below the scarlet ooze hope is released, it spills over the unfeeling skin washing away the darkness Nerve endings dance the wetness can no longer be ignored shedding of darkness has begun how long this rainbow will last.

Dream

The DE. Issue 23, July 2011   15

Quiz

Quiz: Which Country?

1.

2.

3.

5.

6.

4.

8.

7.

9.

10.

16 The DE. Issue 23, July 2011

11.

12.

Shaggy’s Recycled Craft

Shaggy’s Recycled Craft

Pencil Cases:

Prac tical,but can be decorative as well

Materials - Pencil Case 1

* two cardboard tubes, one slightly bigger than the other, so it forms a lid (I used clingfilm and baking paper tubes) * two discs out of cardboard to fit each tube, or you can buy card circles from craft stores * glue, paint * 'sharpie' texta connecters lids * paper, tissue, note book paper * fabric * wire, spiral off note book, short lengths of jewellery wire * fake flowers, leaves, stamen (pencilcase 2) *ribbon * punch * doublesided tape * old book paper * shop bought pencil case ( case 2)

Method- Pencil Case 1

* cut the smaller tube to a length a little longer than the pencils you are storing in it, mine is 15cm. I used an old bread knife to do this. * cut the larger tube, which will be the lid, to about 5 cm. * stick on the circle discs, at one end of each of the tubes, one will be the bottom of the pencil case, the other the lid's top. * so the lid fits snug, I stuck down a strip of cardboard around the very top of the 15cm long tube * decorate with paint, fabric, punch cutouts, card, wire. For case 1 I went for a ‘Saw’ the movie theme, based around the jigsaw punch cutout, painted the pencil case red black and grey, I used my fingers, not a paint brush, to add the blobs of black and grey paint. I then stuck cardboard off the edge of a spiral bound note book, soaked fabric in glue and stuck this down, attached the sharpie lids and the wire spiral. lastly I stuck down the jigsaw cutouts that I punched from an old book.

Pencil Case 2

Shaggy

The shop bought pencil case is from Spotlight. I painted it, then glued tissue paper over the top, finger painted it again, and attached the paper strip off a spiral note book to its lid. I ran a stamp around the lid of the case. Punched a hole in the lids top and glued down the flower and stamen.

Attached the leaves with double sided tape, stuck down ribbon and then made a base out of the spiral wire from the note book.

The DE. Issue 23, July 2011 17

June Colouring

C o l o u r i n g f ro m Ju n e D E N

Sandra Stewart - using Paint. Thanks for the idea Shaz.

Caroline Allen - using Paint 18 The DE. Issue 23, July 2011

“Dark Night of the Soul” - Sandra Stewart

Sharon Crossett - using Paint

July Colouring

C o l o u r i n g f o r Ju l y

http://coloringbookfun.com/bugss/originalimages/mantis.gif

The DE. Issue 23, July 2011   19

Volunteering

Volunteering

Volunteer Experiences Where? The Glenfield Road Animal Shelter (the Wagga Wagga Pound) For how long and what do you do?

I’m currently volunteering at the Animal Shelter when I can (usually once a week), and have duties which include: cleaning, walking the dogs, watering and feeding, and retrieving dogs and cats from the chutes. I also sometimes assist people who are looking to get a cat or dog, or who have a pet that has been captured (only if the Rangers are busy).

High and low points of this particular volunteering experience: The high points include: meeting and working with beautiful animals, meeting new people, and seeing animals in desperate condition being given a second chance.

The low points include: seeing loving and desperate animals in their last hours, seeing animals that have been abused and starved, and observing the Rangers deal with people who don’t care about the welfare of their pets.

Sarah Curran

Volunteering: What: 'Breakfast in schools', providing breakfast to anyone who walked in the door

At: local primary school, once a week, held during school term, the program normally runs three times a week How long: just over two years Why: a very rewarding experience. Shaz

http://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/html/s01_home/home.asp 20 The DE. Issue 23, July 2011

Gardening with Krystal

Composting with Krystal H ello lovely DE people!!

It is the perfect time of year to start thinking about creating a composting pile, or buying a compost bin! Composting is natures own recycling system.

Everything that you put into your compost heap is broken down by bacteria and creatures such as worms.

Once you have compost soil you can reuse it in your garden and it will be rich with nutrients!

Compost in a nice sunny spot in your garden, either in a store bought container, or just start a pile.

Figure 1 - store bought compost bin Place a course layer of twigs, pruning’s and leaves for the first layer. It should be nice and thick to ensure air can flow through the heap. Add a layer of rich soil or finished compost from a precious heap to start you off!

If you have some lovely worms in the finished compost add them, or buy a few hundred from Bunnings to get you started.

Now you can start adding kitchen scraps! Remember to turn the compost often to get the air flowing Figure 2 - Lovely worms and moving things around, you can get a device in breaking down compost Bunnings that will help you with this!

What to compost Garden Waste - Grass clippings can be added in thin layers, not too much as it will over heat.

Kitchen and household waste – Everything except meat, fish and dairy (these attract pests).

