Rangiora New Life November 5, 2008
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It would be fair to say I haven’t had a big presence in Rangiora New Life School this year. That’s mainly because they already have their own LMS – MyClasses and an eLearning Co-ordinator of their own. This means they are quite a way ahead of many of the other schools in Cantatech, so they haven’t needed me quite as much. They still have an interest in where the Moodle environment is going though and my visit yesterday proved extremely productive.
I had a good discussion with Gregg, their principal who was keen on many of the issues we discussed. These included – Sorting out Cantatech courses for 2009, Collaboration, Gifted and Talented, and eLearning.
We have strong numbers for L2 History next year, so it was good to get confirmation that Adrian (their Cantatech teacher) was available to teach that course next year. Adrian is an experienced VC teacher, who has impressed me with his enthusiasm. I didn’t realise he is 62! So it’s good to see someone in the twilight of their career still wanting to trail blaze.
One of the major challenges for me in this job is to facilitate collaboration amongst all staff in our cluster. I will post somethig on this soon, so I won’t elaborate here, but needless to say it is no easy task. Like any school, RNLS staff are members of various communties and have established their own networks. I very much doubt they are at the scale we are aiming for, but many teachers feel comfortable with what they have.
This is very much the situation at RNLS. Gregg thinks the senior staff are more willing to meet with other staff in Cantatech, than the junior staff. He said that senior management certainly had a vision for online communtities as being one form of professional learning, but we both agree that it needs to be very well planned and have a purpose. He suggested NCEA moderation as an easy hook and one I hadn’t thought of is the Specialist Classroom Teacher (SCT). This position is new to many in the cluster so it would be an obvious one to target for collaboration and networking. So some productive discussion there.
Gregg was very keen on a cross cluster gifted and talented programme for 2009, as all the principals seem to be. This is something that the other eLearning clusters either have already or are planning – so it would make sense to discuss what an effective approach would be for this. A couple of years ago I wrote a research paper on this subject for my postgraduate studies, so it is something I feel I have some knowledge on at least. Gifted and Talented Programmes vary from school to school, but many run a withdrawal programme, which is not my favoured way of meeting the needs of these students. In this case though, I can’t see how a cross cluster programme can’t run this way – so I will have to bite the bullet on that one (unless I, or someone else, has a brainstorm). I would guess that it would be the favoured approach by principals though. It is also notoriously difficult to correctly identify gifted and talented students. Most students in these sorts of programmes are merely talented. A truly gifted student comes along fairly rarely. Anyway, after the seniors are gone I am going to meet with the people responsible for any sort of GATE programme in each school and see what we can put together. I’m sure there will be a discussion on this amongst the ePrincipals as well…
The final issue of discussion was on eLearning. We decided (with Hans, their eLearning Co-ordinator) that I could work with Hans on some eLearning workshops run in the school next year. I could offer some hands on stuff with web 2.0 which they haven’t really touched with their staff yet. I have tended to steer clear of hands on PD, because I don’t see it as my role, but I think it has huge benefits in raising your presence in a school. It’s all about balance in the end. How often to tavel? When to VC? When to get hands on? How much time to spend on strategic stuff? Because it is a new role all the ePrincipals have taken slightly different roads, and we have all probably changed our thinking on how to approach things a few times during this year. I know I have anyway.
Selling all over the place… November 2, 2008
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I have been much travelled over the past two weeks, with only one full day each week spent at home working. Somewhat ironic when you consider the techonology that is available to cut down time and distance, but sometimes you need to just get into the schools and build relationships face to face.
The main purpose for most of these visits was to present to staff on eLearning and collaboration – a continuation of the “Selling an Idea” promotion to staff that I have already been blogging on.
This is the first time I have blogged for a while and there are so many things I want to reflect on, so I am going to quickly generalise on the visits – they include Amuri Area School, Cheviot Area School, Oxford Area School and Mackenzie College.
