Infolink Saturday

Infolink Saturday
Originally uploaded by rache65.

Infolink kicked off on the Friday night while we were still on our way home. A tired but enthusiastic - Rachel, Megan & Elise joined the group to begin the Infolink course. It was great to see our teachers working together from across our schools - a lot of talk, a few laughs and lovely lunch as always - thanks Sharon. Teachers in the Infolink course can access supporting material from the Interact site. The first 2 days were an overview of the Information Literacy process and then looked in more focus at brainstorming, mind mapping and finding Key Concepts. For most teachers this is what they do already and some struggled with the idea that they were looking for something new. The big idea about Infolink is that it sets out a coherent structure and process for action learning. Children will be able to learn the how of learning as well as the what. Well that's my simplified idea so far I know that there is more than this. Will keep you posted as we progress.

Learning@School Rotorua

A good 3 days in Rotorua! It's always great to go away with the team :-)It was also good to catch up with others like Carl Bishop, DP over Taupo way now and also Wendy who has recently left us. The conference fare was the usual mix - very much appreciated by members of our team who had not 'been there and done that' yet so need to look for the opportunity to bring new people along whenever we go to these things. For me I felt a bit of a tour guide (and I guess you need those too) so am looking forward to ULearn in Auckland where hopefully they might be pitching at my level more. I had the opportunity to link in again with other Facilitators and will be meeting up with them again early next term at Rocky's grannies bach at Taupo - a chance for Facilitators only to chew the fat & talk about our professional lives & futures??! We had a couple of presentations - one was from the cluster team - me, Kim, Richard & Carol talking about the first year of the contract - advice for beginners; and another was me sharing the resources I used for Parent's Internet Safety workshops - "Keeping up with our Kids Online" It was disappointing not to have the numbers we hoped for but still the time spent preparing together was a valuable reflective exercise. Feedback on the keynotes - Daltons - I, amongst many others, didn't see it through. It was singularly unimpressive & poorly delivered. Regurgitated & repeated from years ago (Carl had heard it 2 years ago & could tell me minute by minute what they were going to say next!) they read from sheaves of paper & presented schools at work in ways we are already well familiar with and practised in. I missed Hipkin's keynote but feedback from others was that it was very general and therefore not too useful either. Lisa-Jane O'Connor was a good keynote presenter - she was challenging, had a wonderful style and told the story of her school's learning community. At her school each child plans their own learning pathways based LOs from the curriculum document, children and the community are active in the management of the school. She talked about the 4 Power model which determines the framework of what they do: Resources, Information, Decision-Making & Relationships. She talked about 'walking the talk' - "Are we the people we want our children to be?"

Things

Things have been pretty hectic in the organising department. Though I don’t like hanging around in my office I really need to at the moment! Have been liaising with TUANZ about their New Plymouth ed conference. Finally we know who is presenting – which means more office work – Kim & I are presenting together, I am doing one on my own, Richard Barnes is doing a Matau presentation & Penny will be teaming up with Simon from Puke Ariki. So there is lots of cluster involvement this year & we hope to take a large team of participants. The Infolink class list is nearly finalised – just a couple of people to come up with their documentation – all the planning is done so that is a relief to get that out of the way. I will be attending all sessions though not doing the paper so I can get a really good idea about what our teachers are doing and how best I can offer classroom support. There will be 26 teachers in total doing the paper. The arrangements for Rotorua are pretty much finalised now – we have gone over our cluster presentation as a team and that was really good to start to tie it all together. We have organised how our tag team presentation is going to work, got all the slides in order (of sorts) just need some more pictures from around our schools, team members to finalise their notes for what they want to say & get some video footage of principals, teachers, kids talking about the cluster. Oh yeah & we need to buy some lollies, wine & cheese. The Interact site is slowly starting to take shape again after my recent accidental demolition of it! I was only trying to reorganise it but made a bit of a mess. Any cluster member can access this online area by clicking on the link to the left and adding themselves as a new user– contact me for an access code first. There are still contract documents to be loaded and I am doing that in the process of organising the files on my laptop (way too many of them!) Have spent some time this week working with our new Digiops Community Technician Bruce Telfar. We have been trying to work out his timetable based on the minimum hours offered to him in the Digiops application – that needs to include time for study & travel also. Phew we are still tweaking it.