Figure 3 - Helpful Turner Citrus should also be avoided as worms do not like this. Keep a container in the kitchen to collect the scraps.

Ground coffee grounds, newspapers, paper towel.

Figure 4 - Escapee worm Krystal Brosz

Further information can be found here: http://www.environment.nsw.

Figure 5 - If the environment is gov.au/downtoearth/composting.htm too warm, the worms will come to the top for air.

The DE. Issue 23, July 2011 21

EpCop

E P CO P M O O C W h a t i s E P CO P ?

e-Portfolio MOOC

Massive Open Online Course

Join the EpCoP MOOC to learn about e-portfolios by: creating your own e-portfolio and developing a professional e-portfolio learning network starts August 2011

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p Co p i s t h e e - p o r t fo l i o co m m u n i t y o f p ra c t i ce D o yo u wa nt to k n ow a l l a b o ut e p o r t fo l i o s ?

T

h e n j o i n u s at t h e M a ssive O p e n O n l i n e Co u r s e ( MOOC ) a n d ex p e r i e n ce t h e Wh at, Why, H ow, Wh e re, S o Wh at, N ow What a n d Th e n Wh at o f c re at i n g and re f l e c t i n g i n E p o r t fo l i o s !

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h e l e a r n s p a ce i s a l i b rar y, a re s o u rce k i t, a g a l l e r y, a c l a s s ro o m , a n d a co m m u nication p o r t a l - a s p a ce fo r p a r t i cipants to l e a r n co l l a b o rat i ve l y a bout E p o r t fo l i o s.

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Resources: sites.google.com/site/epcoplearnspace Networking: epcopmooc.ning.com Follow the MOOC via #epcop on twitter

h e l e a r n s p a ce h a s a l s o p rov i d e d a s p a ce fo r t h e E p Co P d e s i gn te a m to d i s c u s s, s e l e c t a n d g at h e r re l e va nt re s o u rce s, a c t i v i ties, co m m u n i c at i o n s a n d n e t wor ks t h at a re s t r u c t u re d to h e l p p ra c t i t i o n e r s to b u i l d a n awa re n e s s o f t h e p owe r of E p o r t fo l i o s a n d to d e ve l op the M a s s i ve O p e n O n l i n e Co u rse ( M O O C ) . https://sites.google.com/site/ epcoplearnspace/

EpCoP MOOC facilitator: Carole McCulloch coachcarole2012@gmail.com EpCoP MOOC is part of the VET E-portfolios Community of Practice (EpCoP) and is funded by the Australian Flexible Learning Framework

I have been part of the design team for this course and it is worth dropping in for a look. I will not be at Tuesday’s Webinar as I will be at a seminar in Sydney but if you are interested in e-portfolios or in need of resources to get you started the MOOC workspace has a lot of information and is all under creative commons license. There are students, VET and university people from all over the world participating ranging from beginners to experienced e-portfolio users.

Drop in and have a look. https://sites.google.com/site/epcoplearnspace/ Sandra Stewart DEN editor

22  The DE. Issue 23, July 2011

MOOC

E P CO P M O O C

The MOOC SCOOP

The Newsletter of the ePCoP MOOC

Webinar

Tuesday August 2nd 11am

Join us and meet: * your fellow course participants * your course designers * your challenge mentors Learn about: * the course * the course challenges * what you will need to know and do Try out blackboard collaborate with us We look forward to meeting you For those people registering there are weekly webinars at 11am each Tuesday. These will be recorded and placed in the MOOC. Currently there are over 200 participants. Ed My donkeys have let me borrow their names for the MOOC SCOOP each week.

The DE. Issue 23, July 2011   23

Next Month

QUIZ ANSWERS Which Country?

1. Mexico 2. New Zealand 3. Fiji 4. India 5.. Iceland 6. Netherlands 7. Switzerland 8. Madagascar 9. Thailand 10.

Brazil 11. South Korea 12. Botswana

Email letters to the Editor & submissions to:

theden@live.com.au

Pets

Who are/is your pet/s?

How long have you been together?

Age of pet?

What is special about them to you?

Any talents Photograph of your pet or you and your pet.

Writer’s Corner

A day in the life of your pet.

Written from your pet’s view point, of course.

OR My Human How your pet sees you....

Through the Lens -Photography

and repeated topics from July

Pets Borrow somebody else’s if you don’t have one of your own.

Volunteer Experiences

Regulars

Some topics for June

Have you ever volunteered?

Tell us about it Where?

With Whom?

For how long and what did you do?

High and low points of this particular volunteering experience.

Budget and money saving ideas

What are your tips for other students on how to save money?

24 The DE. Issue 23, July 2011

DE Craft Book Review Movie Review Meet other DE students Come on, don’t be shy, tell us your story..

Your Colouring Page Send in the completed masterpiece. Book Reviews Movie Reviews It’s your newsletter, send me suggestions.

Sandra Stewart. Editor Acknowledgements: Photos sourced from stock. xchng http://www.sxc.hu/home Printmaster Platinum 18. All other photographs and graphics as indicated.