There are only two types of people in this world...

A few years ago a guest speaker at work tried to persuade us that there were four types of people in the world …powerful, peaceful, precise and party.  No surprises what type I was ;-). A decade ago I guess I did approach decision making with some precision… I had a plan! Not sure whether it is as simple today. Change is fast and there are a lot more unknowns. So maybe there is another type of person…a person with 'pull'.

The power of pull is a concept that resonates with me and has helped me make some sense of navigating this rapidly changing world. From the book The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion ( Hagel, Seely Brown and Davison, 2010) pull is described as:

"… the ability to draw out people and resources as needed to address opportunities and challenges. Pull gives us un-precedented access to what we need, when we need it, even if you are not quite sure what "it" is. Pull allows us to harness and unleash the forces of attraction, influence and serendipity."

How are you "harnessing your ecosystems?" How are you scaling up your connectivity and attracting the people and resources you need to find your potential?

One place you might want to start is EduCampNZ. Harnessing the power of connections and conversations, EduCampNZ is an e-learning un-conference where you can harness the power of pull… but that's up to you.

Visit the EduCampNZ wiki to find out how you can participate and harness the power of pull.

By the way, to paraphrase Robert Benchley, there are only two types of people in this world, those who think there are two types and those who know better.

Recommendations for building your PLN...where would you start?

I have had requests lately from educators looking to build their e-learning PLN and asking for recommendations on where to start. Rather than respond individually I have shared as a post.

Connected

This may be a bit of a brave new world for some so I have gone for less is more and what I hope provides a range of options (especially for those who may be starting out) to connect quickly through existing professional learning networks and communities.

Please comment if you have other recommendations that may be curriculum or subject specific.

1. Twitter: there is a very strong group of New Zealand and international educators using Twitter. #edchatNZ - NZ Educators and OZ Educators on Twitter
   
   Useful tips for getting started on Twitter:
   Twitteraholics guide to tweets, hashtags and all things twitter
   The Ultimate Twitter Guidebook
   Using Twitter to build your PLN
The Ultimate Guide to using Twitter in Education
2.  Tweeting for Teachers: A new report published jointly by Pearson and NoTosh recommends that teachers should use Twitter, Facebook and other social media tools to improve their classroom skills.
3. EduCampNZ Wiki: a series of e-learning un-conferences that provide a valuable opportunity to connect with like minded educators interested in e-learning and education. Explore the wiki to connect with other participating educators at each of the EduCampNZ events. 


4. EdBlogNZ  has an online directory of blogs written by teachers and other professionals in New Zealand’s education space.  Use blog comments to connect with others who share your interests. 


5. Online Groups and Communities:

• Google Educator Group GEGs are independently run communities of educators who inspire and empower each other to meet the needs of our learners through technology, both in the classroom and beyond. 
• The Virtual Learning Network (VLN):  A range of professional learning groups from early childhood through to tertiary.
• Google Apps in NZ Schools Group:New Zealand schools keep you up to date with the latest news and technology available for Google Apps for Education
• MLE Reference Group: Discuss the software and digital content that support learning in New Zealand schools. 

"Fantastic turnout for #EduCampAKL" via @lenva

Posting to organise and record some of the excellent contributions from EduCampAKL yesterday. Ka nui te mihi to everyone who participated and contributed, you continue to inspire me.

Also thanks to our hosts @ClaireAmosNZ and the IT team from Epsom Girls Grammar who worked wonders with the network when around 80 of us (with multiple devices) descended for the Smackdown at 10am.

For those of you who like to take time and explore, the EduCampAKL wiki includes a multitude of links and resources shared on the day. I have also summarised and book marked contributions in My Delicious below.

EduCampNZ: Interface Magazine, July 2011

Click to view pdf.

Thanks to Interface Magazine for sharing EduCampNZ story in their latest issue.

Looking forward to EduCampTaiTokerau tomorrow, check the wiki for details or follow #EduCampTT

"EduCampWelly was about wanting to be there, it's self directed and personal"

@teachernz

...to the power of three...now four!

For the past three years our professional learning networks have supported an e-learning un-conference in Auckland. Tagged EduCampNZ the success of our day of learning, links and laughs is truly down to the participation and energy of the educators who contribute before, during and after the actual event.

Update...to the power of three  four!

This year, thanks to enthusiastic participants in other regions, EduCampNZ will also be hosted in Wellington, Whangarei and Tauranga!

