DEANZ 2012: Round-Up

Note that this entry is being back dated.

I suspect that I’m somewhere over the Pacific Ocean when this entry goes live.  As much of the K-12, primary and secondary, or schools sector content at the 2012 Distance Education Association of New Zealand biennial conference in Wellington, New Zealand were sessions that I gave I wanted to provide some of the resources from my sessions.  All of these resources come from the conference website, where each presenter has an area they can use to post resources.

• Examining government e-learning policies in New Zealand: Creating a climate for the growth of online learning – Allison Powell and Michael Barbour
• Workshop: The art and science of academic writing – Michael Barbour
• What do we know? Examining the research on primary and secondary online learning - Michael Barbour
• Virtual learning is growing up: Examining the development of online distance education in New Zealands schools sector - Michael Barbour, Derek Wenmoth and Niki Davis
• The FarNet journey: Perceptions of Maori students engaged in secondary online learning - Carolyn Bennett and Michael Barbour
• The FarNet Journey: Effective teaching strategies for engaging Maori students on the virtual learning network - Carolyn Bennett and Michael Barbour

If you have any questions about these sessions, please let me know…

DEANZ 2012 - Workshop: Distance Learning In New Zealand Schools

The fourth session that I am blogging at the 2012 Distance Education Association of New Zealand biennial conference in Wellington, New Zealand is:

Workshop: Distance Learning In New Zealand Schools
Eddie Reisch, Ministry of Education

Eddie began with a quick overview of the UltraFast Broadband (UFB) initiative which will provide high speed Internet access to 97% of New Zealand schools by the end of 2016, followed by a graphic that outlined the conceptual model for educational information communications technology – which stressed the importance of the technology and making sure that this foundation was there and operating, as everything else rests on the reliability of the technology.

Eddie than shifted gears to focus on discussing the Learning Communities Online Handbook, outlining the various components of the resource and how it can be used by any kind of organization (e.g., rural, urban, national, themed – as opposed to geographic).  This discussion lead to a conversation about the nature of services being provided by the Virtual Learning Network, the provision or creation of asynchronous online course content and how that could be rationalized and provided to the community, and then how to provide professional development for both online teachers and face-to-face teachers to be able to effectively deliver and/or utilise this content in their teaching.

The presentation then shifted to a discussion about the various programs that feed into the Maori medium, and how the lessons that are being learned in this project can be translated into the English medium delivery programs.  This concluded the discussion about networking.

Eddie than began talking about blended learning.  The graphic that he displayed focused on: availability and how to facilitate – both of which need to be applied to all who have an interest in learners outcomes.  For example:

• Learners
  • multiple entry points
  • how to work together
• Whanau and wider community
• The experts
• Teacher or teachers
• Tertiary and third party organisation
  • e.g., Te Papa, National Library, etc.

And after a lively conversation, that went in a variety of directions that may or may not have had much to do with Eddie’s presentation.

Eddie then provided a demonstration and overview of the VLN brokerage site, with a focus on the Learning Exchange and the offering of distance education courses.  After some conversation about that, Eddie moved to the Maori brokerage site, then the ELLINZ Online site, and finally the VLN Primary site.

DEANZ 2012: Invited Speaker – Chief Executives Panel

The fourth session that I am blogging at the 2012 Distance Education Association of New Zealand biennial conference in Wellington, New Zealand is:

Chief Executives Panel
Mike Hollings, CEO Te Kura (The Correspondence School)
Dr. Caroline Seelig, CEO Open Polytechnic
Hon. Steve Maharey, Vice-Chancellor Massey University

The session began with Mike’s opening comments (and as Mike is the only K-12/primary and secondary speaker, my notes will focus on only him).

He indicated that they were asked to talk about the future of distance education, and he said in his opinion we need to move the word distance from distance education – as technology removes all of the barriers of distance.  Some of the themes he sees

• move from standardized to customized learning
• a demand for better, more personalised learning opportunities
• focus on one-size-fits one

Te Kura is moving to focus on what are the passion and abilities of their students, not on their deficits (as many of the students coming to Te Kura have not had success in the traditional schooling environment).  Students are increasingly sourcing their education among many providers, and Te Kura is creating partnerships with a variety of institutions, iwis, non-governmental organisations, etc. to provide a range of different kinds of opportunities and experiences with the goal of creating multiple, effective learning communities. In New Zealand, up to 20% of students do not have success in the traditional schooling environment – many of whom are Maori students. Mike indicated that there needs to be a way to shift our focus from deficit thinking about Maori students, to seeing the potential of Maori students. A need to stop seeing Maori as an indigenous group to seeing Maori as an integral part of the cultural history of New Zealand. This was the extent of the themes in his initial five minute introduction.

DEANZ 2012 – Blended Teaching And Learning: A Case Study Of A New Zealand Secondary School In 2011

The third session that I am blogging at the 2012 Distance Education Association of New Zealand biennial conference in Wellington, New Zealand is:

Blended Teaching And Learning: A Case Study Of A New Zealand Secondary School In 2011
Pinelopi Zaka & Niki Davis (University of Canterbury)

This session was a poster, so here are the images from the poster.

In case you can’t read the sides, here are some individual images (click on any image to get a larger version):

DEANZ 2012 – Ultra-Fast Broadband In The Schools: Network For Learning: Progress And Next Steps

The second session that I am blogging at the 2012 Distance Education Association of New Zealand biennial conference in Wellington, New Zealand is:

The network for learning – How can we work together to maximise the benefits for learners? (Non-refereed)
Howard Baldwin Ministry of Education

The Ultrafast Broadband initiative will make New Zealand among the world leaders in connecting schools to fibre. However, there is no point in connecting schools if you don’t have things to do on that network, you don’t have content to use, and you don’t know how to use it effectively. Howard then described some of the different initiatives that the government have undertaken to provide the infrastructure, tools, support, and professional development (e.g., laptop programs for teachers, ICT PD, etc.).

“There is no appetite in New Zealand for providing all students with devices. That responsibilities rests with the family and not with the government.”

At present, the Ministry of Economic Development are rolling out three broadband initiatives (i.e., Ultrafast Broadband [urban], Rural Broadband Initiative [rural], and the Remote Schools Broadband Initiative [really rural and remote]), and working with the provision of services by the Ministry of Education to create the Network for Learning – which will be available around the middle of 2013. So the Ministry is advising schools to make decisions about their use of broadband (as many schools will be connected before the Network for Learning service becomes available) accordingly – as the Ministry if unable to dictate what schools should do under Tomorrow’s Schools.

In conjunction with the roll out of services, the Ministry is also upgrading school’s internal networks to be able to take full advantage of their broadband connection and the eventual services through the Network for Learning. While this is not a requirement for taking advantage of either, it will improve the quality of the experience for students. The cost of this upgrade is $600 million. The upgrades will likely continue into the 2016-17 financial year before they are completed.

Howard then listed some of the potential benefits of the Network for Learning, followed by some diagrams that outlined the various technical set-ups of different schools in New Zealand at present. One of the characteristics of the Network for Learning was affordable – which would be accomplished by having the telecoms bid for a centrally provided service (as opposed to making schools pay per data) – which I thought was interesting.

The first request for proposals, which will hit the market shortly, is going to be focused on network services, infrastructure services, and support services. But this is just a small piece of what will eventually be a much larger program (which will be developed in subsequent RFPs). Some of these pieces have already been developed by the Ministry (e.g., e-portfolio system, online assessment system, etc.).

It is the expectation that the initial stages of the Network for Learning will be rolled out in the middle of 2013.