The Vault
The information in this section has been directly transferred over from our old website. It has had little editing just yet and might be hard to read, but it may be worth the effort if you are interested in where we came from, or want to pick up the pearls of wisdom within.
The business commenced operations in 1999 as a part-time concern and conducted a range of projects and consultancies from 1999-2003. In May 2003 it became a full time operation with Margaret Aspin as Director and Principal Consultant. In September 2003, the business incorporated to become Aspin Pty Ltd
Earlier work by Aspin ONLINE Consulting includes: Evaluation of the Australian Flexible Learning Framework, as part of the I&J Management consortium. The evaluation included consultations across all states and territories in early 2004.
Going Virtual The Future of Work 25-27th August 2004 Brisbane.
Small to Medium Enterprise Research and Action Learning project for the Office of Training and Tertiary Education, Victoria. Guidelines for VET staff who deal with small businesses. (In conjunction with Chisholm Institute of TAFE).
Interim Education Manager, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (Victoria) August- November 2003. Three days per week. Developed Strategic Workforce Development Plan and RTO status.
July- August 2003 independent audit of Pre-Registration Program for Pharmacists. Pharmaceutical Society of Australia Vic Branch (conducted in consortia with Thompson Nightingale International and Advanced Visual Realities Australasia.)
June- August 2003 -Mentoring in eLearning facilitation. Southbank Institute of TAFE Queensland.
June-July 2003 - Victorian State Report and critique for the Flexible Learning Leaders ejournal, The Knowledge Tree. ANTA http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/knowledgetree/index.html
Conducting an analysis of the Educational National Database for the Australian National Training Authority against World Wide Web Consortium Internet accessibility requirements, wrote recommendations and specifications for programmers, and a web based training document for Educational National stakeholders.
Consultant to the project manager and project officer for the Australian National Training Authority Access and Equity in Online Educational Project.
Facilitation/mediation LifeWorks.
Social Policy Swinburne University of Technology. Structure and theory of organisations - Swinburne University of Technology.
Industry consulting Norvil.
Managing components of the Australian tour May-June 2003 by Dr John Gundry Knowledge Ability UK.
ReFraming the Future projects with the Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia Business Services (TFIA BS) We are working with the Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia Business Services (TFIA BS) on three ReFraming the Future projects. The projects include industry training networks, assessor networks and change agent programs with the Floor Covering Association of Victoria and Hilton Fabrics plus many stakeholders. The TAA Training Package and several other NTF implementation issues will form the focus of these projects. Aspin Online Consulting will provide training in TAFEVC and communications, and conduct evaluations.
Workforce Planning Conference This conference is about developing and implementing a strategic plan to forecast the workforce of the future. Margaret Aspin will be presenting a half day Post Conference Executive Tutorial called How to Train Flexible Workers . Margaret will explore the two key issues confronting Australia: skill shortages and the ageing population, and discuss the major keys to addressing these problems, including re-entry to the workforce and retaining older workers. Read more about this and other Post Conference Executive Tutorials here: http://www.iqpc.com.au/cgi-bin/templates/document.html?topic=232&event=7...
MOBIlearn Margaret Aspin is in the MOBIlearn special interest group. This 30 month , 8 Meuro project is co-funded by the European Commission. MOBIlearn http://www.mobilearn.org/ is a worldwide European-led research and development project exploring context-sensitive approaches to informal, problem-based and workplace learning by using key advances in mobile technologies. The MOBIlearn project consortium involves 24 partners from Europe, Israel , Switzerland , USA and Australia ( Education.au ). Their competencies are integrated and extended by a Special Interest Group which includes 250 of the world's leading organisations, active in Information Technology.
Margaret Aspin's relevant earlier experience
Margaret Aspin Project managed on time and within budget over 20 key government, company and trust funded projects for the Australian National Training Authority, Victorian government (OTTE), Occupational Therapy Australia, Victoria Police, Yooralla, RCSA, TAFE Frontiers, and Open Training Services.
