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

Page 2

Home
/
LEARNZ
/
LEARNZ
/
Page 2

Once upon a story time

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Andrew Penny

story time

Do you remember story time on ‘the mat’ when you were a kid at school? I certainly have fond memories of the teacher telling stories, some from memory, but most often from a book. We all had our special places to sit and habitual behaviours that seemed to help with concentration as the story was being read. It was a time, usually in the afternoon before the home time bell went, when the whole class was relaxed and focussed on what the teacher was saying.

To be continued …

As a teacher, I too, continued with this tradition. At teachers college I learned about the benefits of reading to my students, but, at the time, I never really thought about the way this seemingly simple act of storytelling had such a positive effect on the students. Story time had the affect of unifying my class. Sitting together as one; quiet, listening, and with imaginations in full swing, watching the action unfold in front of the mind’s eye.

I enjoyed watching the students’ reactions out of the corner of my eye as I read crucial parts of the story. I remember the groan of disappointment as we finished a chapter that left us all hanging in suspense — to be continued the next day! And I was always impressed with what the students could recall about the story, even if we had had a break from it for a week or so. The story also created many opportunities for lively discussion that often promoted learning opportunities in several areas of the curriculum.

Several chapters later

read more
Posted in

Encouraging healthy STEM growth

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Shelley Hersey

I am counting down the days until I leave for a LEARNZ field trip to Antarctica. The planning and preparation for the journey has been intense: everything from completing a medical to creating a website for students to follow the adventure.

A few days ago I met two members from the science team that we will follow while down on the ice. Inga Smith and Greg Leonard made time to chat about the work they will be doing from a field camp on the sea ice, 15 kilometres away from New Zealand’s Scott Base.

Inga is a physicist and interested in the interactions between the ocean, ice shelves and sea ice, but she is also passionate about equality in education. Our conversation quickly changed from: why the melting of ice shelves can lead to more sea ice over winter in parts of Antarctica to how can we encourage more women to study physics?

Inga produced some sobering statistics about the lack of women studying STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects at university and when I did my own research I have to admit I was startled by the results:

  • Women in New Zealand make up less than a quarter of those studying for a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and just over a third of those studying for a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology.
  • There are approximately 31,000 architects, engineers and related professionals employed in New Zealand. Of these, only 13.2 per cent are female.
  • There are approximately 22,000 physical science and engineering technicians employed in New Zealand, 16.1 per cent of whom are female.
  • The current level of female representation in engineering is low compared to other professions, such as accountancy, law and medicine.

While considering these figures we need to remember that women represent 51 per cent of the population and 47 per cent of the workforce.

enrolments-in-bsc-graph

These numbers are particularly concerning when we take into account the fact that girls perform as well as boys in Year 13 mathematics with calculus, physics, and chemistry. So why are more female students choosing to study biology-based subjects rather than physics, IT and engineering compared to boys?

read more
Posted in

Global connectedness and frame of reference

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Pete Sommerville

A few weeks ago students on a LEARNZ field trip were backstage at an opera; last week they were in the Wellington Mayor’s office talking Smart Motorways. Next week they’ll be searching for kea nests in the Southern Alps. All LEARNZ field trips are journeys to the unfamiliar.

Travelling to Antarctica is another step-up in unfamiliarity. Inside Scott Base life is mostly familiar; but outside presents a new normal. It’s common to see people walking and skiing at one o’clock in the morning. For students and us, it’s a new frame of reference.

Right now Shelley and I are preparing for an Antarctic science virtual field trip. Students on this trip will join a NIWA science team trying to find out why sea ice in Antarctica is increasing while it is disappearing in the Arctic.

Mt Erebus
Mt Erebus in the far distance from Hut Point Peninsula, framed by the Ross Ice Shelf on the far right, and sea ice on McMurdo Sound on the far left.

An opportunity to learn about frames of reference

In guiding student learning to prepare for this virtual journey, we are exploring ideas around frames of reference. The things that make us what and who we are and give us our point of view define our frame of reference. Our reality. One person’s reality may be very different from another.

Two people stand facing each other on either side of a street. A car drives past. One person sees the car moving to the right. The other person sees the car moving to the left. Two different frames of reference; two different observations. Our frame of reference determines how we see and understand the world. It’s influenced by our geographic location, who we live with, our beliefs, our education, our culture.

Our frame of reference can limit our ability to understand issues and to think critically. Part of a picture only tells part of a story; what you see is not always what you get.

read more
Posted in

Is your school coherent?

Posted on August 28, 2015 by Barrie Matthews

variable message sign

Teachers and curriculum leaders, when was the last time you looked at the Directions for Learning, the so-called front end of the NZ Curriculum? It includes the Vision, Values, Key Competencies, and Principles.

Under Principles, one item is called Coherence. NZ Curriculum Online has a whole section on it at http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Principles/Coherence

Coherence has three parts; Connections, Transitions, and Pathways. I am going to concentrate on Connections and use examples from the project I work in LEARNZ.

Connections within a learning area

Connections are defined in this instance as: links within and across learning areas.

