This presentation accompanied a workshop at the Distance Education Association of New Zealand (DEANZ) national conference, April 2012 (Wellington, NZ): http://www.deanz.org.nz/home/index.php/deanz-conference-2012/conference-2012
ICT role in 21st century education and it's challenges.
DEANZ2012: Enabling e-Learning: An online professional learning hub for New Zealand’s schools and teachers
1. Enabling e-Learning:
An online professional
learning hub for New
Zealand’s schools and
teachers
Karen Melhuish
Te Toi Tupu / CORE
Education
2. What is e-Learning?...and e-maturity?
“e-learning is learning and teaching that is
“a school or college’s capacity to make
facilitated by or supported through the use of ICT to
strategic and effective
appropriate use ofimprove educational outcomes” *Becta+
information and
communication technologies (ICTs).”
Two key terms: e-learning and e-maturity: how would they define them?Two key themes for the conference come into play here:e-Learning > RELEVANCE of learning experiences, context and culture. How to use tech in a way that enhances the relevance?E-Maturity> RESILIENCE in the face of changes in the five dimensions, particularly as technology develops exponentially. How to develop in a way that builds resilience?
The issue of resilience >>>>dealing with the uncertainty of technological changeQUESTION: How to create lift and system change across a country’s schools? Within a single school? For one person?The MoE is working towards schools being able to use technology for learning esp. Māori students and others who have been underserved, Pasifika and Special Ed. >Context: Te Kura oKutarere in the Bay of Plenty > using technology to connect with their community around learning > http://www.elearning.tki.org.nz/Leadership/Beyond-the-classroom/The-benefits-of-connecting-with-the-communityWhat are your thoughts on their story? :
The issue of relevance…being able to make the most of the 2016 broadband roll-out, using technologies in ways that model effective pedagogy for students and teachers.A recent report [20/20] stated that: “Most principals reported that their school needs assistance to take advantage of the opportunities that ultra-fast broadband will afford them. Most frequently this assistance will need to be in the shape of further professional development for teachers, upgrades to ICT equipment and better technical support.”Source:- Ministry of Education (2011). Statement of Intent, 2011/12 – 2016/17. http://www.minedu.govt.nz/theMinistry/PublicationsAndResources/StatementOfIntent/SOI2011/StrategicDirection.aspx- 20-20 Trust 2011 report: http://www.2020.org.nz/template/ict_2011_final_report.pdf>> Enabling e-Learning as a strategic response
E-Maturity frameworks (BECTA, e-Potential, UNESCO plus CBAM and ..)What is it?a self-review tool for schools to gather evidence about practicea 'road map' for building e-learning capability > relationship between content/pedagogy/technologya tool to evaluate the effectiveness of e-learning programmesresources and services to support schools as they build capability.e-Learning Frameworke-maturity frameworkswhat is it?what does it look like?how might it be used?Source: http://www.elearning.tki.org.nz/Media-gallery/The-e-Learning-Planning-Framework
So, now we have another challenge. Given that the context of schools being isolated, in different contexts and in different regions..given that we know that effective teacher change is based on evidence-based inquiry into practice (Timperley), how can online professional learning support that process?QUESTION: If you had to help all schools in New Zealand build resilience in they way they managed ICTs for learning, what would be the ISSUES?QUESTION: How do you build your own resilience in terms of using technology effectively?[Image source: Cyclone’s Sketch book: http://cyart.blogspot.co.nz/2008/08/art-on-technology-just-got-closer.html]
In other words…..Resilience: dealing with uncertainty and coping with changes you can and cannot influence > developing inquiring dispositionRelevance: providing education that is relevant to the context and culture of the learner > that includes flexible approaches to professional learning, balancing just in time with strategic and deep…So, the model is this:A series of connected initiatives – e-Learning PLD – working in the field, using inquiry, underpinned by the eLPF – all part of an online hub, Enabling e-Learning.
So, now we have finished looking at the big picture and context for Enabling e-Learning,We need it to be responsive, meaningful, symbiotic….. QUESTION: What kinds of resource / discourse might support schools and teachers build their e-capability? If you were a school leader, or teachers, what would you need?Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._C._Escher
Background & purpose Ministry of Education’s online ‘hub’ for ICT related resources and programmes, inc. UFB Evolving content and resources will support the e-Learning Planning Framework. The aim of the ‘hub’ is to be flexible, collaborative and responsive to the needs of educators.
4 key points of interest:Interrelation of content and communityFace-to-face and online > blendedBoth just in time and practice-orientationAligned to a framework > a flexible space to engage with capability buildingImage source: Hugh McLeod’s thegapingvoid (CC) : http://gapingvoid.com/
Sharing storiesContent is constantly being developed to ensure the site is up to date and reflects the needs of our users. We welcome your feedback and invite you to share your stories with us.What do they need now?Let’s themhave a browse…questions and suggestions> sign up for newsletter
11.50An example of how schools can both contribute and benefit from Enabling e-Learning – a symbiosis in the sharing of quality stories or practice. Value-creation.Context: Te Kura oKutarerehttp://www.elearning.tki.org.nz/Teaching/Tools/Storybird/Using-Storybird-to-improve-literacy-skills
11.55The other ‘arm’ to EEL is the online community space.
