Plenty of activity, events and announcements this week. Here’s a quick overview of what’s going on. And you can also keep up with Enabling e-Learning via Twitter and Facebook.

Karen M  |  Enabling e-Learning Community Co-Ordinator

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....

• Clair Bee: Based in Dunedin, Clair is a frequent participant in a variety of e-learning forums, including this month’s Teaching Group challenge.

Group of the Week

e-Learning Planning Framework Group: This is the last week for consultation on the e-learning planning framework – have you had your say yet? Your input is vital. Recordings from both webinars are here.

e-Learning in the VLN Groups

Leadership

• Share your 'top tips for school leaders as you recruit new staff for 2012': Take part in one of Enabling e-Learning’s November Challenges.

• Should Boards of Trustees have a minimum ICT standard when employing staff?: Warren Hall blogs his thoughts, as part of the Leadership November challenge.

• Student network for learning: Announcements from the Minister for Education and Marg McLeod, as well as discussion comments and reactions.

• Do principals really have time for a PLN?: Rachel Boyd asks about how to manage the challenge of finding time to establish an online learning network.

Bringing your own devices (BYOD)

• How BYOD is impacting learning - initial thoughts, shared by Sansam.

Professional Learning

• The growth of virtual professional development for educators: Shared by Tessa Gray.

• Now that Ulearn is over...: The discussion continues.

• What makes for effective teacher professional development in ICT? (Ham et al., 2002): Nick Ford shares this report from Ed Counts. 

Professional Learning Events

• What is Enabling e-Learning? (9 Nov, 3.30): Still time to sign up for this free taster session that gives you an overview of how the Enabling e-Learning hub can support you.

• Enabling e-Learning Term 4 events: Check them out.

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

• giftEDnz conference 2012: Giftedness Unfurled - Fostering Best Practice in Aotearoa New Zealand [www.giftednz.org.nz]: A reminder from Anne Sturgess for the call for papers for this event.

Teaching and Learning  |  Digital Citizenship

• 'What should be in your e-learning kete?': The Teaching groups’s November Challenge involves outing together a shared resource that explores teachers’ and students’ e-competencies.

• e-Learning for Māori: A presentation shared with Tamara Bell by Michelle Lee that highlights interesting facts, stats and thoughts on e-learning for Māori students.

• On-going conversations about 'One way that I'll be using ICT to support teaching in term 4'.

• Reflective Summaries and Spore: Allanah King shares how she used a reflective summary from Aoraki Cluster as a writing prompt for my Year Fours.

• TEDxNYED Heidi Hayes Jacobs: Gerard Macmanus share this talk that asks, ‘What year are we preparing our students for?’

• Latest Digi-News out now: It includes updates on what's new in DigiStore, resources on effective use of digital content, and how to access the 'online snacks' professional development.

Research

• Change with Digital Technologies in Education: This open educational resource (OER) edited by Niki Davis (University of Canterbury) was shared by Nick Ford.

Technologies

• Ultra-fast broadband and your school - what's happening? In this EdTalks video, Trevor Storr, Co-Director of e-Learning at Cantanet, talks about the possibilities ultra fast broadband (UFB) brings to collaborative education.

• Smartphones and handheld computers: the new battleground in UK schools.

• Why use blogs in education?: Shared by Nick Ford, this post from Anne Davis of Edublog Insights is probably one of the most commented posts on the subject of the use of blogging in education.

• How to stay legal? How are other schools coping with the copyright issues of apps on iPads/iPods? 

• New Zealand Education Review  |  'ICT and Procurement' edition: ICT and procurement is the central theme, and it includes articles on software, online communities, interactive whiteboards, iPads as assistive technology and cloud-based solutions.

Research

• Virtual Learning Platforms in Europe: A comparative study: Virtual Learning Platforms in Europe: What can we learn from experience in Denmark, the United Kingdom and Spain?

iPad/iTouch technology

• First Graders - First iPad Encounters: Sansam shared an article about how ipads were introduced into a first grade class, with some rules and how to create e-book.

• A 2 min. intro to accessibility features on iPhones, iPods and iPads [video]: Apple mobile devices have a number of accessibility features which are useful for teachers and students to know about, shared by Chrissie Butler. 

• Smart take on Apple's iPad commercial [video]: A succinct synopsis of the functional, equitable potential of the iPad for all classroom teachers.

• Great on-going conversations about 'How do you share what sites and Apps you use with others?' 

Beyond the Classroom

• Community engagement on NZC Online: A great resource to guide schools in ways to connect with their wider community of family and whānau.

e-Learning on the Wire…

The Wire is the micro-blogging stream in the VLN where we chat and connect. Posts appear in the activity stream. Here’s a selection of what we heard:

• Annemarie Hyde: Well - lots of perspiration getting into the session on the eLearning planning Framework, but worthwhile. Make sure you all look at it!

• Gina Kitchen: Thanks Tania for the VLN assistance yesterday :)

• Rachel: Looking for collaborative case studies - your contributions? http://tiny.cc/zv79e

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