Pedagogy, not technology

Interesting how, once you see a reference to an idea, it pops up everywhere. And although this work from Michael Fullan came out last year, it’s slid across my radar twice this week. Fullan’s paper – Choosing the wrong drivers for whole system reform (April, 2011) – highlights that policy makers who select the wrong […]

How to assess impact of ICTs on learning?

It’s certainly an interesting question – to what extent ICT raises student achievement – and I appreciate the accountability that schools have, especially after significant investment from the BoTs:-) While we do need to be asking questions about the impact of our teaching, I’m not sure that focusing on the impact on ICT alone is the right […]

2 reasons to keep the ‘e’ in e-learning

The question comes up frequently in discussions related to using technologies in education: Why do we still have the ‘e’ in ‘e-learning’? Shouldn’t it be just about the learning? And doesn’t the retention of the ‘e’ just perpetuate a short-sighted focus on the tech, not the teach? These questions, in my experience, often come from […]

Managing BYOD at Albany Senior High | Notes from PoriruaNet

[This is cross-posted to/from the Enabling e-Learning: Leadership group] A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to the PoriruaNet Cluster conference, to facilitate a couple of workshops on Enabling e-Learning and blended professional learning for schools. It was great to see four schools coming together to explore the way they were using technology for learning – […]

Learning design with Christian Long

Today, I, and colleagues from CORE Education, were lucky enough to spend a morning with Christian Long (@christianlong) who was over in New Zealand for the Learning@School conference (#lats12). It was an inspirational shot in the arm – it’s good to lift one’s head up over the parapet and get the long view, and horizon-gaze. Day-dream. […]

Teach carpentry, not hammer | Future-proofing NZ schools

“What’s wrong with education cannot be fixed with technology…No amount of technology will make a dent…. You’re not going to solve the problems by putting all knowledge onto CD-ROMs. We can put a website in every school – none of this is bad. It’s bad only if it lulls us into thinking we’re doing something […]

‘Let’s Transform Education’: A great discussion starter

This video is a great conversation or professional development starter. It’s a neat compilation of quotations from longer TED talks and interviews that coalesce around the theme of student-driven, collaborative learning. No surprises but powerful nonetheless…enjoy:-)

Did I over-react?

This is a post about learning…but bear with me while I work off a ranty-preamble… The six-year-old had a lesson on banking today from a well-known Southern Hemisphere bank. Let’s call it the Absolutely Solid Bank, for argument’s sake. She came home, all excited about a cash-gobbling monster stomping through stories with a salutary message: ‘Zoom to […]

Absolutely Positively Proud

Saturday saw the inaugural #EduCampWelly, an unconference for Wellington educators to exchange ideas, share learning and pursue their passions for all things ‘e-learning’. Highlights of the day for me were (not necessarily in this order): The never-ending supply of coffee (thanks, @timoslimo and Emporio. Btw, they are not funding this blog;-) The wonderful mix of […]

A letter to my daughter trapped by a disaster

Tonight I wrote a letter to one of my daughters – the 3 year old – that urged her to stay happy and smiling, be strong and good for the people looking after her. I told her I loved her loads and that I would with her as soon as I could. This letter may […]