Criteria 9

Fully registered teachers respond effectively to the diverse language and cultural experiences, and the varied strengths, interests, and needs of individuals and groups of ākonga/learners.

Key indicators:

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of social and cultural influences on learning by working effectively in the bicultural and multicultural contexts of learning in Aotearoa /New Zealand.
• Select teaching approaches, resources, technologies, and learning and assessment activities that are inclusive and effective for diverse ākonga/learners.
• Modify teaching approaches to address the needs of individuals and groups of ākonga/learners.

Guiding question

How does e-learning support me to respond effectively to the experiences, strengths, interests, and needs of individuals and groups of ākonga/learners?

Examples

Being culturally responsive l Gifted and talented l Inclusion and accessibility l Personalising learning lAnalysing student data l Connecting with students l Engaging with the school community

Being culturally responsive

Teachers can harness e-learning tools and online resources to recognise and value the cultures that students bring with them to the classroom.

Blended e-Learning for Māori and Pasifika Learners
A group in the VLN for educators to share ideas and resources, discuss practice and pedagogy, and provide support for each other with the aim of engaging Māori and Pasifika learners so that they may achieve educational success whilst maintaining their cultural integrity.

Pasifika resources
This page provides a list of Pasifika resources for use in the classroom and links to specific discussion groups in the VLN.

Māori resources
This page provides a list of Māori resources for use in the classroom and links to specific discussion groups in the VLN.

Māori related resources
The catalogue of Māori resources showcases content within Digistore that is either in Māori or has content related to Māori culture.

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Gifted and talented learners

GiftEDnz VLN group
This open group in the Virtual Learning Network (VLN) explores issues and resources related to gifted and talented education in New Zealand.

Catering for GATE students with e-learning tools VLN group
This open group in the VLN has a specific focus on e-learning tools related to gifted and talented education (GATE).

Gifted and talented online
This TKI site supports schools, teachers, students and parents in assisting gifted and talented students to reach their full potential academically, emotionally, and socially.

Unit: How did we find Nemo?
An example of a unit designed to extend gifted and talented (GAT) students incorporating the use of digital tools as one part of the unit. This unit is accessed from the English sample units of work page on the NSW Department of Education and Communities: NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre website.

Critical evaluation of information
Students need to be able to critically evaluate the validity of what they find on the web. With an emphasis on individual research for GAT students, this becomes crucial. The resources on this page can help them to do this.

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Inclusion and accessibility

Assistive technology
Information, school stories, and resources focused on using assistive technologies to improve learning outcomes for students.

Using e-portfolios to engage with the community
These school stories focus on how the use of technologies benefit teacher collaboration and parental engagement at Kimi Ora school.

Mac OSX accessibility options
The Mac operating system comes with a number of options for supporting learners with a range of specific needs such as a built-in screen reader and the use of voice controls.

Windows acccessibility options
There are a number of options for supporting learners with a range of specific needs from within Windows 7, Internet Explorer 8, and Office 2010.

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Personalising learning

Te Pātaka Matihiko/Digistore
Use the leveled activities and digital learning objects to allow for differentiation supporting all learners. The NZ maths digital learning objects have the same type of activity at different levels to cater for all abilities.

e-Portfolios
The information, stories, and resources provide support with understanding how e-portfolios can be used to personalise student learning.

Khan Academy
Students can work through learning videos and practice exercises to support their learning across different learning areas.

BBC KS3 bite-size revision
Online sites with revision activities and information allow students to visit the materials as many times as they need to and work through at their own pace.

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Analysing student data

e-asTTle
e-asTTle is an online assessment tool, developed to assess students’ achievement and progress in reading, mathematics, writing, and in pānui, pāngarau, and tuhituhi. e-asTTle provides teachers and school leaders with information that can be used to inform learning programmes and to apply teaching practice that maximises individual student learning. Results can be analysed by ethnicity.

Three useful tips with Google Forms
This blog post by Suzie Vesper shows ways you can use Google Forms to gather and mark assessment.

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Connecting with students

Blogs
Information, school stories, and resources demonstrating the benefits of blogging that improve student engagement, motivation, and learning outcomes.

Using Facebook for history
In this article from Interface magazine, Queens High School teacher, Lara Hern-Rollo describes how she set up a page on Facebook to engage with her students and bring them together as a community of learners beyond the classroom.

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Engaging with the school community

There are clear benefits to teaching and learning in classrooms if the wider community is engaged and has a voice in the learning process. The use of e-learning tools can help to facilitate these connections.

