Monday, 27 June 2011

Tāngo Whakaahua

 Tāngo Whakaahua– Creating a visual collaborative metaphor in response to our mārae noho through the medium of digital photography.


Motatau marae
Photo: Cheryl Harvey
Facilitators from Team Solutions had the privilege of staying at Motatau Mārae in April. Motatau is located in the far north of New Zealand approximately 3 hours drive from Auckland (View Google Map). The mārae was built in the 1920s  and, as we learned, has contributed significantly to the history of the area and New Zealand.

After the powhiri, that included a waiāta from Motatau Primary, many of us were drawn to the images that line the walls of the wharenui. They hinted at what we were to hear later that evening when we gathered for a more detailed history from local whanau.
Motatau Mārae was built in the 1920s  to honour 
Northern Maori Member of Parliament Tau Henarae 
Much of the history of Motatau Mārae is also recorded through significant carvings inside the wharenui. It was fascinating to learn about the connection Motatau has with the meeting house, Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Built in the grounds of the Treaty House at Waitangi, the meeting house commemorates the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.



The wood used for carvings for Te Tiriti o Waitangi was sourced from the forests around Motatau and were also initially carved at Motatau Mārae before being transported to Waitangi.
Digistore Learning Path: Te Tiriti o Waitangi


On the second day of our mārae noho facilitators were able to choose from a range of sessions, Te Ara Hikoitanga, opportunities to explore "Maori Achieving Education Success as Maori". 
  
Cheryl Harvey and I were invited to collaborate on a session and with our mutual interest in things digital we developed Tāngo Whakaahua. 

Our planning for the session has been shared on this Google doc. The link to the Google doc was shared with participants a few days before the Marae noho. This provided the group with an opportunity to think about their participation and responses before the actual workshop on the second day of our visit.

Anō te ataahua (a time to view creations and experiences from Te Ara Hikoitanga sessions) provided us with an opportunity to share our visual collaboration and also individual slide shows from each of the Tāngo Whakaahua participants.  I have uploaded our collaborative response below. Ka nui te mihi to facilitators who contributed and to tamariki from Motatau Primary School for the waiata.



Digistore Learning Path - Marae noho
I have also shared this learning path created to support further thinking and learning opportunities in response to the mārae noho. The learning path includes:
  • digital resources from Digistore and other digital collections
  • primary source analysis tools for students
  • online resources and support for Mārae noho
  • Te Tiriti o Waitangi - primary sources and links to further digital collections and historic articles and information.
Motatau Mārae taken using 360 Panorama app for iPhone (click to enlarge)

      Wednesday, 15 June 2011

      "Where good ideas come from?"

      The e-Learning Lead Team at Mt Roskill Grammar represent a number of learning areas and departments across the school.  Face-to-face time is one opportunity to connect and learn.

      Today's agenda included many opportunities for conversations specifically targeted at sharing the impact of the team's teacher e-learning inquiries.

      We kicked today off with this short clip by Steven Johnson, and shared some of the ideas that resonated with us on this collaborative Google doc.

      "...we have so many new ways to connect, so many new ways to reach out and find other people...that's the real lesson of where good ideas come from, the chance favours the connected mind" 
      (Steven Johnson)


      Tuesday, 7 June 2011

      Exploring the "Raw Materials of History"

      Exploring primary sources or the "raw materials of history" provides students with an opportunity to examine the past free from the interpretations of others.  
      (Library of Congress)

      The following Google presentation has been created to explore strategies and resources for teaching and learning with primary sources. It also includes:
      • strategies to support students to analyse primary sources 
      • support for using analysis tools and Google docs for collaboration
      • links to Google research and search tools for locating and organising data and information 
      • support for creating and integrating Learning Paths in Digistore
      The intention is to revisit and add to this resource in response to feedback and the evolution of further resources and web tools.



