FIRST YEAR APPRENTICES AT WORK

Looks good, will it work ? Of course it will !!

The practical work by our first year apprentices is on display and we are proud of the standard achieved.


This work is carried out within a social constructivist environment, suggesting that students work on projects better in teams with close scaffolding of the instructor. Student tasks are slightly more difficult than students can manage independently, requiring the aid of their peers and instructor to succeed.


Cognitive apprenticeships reflect situated cognitive theory in that problem solving activities should not be 'neat' and pre-defined, but rather, complex with students required to discover relevant procedures.

Perhaps the most critical component of situated learning is communication among peers. This component may be best elicited by designing technology-free discussions and other face-to-face activities. This is how we work in partnership with our students and strive to find ways to better engage with them on a continuing basis.

Great work guys !!

Interactive Learning Breakthrough by Swinburne

Well, the day of the paperless classroom has arrived at Swinburne University of Technology's Hawthorn Campus.

We have developed an extremely novel electronic whiteboard solution that allows for a fantastic blended learning environment to be created in any space !!

No longer is there a teacher's desk at the front of our classrooms and nowhere is there a workbook to be seen. Instead, we have provided our students with the "key" to THEIR learning space ( note the absence of the word "classroom" ).

Using audio-visual learning materials projected onto our interactive whiteboards and with wireless keyboard/mouse combination units spread around the work tables and with infra red pens and wands at the board, we have created the ultimate learning environment with a facilitator ( note that the word "teacher" has been replaced ) able to move around and assist in the blended learning experience.

Enjoy this new experience in learning and give as much feedback as you can to assist us in improving the experience even further. We wish you well in your studies and for coming on this journey with us.

The learning revolution has just started - led by Swinburne of course !!

"ROBOTIC SALSA" AT OPEN DAY 2009

Open Day 2009 was the best yet !! The Electrotechnology Department was brilliantly represented and the lighting by the "Maestro of Lumens", Paul Hawthorne, was fantastic. His lighting desk was admired and tinkered with by many a passing future electrician (and his dad!). This is another aspect of the electrical industry that you can look at. The industry, unlike all others, is full of different areas that you can study and work in. No other industry offers so much and is constantly evolving the way our electrical and electrotechnology ones are.

Literally, the sky's the limit. Just consider this........man could not have reached the moon without electrical power. A world without an iPod or iPhone?

NO WAY!!!

We showcased our new interactive learning materials with loads of audio visual content and look forward to having our new students gain their education in an enlightened fashion. Swinburne is going to be the leader in this regard and we have thrown out the textbooks in favour of a "cool" way of learning. Who said education wasn't fun ??

The video you can see above is of robots that have been choreographed using programmable controllers, the same ones that our students work with. Just think what you'll be able to do once you've learnt how to programme one.

The video below was taken in the Electrotechnology display room on Open Day. We had a lot of interest this year which shows that even on a day with high winds and rain, Swinburne attracts those who want to share in our future and that of our young generation.

Enjoy the videos and be kind to your mother.

Paul.

Another interesting video for you

This is just another instance of what is happening in the wonderful world of electricity. Young people, especially, are becoming more involved with the new technologies, as this video shows.

This is most definitely the near future, and we need to gain experience in the technology that's driving the development of the vehicles and machinery equipment that we're going to see in Australia more and more.

Electricians of the future will be highly skilled technicians working with the latest technologies and their toolkit will comprise a computer as the basis for all diagnostic and repair work.

Electric cars will become more popular as the technology progresses, at the present time it is screaming along at high speed and now that the Victorian Government has signed an agreement with the Renault-Nissan consortium, electric powered vehicles will soon appear more and more on our roads.

We are living in exciting times and Swinburne University of Technology is going to become more involved with these developments - BE PART OF IT. The future is NOW !!

Open Day in Hawthorn

This is Ampere's Left Hand Rule for motors that all electrical students learn when at TAFE. We have introduced our "new look" learning materials that are on our Web Server and can also be downloaded to your iPod, mp4 player or Smartphone.

We will be showcasing this new material at our open day in Hawthorn tomorrow and look forward to seeing you there.

Mr Guinness and I have had to take a short break and that's why we haven't been "on air" for a little, but we're back with lots of news and interesting things to tell you.