Manager of the OTTE funded Flexible Learning Network NETOnline 1999- 2002 which is a partnership between NMIT, two ACE providers, three health providers, regional libraries. The role included managing partnership contracts and memorandums of understanding. Secured innovations funding for continuation of the network 2003.
Increased capacity of TAFE institute to deliver online by designing professional development programs to retrain all teaching staff and middle managers, and setting up innovative delivery mechanisms and programs in online development and delivery.
ANTA Flexible Learning Leader 2000. Travelled to Europe investigating delivery of training to industry, Virtual work, Virtual Teams and capacity building for VET staff.
Partnerships between government, industry and communities.
Established online communication networks of over 2000 learners, staff and industry clients by setting up Internet and groupware systems, marketing globally and involving international experts in knowledge management, Virtual Teaming and Agile Networking.
Set up and managed tour by Dr John Gundry Knowledge Ability UK of Australia 2001. Facilitated Dr Gundry's second tour in 2002.
Flexible Learning Manager at NMIT working to meet the 2001-2004 Victorian government (OTTE) performance agreements with NMIT by developing strategy and policy and by managing the Victorian government Notebooks for TAFE Teachers initiative.
Managed OTTE ICT Professional Development for NMIT staff.
Established licensing arrangements between NMIT and Knowledge Ability UK to provide professional development to educators and trainers across Australia and New Zealand in working online, managing online teams such as consortiums, and working more agilely. Set up, found sponsorship and managed national tour of Dr Gundry, Director Knowledge Ability UK 2001.
Grew online department's web site http://online.nmit.vic.edu.au from under 5,000 hits per month to 95,000 hits per month by developing effective business, e-Marketing, communications and adoption plans. Established internal and external quality customer service to include online inductions, helpdesk, instructive resources, newspapers and online news, and CD ROM support.
Established the first virtual team in education in Australia, managing ongoing, contract, sessional staff and contractors distributed across Australia and New Zealand.
Acted as consultant to the New South Wales government PD Network, Waikato and Wairarapa Polytechnics in New Zealand, the Royal Australian Navy, and nine vocational education and training institutes in Australia.
Expert lecturer (University in Victoria ) in Virtual Organisations and Virtual Teaming as a global management and organisational change methodology.
Other Work 2004 8th National Chemical Diversion Congress(pdf) Changing the future of work 1-9-04(pdf) Dreaming Day(pdf) Flyer Nillumbik(pdf) Going Virtual Media Release 16 July(pdf) Going Virtual Brochure(pdf) Locals Lead the Way - Virtually 16-8-2004(pdf) Mistrust of Flexible Workers on the way to recovery(pdf) 2005 Alick Marks Interview(pdf) Going Virtual 05 Brochure(pdf) Shepparton Community Workshop(pdf) Tony Aspin Interview(pdf) Training Flexible Workers(pdf)
DIVERSION OF LEGAL DRUGS ROAD SHOW The Victorian Police, Major Drug Investigation Division present on the problem of diversion of legal drugs, how criminals divert drugs to amphetamines, what problems the community faces, what to watch for in a pharmacy, and what happens to the end users. Local crime prevention officers present on pharmacy security. This is an opportunity for pharmacists and their staff to learn how to recognise suspicious purchases, and inform police without putting themselves or staff in potential danger. The good news is that the practice of diverting legal drugs can be substantially decreased. This roadshow raises awareness, assists pharmacists, their staff, and the community.
