CORE Blog

He kōrerorero, he whakaaro

CORE Blog

He kōrerorero, he whakaaro
CORE Blog
He kōrerorero, he whakaaro
  • HomeKāinga
  • About usMātou nei
  • CORE WebsitePAENGA CORE

2012

Home
/
2012

From our bookshelf, to yours…

Posted on December 24, 2012 by admin

Summer’s here, and like many Kiwis you’ll be looking forward to the sunshine, beaches, walks and BBQs. Summer is also a great time to catch up on the books that have been on your ‘to read’ list throughout the year, whether it be the latest fiction, sporting biography or something a little more serious.

We’ve brought you a CORE ‘summer reading recommendations’ list before, and we’re doing it again, picking the brains of our facilitators, e-learning consultants and thought leaders to save you the hassle of compiling your own list.

There’s bound to be something on the list to tickle your tastebuds, so lie back, slip on a hat, slop on some sunscreen, and enjoy the following reads from our Christmas stockings to yours. Happy holidays!

Derek Wenmoth: Director – e-Learning
A keen reader himself, Derek is always keeping up with the latest in educational thinking. He couldn’t choose just one to recommend for summer, so he recommends both Stratosphere: Integrating Technology, Pedagogy, and Change Knowledge by Michael Fullan and Vital Connections: Why we need more than self-managing schools by Cathy Wylie. “Stratosphere is a recent book of Fullan’s in which he (finally) acknowledges the transformational influence of technology in the change management process. This is a slim volume that could be read in an afternoon, but every page is packed with the sort of challenge that could stimulate an entire discussion. A 'must read' for anyone who is serious about understanding the impact of technology on learning, and the role of technology in shaping the future of our education system.”

Derek Wenmoth Derek Wenmoth is the Director of e-learning at CORE Education. This involves him in e-learning activities from exploring innovative use of the latest technologies and researching e-learning practices, to helping establish policy and strategies to guide the implementation of e-learning, both nationally and overseas. Derek’s role perfectly combines his passion for teaching and learning along with his long-held fascination with the use of technologies in education. Derek is a popular keynote speaker and he maintains a very popular blog on matters relating to e-learning and other aspects of interest to educators: Derek’s Blog

Tara Fagan: Early Years Facilitator
Taking a break from technology, Tara has been reading Warming the Emotional Climate of the Primary School Classroom by Ian M Evans and Shane T Harvey. “Drawing on evidence-based research, Evans and Harvey describe how New Zealand primary school teachers create a 'classroom atmosphere' that enables children to be motivated, feel accepted and enjoy learning.  Emotional interactions between teacher-pupil are examined and the child's voice is articulated throughout.  While research-based, the book is easy to read and has excellent strategies for enhancing the social-emotional environment of the classroom.
 

Tara FaganTara Fagan is an Early Years facilitator for the Wellington/Manawatu region. Tara’s postgraduate research investigated the nature of children’s social interactions in a mixed-age setting. Tara has a variety of educational interests inlcuding: the rights of children, children’s interactions, ICT and 21st century pedagogy. She is currently working for CORE in the most perfect role for her, as it allows her to combine her love of ICT and education.
 

Jedd Bartlett: Digital Media Producer
Jedd has recently read Howard Rheingold's Net Smart on his iPad, which seems appropriate. "This is a great reference book for anyone interested in digital literacies, and ways we can use our attention to focus on the relevant portion of the river of information that is available to us on the web.  I go back to it often for Rheingold's thinking on attention, collaboration, and online participation. It's especially relevant for educators, and would be good reading while recharging batteries."  (Read the first chapter for free).

Jedd BartlettJedd Bartlett manages research development and the production of digital media resources for CORE, including the EDtalks website. Jedd has his own blog: Jedd

 

Karen Melhuish Spencer: e-Learning Consultant
Karen has been indulging her passion for online networks for learning with Clay Shirky's Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations: "It may be a few years old but it's still totally relevant. Shirky interweaves stories of the online networks of our time, from the formation of Linux programmers' networks to Wikipedia, with an engaging, compelling assessment of the dynamics at play in their development. Fascinating insight into the way technology is opening up new ways to work together while, at the same time, threatening the ways we have traditionally organised our knowledge. Particularly recommend the chapter on how the notion of the 'specialist' is evolving. A good read." (Download a sample chapter or grab the lot.)

