Visit to Summerlands School

I was very fortunate to go on a school visit on Wednesday to Summerland School in Henderson.  We were welcomed by the Deputy Principal, Blair Giles, and then introduced to the Principal, Luke Sumich, who generously gave us his time to give us a tour of the school while sharing his knowledge and inviting us to interact with the children and teachers.  It was a highlight to spend time in Amanda Signal's classroom and meet the Tumeke 12 kids (as an NZ immigrant I must admit to Googling "tumeke" to discover the literal translation means "too much" but that it now commonly means "awesome" thanks to the Urban Dictionary for filling me in) and the Tumeke 12 kids were definately awesome as were all the Summerland kids I spoke to! 

I found the school organisation fascinating.  The teams, I believe, can be formed by teachers wanting to collaborate and/or sharing a similar philosophy.  Everyone is on-board with the benefits of eLearning but teachers have the freedom to be creative and integrate a wide variety of tools to support childrens' thinking: Bloom's taxonomy, double bubbble map, Habits of Mind, Thinkers Keys, Thinking Hats, Inquiry learning etc.  But the difference between Summerland and other schools is the teams consist of different year levels.  Luke explained this was to allow positive peer role modelling especially for the new entrants joining the school.  Having taught in Year 0/1 for the past three years positive peer role modelling is very powerful and effective and it is certainly something I encourage in my Year 1 children.  I often remind them that they can set an example for the younger children and they are equally able to empathise and remember how they felt when they were new at school.  At our school we encourage role modelling with all classes, with the exception of Year 2, being composites i.e Year 0/1, Year 3/4 and Year 5/6.  This gives the children an opportunity to be supported by their peers and then take on that role themselves the following year.

At Summerlands there is a really good vibe.  There is an atmosphere of mutual respect; committed people working together; children keyed into what effective learning looks like, sounds like, feels like for them; evidence of asessment and thinking about where to next and confident, independent eLearners everywhere!  I was keen to see Tumeke 12's Learning Links in action and I wasn't disappointed, happening upon a child sitting outside the classroom reading his book expressively into photobooth and then inserting it into keynote together with his self-reflection.  I like the idea that he will be sharing this with his parents at Conferences, how powerful for them to be able to see his level of achievement at the beginning of the year on a reading graph and then watch him reading at that time and then compare that with where he is now!

We left the school smiling, with lots to think about especially as we near the end of our Cluster Contract.  Luke mentioned recently learning what a wiki is and creating one for his school BOT and I think he made a lot of sense when he said that people need to have a reason for learning how to do something new.  I personally learned to create a wiki when I had a need to house digital resources for the young learners in my class.  But once I had done that I could then see more possibilities for wikis and when I created my Action Research wiki I found a use for the Discussion tab which is not relevant in my junior resources wiki!  The exciting thing for me about eLearning in Education is that there is always a new way of approaching things, new possibilities for capturing interest and engaging children and providing reasons for continuing to learn.

Here is a slideshow of the photos I took on the visit:

CORE's 10 Trends for 2010

Thanks to ewan.mcintosh's  bookmarks for alerting me to this slideshow from CORE by Derek Wenmoth.

CORE's ten trends for 2010

View more presentations from Derek Wenmoth.

I am excited that Derek will be doing the Keynote at the Eastnet Cluster Expo next term.  We have been trying to make the shift from children solely consuming content to creating their own content school-wide this year.  The children have been learning to create content using voicethread, kid pix and photostory.  Children are also contributing and communicating through blogs and the Digikidz have collaborated with children at Pt England and Elm Park schools to ask and answer questions to help them in their role supporting their peers and teachers with eLearning.  Last week the Digikidz coordinated their first animations using kid pix.  They came up with their concept, planned the sequence and executed it with varying levels of success.  Half the group completed their animations whereas the other half ran out of time.  In reflection the children were able to appreciate that they had chosen more difficult subject matter which took longer to create/adapt on each slide.

I really like the quote from slide 5 in the CORE presentation describing the changing role of learners where once they were solely content consumers and now they are in an "architecture of participation".  In my current role as an 'eCoach' released from the classroom to support teachers in the Junior school with eLearning I particularly identify with slide 6 about competing philosophies where teachers are not regarded as a problem to be fixed but as supported professionals. 

