This year’s CORE Foundation eFellowship award winners have been announced!
May the following winners take a bow:
- Hanna Faletaupule, Tots’ Corner Early Learning Centre, Auckalnd
- Jo Fothergill, Raumati Beach School, Kapiti Coast
- Bronwyn Glass, Botany Downs Kindergarten, Auckland
- Linda Lehrke, Somerville Intermediate School, Auckland
- Sonya Van Schaijik, Newmarket School, Auckland
- David Winter, Southwell School, Hamilton
And what’s all this about?
Education Fellowships that reward New Zealand educators and contribute to education in New Zealand
Since its beginning CORE Education has been involved in fellowship programmes designed to recognise and reward contributions to teaching and learning.
The Ministry of Education eLearning Fellowships were inaugurated in 2004, and ran until 2009 when its programme was terminated by the Ministry. Since that time CORE has been running its own eFellowship Award program as one of its Foundation’s charitable scholarship activities.
CORE Education is also involved in the Royal Society of New Zealand’s Primary Science Teacher Fellowship Programme. This programme, funded by the Ministry of Research and Innovation (formerly the Ministry of Research Science and Technology), is designed to improve science teaching and learning outcomes in primary education.
Both of these programs aim to foster an ongoing community of practice to recognise contributions to, and improve outcomes in their respective areas.
The CORE eFellowship Programme
Purpose of the eFellowship programme
The idea of the original 2004 Ministry of Education eLearning Fellowship was to recognise and support teachers who have an established reputation in ICT in education, or who have good ideas that they wish to research in their classrooms over a one-year period, by offering them a programme of ongoing professional support to carry out classroom-based research.
Professional support for eFellows researchers
This support took the form of:
- residential workshops in Christchurch to support the Fellows in acquisition of research and presentation skills
- funding to attend at least one conference to present their research
- with some intakes, funding to disseminate the results of the Fellows’ research in the year following the Fellowship period.
The first groups of eLearning Fellows spent extended periods of time in Christchurch, and were provided with full-time funding to enable them to spend the whole year out of the classroom to carry out their research projects.
Smaller intakes and move to part-time
As time went by, the numbers of Fellows in each intake trended downwards, so that in the final year funded by the Ministry there were six eLearning Fellows. In addition, the programme progressively moved towards being part-time, in the course of which, teachers combined teaching with enquiry and research activities.
2009 focus on ICT in supporting literacy initiatives in the classroom
In the final year of the Ministry ‘s programme, the focus was on the role of ICT in supporting literacy initiatives in the classroom. Fellows involved in the 2009 eFellows programme carried out classroom-based enquiries into the impact of ICT on literacy acquisition; whilst CORE Education and NZCER researchers evaluated the impact of these enquiries across the six schools involved.
Strong competition for eFellow selection
Participants in the eLearning Fellowship programme were drawn from across the early childhood, primary, and secondary education spectrum. Competition for selection as an eLearning Fellow was fierce—for example, in one year, there were 56 applicants for only six places, and selectors had a difficult job making the decisions.
Extensive variety of subjects researched
During the earlier intakes of the eLearning Fellowship programme, Fellows undertook a wide variety of projects. These included:
- the use of gaming and virtual environments in teaching science and social studies topics,
- using ICTs to support music teaching and learning,
- using content management and other systems to facilitate communication between school and home,
- and using ICT is and assistive technologies to support the learning of disabled students.
In the 2009 year, in which the focus of the eLearning Fellowship was on literary acquisition, Fellows explored a wide range of uses of ICT, including the use of reading blogs, producing animations and videos, and running a programme for a local radio station.
CORE Education’s eFellowship Awards
In 2010, following the termination of the Ministry of Education’s support for their E-Learning Fellowship programme, CORE Education initiated its own eFellowship programme to build on the previous programme, and to develop an ongoing community of e-learning practice within New Zealand.
The new programme involves a selection of up to six fellows each year. The Fellowship is designed to recognise and acknowledge expertise and leadership in e-learning in the early childhood and compulsory education sector.
CORE eFellows participate in an induction programme, consisting of a number of Master Classes, during which they work together to share ideas and skills, and to develop as a community of e-learning practice. They have the opportunity to present at the annual ULearn conference.
Previous eLearning Fellows still included
The CORE eFellowship includes not only those who have been through the induction process, but also former Ministry of Education E-Learning Fellows; all of the eFellows are welcome to attend an annual gathering and dinner, which is held during the ULearn conference.
The CORE eFellowship is proving increasingly popular. This year, there were 30 applicants.
I was a CORE eFellow in 2010. It was an amazing experience, and I met some wonderful people who have inspired me in my practice.
– a 2010 eFellow
Further information about the eFellowship Award Programme
Michael Winter works with the CORE eFellowsip and the Royal Society of New Zealand's Primary Science Teacher Fellowship Programmes. His other work with CORE Education has included evaluations of a number of Ministry of Education projects, such as the Digital Opportunities programme, workbased blended learning programmes, and work with the Pasifika and Moslem communities. Michael trained as a chemist and biochemist and was involved in academic and industrial research—the latter in the pharmaceutical industry. He has also taught in secondary schools from Invercargill to Ruawai, Northland. Michael was a winner of a Nuffield Foundation (London) Scholarship and the Beit Memorial Fellowship for Medical Research. He has contributed to many publications.
Michael Winter
Latest posts by Michael Winter (see all)
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- Jolly good Fellows…(Part one) - April 20, 2011
[…] two part series on Fellowship programmes CORE Education is involved with. The first considered the CORE Education eFellows programme. This will […]