EduCampWelly: Wellington College, Saturday 21st May

EduCampTaiTokerau: Whangarei St. Francis Xavier Catholic School, 2nd July

EduCampAKL: Epsom Girls Grammar, Saturday 6th August
EduCampBOP: Tauranga School Support Services, Saturday 13 August 
 ...and then there were five!

 EduCampDunners: St Clair School, Dunedin, Saturday 27th August

Participants are also using social media to share and collaborate. 

Details of how you can participate and what to expect can be explored on the wiki including:

• images and video from previous years
• Twitter #tags for each venue
• opportunities to connect with participants & share your interests  

The focus is on e-learning and education, sharing ideas we've discovered and learning from each other. Everyone is invited to participate. The purpose of EduCampNZ is to both learn and contribute.

"Go with the flow, follow your passion, take responsibility for your own learning" (unconfernece.net)

Crowd-sourcing...

...it might not work for everyone however crowd-sourcing, in the form of a 'Smackdown' has provided lots of learning and fun collaborations for us over the past couple of months. Back in June this year Dorothy, Rocky and I attended edubloggercon, an all-day unconference held before ISTE 2010. I was also on a bit of a recce for EduCampNZ where we included a Smackdown as a quick and effective way of connecting with people and ideas. Starting the day with this type of activity can be quite important for an un-conference, where the programme is developed on the day and there may be participants who are attending for the first time. We set up a Wallwisher and everyone was invited to contribute before, during and after EduCampNZ.

This can be quite important for an un-conference, where the programme is developed on the day. 

I was excited when Dorothy came up with the idea to try this out at uLearn10 this year even more so when I found out the theme was Apple Tools...a "sMACdown!"

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

The standard rules applied and this time Dorothy also created a GoogleSite and invited other Mac enthusiasts to contribute their tips to kick-off. A Wallwisher was posted for participants to add their tips and it was great to see how many were also added by people not attending the conference. We also tapped into Twitter using the conference hash tag #ulearn10 and #sMACdown

The Smackdown concept has worked for us in both an un-conference and traditional conference setting and we have been able to adapt to suit the context and purpose. From the feedback received it also seems to have worked well for the 'crowd' who at the end of the day are the reason why these types of collaborations are valuable.

If you participated or contributed...many thanks! The 'what the who and the how' can be accessed from the sMACdown Google site along with everyone's contributions.

If you are planning a Smackdown please share it with us...the crowd will be ready and waiting!

Learning, Links and Laughs @ EduCampNZ

"Go with the flow, follow your passion, take responsibility for your own learning"...three tips from unconfernece.net as we headed into our e-Learning un-conference, EduCampNZ, on Saturday 24th July.

Hosted at Summerland School in West Auckland, over 70 inspirational educators participated and contributed to a day of learning, links and laughs. We kicked EduCampNZ off with SpeedGeeking. Using TwitterTime each participant had 140 seconds to introduce themselves and share what is currently on their radar.

We also introduced a Smackdown to EduCampNZ this year after Dorothy, Rocky and I had participated in similar sessions at the ISTE conference last month. Both these sessions provided opportunities to connect with others and identify similar interests to pursue throughout the day.

'Everything EduCampNZ' can be explored from our wiki including a shared Google Doc with links and contributions from participants, The Smackdown WallWisher, #EducampNZ Twitter stream and photos.

We would also appreciate your suggestions and feedback to assist the organisation of future un-conference events. We are excited that educators in other regions are exploring the possibilities of running similar events and your recommendations would be valued. Feedback can be posted on the wiki.

I want to again acknowledge the generosity of all participants... from the staff and students of Summerland Primary, to the educators who contributed especially those that travelled from beyond West Auckland... Arohanui.

The following video is my attempt to capture some of the EduCampNZ highlights! Because it was shot on July 24, 2010 I have also submitted it to Life In A Day, a project documenting a single day on earth.

Math Snacks...yum!

We had a great conversation with some of the Math Snacks team on Wednesday, Debbie Michels and Milos Savic. Math Snacks are short animations and mini–games, each presenting a mathematical concept and designed to help learners "get it".

Each snack can be used and integrated much the same way as we use Digistore content and can be saved on mobile devices (from iTunesU) for students to revisit. They are also supported by both student and teacher guides, available for download.

Debbie shared examples of student outcomes from the use of Math Snacks and very kindly agreed to an on the spot, impromptu, reflection on the benefits of integrating Math Snacks in combination with other relevant digital content and learning experiences. The following was filmed on my iPhone in a very busy open space @ ISTE 2010 (~3:30min). Debbie makes useful connections to the key messages about when digital content is most effective.