Right now we're planning a new "state of the art" blended learning centre in Hawthorn where there'll be interactive learning using the latest tablet PC's and electrical and electronic equipment for practical work. This is really exciting and will certainly appeal to all you GenY guys and dolls.

Here's another interesting video. It's the road test of the TESLA Electric Roadster. Nikola Tesla was one of the greatest inventors of all time as far as electricity is concerned and, in fact, invented three-phase electricity. You should Google the name "Nikola Tesla" and see for yourself what he was responsible for, and how his work has affected all of our lives. He believed that he could invent a source of high voltage electricity that would make electrical wiring unecessary.

In my next posting I'll include a video of a Tesla coil working in sync with some cool music.

See you then.

Electrotechnology (and Guinness) travel to New Zealand.

Electrotechnology and Guinness continue on their journeys and have just visited Christchurch and Auckland in New Zealand. While in Christchurch they visited the Electrotechnology Department of CPIT ( Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology ), where great strides are being taken in the implementation of Computer technology and the use of Tablet PC's as well as Web 2.0 social networking methodologies to enable students to interact with others who are doing similar learning to them.


We then travelled to Auckland and visited UNITEC and the electrotechnology unit there. They are also using new technologies including mobile phones to interact using Web 2.0 ( Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and others ).

While in Auckland we travelled down south to Rotorua and the videos you see here were taken at the hot mud pools and areas where hot sulpur fumes are pouring out of the ground from fissures. What a fantastic day we had !!!!

We had a very informative and enjoyable two days

Well it ....sneeze (but not Swine Flu!!) .......... certainly....(sneezes again) was absolutely blo--dy

fffreezing on Philip Island but that didn't deter the teams from Wantirna and Hawthorn from having a great couple of days of information gathering and networking with educators from other TAFE colleges and representatives from industry and education resource providers.


Our message to Captain Ignorance. "Don't try to defeat us, you should have learnt by now, after countless defeats, that we are well armed and constantly vigilant. We are constantly looking for new weapons and at present are investigating further use of the Gates machine loaded with the deadly WebCT and Wimba engines.

Ninth Annual Victorian Electrotechnology Conference

Teaching staff from all TAFE colleges across Victoria, that are delivering Electrotechnology courses, are spending a couple of days in Philip Island discussing how best to educate our electrical apprentices, with an emphasis on Renewable Energy and Hybrid Systems Technologies.

Your editor is among those invited and will keep you posted over the next couple of days with information, pictures and video content of this event. We'll keep you informed!!

This is not quite the "Golden Arches" of hamburger fame, but a structure built by our P3 pre-vocational students from conduit to demonstrate their abilities.

The design criteria were as follows:

1. the archway had to be free-standing.

2. it had to be able to support a 2.5 kilogram rope light.

3. both arches had to have a combined radial dimension

of 10 metres.

4. they were only allowed to use insulation tape or

standard electrotechnology accessories for bracing

or structural purposes.

And they built it !!!!

These students just love to have the opportunity to be creative and become involved in these types of practical activities.

GOOD ONE !!!

BUSY TESTING THE INSTALLATION !!

These are some of our male and female students with their teacher, Ian, who are close to becoming licensed electricians.

This has to be one of the most exciting times of their young lives, when their silver card gives them entry into the exciting world of electrotechnology.

OUR NEW LEA/LEP INSTALLATION

For those apprentices who are about to sit for their Electrician's Licence practical and assessment examination .................

We have just completed the construction of our new LEA/LEP testing area which is "State of the Art" in terms of the equipment and flexibility of testing that has been built into it.

Those apprentices about to take their LEA examination will be able to practice and hone their testing skills using the new facility that has been provided for them.

Ian is to be commended for the way in which he has designed and set up this unit!!

ONLINE REVISION FOR YOUR MODULES/COMPETENCIES

Online revision and quizzes now fully functional !!!

If you'd like to try the online revision tests, just log onto http://www.classmarker.com/ and enter the following:

Username: paul8756

Password: kmstmhb

This is for module NUE400 - Electrical Installations - Protection Methods and Devices.

This can be taken online with a PC, laptop or mobile telephone and gives you instant feedback with result and correct answers.

If you want to subscribe ABSOLUTELY FREE!!! to this service, send an email to office@motorscan.info, together with the modules or new competencies you are studying ( eg; UEENEEe007b) and we will immediately email back the username/password for each. The password can be changed to one of your liking after you have logged on for the first time.

