21st Century Learning September 4, 2008
Posted by mrsuds in NZ Curruculum.Tags: NZ Curriculum
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Yesterday Darfield High School hosted a presentation that ran across two elearning clusters – Cantatech and AorakiNet. The presentation was delivered by Rachel Bolstad, a researcher from the NZCER. Amongst other things, Rachel has researched and published on the revised New Zealand Curriculum. Since all our schools are currently preparing for this major change, I thought it might be an opportune time to hold an ‘event’ like this. Rachel kindly agreed and away we went.
You can view the presentation below, but the general gist of it was on what a 21st century curriculum might look like. There were some excellent insights, but I think the key message was that existing curriculums, especially, in secondary schools, just don’t cut it. If schools, and learning areas, think that just tinkering with existing programmes will do the trick they really need to think again. The New Zealand Curriculum signals major change, but I can already see that many schools are struggling to deal with the practicalities of this. Some are asking for models of what it might look like, but there are no models. That is the point though - this is school based curriculum design. It is a curriculum for your school, your students, your parents and your community – not someone elses. To me it needs to be approached from the ground up with a clean slate and an open mind. Hard work – but boy it’s exciting!
Like the metaphors Rachel!
My f*#!%ing goosebump story September 4, 2008
Posted by mrsuds in Uncategorized.Tags: 21st century, curriculum, Moodle
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I recently stumbled across Tomaz’s “Human” blog. Tomaz is a passionate Moodler and teacher living and working “across the ditch” in Australia. As someone new to Moodle his blog has been another goldmine for me. But it was his most recent post that really resonated with me. It is probably the best blog post I have read this year and one where he really lays bare the environment in which he works. It is the sort of environment that I am not that familar with, but his musings on ICT and how it can act as an agent for change are close to my heart. My background is Social Science – History, Classical Studies and Social Studies my main subjects. My real passion is teaching and learning and approaches to it. I started using ICT back in 1999 (my first year of teaching) and it has grown since – but only because I see how it can change, not only pegagogy, but also the bigger picture in terms of education. It raises major questions about existing systems and strucures in secondary schools. The current rate of technological development is quickly leaving secondary education behind and if things don’t change (and lets hope the revised curriculum does facilitate this) then secondary schools could become redundant.
How do we bring about this change and how do we persuade staff who have become so institutionalised they never question the effectiveness of their teaching?
Adobe Connecting August 28, 2008
Posted by mrsuds in pedagogy.add a comment
I have used Adobe Connect for meetings a few times this year, but I used it for the first time with one of my students today. Tanya is new to the course and wanted an overview of how the Moodle works. My Classics course on the Moodle site is designed as a one stop shop for all the learning and each block represents a week’s work, but could be a bit overwhelming if you come in cold near the end of the year (which it is really).
So I opened a meeting room so I could share my desktop and demonstrate how to approach using the site. Tanya had no mic or web cam so just used the chat feature to ask me questions as we went along. It actually worked very well and was so easy. It made me realise that I could use this as a way to quickly catch up with students if they are having difficulties.
Much easier than having to travel to use a VC – which might actually be booked anyway!
Collaboration? August 27, 2008
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I spent most of today at Amuri Area School selling Moodle to the principal Neil. Neil was the main principal to push VC meetings between teachers across the cluster before I came along. We had a discussion on collaboration and connectivity and how it should be approached. There is no doubt that there is a need for teachers to connect with others in our more isolated schools, but the problem is actually getting the teachers to do this. While they might be keen to do this the reality of actually turning up for a meeting is sometimes another thing all together.
There are two ways I see you could approach this. Make it part of appraisal and an expectation or target those that are keen in the hope that the benefits cause it to spread. Either way, it needs to become part of the culture of a school. The trouble is that teachers have meetings coming out their ears, so I can’t really blame them if they are rather reticent to attend more.
The plan was to build collaborative areas on the Moodle in conjunction with VC meetings. It is taking some time to get the Cantatech Moodle to that level and even then staff need to know how to do the basics. I have decided to try and get some keen groups together and calendar some VC meetings. Also going to trial a listerv with one group of teachers.
I don’t think you can force teachers into these things. Even if you manage to get them along to a meeting, it doesn’t mean they are actually ‘present’. The reality is they have to want to do it…a bit like our students really!
Googling August 24, 2008
Posted by mrsuds in Uncategorized.Tags: collaboration
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I thought it was about time I started posting regularly again as it has been a while. Busy is not the word to describe this job – hectic is perhaps more apt. I am going to try and make sure it becomes part of my regular work as it is important to spend time reflecting.
There is lots to catch up on, but what has been occupying my mind today is Google Applications. While I have played around with Google docs in the past I recently worked collaboratively on a 25 page proposal to the Ministry of Education. We used a Google doc. It was easy, and a great way of working.
This spurred me on to use this in my online Classics course. The students are working in groups to prepare a presentation on a particular house from Pompeii. The idea is to take the viewer on a visual tour of the house. I have set up each presentation using Google docs and invited the students. They take it from there.
What have I found today…well it’s filtered by schoolzone of course. Anyway I am in the process of getting it unfiltered. What a rich resource and its filtered!
I was also interested to read this article which highlights how quickly educational institutions are getting on to Google Applications. This idea has appealed to me for some time. It is the way of the future. No hassles with hard drives, softwar, hardware…just access through the internet. Easy. Probably some connection issues for schools at the moment, but I would like to start talking to Principals about the possibitlities. If you want collaboration across a cluster (which we do) what a great way of doing it.
Great vid August 11, 2008
Posted by mrsuds in video.add a comment
Have a look at this vid
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
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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
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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!