The presentation seemed to go well in each school, and provoked varied and interesting discussion. Time was an issue that came of course. While I am sympathetic to teachers with this, I think it is time to just get and do it, rather than accept barriers. The reality is it is a question of priorities for many teachers and eLearning just isn’t at the top of the list…or even half way up. It is absolutely imperative this attitude changes, otherwise schools face becoming even more out of touch with the modern world.
Another barrier that was mentioned was internet connection, which isn’t that fabulous at some schools. This is something I can’t do anything about, but it’s important that teachers persevere. If things go wrong in a session (as they are bound to on occasion) keep on trucking – don’t get put off. Hopefully fibre optic cable will start coming our way soon and that will put paid to slow connection speed!
No presentation at Cheviot and Mackenzie – just caught up with leadership and other key people.
I met with the two eTeachers at Cheviot and gave them feedback on a recent observation I had done. I’m keen to move our teachers to one VC session each week, rather than two, but I may have to wait until they get some more training on the Moodle. I can see how two contact sessions are helpful for some subjects, but overall I think we are justing cutting down on the time students have to actually complete the work.
Mackenzie College have their own Moodle site, which the principal is pushing. I am going in soon to give staff PD. Any Moodle experts out there have some ideas on what to focus on in a 1 1/2 hour session for newbies?
Selling an idea – Akaroa Area School October 23, 2008
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It’s been a busy week and I’ve got a lot of blog posting to catch up, but that might be a job for next week. Most of this week has been taken up with school visits, with the first at Akaroa Area School on Monday.
I had a discussion with two teachers who had been playing around with Moodle. I’m definitely finding it difficult to get traction with the junior teachers on this one. They seem to think it is more applicable to a secondary setting, but I don’t agree. While it may initially seem text heavy, Moodle has so much flexbility that you could approach course design however you wanted. If you want to make it visual, then it’s easy enough to do that. I think some teachers are struggling with the blank slate that it gives you at the beginning. To me, that is one of Moodle’s biggest strengths. It’s just a matter of thinking about how you will put things together. You can’t just zap things onto the page and expect it to make sense. Anyway, I have decided to investigate how some primary schools are using Moodle. Here are two interesting examples. David Street School and Sunnybrae. I really like the visual take on the David Street site.
I also discussed how things have gone this year with the site supervisor. We discussed the pros and cons of having two video conference lessons during the week as opposed to one. I favour one, and I have already discussed this with teachers. While I see the advantages of more teacher contact with two, there is a real teacher led approach in these lessons which concerns me. It’s important that what we do in our distance programme reflects the direction pedagogy is heading in secondary schools. Slowly, but surely a student centred approach is beginning to take hold. It’s great having this technology to enable students to take whatever course they want, but we can’t let the experience reflect 20th century teaching practise. There is something ironic about technology like this being used with traditional teaching approaches. I’m not sure our teachers are quite ready for this yet though, so I will give them the option for next year. I think a year’s PD with Moodle will enable teachers to start to use VC as just a another tool in their arsenal, rather than the dominant one.
The presentation went well, although I felt a bit flat this time. It certainly sparked off some vibrant discussion amongst the Akaroa staff. The key discussions were on social networking and, interestingly, blogging. One teacher made the point that there were all these ideas going round and round the blogesphere (is that a word?) with no real outcome. I think he has a point in some ways – there is a lot of talk around 21st century learning, but not enough action for me. This discussion has to take place though, and personally, I have found the blogs I read daily as enourmously enriching. I get new ideas, knowledge and feel more connected than ever before. Two other ePrincipals, Conor and Rachel, have their own blogs and I find reading them a very reflective experience. We all have similar challenges, frustrations and breakthroughs. By sharing them I’m sure we all feel a bit less like Lone Rangers riding off into the horizon ready to do battle…who Tonto is I don’t know…maybe Eddie!
Ellesmere College May 28, 2008
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Finally, the last school for this round of visits. I will have to rethink how I approach this next time, because it has been hard going for the last two and a half weeks. Much of the work I need to get through has been put on the backburner as a result, but I can now get my head down for the next couple of weeks. I think I will spread the load a bit more next time. Unfortunately there were some pressing issues that needed to be discussed at each school.