Karen MelhuishKaren Melhuish Spencer is an e-learning consultant at CORE Education. Karen describes herself as a bit of a geek on the sly, and her passion for playing with technology has spilled over into her passion for professional learning. Karen runs her own popular and thought-provoking blog: At the Virtual Chalkface.
 

Jane Nicholls: Manager, New Zealand Curriculum Online
Jane took time out from her "work reading" to read The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work by Alain de Botton. “This book takes a quiet journey following different types of jobs. The stories are accompanied by black and white photos which lend to the rather 'grey' tone of the book. In the end you find yourself asking if you are spending your time in the way that makes you happy, and what exactly might work look like that could make you happy. Of course, I am lucky to work for CORE and therefore these questions are answered. The author calls his book ‘a hymn to the intelligence, peculiarity, beauty, and horror of the modern workplace and, not least, its extraordinary claim to be able to provide us, alongside love, with the principal source of life's meaning.’”

Jane Nicholls Jane Nicholls works in the talented EDtalks team alongside Michael Lintott and Jedd Bartlett. Together they scout New Zealand for interesting stories.

 

 

Glenda Albon: Early Years Facilitator
With a keen interest in the development of infants and young people, Glenda was naturally drawn to the book Why Love Matters: How affection shapes a baby’s brain by Sue Gerdhart. “Gerdhart describes through relevant examples the significance that love and affection has within the earliest relationships for children. She sets out to demonstrate how these relationships impact on children's brain development, the formation of emotions of the child and their continuing ability to self-regulate these emotions. Where babies know and trust that their needs will be met, their brain responses and relevant neural connections are constructed, and we can be assured that positive outcomes will be met. I encourage anyone who is interested in exploring this further to check out  this book, and to consider the implications of our teaching practices, relationships and interactions with the children, their families/whānau and the wider ECE community "

Glenda Albon Glenda Albon has had vast experience in facilitating workshops and discussions for parents, teachers and a range of other professional groups.

 

 

read more
Posted in

EDtalks for Christmas

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Jane Nicholls

On the twelfth day of Christmas .… Well, you know how it goes.

Here comes the holiday break, and this is a perfect time to catch up on those EDtalks you may have missed out on during the year. I thought I would compile a list of my favourite four for this year (a very hard job indeed). Please feel free to leave your list of favourites in the comments.

In no particular order:

1. Khoa Do: Persistence, learning, and success

Khoa Do, Young Australian of the Year, film director, screenwriter and teacher, sat down to talk with us at ULearn2012. He tells stories about his life, and at the same time reveals important educational ideas. Ideas that reveal the depth of the principles and key competencies of the New Zealand Curriculum.

2. Donna Smith: 1:1 laptops at St Hilda’s Collegiate


Donna describes how her school has approached one to one laptops. She provides us with many questions about how this innovation challenges teaching and learning. Donna explains that this approach is a shift away from “this is how I’ve always done it to this is the way I’m going to do it”

3. Tamara Bell: Te reo Māori in English medium schools

Tamara Bell challenges teachers in English medium schools to increase achievement for Māori students by teaching te reo Māori. Tamara works for CORE Education as a National Facilitator for the Blended eLearning team and an Online Facilitator for Te Manawa Pou Te Reo Māori Online.

4. Guy Claxton: Vital, challenging, and possible

Professor Guy Claxton, Co-Director of the Centre for Real-World Learning and Professor of the Learning Sciences at the University of Winchester, was in Christchurch recently delivering the 2012 Graham Nuthall Lecture. After the lecture CORE Education’s Keryn Davis had the chance to ask Guy about the key messages he had for teachers wanting to deepen learning and build learning dispositions.

read more
Posted in

Engaging, connecting, networking: the MAGIC of Educampchch, round two

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Anne Kenneally

This week's post is by guest blogger, Anne Kenneally

Educampchch 2

Timed to celebrate the end of 2012 and launch into 2013 in style, Educampchch2 dawned on the first of December. We gathered in Riccarton Community library, on a busy Saturday. It was fascinating to see the sheer volume of library traffic go through in one day. This library really is the ultimate learning environment—from babies to grandparents, engaging in ‘library learning’.

