Principal Development April 18, 2008
Posted by mrsuds in PD.add a comment
It is the end of a rather tiring week for all the eprincipals. We have been in Wellington at the PDPC (Principal’s Development Planning Centre?)for some professional development relating to leadership. Much of the learning was based on a personality questionnaire which provided us with information on our learning styles. Unfortunately this approach never really won me over. I really find it difficult relating to any sort of categorising in terms of learning, let alone personalities. It was certainly interesting though.
The highlights for me was the afternoon spent on questioning techniques. It was very thought provoking and it was good to rehearse the ‘difficult conversations’ which may come our way.
One thing I learnt about myself was that I now find it very difficult to spend extended periods (a day) sitting in the same spot doing a lot of listening. I am a very self-directed learner who enjoys finding things out for myself (with direction) and collaborating with others. Which is sort of what we are aiming for with our students these days isn’t it. Why do teachers insist on talking for so long then?
So, all in all a very worthwhile experience, but not the challenging one the PDPC people said it would be. What was great about it was how much closer together it brought all the eprincipals.
Below is one groups vision of what is means to be an eprincipal. (A rather androgenous one at that)
A Big Meeting April 11, 2008
Posted by mrsuds in OLE, Principal Meeting, strategic.add a comment
Today was probably the most important day of the year so far for this cluster. For the first time we brought all the Principals’s together. This meeting was extremely significant in that we discussed the strategic plan and made a decision on an LMS for the cluster. Lots of positive and constructive feedback was given and it seemed as though everyone was happy to buy into it. I think we all recognise that the plan is ambitious, but also challenging and worthwhile because of that. We will take small steps initially and first on the agenda next term is putting in place a shared OLE for the cluster.
This led to the final point of discussion. What LMS to go with it. I presented a few options with costings as well. The decision was made to go with Moodle. There are various reasons for this including: cost, philisophy, functionality, felixibiltiy and sustainability. So onward and upwards. Time to get this thing in place and working!
For me it was a bit of a relief when it was over, just because it seems I have been waiting for it for most of the term. Now we can get things moving.
The planning stage is almost over! (Well, sort of)
At the beginning I used two little video clips that I felt were thought-provoking and relevant to what we would be discussing. One I have put in a previous post. The other I have put below. It is Sir Ken Robinson speaking about creativity and schools. It is very well known, but if you haven’t seen, I strongly recommend you watch it.
Hunting and Gathering April 2, 2008
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Over the last few weeks or so I have been gathering quite a bit of information from the various people involved in this project. This started with the meet and greets of course and expanded to the first eteachers and site supervisors VC meeting for the cluster this year. Last year the group was unable to meet at all, apart from the orientation day and although some think it really is needed, a few others probably don’t. The meeting was very productive, although didn’t involve as much discussion as I would have liked. This was mainly because I was going through procedure and prototcols in the new e-manual. The meeting did reveal some issues around NCEA guidelines and moderation. For example, whose NCEA guidelines do students follow – the delivering school or their own?
The first VC Principal’s meeting was a wee bit disappointing as we only had half turn up! Getting the Principal’s to wrench free from their day to day duties will be one of the challenges I face. Those who were there, committed to the idea of a shared online learning environment and going with the majority decision in terms of a particular LMS. From here we have a major face to face meeting coming up on the 11th of April.
I have also been VCing into the various schools and speaking with students about how their distance learning courses were going. The response has been very positive, although one or two were having problems which you would expect. At the moment all students are completing an online survey using surveymonkey. This will provide detailed information which I will present to to the management group and eteachers. This will then enable us to base decisions on concrete evidence.
Purely out of interest I decided to survey the other eprincipals around the country. The results were very interesting and made me feel comfortable about what I was doing. Much of my time over the last two weeks has been spent working from home. Every now and then I have travelled into Darfield, but working from home has enabled me to get through quite a bit of work. The flexibility of hours has been great, but it comes with this feeling of guilt that I should be in a structured school environment deeling with day to day school madness. Have I become slightly insitutionalised? I’m sure I will get over it anyway.
The survey results suggest that the eprincipals were an experienced bunch in terms of distance learning; they largely work from home with only two permanently based at a school; they visit their cluster schools regularly with the majority doing it monthly, although a few do visit weekly (one keen sod visits every day!); nearly all have a centralised online learning environment with Moodle the favourite (yay go Moodle!), closely followed by Knowledgenet and Scholaris; they work 40-60 hours a week with a couple of maniacs doing 70+ hours; they will report to the ministry using a mix of tools whether they be written, media or web based; half teach and half don’t (easy stats to interpret those); and they REALLY LIKE Eddie Reisch (or they are lying).
Now, I think I am finally up to date with my posts.
OLE April 2, 2008
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One of my major tasks is to investigate, present and implement an online learning environment. The implemementation won’t come until next term, but the decision on what learning management system (LMS) we will go with is just around the corner.
This task was absolutely perfect for me as it was a continuation of what I had been doing last year in my previous position at Marlborough Girls’ College. In terms of options there are a few we could consider. Both Scholaris and FirstClass are too expensive for our schools. I quite like FirstClass, but I found Scholaris overstructured, although it gives you almost anything you would probably ever want in an LMS.
This narrows the list down to the following possible options
I strongly favour Moodle out of these options. I like its functionality, flexibility and the fact it is developed by educators. With Moodle we can create whatever environment we want, but it does have its drawbacks. In the end any of these would do a job. It is how we use this environment that is most important.
Goals April 2, 2008
Posted by mrsuds in strategic.add a comment
Well, from the management meeting some time ago we were able to put together our main goals for the next two years. They are only draft at this stage, but are deliberately broad and ambitious. There are four:
1. Ensure the sustainability and growth of the distance learning programme.
2. Broaden the delivery of elearning within the Cantatech cluster
3. Promote collaboration and innovation between Cantatech schools to ensure quality learning outcomes for all students
4. Further develop professional links with other elearning clusters and educational institutions
After a few weeks of plugging away I have finally put together a Cantatech Strategic Plan for the next two years…enjoyable experience it was too. This plan will be discussed and developed at the Principal’s meeting in a week or so, which I am looking forward to. It is vital that all stakeholders buy into this plan otherwise we will make no headway. I am hoping that the plan might change quite a bit as a result of discussion – this would mean we have got a collaborative plan rather than something I have come up with.
In terms of meeting these goals we have only just begun, but links have already been firmly established between the clusters care of the week in Rotorua.
