Meetings and more meetings July 29, 2008
Posted by mrsuds in Introductions, Principal Meeting.add a comment
I had another important VC meeting today. This time with the principals of Cantatech. A very good turn out as well, which is reassuring. I felt like a talking head, but we had so much to get through in just an hour.
Principals were supportive of the many new initiatives on the agenda. A few seem concerned with the speed we were going when I mentioned the possiblity of a cross cluster Moodle site. The reality is we would still be moving teachers along slowly in terms of PD. For them there would be little difference initially – just a different front page. It’s the possibilties that it throws up for the future that are so exciting.
Another exciting opportunity in the pipeline is a presentation on the new curriculum from Rachel Bolstad. Video conference equipment enables us to get this to a much wider audience, although room size would probably limit it to HODs and senior management. Hopefully some schools from other clusters could get on too.
The key thing I have realised with this job, and I conveyed to the principals, is that it is not about me. It is about building sustainability and capacity in each school. I have also realised that each school must be approached very differently – some are ready and some are not. It’s a matter of working with each school in a way that works for them.
Must remember to take photos of these events so I can post them. I have gotten out of that habit.
Presentation time July 28, 2008
Posted by mrsuds in strategic.add a comment
Tonight I gave a presentation to Boards of Trustees from Cantatech schools on where we are going over the next two years.
I personally get very bored with long presentations using powerpoint with endless bullet pointed slides. I have gone off PowerPoint in a big way and only reserve it for special occasions. I used to use it heavily in face to face classrooms as a way of going over material once students have completed work, but found it was starting to turn me into the sort of teacher I didn’t want to be – at the front talking a lot. it is very good for showing visuals though and I try to make any presentations as visual as possible now.
Anyway I gave what I hope was a succinct overview (you can judge for yourself) of what Cantatech is and where things are going. The best part was at the end where I got lots of excellent questions which resulted in very exciting and productive discussion. There was major interest in the future of things and some excellent insights into how this sort of technology can change the approach schools take to learning.
Lots of thanks to Eddie Reisch at the Ministry who came along and chimed in when needed. He ended get some very curly questions…
Oh and thanks to Rachel…hope you don’t mind me stealing a slide from one of your presentations – liked it.
Moodle Muddling 2 July 25, 2008
Posted by mrsuds in Uncategorized.Tags: Moodle
add a comment
Seems I am always blogging about Moodle at the moment, but there is no doubt it is taking quite a bit of my time.
I ran my own Moodle Muddle yesterday as we looked to formally kick of the PD for the new Cantatech online envrionment.
We had representatives from almost every school in Cantatech. This group is going to trial Moodle for most of this term, before we look at spreading the use to other staff. The idea is slow infiltration, rather than trying to sell it to everyone.
I wanted the workshop to be learner centred rather than me talking at the front a lot. It ended up that I had to do that in the afternoon as the internet went down for an hour (as it would of course!). The reception was generally good, with some real enthusiasts. I think a few also found it a bit overwhelming. Moodle can look a bit daunting at first, but once you become familar with the interface it is reasonably easy. I do wish the editor was a bit less clunky, but I’m sure that will improve over time.
From here I will support the elearning team as they develop their courses. Some of this support will include using the Moodle itself, (discussion forums, exemplars, resources,), meetings through VC and face to face.
I will also be meeting with leadership in each school to map out the way forward. The schools in Cantatech are quite diverse. In some we could quite confidently release to all staff. Others we are going to have to take it slowly. How effective this will be – time will tell.
Moodle Muddle July 17, 2008
Posted by mrsuds in Uncategorized.Tags: Moodle
add a comment
In the last week of term a number of the ePrincipals got together to have what we termed a “Moodle Muddle”. It turned out that far more people came along than was anticipated so Anton (Welcom) had to take a bit more of an instructional approach – so it wasn’t really that muddly.
All very worth while though. Learnt quite a bit, espcially about roles. i didn’t realise you could assign roles 
to any activity you create for a course. This is fantastic news, because I really want my students creating themselves, rather than me leading them all the time. So rather than me creating quizzes – they can create them. Rather than me creating a web page – they can. I can see how Moodle could become a very teacher led thing, which doesn’t fit the constructionist philosophy that is the foundation for its design.
We spent one afternoon discussing the pedagogical approach that should be taken with Moodle. This is the sort of thing that fascinates me. In the end though, it is extremely important. If technology is to make a difference it needs to be used in a way that reflect 21st century learning – students must use it. Too many times I see teachers using technology (especially dataprojectors and interactive whiteboards), where students are still passive receptors. This needs to change…and soon!
