Virtual Learning Network

National Goals

Students to become successful digital citizens

Cluster Goals

Promote student engagement in elearning and learning processes

Develop a cluster-wide awareness of the responsibilities associated in being a successful digital citizen

Nayland Primary Progress

· Our Cybersafety agreement was revisited last year and reworded into Responsible Use Policy with the expectation that internet usage will always supervised.

· Some classrooms are effectively using our LMS (KnowledgeNET) to work collaboratively and reflectively by using peer commenting. –There needs to be more work done on developing an understanding between ‘social’ and ‘academic’ commenting. We are looking at connecting with the work Emma Watts at Tahunanui has been doing in this area.

· Increasing number of students using forums in (KnowledgeNET) and Google docs to work collaboratively -this requires a level of digi-citizenship to become effective learning opportunities rather than social opportunities.

· Student leaders (Tech-stars) supporting teachers with classroom blogs and assisting with the high demand of junior classrooms -eLearning is becoming more guidance rather than control (see LGP Netsafe model)

· Keeping Ourselves Safe unit –activities to be developed to link with eAwareness (Digital Citizenship) aspect of eCompetencies to support the existing resources to add another dimension to safety.

Growth of teachers and school data

· Teachers at Nayland Primary School are using digital sources for data. They access use of NZCER Marking site to examine student results and plan programmes of work. Janice Gulbransen, the principal, led a staff meeting on how to access and use this site, with a follow up session where teachers analysed data from each year level and plans to hold a further session where teachers will report on their class results and their planned interventions.

· Leadership Forum (team leaders and school management) are using google docs to set agendas and to circulate meeting minutes. This has become efficient and effective, and has been a great opportunity for those not used to using google docs to use a new tool and provides good modeling to share with rest of staff - leading by example

· Janice Gulbransen, the principal, has used Survey Monkey for staff feedback on composite classes to gather information and feedback from the staff with the intention to use more surveys during the year and possibly introduce with parents.

Class examples of digital citizenship in action

Individual success stories are emerging from classrooms. In one classroom a self-professed ‘eSceptic’ is now using eLearning in a range of ways;

1. Using Pages for publishing and tables for Statistics.
2. Kidpix for original name titles.
3. Comic Life for digital Mihi's and Kiwiana photo's.
4. Safari for research on Kiwiana and follow up from class reading.
5. Lexia.
6. Teaching children to become independent by adding server etc.
7. Nardia (special needs) always uses the computer for publishing  as she has so much difficulty with handwriting.

a.      I cannot keep up with my blog, just always seems to be too many things happening and it is something I forget to do. I am putting out a newsletter in the first term to see if I can find a parent who will come in regularly to work with the two children you trained in our class to get it up and running all the time. Kate A

Rock Our World

In 2010 Rebecca Power & Room 5 were selected to be a part of the international Rock our World collaborative project.  Rock our World is a worldwide ‘Challenged Based’ learning experience where teachers and classes are selected from many applications around the world to become part of a project that all classes add into and present to a world wide audience.  Forty-three classes are selected from six continents.  Rebecca and Room 5 were one of four classes chosen in Australasia.

During the project they participated in writing songs that 7 different countries added parts to and then posted to the internet, being interviewed and photographed by the press about their involvement, working with author Peter Reynolds, live  ‘Skype’ video calls and interviews with other countries – some happening after school or early in the morning before school to allow for major time differences, using animation software ‘Animationish’ to present their project, and were interviewed live on the internet as a culmination of their project where they presented their song, animation and research.

The children involved even had to attend school for two days in the holidays because the other schools involved across the globe weren’t on holiday and Room 5 had deadlines to meet!  Jamie Power assisted with his technical skills and enthusiasm to help Room 5 (and his wife Rebecca) get their final project all pulled together into a final iMovie project that was streamed live during their final interview online.  They had great success!