Our group including the new music teacher.

More pictures of our combined group including one of our new music teacher, employed to entertain us while we are busy wiring.

As you can see, we are also committed to teaching telecommunication installation skills and offer training for Austel certification.

This certificate can be gained prior to your final qualification and licensing as an electrician and enables you to undertake cabling and connection to telecommunication systems.

Great day at the ranch. Joe and Paul ( fastest teachers in the west!! ) decided to experiment with two combined classes P2 and P3 to work together as one large group and what an overwhelming success it was, as the pictures and videos prove.

Just goes to show what planning and cooperation can achieve. We're devoted to giving our students the best opportunities to work as a team and, at the same time learn.

We're going to do this more often and try out some new ideas and techniques to achieve the best results we can -- we're working with you guys and look forward to more lessons like we had yesterday.

As a teacher, I had one of the best days ever!!. The experience of working together with another devoted and highly motivated teacher, which was reflected in the way the students reacted and worked, is one that is one that needs to be experienced by all educators. What we put in is what we get out !!

THE BRILLIANT TALENT SHOW FROM P3

Not only can these guys wire up switches from one way to three way intermediate, but at the same time give us a show worthy of entering in a talent contest !!



Who said learning shouldn't be fun ? Learning should be one of the most rewarding experiences for a young person ( and older ones too ) - good on you guys !!

We all had a fantastic afternoon of fun and at the same time each pair of pre-vocational students completed the switching exercises without hassle and drama. Just goes to show that a little humour goes a long way.

Great to see !!!

Our revision and quiz site is now operational

Well, here it is !!

You can now log onto our new site with details of the modules and competencies you are enrolled in at TAFE ( Victoria only at this stage ). You will then have access to a bank of questions that you can answer with immediate feedback as to the result, and the opportunity to do the test again with the questions being randomised. This means that you will get a new set of questions each timeyou. but the answers to the previous attempt will be given to you.

We are able to present the tests and quizzes to you in revision mode, which means that you can have as many attempts as we have preset ( usually a maximum of 10 ), which gives you an opportunity to get on top of the subject. Remember, the questions are drawn randomly from the question bank. We are also able to put the exercise into " test" mode when assessment time at TAFE draws near,that only gives you one attempt and the results are emailed back to us for analysis

This test can also be taken using your mobile phone, yes you can also revise and answer questions while you are out and about or travelling to work or TAFE.

Just email us your name and details of each unit you are studying and we will email you back the link to the site and a username/password for each unit. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY FREE !!!

We can also apply the test so that the result is emailed to us. This is when we feel that the test should be applied prior to your final exam/assessment at TAFE.

The questions will mainly be multiple choice, multiple answer, yes or no and short written answers.

We will be increasing the size of the question banks on a daily basis and continuously adding new material.

When you are ready, send an email to office@motorscan.info with your module/competency numbers ( eg: NUE057, NUE064, UEENEEE004B ) and we'll email you back your log-in details.

REMEMBER, this service is ABSOLUTELY FREE - We want to help our young apprentices pass their units with above average scores.

Editor.

Let there be light !!!

This is fully functional 12 volt fluorescent light fitting made by one of our very smart pre-vocational electrical students.

All of the students in our group are hand picked from many who apply to us for training and are all deserving of an apprenticeship placement at the end of our rigorous education programme.

Practical, theoretical and communication skills are developed and a thorough assessment routine has to be undertaken before any of our pre-vocational students are declared sufficiently competent to enter a formal apprenticeship with an electrical company.

Surfers Paradise on a lovely, hot Queensland day

This is how I spent some time while in Queensland recently. What more could I have asked for, sipping my cold Guinness while watching the meter maids at "work".

Not a conduit in sight !!!!

PVC conduits on external walls of buildings

These pictures were taken in Mentone, Melbourne while shopping. As you can see, no expansion couplings were used and the saddles are galvanised steel.

As a result of exposure to the sun, the conduit has buckled for two reasons.

• No expansion couplings have been installed along the length of conduit and:



• PVC saddles should have been used to allow the conduit to slide within them while steel saddles have a raised "dimple" in the centre which grips the conduit. No problem with steel conduit but definitely bad practice to use them with PVC.

Remember the online quiz ( even on your mobile !!)

PC or Mobile phone

Remember that within the next 2 weeks, we'll be giving the link to our new page that contains questions and quizzes.