The concept of ubiquitous computing - learning anywhere, anytime from any device fits well with the new technologies being trialled in schools: apple iPads and iPod touches or even iPhones with all the apps and more to come no doubt.  Belinda Johnston's mLearning workshop at the Cluster Expo will be one to watch, I'm sure.  Perhaps this is the affordable way forward for schools struggling to afford one-to-one laptops and everything else that goes with them.  I am currently trying to reorganise PCs and laptops with the Year 0/1 team so that children and teachers have access to a group of computers every day rather than three classes sharing but we have difficulties to overcome with furniture and connecting into the network without disrupting the physical flow of the classrooms.  This wouldn't be an issue with iPads or iPod touches.  I thought the children and I had it all in my room last year in terms of digital resources with 5 computers, an IWB and data projector, teacher laptop, digital camera, headphones, tablet, easi-speak microphone.  But now the potential of the iPod touch and iPads once readers become available in this format!  You'll never run out of books for a group or worry about books going missing or getting damaged again.  One-to-one iPods sounds like it could be possible for schools and monies could be invested in these rather than atlases, dictionaries etc.

Reflecting on the Digikidz Action Research Project

As my Action Research project draws to a close I am looking back and reflecting on the project goals and considering the extent to which these have been achieved. I am excited to find that everything the children and were working on together has been achieved plus after observations were completed by Belinda Johnston, Eastnet Cluster Facilitator and discussions took place amongst the Junior school teachers, additional benefits are also evident.

I wrote part of the Final Report for the project this afternoon and I am reasonably pleased with it! I am sure I will have more to add after next Wednesday when the children are running a feedback session for their parents to showcase their learning and promote conversation about the project. I am really interested to gain the parents' perspectives and even more interested to find out if they have noticed any positive changes in their child's feelings about eLearning specifically or in their general attitude/confidence/self-esteem etc.

During discussions with teachers all noted significant changes in the Digikidz. The children are more confident, regularly demonstrate initiative and leadership in the classroom, will take a risk, are more responsible, willing to try new things and respected by their peers.

I was optimistic at the beginning of the project that the results would be favourable but I am very pleased that this has indeed proven to be the case. The children rose to the challenge and have exceeded my expectations in every way.

I would like to acknowledge all the Junior school teachers at Shelly Park School for supporting me and the children and the Digikidz for all their hard work.

Now I need to prepare for my presentations at the Eastnet Cluster Expo 2010 and hopefully uLearn 2010.

Digital Citizenship and Cybersafety

Just joined this wiki http://ictpd-digital-citizenship-and-cybersafety.wikispaces.com/ .  I am very excited to be participating in a cybersafety and digital citizenship project as this has been something I have been interested in for a while.  I have looked into Super Clubs Plus and am keen to see what else I can investigate to increase my knowledge and understanding of this very important aspect of eLearning.

When I visited the wiki I watched a couple of youtube clips, the first of which I was familiar with having shared this with the staff at our school last week during a staff meeting. 



The other one, however, I had not seen and was very interested in.


The idea of myself as a Digital Immigrant speaking digital as a 2nd language versus my children as digital 1st language learners worries me, however, I was slightly reassured after watching the clip when Jukes said that the mind can re-wire and you can learn new things!  There's hope for me yet.  Jukes recommends reading: Steven Johnson's book 'Everything bad is good for you' - which, according to Jukes, says children playing sophisticated online games learn to take risks, deal with failure, become motivated and confident and have high expectations of themselves. He then goes on to recommend 'A Whole New Mind' by Daniel Pink. I am now adding another blog to my list of subscriptions in Google Reader http://www.committedsardine.com/blog.cfm .
I also was interested in the Educational Origami Wiki which had further information and Patrick Woessner's Presentations wiki on digital citizenship which I will have to spend some time exploring.

eLearning Support in Classes

I Have been very busy for the past 2 days supporting teachers and children in their classrooms.  I am encouraging the teachers to plan independent work for their classes so they are available to work together with me and co-teach to develop their own skills and confidence using Kid Pix, Voicethread and the easi-speak microphone which are our focuses for this Term.  It has worked well in most rooms especially where the class Digikidz could be used to support.

Here is a voicethread created by room 4:

It is very similar to the voicethread rooms 11 and 4 made last week during book week with support from myself and Mrs P:

It is interesting how many teachers say repeatedly that they struggle to complete projects that have been started.  I suggest choosing a group, not the whole class, planning the project in parts e.g drawing the picture in Kid Pix the first day, scripting the story and recording it the next day.  Not introducing anything else for that group until the project is completed.  Although sometimes you do need to have a catch up morning to stay completely organised!

I have just wandered through the shared teaching area in Pod 1 and been so excited to see the teacher I worked with this morning continuing on using the skills she learned with other children in her class.  Then in Pod 2 I saw another colleague using Kid Pix in the same way as was demonstrated to her in her in-class support session yesterday.  It is just as rewarding seeing your colleagues achieve success as it is the children!  I am so proud of my team!