Nayland Primary continues to be part of ROW with Rebecca in 2011 through their CWSA programme.  This round they are involved in I+P=ooL (inventing plus playing equals infinite learning) where students from across the school are selected to take part in the challenged based learning project (inquiry) where they will invent games that will help kids learn an educational concept using 'internationally common' objects.  Nayland this year are integrating their learning with an Environmental flavor to teach other kids around the world about how NPS looks after our environment e.g. Tree planting, Stream monitoring, Worms, Chickens & rain water catchment, composting and our edible gardens. Students need to research online to compare our environment with other countries and schools involved in the project.  We then need to make movies about our games to present to the other schools from around the world.  The music part of ROW also continues, with weekly additions to garageband tracks from around the world.  We will again have a family night where students and their families will be present at school to stream live to present our learning in our completed music, movies and games.

The ROW team can chat live on Edmodo, ichat or skype, we have a ROW wiki, twitter account and facebook page for international teacher collaboration and we use iDisk to upload/download our songs each week.  The major programmes the students use are Garageband, imovie and keynote as well as lots of emails between teachers involved!  Rebecca Power

Examples of kids and parents sharing

· Viewing and responding to class blogs -with links to some of other class blogs.

· Some parents have added comments spontaneously on KNet by using their child’s password (even though we have decided to wait to introduce at a parent meeting at a later date). This shows some natural desire to use technology to add value to the home/school partnership

· Sharing photos of 50th reunion on Home for all classes to access and use for writing eg Kellie made a comiclife master for students to use to record their ideas from the reunion - a good way to see what understandings the children have of life at NPS 50 years ago.

· Using old Text to modernise (Jenny goes too school from Hungry Lambs) by animating

School Whanau becoming involved in elearning

•                Parents of students and past pupils were able to add     comments and ideas on a collaborative Google document sharing stories about the reunion.

•       A PowerPoint of photos from the last 50 years at Nayland Primary School was created by a past pupil reunion team member and edited by a teacher and was presented at the school reunion dinner.

•       We have had approval for the Community Computer Project where the school library will be open after school for usage but also for some time in the holidays where teachers and students will be available to teach/ guide/ collaborate with whanau

•       Class blogs and responses/comments by parents & whanau

•       Janice C connecting with whanau at Reunion where past pupils added comments to her blog set up to study the history of our school.

•       Junior classrooms struggling with blog ‘upkeep’ have enthusiastic parents uploading photos and scribing stories from their students.

Leaders stories

Janice Gulbransen -Principal

· I have set up and been using google calendar, synchronising with office to manage appointments

· I use google docs to write books with my co-authors

· As a part of the Link learning Cluster principal’s group Google docs being used to develop

o      principal’s personal commitment to enhancing the use of eLearning in schools. 

o      shares this with three other people. add and referred to, used for some reflection.

·       Further investigation into wide screen TVs in classrooms is needed to determine whether Data projectors might be more useful than TVs in the senior classrooms.

·       Set up  google doc with junior syndicate staff and Nayland Kindergarten to review our Transition to School programme.

·       Use of Survey Monkey to gauge staff opinion on issues.

Kellie McRobert –eLearning lead teacher

· I am spending 3 hours each Friday in classrooms to meet needs and support the eLearning goals of either personal classroom interest or developing whole class/small group skills.

· Classroom teachers are using eLearning more consistently but still not naturally.

· Understanding of Digital Citizenship in it’s deeper sense is still being developed. This term the school health focus is Keeping Ourselves Safe and so we are developing supporting Cyber Safety resources.

· Introducing eCompetencies to the staff gradually to ensure there is buy in and support –the TKI Curriculum Story was shown at our latest staff meeting and the next staff meeting will be developing a Thinkers Keys resource based on Digital Citizenship with the staff.

Key lessons for Nayland Primary School

The key step we have taken this year has been to prepare research to update our Cybersafety agreement to a Responsible Users Policy, as we found the old one very cumbersome to explain and implement at enrollment. We have taken time to search for a model that will suit our school or that we can adapt to suit us.

The introduction to the Netsafe Learn-guide-protect project and the collaborative work being undertaken has been valuable for us to identify some new ideas and to introduce discussion points.

Next steps for Nayland Primary School

Our next step is the delve more deeply into Digital Citizenship. As stated above we will be linking Cyber Safety to the Health unit Keeping Ourselves Safe. We will be using the Netsafe NetBasics videos to introduce the staff to a new (and more modern) way of tackling Digital Citizenship in the classroom.