From the inbox earlier today (posted on Kiwi time).
A newsletter for all members of Ethos NZ Community May 2012
Kia ora, everyone,
It’s been a busy month (are there any that aren’t?!), and one where I have been privileged to spend time with some really great people. The discussions have roamed far and wide, but it is amazing how often the conversation turns to something recently learned, or a great sense of satisfaction at a new skill mastered. Another favourite is the current state of education / training / workshops (insert the word that best refers to you), and we have some great posts this month that explore the latter point.
Learning on an ongoing basis is part of what it means to be human, and it can be incredibly rewarding. The issue arises when learning becomes a chore or is framed in such a way that it could make paint dry it’s so boring. Learning is a social phenomenon, and education and professional development is gradually being re-shaped to reflect this phenomenon. Shifts toward contextualised, personalised, self-paced learning, underpinned by the development of an online professional social identity are challenging notions of what learning ‘looks like’. And learning opportunities can be both formal and informal. Take Personal Learning Environments for example (and Joyce Seitzinger is a good one to ask questions of around these). A PLE can be defined as an environment and resources loosely amalgamated (to view conceptual diagram go to http://bit.ly/KrLx7Z) to enable “a self-directed approach [where] learners take control of their own education, such that they may choose learning outcomes to work towards, plan their learning to realise those outcomes, construct knowledge in the process of learning, monitor progress toward outcome realization, re-plan and modify outcome goals as need be, and assessed when they have realised their goals. This process may be performed alone or with the assistance of others” (van Haremelen, 2008, p. 36). I suspect many members of this community already have a PLE (maybe without even realising it), but if you are interested in finding out more there are quite a few resources already shared in the community (just type ‘personal learning environment’ in the search box on the top right of the screen). A couple of examples include Personal Learning Environments in eight minutes, and the PLE conference in Melbourne in July (well worth having a look at the conference site as it has some great resources from previous conferences, even if you can’t make it to this one).
(A heads up – if you are already blogging in another environment then please DO cross-post some of your provocative/interesting postings into the Ethos Community space.)Highlights Ethos Community space from May 2012
The Ethos community now has 136 members, and I hope you’ll extend a warm welcome to:
- Catherine Parker is based in Northland, New Zealand. Catherine’s main role is around Learning & Development, and she has a keen interest in e-learning, moodle, leadership, and professional development.
- Colin Campbell is based in Kerikeri, New Zealand, where he is a Qualifications Assessor for the Ministry of Social Development. Colin is “currently responsible for the design and maintenance of Work and Income’s Qualifications program on Moodle/Totara. I have also just started using Captivate to design training programs. We are exploring the use of WebEx and Adobe Connect for distance delivery of programs”.
- Christina Gillmore, is a Campaign Project Leader, and is very interested in ICT enhanced learning and teaching. She works at an industry training organisation in New Zealand in the Marketing team, and she is always keen on learning more about ICT. She is located in Wellington, New Zealand.
- Christine Woodwiss is an Executive Assistant, based in Christchurch, New Zealand. She is very interested in learning and sharing of information.
- Cynthia Lieberman, a Media Literacy Professional, lives in Porter Ranch, CA, United States. Cynthia has “Mutual goals to help help students and teachers learn to love learning through responsible and informed use of Web 2.0 resources”. She also a superb blog that she is co-creator of, which has a wealth of resources around digital literacy and cyber safety: Cyberwise.
- Dave Burton, is living (and sometimes working) from Hahei, New Zealand. He is a Coach and Facilitator, with an interest in ICT enhanced learning and teaching as he believes it is “part of the future”.
- Rean Fadyl, based in Auckland, New Zealand, is a Business Systems Analyst working in the education sector, who has a broad interest in IT.
Guest Posts and discussions
There are as always a large number of posts, resources, and discussions, and I hope you’ll find something of interest.
- Peter Breach, in the invited blog for May 2012, makes some astute observations, as well as reflecting on his own experiences and thoughts for the future for ICT specifically, but making points that are relevant to anyone involved in education and learning. He considers the questions what is the role of the teacher going forward? and how can we have the agility to stay relevant to the learning process while change is occurring at such a speed? Please check it out, and leave Peter a comment: Reflections on teaching ICT (Invited blogger May 2012).
- In Time time time, Leigh Hynes reflects on this ”precious commodity”, while also sharing her experiences with her colleagues, and students, who are pushing boundaries, experimenting, and working together in spite of all the challenges they face.
- Technology has changed so quickly that much of what was in use 50 or so years ago is pretty much unrecognisable. John S Oliver shares a couple of really neat visual overviews in his blogs The Evolution of Classroom Technology, and The history of learning tools. If this is a subject that interests you, you may also enjoy a video hared by Beverly an eFellow with CORE Education. This video is great if you are feeling a little down and would like a bit of a laugh (watch out for the computer crash!): Life In The Year 2000: A humorous look at the future past.
- My Disconnected Learning sees Diana Ayling taking a shrewd look at the design of professional development, and her recent experience that left her wondering ” So why was I so frustrated and restricted for two days?”.