Tahora & Marco Schools

It was good to visit two of our new schools earlier in the week. It’s a long round trip so spent the Monday night at Kerry & Des Turners at Tahora. For me personally it was great to be back there after many years absence!
Carolyn (principal at Tahora) has been on the ICT PD journey herself before joining us. She was part of one of the original clusters in Waitakere and has done Infolink, Learning & ICTs & 3 Doors. She has a constructivist philosophy on teaching & learning and will be a valuable member of our cluster who hopefully will share some of her wisdom & experience with the rest of our team. We looked at Tahora schools Internet safety procedures and ICT plan. We checked out ICT Learning Experiences, Share It, English Online & Interact.
With Shaun we talked a lot about the ICT PD contract and the opportunities involved. They are well resourced with computers in the classroom having recently setup a netpod of recycled computers. We talked about preparing to build a school/community web site on my next visit back. The kids will start gathering content – photos & text and when I come back I will help them plan & build the structure & hopefully upload some pages.
There are very strong communities supporting these schools and I had the opportunity to speak to BOT chairs at each school. I gave them a big picture overview of what ICT PD contracts were all about and talked about some of the things we had done in the 1st year of the contract and what was planned for this year. We discussed the commitment schools make to the project in the form of PD budget allocation & I highlighted the possible implications for BOTs coming from increased expectations, use of ICT in the classroom & pressure on resources. Both BOTs were fully supportive of the aims of the cluster & were pleased to be involved.
Broadband seems to be running OK but differently than in town – we could quickly & easily download quite large files but web pages were loading in a jumpy disjointed sort of fashion and I couldn’t get any Flash Interactives to run (BBC Science Clips) properly. We should look at this again – high speed should allow you to run any interactive easily – a good test would be to set up a couple of web cams and try and communicate between the schools. Both schools were concerned that this year they should be maximising their use of the Internet in learning to see if they are really going to get their money’s worth. $150 a month is very expensive for a small school.

Eltham Primary

Great to be back & to catch up with everyone around the cluster. Have been busy planning ahead for Learning@School, sorting out Infolink enrolments & the Teacher Only Day - Phew lots to do & busy out in schools too!
Very interesting to be involved with Eltham on their PD Day - Zeroing In On Quality Teaching. Chris Harwood is researching Curriculum Integration (CI) in partnership with Opunake and Eltham Primary School. There will be a lot that Eltham will be able to share with the rest of us in this exciting new project - schedule a couple of Wine Not Networks @ Eltham!

It is really positive to return to Eltham & see so much progress being made on the Infrastructure & the learning & teaching with ICTs - It just goes to show you that it won't happen overnight but it will happen! There are 10 Apple desktops all working (most things are) in the IT room and all the classes now have their own network log on. 5 new iBook G4s have been purchased along with a COWs to trial. Kimberly's PC Pod is also up & running in her classroom. And everyone is busy using them! Lots of kids around school with cameras now that Elise is on the job :-) and they will be used more and more for 'autophotography' & 'photoelicitation' Some of the tools of Chris's research.

On my three days here i have spent much of the time in the IT room. Yesterday I worked with Heather & Sue to help them reintroduce their classes to using the Apple desktops. A major focus was learning how to log on, open applications and save their work. For littlies this was still probably quite a big learning step. But little and often and it will be second nature to them. Need some suitable software for the Junior School - Image Blender (instead of KidPix) & Kidspiration would be good. Media Blender would also be good across the school. It would be great if Software companies provided Facilitators with free full versions of all software so we could model its use in classes (& get lots of cool stuff on our computers!)

Working with Kimberly and her kids using Keynote for presentations. Tomorrow i try & help Bernadette sort out the management & uploading of the web pages - hopefully with more success than i had last time. Will also be spending time with Megan reviewing IT & Cybersafety Policies, Strategies & Action Plans. Not to forget time spent working with possible computer mentors (?) Brushing them up on network, file management, internet, applications skills. But as usual i know that they are going to be able to teach me more than i could ever teach them :-)

Is it a pig or a dog? Making masks.

Hard work making Christmas movies

Eltham Primary

Eltham is having a busy time production and so are having a Pure Week - look forward to seeing the results - showtime next week. In the meantime I have been working on a Mini-Action Research Project. An opportunity to get hands on with some kids, keep out of everyone's way while they are so focussed on other things, have some fun (of course) and give myself a reality check - a reminder of life at the coal face :-) Here is a little bit of info about my plans, already started, some reflections to follow & hopefully if I can get a handle on uploading photos, some pics too.

Mini Action Research Project – EPS T4 W9 (3 days)

Goal
Gather evidence to demonstrate that the use of ICTs in learning can promote student engagement & motivation.

Setting the scene
A group of six Year 6/7/8 students not participating in Whole School production spend three days working with ICT PD Facilitator on Movie Making Project.
Profile – 4 boys, 2 girls. Most excluded from involvement in production as having ‘difficult behaviours’, one had missed on the production preparation and so was not involved. One Y8 boy ADDH on Retinol, one Y6 girl & Y7 boy also medicated. Split into three groups of two.

Curriculum Objectives:
English, Technology, The ArtsStrand - Visual language
Processing information: Learn to view and use visual texts to gain and present information, become familiar with and use appropriate technologies to present ideas.