Continuing my delight with ActivInspire!

I decided today, after communicating with my colleague and friend Mrs P who I co-lead the eLearning team with, that I would prepare our upcoming presentation to our staff in an ActivInspire flipchart. I wanted to use as many of the tools/actions as possible to showcase the possibilities of the software to the staff who might not get the opportunity to attend training sessions. The online training at Promethean Planet is great and I happened across a brilliant site while doing a Google search which has helped me a lot today, however, I hope I get a lot faster at creating flipcharts as this one took me several hours and I'm not quite finished yet! The previous link goes to the magic ink section as this is what I have been wrestling with today! I cannot recommend the ActivInspire program enough it is absolutely brilliant and as an ex-Smartboard user I have quickly switched my alliegence to Inspire! Thanks Promethean! Click here to access excellent support materials. Here is a good blog with ideas for Activ. I would highly recommend downloading the Top Tips pdf.

Here is an introductory videos to help you get started:

Dangerously Irrelevant

I have just spent the past twenty minutes reading and watching video clips on the Dangerously Irrelevant blog and have a mixed response to what I have seen and heard.

After watching the clip below and reading some of the comments about how Secondary School and University age students feel about Education today I am disappointed that some feel their needs are not being met but, at the same time, not surprised as this is the same message I have received numerous times in different ways over the past few years. However, I agree that Education is not changing for all!





The idea that children may become the employers of their teachers does not seem that far fetched to me!

Certainly I have first hand knowledge of Pt England School in Auckland doing something very similar. The Year 6 class needed a new teacher and they made a video stating what they were looking for - someone who was willing to learn to incorporate ICTs into their teaching and the teacher didn't need to be an expert because the children would help! The teacher just had to give them the opportunity. The teacher who was hired responded to their video using photobooth demonstrating understanding of their needs. And isn't this what we ask of the children we are teaching, that they are willing to try? Don't we ask them to learn every day?

As an individual I know how quickly I have adapted to my touch screen mobile phone and how frequently I use the camera and video to capture moments. I check emails or use the internet which I couldn't do with my previous model nokia. Personally I think this is certainly some of the problem schools face - not having enough or updated equipment or technical support to incorporate digital technologies consistently. Or even within the school not having equitable access for all children and teachers. In my classroom in 2009 I had an IWB with ceiling mounted data projector, 4 PCs, 1 laptop, 1 digital camera, 5 headphones, teacher's HP laptop with inbuilt webcam, access to a shared noise cancelling microphone, access to a shared digiscope and access to a shared flip video. This allowed me to make full use of these technologies and both plan specifically and take the initiative and connect with outside events/situations bringing the world into the classroom and satisfying the digital natives. Last Term I was released from the classroom to support others with integrating eLearning into their classroom programmes. Some of the main challenges with this have been: having no space of my own to work in, classes having inequitable access to reliable equipment and personally having no equipment of my own. So whenever I need to teach something I have to locate every bit of digital equipment required and set it up. This is absolutely achievable but it adds another layer of challenge to the experience and is time consuming. I am passionate about eLearning in Education and am willing to do whatever is needed to make the best use of ICTs, however, I strongly believe to get others on board these issues need to be addressed. It's not necessarily the case that teachers aren't willing to change but rather they, like the children they teach, need to be given their next learning steps and be supported to achieve these!

Word it out

Thanks to the Manaiakalani blog http://manaiakalani.blogspot.com/ for the tip about an alternative to wordle at http://worditout.com/ . I have been experimenting with this tool tonight and have quickly create an eLearning/ICT related word cloud. This could be a good alternative to wordle to give your children variety or if the site is blocked by watchdog/schoolzone at your school.
I haven't quite figured out how to embed yet but this is possible. I have linked with the URL and taken a screenshot for the moment: eLearning - Word cloud - WordItOut

Cluster Share at Elm Park School

I found the Cluster Share at EPS yesterday really useful. It was encouraging to see we are on the same track as other schools. We seem to have a similar action plan to Botany Downs in particular this year. I was again very impressed to see the exciting and purposeful learning happening at EPS which is evidenced in their ePortfolios.

Belinda had a very inspiring video clip which set the scene for the afternoon. I tried very hard to find something which conveyed a message for the beginning of our presentation and I hope it spoke to people watching! Below are the clips and our presentation. Thank you to my friend and colleague Kathy for presenting with me. I always enjoy working with you.






Our presentation can be viewed at: http://eastnet.wikispaces.com/SPS+Cluster+Share+March+2010