Debbie on the purpose of Mathsnacks..."can students develop enough of a conceptual understanding to give greater meaning to their learning?"

"Whoever comes is the right people"

Last year an unconference was coordinated in Auckland by Suzie Vesper. You can listen to feedback from participants on the VoiceThread below. We have had a number of informal requests to repeat this get together or 'unconference' so have decided to hold it again on Saturday May9. The venue will be open from 10am -4pm and in the spirit of an unconference there is no registration, cost, or required time to attend.



What is an unconference?
We have set up a wiki page with more information here. You are invited to add your details to the wiki as it could be useful for people who are thinking of attending to have some idea of who might be there and areas of interest. There is no commitment as we are acknowledging the openspace rule... "Whoever comes is the right people".

There will be updates on the wiki closer to the day. You can keep up-to-date by joining the wiki and clicking the 'notify me' tab at the top of the wiki page to set up notifications. There is also a hash tag in twitter you can follow by searching #may9 from Twitter. This will show you updates about the unconference and can also provide you with some idea of who might be attending and topics they are interested in exploring.

The unconference is very much about giving and receiving, while I admit that there will probably be a few geeks there (not looking at anyone in particular... lol) this will be a valuable but relaxed opportunity for participants to learn. If you have been thinking about using some of these new technologies and have questions, this might very well be the place for you on #may9!

Images from last year's unconference.

A Portal to Learning@School

Last year I created a public portal to the uLearn08 conference in my aggregator, Netvibes. This was useful as I was quickly able to scan updates from the numerous conference feeds including blog posts, tweets, photos etc. Also able to share these with virtual attendees and others who could not be there in the flesh with some interesting consequences (see Reflections and Connections post).


I have created a portal for the Learning@School 09 Conference in Rotorua next week to keep track of the various conference channels and 'back chat'. I have previously blogged about the value of using an aggregator to manage online learning and maybe a conference portal could also be useful if you can't make the conference and want to personalise the conference channels you follow.

Looking forward to seeing my virtual learning network face-2-face and also collaborating with Rochelle Jensen to facilitate a few breakouts. Rocky and I are very excited to be working together over the next couple of years and will be utilising the Software for Learning wiki to learn more about how teachers are utilising e-learning to support student learning.

See you all next week,
Hei konā

tags technorati : learningatschool

Cluster Reflections from uLearn08

We have set up a page on the wiki where cluster teachers who attended uLearn08 will post their reflections over the next 2 weeks. View it here.

It is also useful to see how teachers are applying some of their new learning with students. Helen attended an inspiring breakout from Sara Taylor which she recommends for all junior classroom teachers and has also tried out with her class. View Helen's reflection here.


What teachers are saying:

"Spending time with colleagues from my own school, the cluster and a range of learning environments in New Zealand is a wonderful opportunity to hear and see the great things that people are trialing and using in their schools" (Karen)

“A highlight for me would be the planning, preparation and presentation of our breakout with a member of my syndicate team. The planning and preparation process gave me an opportunity to reflect and highlighted how far we have come with our ICT PD...It was not just the tools that we were using that has changed but also how our pedagogy has shifted when planning... It was also personally very special to present at Christ's College (a lovely venue) in the same room where I attended an inspiring session in 2006. I would have never have guessed at that time that I would be presenting at the next Christchurch ULearn conference" (Stephen)

“The whole conference really got me thinking about how can I use my skills and knowledge and enthusiasm and passion to really enable my students to change the world!” ( Jo )

tags technorati : ulearn08

ulearn08 Reflections & Connections

Even before the conference started the impression was there were alot of first time presenters at a national conference contributing this year (including our own Felicity from Northcote Primary and Karen from Sunnybrae Normal, ably supported by Stephen and Helen - see their presentations here).

Through the conference back channels, twitter and during the actual conference it was wonderful to see and hear so many teachers sharing and supporting each other, receiving feedback on their conference preparation and tips and encouragement from those who had presented before. Having access to these online is invaluable and there is some impressive work and resources being shared, well done to you all. (see my delicious)

The technology is being utilised in ways that I find attending a face-2-face conference is quite a different learning experience for me than it was 4-5 years ago. For example can you follow this...

• I am attending the Unconference in Breakout 7

• Participating in a F2F with Dave, Ian and Neil

• I am also keeping up with the next table's discussion in the Unconference on twitter ettiquette through the conference website backchannel
  

• @heymilly is in another breakout and leaves a comment in twitter ( see below)

• @mumbleboy and Luke in Auckland see the link in my twitter response to @heymilly and join the conference backchannel along with others from around the conference.
  