Passionate educators gathered from across the sectors, early childhood through to secondary, and across New Zealand from Mosgiel in the deep south to Whangarei in the far north. With a mix of newbies through to educamp groupies we kicked off with a three-word intro. From this wonderful icebreaker we moved to the SMACKDOWN, a two minute sharing. The real beauty of this is an opportunity to listen and establish connections for discussions as the day progresses. This clip really does say it all: what is ordinary to one person can be amazing to others. The power is in the sharing and the building of opportunities around the use of a tool, an approach, an opportunity for collaboration.

A break for coffee allowed for time to reflect, connect, network and share, and establish discussion groups for the day.

He tangata, he tangata, he tangata…as with all educamps the wisdom really is in the room. The openness, expertise, and sharing throughout the day allows for all to learn and grow at their individual level. Taking the learning, shaping the learning, networking, and imagining possibilities for 2013 proved this event to be well timed. In the midst of the end-of-year chaos, the connections and possibilities realised leads to very exciting opportunities in the new year.

One of the wonderful aspects of educamps is the potential for everyone who attends to leave with at least one new idea/link/tool/connection to take forward to the next year. The twitter family grew as new tweets were welcomed to the Twitisphere from within the Educampchch2 group, and from our PLNs.

Discussion groups throughout the day realised opportunities around Myportfolio; iPad set up, use, innovation opportunities; Aurasma; Daily Five and CAFÉ; Biblio Commons; Literacy; gadgets; app harvesting; mobile learning potential; Twitter; social networking; community learning and collaboration.

The real MAGIC is the participant-driven, unstructured nature of an educamp. There is no time pressure. There is abundant opportunity for sharing and growing the potential of opportunities. There is time for discussions as and when the need arises. There is an open, collaborative, sharing, and real face-to-face connection.

As we move forward, the challenge now is to maintain connections, grow the network, sharing, and realise the power of the educamp philosophy. How could we take this unconference into our own learning environments, our staffrooms, our classrooms? How good could it really be if we shared, connected, networked, and allowed for the wisdom of all to be shared, valued, and built on?

For the Mainland, we now move towards the inaugural Educampwest at Greymouth on the 23rd of February and the inaugural Educampqueenstown on the 13th of April.

read more
Posted in

Thinking differently and pushing the boundaries of learning

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Tara Fagan

Early Years Conference

Sometimes, we need to try things differently, to explore alternatives and to trial new ways.  Sometimes, this experimentation works, sometimes it doesn’t but it is important that we try, that we question and that we reflect on why we do things the way we do.

Doing things in a new way was an approach our Early Years Team took when organising our recent conference. We wanted to reach our online community members who are spread across New Zealand.  A face-to-face conference was not going to be an option that would attract many because of travel, accommodation, and time required. An online conference seemed right, even though this was a new way of conferencing for most of us.

Benefits of an online conference

Just like any conference, connections and discussions were an essential element. Being online enabled people to attend from all around New Zealand; people who would not normally be able to connect because of distance, travel, or time. Our audience included a range of people including community health, teachers, parents, and educators. Some of the connections formed online are continuing still as people share with others with similar interests – this is exciting and something that may not have been possible without the online conference.

The online option meant we were not limited by travel budgets for bringing together our team of presenters. Our presenters were as far north as Whangarei and as far South as Dunedin. They were all able to attend and present from their office. Using a video camera at the beginning of each session meant the attendees could ‘see’ the presenter so there was a sense of knowing who was speaking.   During each presentation, the chat box meant attendees could add their thoughts and resources as the session was happening. And, of course, there was opportunity for the attendees to talk and ask questions. 

The online approach provided flexibility. Attendees could attend sessions that suited them—whether this was because of interest, need, or time requirements—so they could come and go as wished. Some attended the full two days, others attended one or two workshops. While attending, some had lunch, coffee, or during the evening session, even a glass of wine.

Benefits from social media

Early Years Conference (ECE Online) trending on Twitter
ECE Online conference trending on Twitter

Connecting online happened in ways we weren’t expecting as well.  Social media, particularly Twitter and Facebook, enabled others to participate even though they weren’t attending. People hooked into us trending on Twitter for the two days and contributed their thoughts and spreading the conversations.
 

