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The Enabling e-Learning website and  Enabling e-Learning community in the Virtual Learning Network launched in October 2011. 

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Thank you! Ngā mihi

nā

Karen, Ross & Jane

(whoops! apologies for the typos that were in the original post... I hit save too soon!..all corrected now!.) - KMS

Here's a great thread that has been running this week in the ICTs in English forum, started by Hamish Chalmers.

>>> It's for the learning

He asked, in his opening post,:

"....Ideally, we should be able to communicate with students about whether their use of a device, piece of software, social media etc. is learning-focused and then whether this learning is relevant to their current priorities. At this point, we might need to put in place various structures to ensure the technology is used well in the future. I’ve worked with a few students in the past who have agreed that use of their mobile device is an ongoing issue and in some cases these students have accepted that they shouldn’t have their device out in class while others may continue to. In other cases, they’re been told this will be the case. In both these situations, the consistency comes in whatever is the best for their learning. Consistency in learning doesn’t always mean everyone follows exactly the same processes.

If we’re serious about BYOD and the advantages it offers (both budgetary and learning-specific) we need to be ready for more of these issues and conversations - both with students and colleagues. Present and future technologies are likely to continue to challenge the models and structures we have for our subject and the way we run classes. As teachers and students continue to discover technologies that can be used in classes, how are we able to make sure their use is learning-focused? And that when discussing the present and future uses, we’re always asking: how could it be used for learning and how can we make this happen rather than should or shouldn't it be banned?"

Some interesting responses have come back. How do you / would you manage these conversations in school?

Cheers

Karen MS 

What a great thread :-) - and answers coming in from the Twitter stream too:

A great round table session was facilitated last night by InternetNZ, via video conference, around the country. Paul Seiler has kindly added his notes from the meeting to the InternetNZ forum. They might be useful if you are making a submission:

http://forums.internetnz.net.nz/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4&sid=044a7f610bed29036249b3209997faba&p=31#p31

Thanks, Paul:-)

Have you seen this DNZ12 report just out from Bond University and the IGEA?

While it might be argued the IGEA has a vested interest in painting a rosey picture of the way families use gaming, this readable infographic-style report still provides some interesting 'lines in the sand' regarding the popularity and use of gaming at home:

>> DNZ12: Digital New Zealand

What implications mght this have for learning, for the way we connect with families, and for the kinds of experiences we might provide for our students?

For those of you who use Google tools, you might be interested in this online conference on 2 May:  Education on Air.

It will be using Google+ Hangouts, and there looks to be a wide variety of sessions available (some of which might happen when we are awake in NZ!;-)

Cheers

Karen

Check out this lovely wee story from Catrione Pene, A blog, an iPhone, a school visit and its impact in which she describes how she shared the day's events on a school trip with other students, family and whānau in real time.

Got a similar tip or story to share? Got a great blog example that you'd like us to see?

[Via CORE Education blog]

Great discussion, Annemarie, Lorraine and Allanah. The pros and cons of all these tools, Classblogmeister or otherwise, is always useful to hear, and I particularly like the focus on:

• criteria for assessing the usefulness of a tool (thanks for sharing your doc, Lorraine:-)
• the role of the teacher - and principal - in the learning process (blogging or otherwise)

The most important aspect, though, is that we work together as a constructive, supportive community group as we grapple with the slings and arrows of web 2.0 challenges;-). There are always going to be issues as technologies, and the role of their developers, waxes and wanes. How we support and extend the students in our care is more important than any particular tool.

Thanks, everyone:-)

Hi there,

Carolyn Stuart at Tawa Intermediate has kindly agreed that I can share the school's BYOD Policy/Agreement here, for your interest:

>>> Tawa Intermediate BYOD Policy/Agreement

Cheers.

Karen M