Will Richardson commented in the opening keynote that before we can teach differently we have to be able to learn differently. As I left the Unconference that day I wondered how learning would be for me if I were a student at school today?

Thanks to Christina for highlighting at the Unconference - Te Awamutu - you have a message.

tags technorati : ulearn08

Will and Sheryl at uLearn 08

The uLearn 08 conference is fast approaching and there will be an enthusiastic contingent from our cluster plus some of my curriculum colleagues from Team Solutions attending. Two of the conference keynote speakers are Will Richardson and Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach.
Both Will and Sheryl's blogs are well worth adding to your aggregator. They share many interesting insights into their experiences and reflections of both their learning and the teachers and students they connect with.


It is so easy now to make a connection with speakers prior to these events through their blogs and podcasts and is often a useful 'heads-up' before hearing them at the conference. You might even leave a comment or ask a question on their blog for consideration and discussion at the conference.

If you are not using an aggregator to manage your online learning I recommend you invest the time. Read more about how to set one up here.

tags technorati : ulearn08

Learning@School 2008

Participating in the Learning@SchoolConference, as always, is an inspiring start to the year for the ICT PD Cluster network. Our cluster had a busy start on Wednesday presenting in the first 3 breakouts. Jennie, Margaret and I shared our programme of professional learning and some of the strategies and recommendations for promoting teacher learning. Helen Rennie-Younger from Northcote Primary presented to a captivated audience of Year 0/1 teachers and Leanne and Stephen from Sunnybrae Normal explored how they have developed a vision for the use of ICTs to connect with their wider school community. Annie from Northcote Intyermediate also presented on Thursday, strategies for personalising learning through the development of their school LMS over the last 2 years. A great effort,well done everyone

As we enter our third year of the programme the increased focus on opportunities to process new understandings and challenge our existing perspectives and beliefs are essential. As a learning community these have included teachers presenting in their schools, at our cluster shares and at a national level. The planning and preparation involved also provide valuable opportunities for reflection and exploration of the impact of our teaching on student learning. I would encourage teachers to consider presenting. While it may be a little daunting at first, with the support of your Principals, lead teachers and facilitators it is a worthwhile strategy for promoting teacher learning and a great way to connect with other teachers attending the conference. We have set up a page on our cluster wiki with links, resources and copies of the individual presentations available for download.
I also attended a presentation of ‘Marvin’ the 3D animation programme that is now available for schools. I have posted on ICTinEnglish as I have been reflecting on its potential to support literacy learning across the curriculum.















Suzie asked me what was my conference highlight…it still has to be catching up with everyone again…and of course the spectacular efforts of all the presenters…you are stars!

More photos on Flickr

tags technorati : learningatschool

uLearn Presenters Materials

I have had some requests about resources from the uLearn conference last month so have posted links here for you. If you attended and have any other recommendations please email through to me and I will post on the cluster wiki page.

Keynotes and presenters material from uLearn 07 can be downloaded here.
To access these you will need to be logged in and have registered to attend the conference. If you did not attend and want to access these resources contact me or ask someone from your school who was at the conference.

Ewan McIntosh Keynote
A video of Ewan's opening Keynote from the conference, including presentation slides, is available for public viewing here.

Helen Baxter - Link to Helen's Mind Map from her Keynote

Derek Wenmoth challenged us to participate in what he called the "conference backchat"... discussions and responses to the conference themes. Here are some posts in response to the conference that have challenged my thinking.

From Tangled up in Purple -
"Thinking about the spaces we exist in"

From Educating the Dragon - Comment and opinion in response to Ewan's Keynote
Ewan’s message rocks
Ewan’s message rocks- Are you sure about that?

From Ewan McIntosh's Blog - A link to uLearn Posts

...and some fun stuff.
Cup stacking world record (referenced in Ewan's Keynote)

Tripod on Gaming

uLearn07 Reflections

For me the conference was primarily about people. My previous 2 posts reflect this…making connections, professional dialogue and learning from each other (including our students).

Additionally some highlights over the three days included:

Ewans McIntosh’s Keynote: Set the tone for the conference, raising even more questions for me and importantly highlighting the importance of being open-minded.

As educational leaders we must continue to take notice of the impact emerging technologies are having on the way our students live and learn and question how this will inform and change our practice.