The risks were well worth it

We took some risks and we weren’t sure what the response would be, as this was a new approach for many of our Early Years Teachers. Our community took risks themselves as they explored this new way of learning together, noting:

  • Thank you to everyone involved for making this opportunity available. I love learning, and on-line is a cool way to participate.
  • The interaction, convenience of blackboard right then and there! Connecting with the wider community through multi media.
  • Absolutely fab conference – we have experienced a team conference! One we could all attend at no cost to ourselves for a change. Thank you so much for the opportunity – would definitely be keen for a future one

We did something differently, and took new ways of learning and connecting to our community. We have a heap to reflect on and, overall, are thrilled we took the opportunity to try something new.

read more
Posted in

Ten Trends 2012: User + Control

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Glen Davies

Ten Trends 2012: User + Control from EDtalks on Vimeo.

So we arrive at the final trend for 2012. Some would say last but not least, but in this case it does turn out to be the least in some ways as we got this one wrong. Instead of being a trend this is proving to be an anti-trend. Oh well, you can’t be right all the time. Having said that it is still a crucial area for educators to be thinking about.

Is the desire for control increasing or decreasing?

We said “Users of technology are increasingly seeking to find ways to program what they are using and exercise control over what it does and how it performs”. Perhaps we should now rephrase this and say “We wish users of technology would increasingly seek ….” Nevertheless, you only need to look at the number of DVD recorders, etc., with the clocks flashing on 12:00 to see that the average person has no interest at all in trying to work out how to program even the basic functionality of the device they own. There seems little likelihood that this will change in the near future. Technology companies such as Apple are also pushing this trend in the reverse direction by locking users into an increasingly closed ecosystem with ever simpler plug-and-play architectures that reduce further the need for users to tweak or tinker with the setup.

The demand for programming experience

We stated that one of the drivers for this trend would be a “demand for programming experience”. While there is an increasing demand for experience in this area, this has not resulted in an increasing number of people wanting to move into this type of work. In fact, there are increasing concerns about the lack of skilled workers in the IT sector, and a reduction in the number of students deciding to train in related fields:

  • Extreme shortage of ICT professionals in Australia
  • IT skills shortage looming large in Europe
  • Computer engineer shortage in UK

These shortages are such that companies like Google will sometimes opt to purchase a software company purely to get access to their talented developers.

Education's role

What are the implications for schools?

Some schools are running some excellent programmes to encourage students into programming and development, including getting students to establish their own development companies to deliver real products and services to customers. Many schools, however, still follow a very 'consumer’based ICT curriculum which does nothing more that teach students how to be users of applications. All schools need to be asking how they can engage more students in computer science related subjects and activities.

Schools don’t need to be responsible for developing content around this, or even providing the subject expertise. There are now a number of free MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) available from well-known universities like Stanford and MIT that students of any age can enrol in. For example:

  • Introduction to Computer Science and Programming (edX)
  • Stanford online courses (Stanford)
  • Code Year course (Codecademy)

It is not only schools that need to try and reverse this trend. Universities also need to get students engaged in order to reduce the trend of falling numbers in their computer science programmes. The likes of Canterbury University are doing some good work in this area with the STAR courses that they offer into secondary schools, and also in the work of one of their lecturers, Tim Bell, and his Computer Science Unplugged programme. If you have not seen it already, then this resource offers great hands-on activities that teach computer science using cards, string, crayons, and lots of running around.

The IT industry's role

The IT industry also has a part to play. If IT companies want students to chose programming and related fields as a career, then they need to also help reverse the trend and change the face of the industry to make it appealing to more young people. The New Zealand Institute for IT Professionals has recognised this need and has launched the ICT Connect Programme to try and achieve just that.

So, with schools, universities, and industry working together, hopefully, in the near future we can list User + Control again, and this time get it right as an upward trend.

And you? What do you think?

What do you you think educators should be doing to encourage young people into computer science related fields?

read more
Posted in

Pages:

1 2 3 … 8 »
Subscribe to our emails
Make an Enquiry
Subscribe to our emails
Make an Enquiry

© 2021 CORE Education Policies
0800 267 301
© 2021 CORE Education
0800 267 301
CORE Blog
  • Home
  • About us
  • CORE Website
  • Policies