Essential Skills
Communication, Information, Problem-solving, Social and Co-operative


Preparation
Research area of ‘student engagement & ICTs’
Ensure access to equipment (computers & cameras), working space & time.

Project
With guidance students – brainstorm topic, storyboard movie, shoot & edit film, promote & present their work, evaluate their learning.

Evaluate & Report
Anecdotal – blog & photobiography
Students – self/peer evaluation
Comparison to research

Evaluation
Reponses to be recorded into computer – edit into I-Movie alongside student photo:

Tell me how you made your movie? What was the process? What did you have to do?

Did your team work well together? What worked well, what didn’t?

What do you think you have learnt in the last couple of days?

If you were to start again, what would you do differently?

What did you like best about making this movie?

What did you think the other two teams did well?

Mahoe

I was privileged to spend some of the day with Mahoe - just hanging out & observing. The kids were all in teams (vertical level) making music videos. It is interesting to see them in action and watch them interact as they work together on a project. They are pretty serious about their work.

Eltham

Busy time in the Junior rooms at Eltham - more PowerPoints. NE just learning how to put in a picture & type a few words - Letterland is really useful to help them identify the letters on the keyboard - perhaps we should create a letterland overlay to help them with their typing. This is the most frustrating thing - is the time it takes to find the keys & write something - aaaaaahhhh! So nice that i am getting invites from little boys to come & play at their house :-) Come & play Tonka Trucks on the computer. I tell them they should be outside playing. The very little children seem to sit and wait for the computer to do things for them instead of getting stuck in & doing something - i guess this is the computer/ tv / playstation mentality and most of them would have some experience with being entertained & playing games instead of having a purpose for using the computer. This will change as they gain experience with what they can do with the computer rather than what the computer will do for them.
Eltham's Production is going to be awesome - consulting with the senior students as they created their digital scenery - there are some great pieces of real scenery as well - excellent artworks.

SchoolZone Rocks

Well we hope so - its been highly recommended by other schools and a more affordable option now we have subsidised Internet Management Systems. I have spent pretty much 2 days full on helping with the migration to SZ at Stratford & the beginnings of basic training at St Josephs. Will be doing an introductory workshop to staff at Stratford next week to get them up and running. I really think they are going to love that anywhere access to email - i know i will i have been waiting all year to have my email configured to be picked up from home. SZ has made it easier.

St Josephs School

3 days here this week - all sorts of things happening including today school photos :-) Held a Vision & Planning staff workshop and brainstormed ideas for what is important in this school for the needs of the learner, teachers & resources to support that - some good discussion & ideas shared. Information shared in the area of resourcing helped when we looked at the ICT strategic plan for 2004-06. Reviewed this today. PTA workshop also on Monday - "Keeping up with our kids Online" - I guess with any parent invitation you are preaching to the converted & this group was no exception - they were pretty informed about what their own kids were doing online & were aware of issues that can occur when kids go online. We discussed some strategies about how to manage issues at home & to keep up with the every changing world our kids are living in. I guess the important point is that whatever our own skill levels we keep in touch with our kids so we know what they are doing & how to support them - whether its in a chatroom, on the cellphone or the street or playground.
Room 3 have been researching the planets of the solar system & we are helping them to gather relevant facts - having sources some kid friendly sites to start with.
Room 4 worked together to create their first movie "St. Josephs: Sharing, Caring & Daring In Prayer." We worked through the storyboard process & groups went out to take photos that illustrated the message they wanted to give. Then as a whole class we used movie maker & the data projector to edit their movie. They worked together well to make design choices & decisions through the process & were really excited to see their final product. The difficult thing is the next step when they work through the process independantly because of access to computers that run XP. There are a couple in the school & it will be up to Kim to work out the best way to manage this with her kids.
St Josephs has just gone online with SchoolZone so I will be spending some time with Carol to start some basic training in managing SZ. The transition went smoothly (thank goodness) The challenge is now to explore this fantastic online tool & use it to its full potential - it is more than an Internet service.

What are we learning here?

Blogging with Pictures

I should be gone by now - Friday afternoon after all but just about cracked how to put photos up - cool - try some more :-)

Team Work 

I have been so slack i haven't posted anything for ages! Been flat out this week with yr 3 & 4s at SPS learning to make movies - one for every letter of the alphabet - Phew! Lots of learning about how to work in teams and sometimes how not to work in teams :-) It is awesome to see them so engaged & tuned in to what they're doing - you have to put the lid down on the laptops & kick them out the door for lunch. The dreaded lurgy with any work i have done in classes is file management - saving stuff to who knows where, not saving stuff, using floppies & mixing them up not knowing which has got pictures on - aaah! But we get there in the end & everyone is really proud of their work. Great reflection taking place in these classes too - Why are we Making Movies? What are we going to learn? & What have we learnt? Student directed questions that demand answers.