Engaging with the community
Find information and examples of ways schools can engage with their communities using information and communication technologies in this section of the website.

Beyond the classroom - Connecting home and school
Join this Enabling e-Learning community group in the Virtual Learning Network. The group aims to support schools to empower and educate their families and whānau, with, and about, technologies.

• enabling e-Learning >
• Professional learning >
• Registered Teacher Criteria and e-learning >
• Criteria 8

Criteria 8

Fully registered teachers demonstrate in practice their knowledge and understanding of how ākonga learn.

Key indicators:

• Enable ākonga/learners to make connections between their prior experiences and learning and their current learning activities.
• Provide opportunities and support for ākonga/learners to engage with, practise and apply new learning to different contexts.
• Encourage ākonga/learners to take responsibility for their own learning and behaviour.
• Assist ākonga/learners to think critically about information and ideas and to reflect on their learning.

Guiding question

How does my e-learning practice reflect that I understand the main influences of how my ākonga/students learn?

Examples

Creating multiple learning opportunities l  Student ownership of learning l  Assisting critical thinking l Enhancing the relevance of learning

Creating multiple learning opportunities

e-Learning tools provide a range of opportunities to explore key learning concepts that cater to different abilities and learning styles.

Learning areas
The information, school stories, and resources in this section can support you to develop personalised, authentic learning experiences across different learning areas using technologies. The  English and e-learning page provides a variety of school stories describing how student learning outcomes have been improved with the use of technologies in this curriculum area.

Blended e-learning literacy
Join this VLN group to access the group pages and  group bookmarks that provide examples of how different technologies can be used to support different abilities and learning styles.

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Student ownership of learning

Students can be empowered by the use of e-learning tools to take control of their own learning and work through content at their own pace.

e-Portfolios
Learn about what e-Portfolios are and how they can be used. Students can be given responsibility for their own learning by documenting their progress towards learning goals and deciding on what work to share.

Setting goals and logging them
This blog post shows how one teacher uses Evernote to have students log their progress towards learning goals.

Khan Academy
Students can work through learning videos and practice exercises to support their learning across different learning areas.

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Assisting critical thinking

Higher level use of e-learning tools can give students opportunities to think critically about the information available to them on the Internet and the concepts being covered.

e-Competencies
Kellie McRobert explains e-competencies and how they are aligned with the NZ Curriculum key competencies. She shares stories of her classroom practice with supporting research.

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Enhancing the relevance of learning

Using e-learning tools gives students access to up-to-date information from around the world. They can connect with a range of subject experts and learning can be personalised.

Snapshot of learning for Skoodle
This snapshot describes a collaborative inquiry to develop literacy learning with Pasifika students from Newmarket School. Students connect with a well known illustrator for the series Bro Town after the television series was identified as something the students identified with.

LEARNZ
LEARNZ virtual field trips are an example of using virtual experiences and tools to enhance learning. These opportunities are free to schools.

Games can lead the fight against boring teachers
This Interface article by Edwin McRae looks at making learning relevant to students by introducing digital games into the classroom.

Innovation at Next Generation: ideas inspired by the ECC Conference 2013

Innovation at Next Generation: ideas inspired by the ECC Conference 2013

Melissa Clarke Reynolds developed a global ethical brand. Mini Momos.com. with the underpinning idea Love to Play / Love the Planet. Have fun doing good.

She believes we need to teach resilience in our lives and in our centers. Look at life, ask the question:  “Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Too soon to tell!”

Some of the best things in life happen from what seems like the worst.

Melissa asks us to look at where toys are made – where are they going? Most toys have 3 months of use, 3 months in the cupboard and 3 thousand years in the landfills. Almost all soft toys are made with some child labour.

No one can see the future:

What matters to you?

What outcomes do you want?

How could someone help you get these results?

What actions would they take?

To follow through with these ideas, what will you do?

Ict with Brian Puerling as the key note speaker . Director of Education Technology, Cattherine Cook School, Chicago, who we found most inspiring. He loved our centres and would have liked to have spent more time here, we would have loved to have him here for a week.

Suggested we check out the ICT Position Statement at NAEYC http://www.naeyc.org/content/technology-and-young-children

Technology should enhance our teaching! How? Why?

What is your philosophy for ICT? Personally and the centre philosophy.

Do you think you should have lab carts that wheel in the ICT equipment and then wheel them out? (Not at Next Gen)

What are your hopes and what would help achieve this?