How do you make connections within a learning area? As well as other techniques, I believe many teachers already use first-rate questioning skills during class discussions that make such connections explicit for students. That may often take place in summary sessions towards the end of “topics”.

read more
Posted in

From Virtual to Reality

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Shelley Hersey

An insight into the use of virtual field trips

Routeburn Track panaorama

When I tell people that I’m a virtual field trip teacher, I can get a variety of responses ranging from confusion and scepticism through to surprise and even envy. It can be challenging to explain what a virtual field trip is, and what it isn’t. Sometimes people struggle with the concept, thinking that real field trips are being replaced by online programmes. But in reality, virtual field trips can provide the inspiration for rich learning journeys and spark community involvement.

The Virtual Great Walker field trip

Last term I was involved in the ‘Virtual Great Walker’ field trip and I have to admit that initially I had some concerns. Firstly the plan was to only walk part of the track as a day walk. Secondly this trip had to inspire action, as the great walks cannot be fully appreciated virtually and they certainly can’t be done from the comfort of your own home. How could this trip inspire youngsters to take the virtual into reality and get walking?

The field trip needed to capture the essence of the world-famous Routeburn Track, but this posed some challenges. We knew that we would not be able to access the website if we walked all of the Routeburn Track, and we would have to carry all our filming equipment. I felt that we had to walk the whole track to do it justice, so a plan was developed. We would walk the Routeburn over the weekend so we could be ready to talk to students during audioconferences back in Queenstown during the week.

Behind the scene

Usually, our field trips involve daily audioconferences and activities, with experts who feature in videos and answer students’ questions in pre-booked audioconferences. These daily activities are followed by an evening of frantic effort back in an area with an Internet connection. Each night two people from the LEARNZ team edit videos, write diaries and ambassador updates, and upload images to the LEARNZ site so students can see what has happened the very next day. This material stays online for students to revisit or use retrospectively. For this field trip we would have to film everything over the weekend and then upload it to the site over the following three days.

Before starting the field trip, background pages were developed on the website to allow students to build their knowledge of New Zealand’s Great Walks, their biodiversity, and how to safely complete such a walk. These pages are designed to give just enough detail to inform students of key concepts so they can start more focused, meaningful inquiries of their own, and ask quality questions during the field trip audioconferences.

Experts to guide the way

The next challenge was how to organise transport to the beginning of the track near Te Anau and from the end of the track in Glenorchy. Susie Geh from the Department of Conservation (DOC) in Queenstown made this all possible and accompanied us on the walk. LEARNZ works hard to make connections between experts and students. It can be difficult to find people willing to take time out of their busy schedules to help on trips, and not everyone is able to communicate well with students. Fortunately, over the years, we have met some fantastic experts. I have worked with Ruud Kleinpaste (aka the Bugman) on a number of trips, and knew that, alongside Susie and other DOC staff, he would make the perfect addition to the team. After numerous phone calls and lots of organisation, I managed to meet Ruud, Susie, and videographer Pete Sommerville from LEARNZ, in Queenstown.

The adventure begins

From here, Susie drove us to Te Anau where we stayed the night ready to begin our walk the following day. After picking up hut tickets and checking the weather, we drove to The Divide where we met members of the Kids Restore the Kepler group. They wanted to go for a day walk and share some of the work that they have been doing on the Kepler Great Walk. These students were knowledgeable and passionate about Fiordland, and bringing birdsong back to the area. It was great to be able to share their work with students from all over the country.

Rain set in after lunch, making our portrayal of the western side of the Alps authentic. Moss-covered beech forest kept us all enthralled as we spotted different birds and invertebrates. Ruud could barely contain his enthusiasm as he leapt from one rotten log to another in search of bugs. A night at McKenzie Hut saw us refreshed, ready for the climb over Harris Saddle. The weather cleared and we were rewarded with stunning views over the Hollyford. The camera hardly spent any time in the pack as we tried to capture the essence of the area and our journey through it.

That evening Ruud took us bug hunting by torchlight, and it was intriguing to discover species I had never seen before. Our final day on the track led us downhill to the road end, where students from nearby Glenorchy School greeted us. They are an Enviroschool, and were keen to share some of the work they have been doing in pursuit of their Green Gold Award. An Enviroschool is a school whose entire curriculum is based around the main theme of sustainability and they can work with their community to achieve bronze, silver and green gold awards.

These students make money for the school through selling vegetables. They also source local native seeds to grow seedlings in their nursery. These seedlings will be planted nearby to help restore a wetland area.

Where to from here

DOC had arranged a pick up for us, so we all piled into the car and headed back to Queenstown ready for a long-awaited hot shower. Experiences such as these are impossible to fully capture through a virtual field trip, but they’re not supposed to. While talking to students in the audioconferences that followed, I could hear the enthusiasm of students from different parts of the country. Many spoke of the plans they had to get out and about on tracks in their own area, and some had formed groups to help restore parts of their local environment. Seeing students inspired by field trips such as this is what the use of digital technology should be about. We need to use technology to engage and inform students so they are inspired to form new ideas, collaborate, and take action. We need to make the virtual a reality!

[slideshow_deploy id=’6965′]
read more
Posted in

Pages:

« 1 2 3 4 »
Subscribe to our emails
Make an Enquiry
Subscribe to our emails
Make an Enquiry

© 2019 CORE Education Policies
0800 267 301
© 2019 CORE Education
0800 267 301
CORE Blog
  • Home
  • About us
  • CORE Website
  • Policies