Papers Margaret wrote the Victorian State report and a critique for the Flexible Learning Leaders Allumni journal 'Wollemi Ringleaders'. http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/knowledgetree/index.html Critique of 2002 RTO case studies can be found at http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/knowledgetree/edition03/html/cri_rto.... Margaret Aspin
CPA Congress October 20 2004 Sydney 'The Virtual Workplace' Working in a virtual Office Margaret Aspin 2004(doc)
Social Research Papers
Affordable Housing and the Place of the Church by Ron Aspin Download the PDF Article in BriefCACE Public Morality Monthly Number 15 November 2004 BriefCACE is a publication of the Centre for Allied Christian Ethics at Ridley College http://ridley.unimelb.edu.au/
December 2005 Brisbane on 'Can Good Legislation be Over Regulation for Public Private Partnerships'. Aspin, R.,
"Public-Private Partnerships and Effective Risk Management for Local Government", presented to the 19th EAROPH World Planning and Housing Congress and Australian National Housing Conference, 2004 2001 Aspin, R. (with D. Hayward),
"Contracting for Globalisation", Dissent , no. 6, 2001
Please contact Ron at ron@aspinonlineconsulting.com.au to obtain copies and other papers.
AUDIO presentations Performance Zone Audio Presentation (MP3, 669KB) December 2004. This presentation is about flexible learning and industry. Recorded in Sydney at AITD.
Examples Flextrek: A guide to Leadership Characteristics in the Flexible Learning Environment Free Information Technology training for teachers. Free tools to use Two resources that were developed by the NMIT Online Team (Note these are now able to be purchased on Australian Training Products) A Beginners Guide for Content Developers
A Beginners Guide for Content Developers Author : John Casey - Link to Author details This guide aims to provide a user-friendly introduction to IPR issues for e-learning content developers and managers. It is intended to act as a point of entry to the field of IPR in e-learning that will provide a good foundation for building expertise in the e-learning developer community. It deals with the basic aspects of IPR, especially copyright, in e-learning content development, with an emphasis on reusing third party materials to create new resources. The guide has been written by an e-learning content developer who has had to deal with these issues in practice. The style of the guide is practical and approachable with many useful tips and observations but it also provides a sketch of the wider issues. It also provides flow diagrams, templates, case studies and further sources of information and guidance. http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/publications/johncasey_1.htm
Flextrek: A guide to Leadership Characteristics in the Flexible Learning Environment The flextrek resource is aimed at Vocational Education and Training (VET) managers and leaders responsible for developing and managing customer-focused, flexible learning approaches. The resource provides: An exploration of eleven key leadership characteristics essential for VET practitioners Activities which include self-assessment tools, case studies, snapshots and in-depth readings To find out more about using flextrek, click on the following links: What is leadership in the flexible learning environment? How were the flextrek characteristics identified? How can I determine my current leadership capabilities? http://www.tafefrontiers.com.au/pd/flextrek/index.htm
Free Information Technology training for teachers. In 2002 teachers across TAFEs and other RTOs in Victoria received laptops and training in IT. The course materials are still available. • Operations and Concepts ICT Skills for Teachers Visit http://www.tafevc.com.au/ict/Default.htm to obtain the resources.
Good tools to use Models and Methods Models and Methods is a web based developer tool designed for teachers as well as developer. This tool defines the essential features of flexible learning models and methods, based around TAFE frontiers learning materials. It's easy to use and highlights the features of each model and method. http://www.tafefrontiers.com.au/pd/modelsmethods/TAFEfrontiers.htm
The following two resources were developed by the NMIT Online Team when Margaret Aspin was the manager. How to succeed as a flexible trainer http://www.tafefrontiers.com.au/flexlt/index.html How to succeed as a flexible learner http://www.tafefrontiers.com.au/flexlt/learner/index.html
Competencies for working virtually Working online or virtually is found in the Business Services Training Package. We have mapped our Virtual Edge workshops (see seminars page) to these e-Business units and competencies at levels 3-5. There are also some units suitable for working virtually at level 6: BSBEBUS310A Work effectively as an off site eworker BSBEBUS302A Use and maintain electronic mail system BSBEBUS303A Participate in a virtual community BSBEBUS402A Implement ecorrespondence policies BSBEBUS403A Communicate electronically BSBEBUS406A Monitor and maintain records in an online environment BSBEBUS409A Lead and facilitate estaff BSBEBUS508A Build a virtual community BSBEBUS512A Implement electronic communication policy BSBEBUS523A Investigate and plan ework business solutions BSBEBUS524A Implement and manage eworking arrangements