How can an online community add value to the way teachers and schools build their e-capability?http://edtalks.org/video/share-it
12.00The VLN Groups space is a social network: 5000+ members teachers; 450+ groupsIt’s freeActivity is focused on groupsYour profile/dashboard can be tailored by you for your useYou can connect to e-learning/teaching professionals across the countryOnline virtual staffroom for your cluster/schoolWhy social? Dominant paradigm of socio-constructivism:We construct knowledge socially, through conversations and activities (Seely-Brown, 2008)Relating and participating as precursors to learning. the tool as part of learning > therefore social tools for socio-constructivist learning> wider networks, a useful supplement to face-to-face, more highly motivated (Dwyer et al., 2009)Image source: Hugh McLeod: thegapingvoid.com
12.00Explore….Join…..
Balancing act between the needs of the MoE and the needs of a community, long and short term:The 2011 framework from Wenger, Traynor and de Laast has been particularly useful > indicators and ways to gather value-add data.Needs (‘Wants’) included: Collective intention to advance learning around e-capability….people’s contextualised interests and skills as shared in threads, the Wire, through personal posts/blogs and other groups;people being new to the VLN Groups space, or inexperienced with social media platforms;clarity regarding the links between EEL and the bigger picture of ICT-PD, eLPFMost popular topics/needs: technologies esp. iPad/iPod and apps; Google apps; th Copyright Law; the ICT-PD clusters; N4L; the November challengesCommunity stage according to Lai etc>>Development according to Lai, Salmon, Wenger…moving from a ‘network’ to a ‘community’ (Wenger et al., 2011)How did we do it?aligned to the frameworkseeded early community pre-launchShoulder-tapping and cross-community connectionsdeliberate facilitation; responsive and proactive as well as reactivecalendar of eventspersonal touch; relationshipsfostered championssourced stories from schoolsBeL team and eL-LPD in the fieldFostered partners in the same field e.g. NetsafeImage: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
12.15How to measure value-add? Recall the big picture….QUESTION: what do YOUperceive to be the challenges? What ‘design challenges’ do you see inherent in the model, if the outcome is improved capability?‘mandated’ communitybeing coherent and connectedreaching the long tailleveraging face-to-facerigorous measurement of value and impactsector prioritiesdepth as well as “just in time”connection to your own strategic planFacilitation – direction, not noise (Wenger 2011)Image source: Hugh McLeod: thegapingvoid.com
12.05Will it work? What is it impact so far in terms of building capability?The difficulty of assessing value – the use of proxy dataGroup membership, followers, likes, post frequency, active members > growing engagementQuality of posts (according to Wenger, Salmon, Garrison and Anderson etc)Range of active membersWe are moving from ‘immediate value’ to ‘potential knowledge’, with some examples of changes in (short-term) practice
12.10Finish on a story…..The value of weak ties, connector-feeders (Cranefield, X; Schlager, X, Wenger et al, 2011)Tom’s story….Tom is an active member of Moodle group online community, posting at least once a month but often more;The EEL facilitator knows him via Twitter, and extends Tom offline invitation to join EEL.He joins the VLN Groups and is personally greeted with suggested links to get involved in EEL as well as links to FB and Twitter;Tom joins the EEL groups, is personally greeted via his profile by the facilitator (social capital) and begins to receive auto-notifications of activity to his inbox;Others see he has joined and begin to connect with him - he builds his personal network.Tom makes a few comments in response to discussion threads that interest him, mainly broadband and technologies. Others reply, including the facilitator, which builds engagement. Tom is nominated for Member of the Week - and he shares this on his profile page.Tom begins to build EEL into his workstream; he makes links between the MLE and EEL groups, he attends webinars on the eLPF and EEL, he contributes reflectively to discussions, and recommends EEL to others in his school.Then…..Tom tweets an example of how he has integrated technologies into his appraisal.The facilitator reads this and approaches Tom to write a blog post for EEL on this.He writes a post that is both reflective and informational, and shares it, as requested, in the Professional Learning group (this occurs after the end of term). He comments on his post in response to others, reflecting on why he learns as he does and how technologies support this process [Wenger, Cycle 3] “This is something that I saw with myportfolio, something that was designed for the teacher to use as well as students. I find using these tools myself I can assist students in there development as a lifelong learner.”The post receives 36 unique page views, with an average time on page as a pleasing 4:21 [site average = 0:58]. Several others comment, and applaud the usefulness of his contribution: “Thanks heaps T for taking the time to post your appraisal experience, it is a good read indeed. The guiding questions you have identified to frame your professional readings are giving me some great ideas and especially reminds me to "keep the end product in mind" at all times.“ [Wenger, Cycle 4]The post is shared on Twitter/Facebook by the facilitator; the post is shared by others. Tom comments via Twitter on how many replies he has already had.[Cranefield / weak ties/ bridges]Image source: David Castillo Dominici's portfolio is:http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=3062
12.25Next steps for Enabling e-Learning..And their takeaway: ONE idea / ONE recommendation to share…Image source: nuchylee: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1824