Today’s visit was to Ellesmere College in Leeston. Ellesmere is a High School of around 600 students. It is different from many of the other Cantatech schools in that 
it is not really that isolated. My last visit was just a chat with the principal, Ken. He was in hospital this time so I met the DP, Robyn, who organised a very productive day for me.
High on the agenda was a discussion about the needs of Ellesmere with respect to Distance Learning. They have no presence with regards to that this year – no distance teacher and no students. They are quite well resourced in terms of subjects and Robyn said the types of subjects they would be interested are slightly left of mainstream. Media Studies and Classics being an example. I am teaching Classics this year and I will teach Level 3 Classics next year if there is a need for it, so that could be a possiblitiy for a couple of Ellesmere students. I would like to bring them back into the fold so to speak. The Distance Learning is going to take a leap forward over the next year or two and I am sure they would benefit. One of the biggest barriers seems to be timetabling (different timetables running across schools) and a reluctance to release a teacher who could be teaching your own students rather than other schools’.
They are certainly keen on the whole elearning thing. It is the first Cantatech school I have visited that has an elearning committee and an actual plan regarding the implementation of elearning on a schoolwide basis. This is great, because it means I can work in with what they are doing. I presented the new Moodle Cantatech site to the commitee and should be able to get a few to become part of the Canatech elearning team to learn how to use Moodle (and hopefully other online technologies).
On the whole I was really impressed with the school. The staff were happy, collegial and obviously had a pride in the school. There was also a nice sense of calm as you walked amongst the students. Calmness is not always an atmosphere I have experienced in schools.
Hurunui College May 27, 2008
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Hurunui College is situated in Hawarden, north of Christchurch – quite close to Amuri and Cheviot. The principal there, Ron, is a member of the Cantatech Management team and is well up with the play in terms of our goals.
I initially met with the distance teachers. Alan teaches Human Biology and is site supervisor and has been teaching in Canatech right from the beginning. He is also Deputy Principal at Hurunui. We had a good chat, especially about the future of teaching in a distance environment. He is enthusiastic about where things are going, but isn’t a natural enthusiast when it comes to computers. He is very keen to learn how to use his more effectively in a VC lesson (must introduce him to the SVGA cable…) Laurel teachers economics and is part time at the school. In fact her distance course is her only teaching. This has both pros and cons, but does make it more difficult for her to stay in the loop.
I also talked to the staff at the end of day. Most of the discussion centred on getting a couple of people on the elarning team. I think Ron was hoping that my talking about it would gee a few up to give it a go. I also was feeling out the use of VC with junior students and asked staff to think about their programme and what opportunities there would be to connect with people/groups who could add something through a VC lesson. We will see what happens…
Akaroa Area School May 26, 2008
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I am finally getting to the end of my travels for at least a month. Today was the turn of Akaroa Area School. Another beautiful drive and of course another stunning setting. I really like Akaroa Area School. There is a great atmosphere in the school and a real sense of calm amongst staff. It is another school that can point to the individualised nature of its learning leading to success. All their year 12 students passed level two NCEA in 2007 and over 90% of of year 11s achieved Level One. The two students who didn’t gain level one took on apprenticeships. As a former secondary teacher who has taught in very large schools, this is what I like about Area Schools. The individualisation of learning – students can’t hide in this environment and they can’t hide in a senior class of six students! With the distance learning provided by Cantatech, students can stay in these sorts of small schools and still take subjects they want to.
The day itself was another productive one. The principal, Ray, had the morning well set up. Three more teachers on the elearning team, a good chat with senior management about the opportunities Cantatech can offer the school and a quick talk about video conferencing possiblities with two primary school teachers.
Mt Hutt College May 25, 2008
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Today was a very interesting day at Mt Hutt College, although not that productive. Unfortunately the new principal, Cathy had some rather major stuff on her plate, and while she attempted to see me, it wasn’t to be. I felt for her actually. She had a rather challenging situation on her plate.
I decided to have my VC lesson from the school (Friday is my usual VC day) and it went very well. It is great to catch up with my students face to face while I am travelling around. Both sets of students from Twizel and Mt Hutt were able to give me some feedback on how things were going. Although the new Moodle site is great for allowing me to track student work. I will post on how I have found Moodle soon.