These quizzes are listed under the different competencies and modules currently being offered to electrical pre-vocational students and apprentices in Victoria.

The questions will be a mixture of different types of question including multiple choice and will be an invaluable revision tool.

The questions are marked automatically online ( immediately ) and if you want to repeat the quiz we have organised the site so that the questions are randomised and a fresh set of questions from our question bank will be offered to you.

It's going to be an exciting site as we have made sure that there is a mix of text and graphics.

Guess what ?? You can even do a quiz on your mobile phone while going to work or coming to TAFE.

I made this fluorescent light and it works !!!

I'm an electrical pre-vocational student and I made this fluorescent light from scratch by myself.

Everything you see was made by me and the printed circuit that controls this 12 volt light was assembled and soldered in the workshop by myself.

All students in my group made one of these light fittings that can be used in a van or caravan or even in your swish Winnebago motor home !!

This is just one of many things we learn to make during our pre-vocational training. We even make our own tool box.

Hopefully, I'll be offered an apprenticeship after this and I look forward to coming to your home one day to install some new power points, light fittings and even a computerised system to operate all of the appliances and lights you have.

See you then !!

Our future apprentices !!!

These are our future apprentices . We need to plan for their future and develop new techniques and technologies to allow them to become highly skilled electrical technicians !!
As you can see from the picture, it's a fine career for a man or woman.

LESSON 1 - ELECTRON THEORY

BOHR'S ATOMIC THEORY

Before we start to teach topics dealing with electron flow in an electrical circuit, we need to
know what an electron actually is. After all, it could be a type of alien being or motor car (".... here I was driving down the highway in my new Electron ..." ), so we need to make sure that all of our students know what electrons are and how they form the very basis of all electrical theory and application.

In 1913, the Danish physicist Niels Bohr managed to explain the spectrum of atomic hydrogen by an extension of Rutherford's description of the atom. In Bohr's model, the negatively charged electrons revolve about the positively charged atomic nucleus because of the attractive electrostatic force according to Coulomb's law.

So where are we leading ? How does this explain how these electrons flow through copper wires and light up our lives ?

The main parts of an atom are protons and neutrons that are grouped together in the nucleus ( centre), and electrons.

Neutrons have no electrical charge. Protons are positively charged particles, therefore the overall charge on the nucleus is positive.

Clear so far ?

Electrons are very small negatively charged particles. The amount of electrical charge on an electron is equal but opposite to the charge on a proton. Electrons are continuously moving in orbits, or shells, around the nucleus. A normal atom contains the same number of protons and electrons. The atom is therefore balanced electrically.

Now for the story you wanted to hear !!

As the electrons in the outer shell of an atom are relatively far away from the restraining influence of the nucleus, it is possible for an atom to gain or lose electrons and become electrically unbalanced.

When this occurs the atom becomes an ion. The process of gaining or losing electrons is known as ionisation.

Each outer shell revolving in orbit around the nucleus, somewhat like a spacecraft, has a different limit to the amount of electrons it can hold, but when a shell is the outermost one, its limit is eight. The number, which is actually in the outer shell, determines whether the substance will be a conductor or insulator. A full or nearly full outer shell produces an insulator, nearly empty produces a conductor.

In the next lesson, we'll discuss various conductors and insulators as well as semi-conductors ( the " things" that drive your Ipod ) and start to investigate how current flows.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We hope you found this informative and helped to explain what electrons actually are before we move on to explain how they flow through the wires and cables that enable us to enjoy the benefits of electric power

We're hard at work !!!

The P3 group of semester 1, 2009 are hard at work drawing diagrams of switches and working on switching charts. Today we've learnt 1 way switching, 2 way switching ( including the conversion method and 3 way intermediate switching.

Hi everyone,

Welcome to our new blogsite where all you electrical pre-vocational students and apprentices can share in a wealth of information and knowledge as well as stories, humour and anything else you may want to share with your friends and co-students.


Over the next few weeks we intend to fill these pages with as much useful information and knowledge enhancement as possible and we welcome your pictures, comments and suggestions.

Remember, this is YOUR site and we need as much feedback as possible to make it work as intended.

There will be a link to our new site available within the next 2 weeks where you can attempt online quizzes associated with the modules and competencies you are involved with. These quizzes will be automatically marked online and questions randomised to make it more interesting. A link to this website will be provided.

Editor.