      Click the 'open in a new window' icon above to view a full screen version

      Thursday, 2 June 2011

      "Because context matters...inquiry is important"

       I have been fortunate in the past couple of months to have had opportunities to collaborate with teachers and colleagues focusing on a variety of educational contexts including: curriculum, pedagogy, e-learning, leadership and assessment.  Our conversations and thinking often include reference to Teaching as Inquiry (NZC and TMoA).

      As we have explored examples of Teaching as Inquiry I have been reminded of a statement from Claire Sinnema that I referenced in an earlier post on this blog "Inquire with a Travelling Mindset" ...

      "because context matters... 
      inquiry is important"

       The New Zealand Curriculum Online describes the Teaching as Inquiry cycle as "an organising framework that teachers can use to help them learn from their practice and build greater knowledge."

      While the framework provides us with a common understanding and language for inquiry into our pracitice, the context is what brings life to the inquiry and to the learning.

      Context matters 

      Saturday, 30 April 2011

      Wednesday, 30 March 2011

      ...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. 
      • 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)

      Monday, 20 December 2010

      Snapshots of Learning

      Developing Digistore Learning Paths

      A focus of the Digi Advisor roll this year has been the further development of the snapshots for the Software for Learning website. While the snapshots are intended as a taster to the software and digital content – an indication of how one teacher has recognised the potential to support learning, we also wanted to make explicit the links to e-learning and effective pedagogy and explore how the snapshots might be utilised by leaders to support professional learning.

      Initially we reviewed the format of the snapshot to align with the teaching as inquiry cycle. While this provided us with consistency in both the format and framework for publication, the intention was to improve their potential as a catalyst for thinking and dialogue within our professional learning communities.  We considered the qualities of professional communities that promote teacher and student learning (Teacher Professional Learning and Development:BES. p.203) and have increasingly integrated the new snapshots into our online support and face-to-face facilitation to reinforce these.

      As an e-learning facilitator I have also used the snapshots with our e-learning cluster to explore how teachers in other schools are integrating e-learning and the implications for teaching and learning. Additionally the links to the teaching as inquiry cycle  provide a useful framework for teachers to inquire into their practice. The cycle provides common points of reference in relation to effective pedagogy and teacher actions. This can be useful to support dialogue as teachers in a professional community also have diverse learners and consequently may have identified different professional learning outcomes from those of their colleagues.


      Snapshots in the new format are continuing to be edited for the website and we would like to acknowledge and thank the teachers who have shared their teaching and their students' learning. Their collaboration on this project is both valued and appreciated. While the snapshots are accessible from the Software for Learning home page, links to the new snapshots have been saved as a group in the Software for Learning Delicious. Browse each of the snapshots using the arrow on the top right of the Delicious navigation bar. Teachers are invited to share their snapshots of learning, visit the wiki for details.

      Click to enlarge

      Wednesday, 8 December 2010

      Celebrating 50 Years of Teacher Education

      Howls of laughter today working with a teacher who is also a past T-Group buddy from our days at the Hamilton Teachers’ College.  Waikato's  Faculty of Education have been celebrating 50 years of teacher education and all our original photos have been posted on the Hamilton City Libraries website. We hadn't seen our T-Group photo since it was taken way back when!

      "The library is promoting digital storytelling to create a digital library of arts, cultural and heritage resources to help create a digital knowledge basket of Hamilton memories for future generations to enjoy and everyone is invited to join the fun..."

      ...and we did have some fun today, testing our memories and sharing stories from our student days. If you attended Waikato's School of Education (formerly the Hamilton Teachers’ College) search the archives for student teachers as far back as 1960...I found mine...a chocolate fish if you can identify me ;-) Click photo to zoom.

      Monday, 6 December 2010

      Geocaching

      Many thanks to Gerard and his students for inviting me to tag along last week on their Geocaching session at the Auckland Domain. Lots of learning and laughs, plus it was great to see Gerard's programme in action with the students.
      Find out more about Geocaching and the Key Competencies on Software for Learning.

      View on Flickr 

      Tuesday, 12 October 2010

      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!