I must say that this is the first school I have been to where numerous teachers came up to me to have a chat. One teacher wanted to know about some of the Web 2.0 technology I identified in the elearning survey I put out to schools. The Head of ICT wanted to find out about the International Computer Dirver’s License, so I offered to do that. Two lovely older ladies were chatting to me about techonology and the frustrations they were having. They were quite hilarious, and although found technology frustrating to learn, they were both very keen to learn more. They just found there wasn’t much support for learning the basics. They wanted to do certain things, but didn’t know how. Great to see such enthusiasm though!
Cathy and I decided we would catch up via VC to have a discussion about Mt Hutt and the future of Cantatech. That’s what the technology is for after all.
Rangiora New Life School May 22, 2008
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Rangiora New Life is a Christian school in the town of Rangiora in North Canterbury. Unfortunately Gregg, the Principal was away sick today, but he had set up everyone to see me at an allotted time. It was extremely well planned. A rather strange situation for me. Here I was set up in the Principals office with everyone coming in to me see me at a time they had been told. I felt like I was taking interviews. Nice work space for a day though!
I discovered some needs in terms of NCEA moderation and collaboration. Some staff haven’t had a great experience in VC meetings before, so it is important that there is a real focus to each meeting that is set up. The suggestion from the DP, Trevor, that keeping the groups focussed on certain year levels within a learning area, is a good one andsomething I will take on board when I start organising these.
The school already has a learning management system, Myclasses, in place, so I wasn’t sure whether we would have anyone on the elearning team to learn Moodle, but two are, which is good news. We certainly won’t be pushing the Moodle with all the staff though. Little point in that and increasing the use of eLearning is the aim, rather than the use of a specific LMS. I’m sure Rangiora teachers will be keen to hook into the collaboration we hope to get going on the site though.
Rangiora is the second school I have come across which doesn’t have a dedicated VC room (the other being Darfield). The room actually has a bookable computer pod in it. If we get things going like we want to this is going to become an issue, but for the moment is manageable.
Cheviot Area School May 21, 2008
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Well, today was the turn of Cheviot Area School in my seemingly never ending journey. Forgot to take some photos this time.
Cheviot is yet another small area school. This time situated about 1 1/2 hours north of Christchurch on the way to Kaikoura.
The principal is off on sick leave, so the school is being led by the DP, Robyn. Unfortunately she has been out of the loop with Cantatech and misinterpreted my emails so I didn’t get a chance to talk with her. We will catch up via VC at a later date though. Going to be a busy time for I imagine.
I did meet with the two distance teachers at the school as well as the teacher who is to be part of the elearning team. All were very interested in the Moodle site and I took them through a good one hour run down of what can be done. A lot of enthusiasm which is great to see. Both Marilyn and Tod had already created an account before I even got there so they were really on the ball. (In fact Jason from Amuri has already got some of his students enrolled which is getting very keen!)
The distance teachers and I had a good chat about the distance programme, possible professional development and the propse appraisal scheme. I loved their attitude. They certainly saw the advantages of taking the learning online.
Twizel Area School May 20, 2008
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Monday afternoon I drove out to Twizel to visit the school today. It’s a stunning drive. I have put some photos below.
The history of Twizel is interesting and the town itself is rather idyllic. It has a slightly temporary look, not surprisingly, and you can walk around and meet very few people, especially in the evening.
The school itself is small and caters for 5-18 year olds. It is situated in the centre of town and is very open in its design. At the moment the buildings are going through some major re-development.
We have one teacher on the new elearning team. I had a good ½ hour to chat to her and she was very keen. In fact she has some great IT skills in web and graphic design which may come in handy down the track.
I had another excellent discussion with the principal, Bill who explained the needs of the school. The major one for them was that word again – collaboration. I had decided to put the organisation of this on the backburner for later this term, but I think it would be great to get a few meetings going reasonably quickly. Time to talk to Vicki and the subjects advisors at the Univeristy of Canterbury…