- Karen Melhuish made the following post, with a request to share your wisdom and your experiences: ”Online workshops offer another pathway for learners that can be efficient and flexible (meeting in your pyjamas, anyone?;-), but the distance and lack of face-to face can also present particular challenges to facilitators, as well as participants.The big question is: how do you design and facilitate an online workshop in ways that support learners to achieve the goals?“. Please jump in with your suggestions.
Recommended blog posts / Discussions
There were 19 blog posts in May that cover a wide range of topics. Some of those that you might like to dip into include:
- If you are involved in education and research, you are likely to be interested in Michael Barbour’s Call for Submissions: Themed Issue of the Journal of Open, Flexible and Distance Learning a refereed journal published at least twice annually by the Distance Education Association of New Zealand.
- Inequality in society – the biggest obstacle to education reform? Yes, it’s another post about the education system in Finland, but, the point that is stressed is “Providing equal school facilities and staffing will never be good enough when so many schoolchildren live in poverty. The most serious problem facing urban schoolchildren is not that they don’t all have teachers with Masters Degrees and small class size, etc. etc. The problem is that 99% of them live in poverty when they leave the relative safety and security of the school building“.
- Learning styles have been under the spotlight for the last few years (see for example, this discussion). If you are still sitting on the fence with your thinking about learning styles, or maybe you are totally convinced…I’d strongly advise your read Steve Wheeler’s post What do you think is the teacher’s worst enemy? A convenient untruth.
- Mobile learning in the classroom…sound odd to you? - this post discusses and calls for shifts in pedagogy and teacher practice, but fundamentally the key model is that of bums on seats in a physical classroom. Would be great to hear your thoughts on this one.
- Nearly 78% of teachers in NZ support bring your own device to class…: Paul O’Leary dropped me a line recently, with the results of a recently conducted survey of 280 people in the education sector on the use of ICT in schools across New Zealand. Paul wrote “The survey results provide insight into the thoughts of educators in New Zealand on technology in education“.
- Why are we still measuring virtual learning experiences against face-to-face? - Maybe it’s time to recognise that learning for many people is an organic combination of many forms of engagement (including gaming) and media, in a variety of locations…some of which will be virtual.
Recommended videos
I would like to acknowledge John S Oliver‘s huge amount of work sourcing and sharing many of the videos in the community repository. Thank you, John. From the large number of videos shared this month (49), these are a few of the highlights:
- It was refreshing to listen to what Guy Claxton had to say in Do schools need to teach students how to think? (a video shared by Derek Wenmoth). His pragmatic stance that, while students need to achieve in assessment, they also need to develop and use metacognitive and social skills (key competencies), made a lot of sense. Highly recommended.
- Christchurch is still suffering after-shocks, disruptions to roads and basic services. From the rubble though, there is potential for change. In this video Michael Barbour highlights some of the potential he has identified: Rising from the Rubble: The Greater Christchurch Schools Network.
- An inspirational initiative - Libraries: A Digital Bridge. One of the messages is that such an initiative can breathe new life into libraries…and the surrounding communities, as well as help those people build new online communities. It is also one answer to the big questions around equity and access.
- An approach that benefits the community, while also enabling students to build their skills, offers opportunities for learners to take responsibility, and to develop a raft of understandings: Student Entrepreneurs are Empowered to Change their Community.
- John S Oliver has shared a wealth more ‘how to…’ videos this month, as well as those where educators look at concepts, and content. A wonderful set of resources, whether you would like to learn something, or if you want to help someone else: Why Is Yawning Contagious?, Cabbagewhite Butterfly –Pieris rapae– Life Cycle, and One is one … or is it?.
- A wonderful snapshot of what young students can do if they are trusted and empowered. I feel many adults could do with similar opportunities! Students Learn the Skill of Conflict Resolution in a Multi-Age Class
Resources
- A witty, well-done video that illustrates the most common mistakes made in all those presentations you’ve wanted to leave, but can’t quite bring yourself to.
- Do you wish you’d been able to see Christchurch as it used to be before the earthquakes? This is where augmented reality can be used to really positive effect. You can install this wee app on your smartphone, point it at a where a building used to be, and see it as it was…as well as being able to read about its history. You can even use it without being in Christchurch! Augmented reality in Christchurch – the way things used to be
- I would like to thank Diana Ayling who put together these suggestions and links to resources, which are a great start to thinking about the enhancement of existing courses: Culturally responsive design: Pacific peoples
- Multimedia Biography of Princess Grace for the Flipped Classroom and More is a resources shared by John S Oliver, who suggests that they “can be used as parts of assignments outside of class for discussion with the class and teacher“.
Events
Lots of other things happening (online courses, conferences and other opportunities) – have a look at the events listing for more details. Many thanks to Anne Sturgess who sent through the giftednz newsletter, which featured some great tips for Celebrating Gifted Awareness Week! coming up on 18th to 24th June 2012.
.Please feel free to add events to share them, or just let me know and I’ll add them :-)
Many thanks once again to Peter B, Leigh, Michael, John S. Oliver, Diana, Anne, Helen, Derek, Paul, Marg, Steve, Guy, Susan, and Karen.Please keep your posts (including cross-posts), comments and recommendations coming :-)Warm regards
Hazel
Have you made time to join us at one of our CORE breakfasts located around the country? These increasingly popular breakfasts are a great way to get involved in education, and are designed to inspire, inform and engage you.
The final entry for today – a busy day of blogging…
