Happy holidays! Now you’ve got time for an e-learning catch-up - all the ICT-goodness from across the VLN Groups.

Member of the week

Each week we'll profile someone who has made a valuable contribution to our e-Learning community. This week, it's....

Suzie Vesper: Many of you may know Suzie from her work for CORE Education as a Digi Advisor for the Ministry of Education's Software for Learning and Digistore. She is a regular contributor to e-learning conversations and she is a guest presenter for two Enabling e-Learning webinars in term 4.

Group of the Week

e-Accessibility: Strategies and recommendations for making your online content more accessible to a wider audience.

A sneak peek: eLearning in VLN Groups

Leadership

• The golden rules for your school's e-learning strategy: Vision, vision and more vision. Jo Wilson explains that effective vision is evident when everyone knows where they are at and where they are going. 

• Do principals really have time for a PLN?: Comments continue on this thread...

• Sustainability: How can we plan for sustainability after the duration of our ICT PD contract? What keeps schools learning after a contract has ended?

Professional Learning

• Opportunities for quality coaching in our profession? Suzie Vesper asks, have you had someone that has been a 'coach' that you've been able to work with successfully to make changes to your practice beyond those first few years in the job?

• How are you fostering effective teacher learning?: A new video and some further comment and resources added to this thread...

Professional Learning Events

• First Online Course for REAL ePortfolio Academy from Helen Barrett now available.

• REGISTER TODAY! Webinar: Introducing the eLearning Planning Framework: It will briefly inform you about the history and context of the draft eLPF, how it will aide schools in addressing critical success factors (in regards to working towards eMaturity) and how this will affect your role in schools (free). 

• ULearn Conference:18-21 October in Rotorua. One week to go... 

• Learning@School Conference: (26-27 January 2012)

• The Virtual Professional Learning Development programme (2012): The VPLD team is very keen to hear from NZ teachers, Principals, APs and DPs, who are interested in participating in the next VPLD intake (programme beginning in February 2012).

• Creating great presentations (28 October 2011, Hamilton): Free to Connected Cluster members, $50 to others

• iNET Educator Online Conference | Learning in the hands of students (14-21 November 2011). Currently calling for papers.

Teaching and Learning  |  Digital Citizenship

• Are you integrating e-portfolios into learning and teaching? If you are, Nick Rate invites you to complete this form to link you to other like-minded educators.

• Is all this interactivity and engagement really a good thing? Do you agree? Add your view to this literacy-focused thread...

• Futures Channel: Karen Mills shares this resource which aims to produce and distribute high quality multimedia content which educators in any setting can use to enliven curriculum, engage students and otherwise enhance the learning experience.

• Establishing a learning environment to foster student collaboration and ownership of learning: This snapshot, from Fiona Burns, describes how Level 3 English students are using MyPortfolio to engage in shared learning with their peers and subject teachers 

• Play and curiosity as foundations for learning: In an article, shared by Liz Stevenson, Peter Gray, who specialises in developmental and evolutionary psychology, writes convincingly in support of students teaching themselves. How might this approach be supported by ICTs?

• BYOD – Worst Idea of the 21st Century?: An interesting take on BYOD from Gary Stager, shared by Barbara Reid.

Technology

NEN Trial:

• Evaluation Report Series: Report No. 1 considers the experiences of a group of 'proof of concept' schools. These schools were connected to the NEN Trial in 2008. 
• Trial Evaluation Report Series: Report No. 2 considers the use of digital technologies in six schools from the wider Ashburton region. The Ashburton cluster was chosen for this research as it offered a baseline of ICT usage in schools prior to their connection to the NEN Trial Extension. 

• The 4 biggest things impacting education technology, shared by Barbara Reid.

• Bring Your Own Devices: How do you do it or how do you get there?

• QR Codes #10 QRNote: The last in this term's QR Code posts from Allanah’s blog.

iPad/iTouch technology

• VoiceThread app for iPad, iPod & iPhone: Mandy Dempsey blogs about the new VoiceThread app. which can provide another way for students to directly contribute to the class wiki, blog or Ultranet page from the iPad/iPod.

• Tony Vincent's Learning in Hand: Classroom iPod touches & iPads: Dos and Don'ts: A really useful, well resources list of do's and don'ts (sp) when deploying iPod Touches.

• Classroom in the cloud: 5 awesome things you can do with an iPad and an LCD projector: Shared by Allanah King, this would be a good way to share a picture book for shared reading.

• Managing Multiple devices: Easy updates.... for Apps shared by iDave.

Beyond the Classroom

• Engaging parents in transparent classrooms: An Enabling e-Learning video of what a teacher does to support home school partnerships.

VLN Tip: Help! 

The ‘Help’ group allows anyone to post a question or suggestion, and the responsive tech/admin team will be right along with advice.

e-Learning on the Wire…

The Wire is the micro-blogging stream in the VLN. Posts appear in the activity stream…Here’s what we heard:

• Gina Kitchen: I am at the moment watching the NE five year olds in my class teach each other skills using the laptops. I love my job!

• Enabling e-Learning: Working my way through all the new member notices in my inbox. Bowled over by the HUGE interest in Enabling e-Learning. Ka rawe, everyone:-)

Images: photostock |  renjith krishnan  |  fotographic1980  |  jscreationzs  |  vorakorn kanokpipat... all @ FreeDigitalPhotos.net