Eltham Primary

Whole day with Graham – Yahoo. First time  Lots of discussion, preparing for TOD when the staff will pull in all the ‘nuts & bolts’ of thinking skill, curriculum integration, values & attitudes, HoMs, ICT integration etc into a coherent structure & plan of action. Sort of figured on a way to facilitate this on the day but will also depend on Chris Harwood’s curriculum integration workshop next week and what is thrown into the mix from there. Had a bit of fun with children role playing some of the school rules for Graham’s PowerPoint presentation for next week’s assembly – helped him put it all together – though as Graham says ‘if you don’t use it you lose it’ so if you are not doing this stuff on a regular basis – you forget. I will put together a tutorial of our days work so he wouldn’t forget next time. Had a visit from Ronald McDonald – exciting. Eltham has recently been donated a pod of 6 recycled computers and another 15 for school families. The 6 computers will all be put into Kim’s room and shared with Megan’s class next door. They are meant to be already set up on their own little network but they will need to be linked to the school network in order to access the Internet – good job for a ComTech. Great to see computers getting into classrooms.

Matau School

As always – great to be out at Matau! Lots of things to go over today from discussing NavCon, trying to find out more details about next year’s Infolink course, learning how to create an Autoplay feature on a CD so it starts running in the right place. Richard has started sending some work home on disk with home sample books & needs parents to be able to access it easily. Updating & uploading the website. We tried to change the hit counter but it still isn’t working properly??? – still need to problem solve this one. Blogging is big at Matau School & all the kids have gone one – great writing & communication tool. They are all on blogger.com too – discussed the open internet environment as being unmoderated – Richard is monitoring things closely to keep track of what is happening with the kids blogs. Talked about kids blogging places as an alternative to blogger.com. Had a look around but not really much out there that we can find. Docking time at Matau so all the school were out to help – the kids took some photos & we made a little movie (as Richard say - hyped up slideshow) entitled Baaaa! The senior students are involved in a research project ‘The Road to Matau’ and were looking at ideas of how to present and share their work. I showed them the work I had done on ‘Jeffares War Archives’ and how it had been put together in webpages. Whether they make movies, powerpoints, or webpages – they can all be hyperlinked together so they can have a presentation that runs off a disc. There next challenge is to organise their work (categorise) and plan a structure & decide on presentation.
Called in to visit Huiakama & new Principal Claire Jordan on the way back to town. Claire is keen to be involved in what the cluster has to offer – has done an Infolink course earlier this year & is definitely on the right wave length. Looking forward to going back out there later in the term. Marilyn is taking WITTs computing courses once a week in town on a Friday and playing around on her home computer upskilling herself – good stuff Marilyn. Couldn’t go past Toko without dropping in to say Gidday Richard back into it after a week catching up from the holidays. Check out the 6 Stars http://www.toko.school.nz/

Stratford

Building blocks of webpages with Marlene’s extension kids. Marlene has worked with them in the planning & preparation of content & I have joined in to teach them the basics. Focused on writing html code using Notepad & creating webpages from scratch – mainly to give them the theory behind how pages work so they can look at any page or use any web editor with an understanding of how they are constructed. Made a little ‘How To’ file will post to Interact & to ShareIT. Another session introduced them to FrontPage. Reviewed appropriate content in particular the sharing of games & music. Discussed copyright & piracy. Best to review games & music with links to other sites rather than download stuff (illegally) for sharing through their own site. This common issue has come up before with kids making webpages. This little group now have to build on what they’ve learnt so far with the resources given http://webmonkey.wired.com/webmonkey/kids/ & http://www.lissaexplains.com/basics.shtml great sites for finding out more. Email me if they get stuck. They should be the experts for their wider group and Marlene to learn from.
Working again with Lynn as she begins to make backup copies of important school CDs. Accessing resources through the Intranet in particular the digital story books – the CD copies of these are now accessioned to the library and have proved popular with the students.
Sherrilyn needed advice on how to get parts of a song for the production. Showed her Audacity software for simple sound editing & made this and other Music software available through the Intranet – Acid Express & Music Maker. The difficult part will probably be managing file formats as they are imported & exported from the music editing programme???
Ross’s class asked for help on getting the dataprojector to work – the trick is with any dataprojector is starting up the projector b4 you start the laptop & using the Fn F5 buttons to toggle between the screens. Also need to check that the data projector is set to computer & not video.
Assisted with the SchoolZone application – liasing with Computerland technician and Tim Harper SZ technician. The site discovery form has been completed & sent in, joined up with the VEN (SZ education management side of things) & Telecom reckon its 15 days till delivery!