What are our big ideas for the centre?

Try out safe social media for children. Try a twitter tree, tree on the wall, each child has a bird on the tree, children can add a new tweet to the tree. Develops concept of tweeting to children. Set up classroom twitter account, tweet thought from the Mat. Let’s follow Brian’s classroom in Chicago. Share exciting moment of the day, share something you learnt that day.

https://twitter.com/welcome/recommendations/search?q=%23kinderchat

email Brian:  puerlingtech@gmail.com

Practice, discuss, explore some more.

PLN professional learning network  https://twitter.com/hootsuite

Empower Teachers to recognize their own learning style.

When setting up an activity see if you can make it richer. For example if you are going to make muffins see if there is a professional baker you could skype with the children. Asking questions and seeing if they will do some baking at the same time over skype. Could we film the children baking step by step as a how to video? Once its on blogger they can make the recipe again at home. Could we skype Jill?

Get experts in to the centre. When it comes to planting ask someone from Kings if they would mind coming to talk to the children.

Make children the “experts” to help scaffold each other’s learning. Getting children to be ‘tech support’ or ‘art curator’ for a week at a time. Children can approach the experts if they need help or want to see an idea developed further, encouraging them to figure it out as peers before coming to a teacher.

‘Tech expert’- a child that is comfortable with using the ipad/ipod and can help the other children if they are stuck when wanting to take photos or use an app for example.

‘Art curator’- this child would be in charge of art activities for the week. Deciding what activities and equipment are put out each day. The other children will also be encouraged to ask this child for help etc. the ‘art curator’ will also have to help ensure the equipment is being used appropriately and throughout the day check in on the area to ensure it is all going to plan.

‘Outdoor play specialist’- this child would be in charge of the outdoor set up for the week.

These specialists would be told on the Monday week before they are to have the job. Discussion throughout the week reminding these children would be beneficial. On a Friday each child will have a chance to sit down with a teacher to plan out the next week. We could have a photo catalogue made up of the different activities available at the center, however this should be used as a last resort if the child is stuck. By planning the Friday before we have time to come up with ways to make the children’s ideas work. I.e. if they wanted ramps for running the bikes over it would give us time to find the equipment. Same with the art, rocket ship building will take lots of boxes but with a few days warning we could wrangle it together. Any idea the children come up with we need to try and find a feasible way of making it work so that we are not squashing their creativity or interest.

We could start a writers group. Find a children’s author/ illustrator to talk or have skype sessions with the children about different ways to come up with stories and illustrations. Show children a variety of different children’s books so they can be confident that being different is ok, not all their drawings/books need to be the same.  Publish book as e-book, or publish in print. Make author notes, what will your book be about? How will you illustrate the book?

Individualised reflections and evaluations, give parents questions.

By getting ‘experts’ in we are showing the children that we are also still learners and that asking for someone that specializes in an area is the best way to learn about it. We are trying to encourage a passion for life long learning.

Setting up a separate blog for teachers reflecting on chapters of educational books/ talks or activities. Lets have an open floor discussion on this blog about ideas, what we like/dislike. Book Club try reading the first chapter of a book and reviewing the ideas with other teachers.

How can we implement apps into our everyday learning (i.e. weather app) what ideas do teacher have? Can we be more innovative?  

Make children take charge; send them out to take a picture of the weather each morning to discuss at mat time. How is it changing?

Compare relevant apps with the children, what do they like/ dislike about each one? Are some giving us mixed information on the same topic? I.e. weather? Why do some work better than others? I.e. photo editor. Are the apps we are using tools or consuming apps? Check weather app each day, is the information correct?

HD Marine life. App.

Film children describing their art or experience, put it on blogger as a regular thing same as we take a photo of a tower they build, video them talking about it.

Have an interest of the morning. Show pictures or videos from the morning during mat time. Share exciting things/ achievements that have happened in the centre, i.e. did Gabe spend all morning building a tower, take photos to share, get him to tell the story of what happened. Did someone do a nice picture in the morning; get them to stand up ad show their peers. Making children feel proud for their achievments each day. Encourage children to share their challenges they overcome, i.e. did Zara finally climb to the top part of the pirate ship? Mat time should be a celebration of our peers and what they have to offer, bringing meaning into every activity.

Blog of the day- each day we could have a child’s blog that we look through at mat time, share the learning experiences with everyone.

Employ teachers who share your vision.

Watch out for Goodnight ipad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ouOwpYQqic