“Without that lead in the leading edge, then we risk floundering in a bunch of cool stuff but without a sense of direction and the robustness of our convictions and research to know we're doing the right thing.” (McIntosh, 2007)

Ewan’s Keynote will be available through the uLearn website.

Rosemary Hipkins:
What can the key competencies contribute to assessment for learning?
Rosemary’s presentation challenged us to question how both the key competencies and assessment for learning can “contribute to making traditional models of teaching and learning more effective” and consider the role eLearning strategies may play in this transformation. Rosemary explored what Key Competencies and assessment for learning might have in common and supported this with some very enlightened examples of how ICTs can support assessment (backed up with the research). Some key messages:

• Don't rush to assess. There are implications but we don't know enough about the impact yet.
• Look for synergies and connections (means rethinking how we involve students in learning) eg: Key Competencies focus on building dispositions for life long learning & Assessment for Learning, where the learner is monitoring their own learning.
• Adding values questions to assessment: Why is it important to think about more than one piece of evidence? This is a challenge as many traditional assessments measure knowledge gains and sometimes the ability to apply this, not the appropriate use of knowledge in meaningful tasks.
• Assessment is not something we add to the end of learning: Assessment is an inquiry…what does it mean to know? (Delandshere, 2002)

Rosemary’s presentation can be downloaded from the uLearn07 website – recommended.


Apple iWork ‘08 Suite including: Keynote, Pages and Numbers
We were provided with an overview of the suite that now includes Numbers a new spreadsheet application. If you are using MacOS I highly recommend iWork as it integrates with the other packages in iLife. I have been using it for a couple of years now and have found it has sped up my workflow considerably and also through my work with schools have already experienced its potential to add value. There are some great new features including masking and animations and what I saw of Numbers it definitely has potential as a tool for both teachers and students. The MoE will also be funding sessions to support schools updating to iWork ’08.

Sunnybrae Normal - Central North Shore Cluster
More Photos Here

ulearn

F2F is Great!

Have been enjoying meeting all the people I have been connecting with online and catching up with old friends...F2F is great! More Photos on Flickr.

Right: John and I worked together for 6years in IT, now he's at Toshiba.
Below: The Bloggers Cafe. Click the image to view individual blogs (Thanks Jane)
Also see Rachel's ABC of Bloggers



















Finally caught up with Rachel too (Thanks Jamin and Jane)

ulearn

K.U.T.E at uLearn Today!

A huge thank you to all the students and teachers that made K.U.T.E. such a success today. Our goal was to bring student voice to the uLearn conference and as I wandered around the school presentations today the confidence and pride displayed by students sharing their learning and knowledge with teachers was most evident. Participating schools included Summerland Primary, Pt England, Cornwall Park, Baverstock Oaks, Kristin School and MarinaView. Check out the Summerland website for more pics!

Many thanks as well to the ACES committee and the conference organsiers for supporting KUTE at uLearn this year.

uLearn07 PreConfernece Workshop - eXe

Jocelyn and I were learners yesterday attending a pre-conference workshop exploring eXe, an eLearning XHTML editor. The official description...
" an authoring environment to assist teachers and academics in the design, development and publishing of web-based learning and teaching materials without the need to become proficient in HTML or complicated web-publishing applications."

What I liked about eXe is its a free download, easy to use and intuitive, can be accessed offline and while designed for teachers could also be used by students. I had collected some resources around a theme of perseverance including txt, video, images etc and was able to start planning and creating a learning object that I could use to support my teaching as well as have the students access independently. The finished LO can be shared CD, USB etc in a browser and can also be added to a school network or intranet. I could also see LOs being shared amongst teachers too.
The development team were really helpful and have great online support including live chat through their website. eXe is worth exploring if you are interested in developing your own teaching resources.

ulearn

uLearn 07

We have over 30 teachers from The Central North Shore Cluster attending uLearn 07 in Auckland.
Some of you, who have been reading and contributing to blogs, may be interested in the Bloggers Cafe thanks to an initiative by Jane Nicholls. The concept of the bloggers cafe is to most importantly make some F2F connections with NZ bloggers, learn something new and engage in some real time conversation...there will actually be coffee too!

Also the the spotlight for Breakout 1 is Kids Using Technology in Education (KUTE), an annual event organised by The Auckland Computers in Education Society (ACES). This is a highly interactive breakout where you will have the opportunity to talk directly with students from a number of Auckland schools who will be demonstrating, sharing and answering questions about their learning through a variety of ICT supported experiences.

Breakouts are now available on the uLearn website. Recommend you make your selections as soon as you can this week.