The more things change, the more they stay the same

In my recent post NZ Research & Articles - Online Teaching & Learning, I commented on the similar themes coming up in the research from nearly two decades of learning online. To illustrate this, and just because history really interests me, I want to share this report.

Te Pouaka Whakaako ki te Kāreti o Ngata
Telelearning and Contexts of Awareness at Ngata Memorial College. Report prepared for Te Puni Kōkiri by Ken Stevens (1998).
This case study of telelearning at Ngata Memorial College in Ruatoria, compares students who are telelearning with those who aren't and what their perceptions were of the wider world.
Telelearning (audiographics) provides students with a connection with the world beyond school and extends educational and vocational opportunities for students and adults in remote communities.
In this report Steven's raises the government's commitment to equality of educational opportunity and how developments in ICT have  wide ranging implications for schools, in teaching & learning, and administration policy.
He unpacks in detail the differences between telelearning and distance education in relation to how each was positioned to serve the society of the times. Distance education belongs to an industrial age model; telelearning to the information age. Steven's goes on to describe the changing educational environment where:

• schools are inter-connected through ICT networks, 
• technologies are used to provide new and better ways of learning, 
• ICT skills will provide employment advantage, 
• there will be an urgent need to provide the mass provision of appropriate technologies to classrooms. 

These are key themes that are still important today, as are individualised model of teaching and learning and the changing role of the teacher, which are also discussed.

This report was written just on the advent of Tomorrow's Schools and describes a highly centralised system of education without which small schools would be challenged to provide a quality education in a increasingly competitive environment. This has been a huge change since this time and in itself has been a key driver to the growth in collaborative online networks in the decade to follow. Steven's mentions the growing reality of the virtual classroom with the development of Cantatech & TOSItech and a developing East Coast network (which could be the precursor to the KAWM Network).

There were a number of recommendations from this report to the Ministry of Education. Some are summarised below:

• Recognise their pioneering role in telelearning education and support the expansion to other NZ schools;
• Expanding links to Colleges of Education;
• Recognise the Māori cultural context and consult with the broader Māori community;
• Be recognised as a special technology school, 'a valuable educational laboratory' from which other schools could learn;
• They should no longer be considered a small school but be funded as a virtual school.

It is interesting to see the work that was pioneered by Ngata Memorial College is still very relevant today. Maybe now we are 17 years into the 21st Century we will start to see the change that the Information Age has promised being realised for NZ learners.

Podcasting Te Reo

Today Rangiroa & I had a play with a cheap mp3 player $30 from DSE, we downloaded Audacity & recorded sound directly onto the laptop also. The longer term view is that we will set up a podomatic account and develop a range of audio resources & activities to support Rangiroa’s VC class.
A google search on the above title gives very little in return. There is the Maori Avatar on podomatic, something ‘coming up soon’ on www.tewhanake.maori.nz , a range of podcasts on www.tangatawhenua.com and some on www.radionz.co.nz . Apart from North Loburn School there is nothing I could find that is student produced.

So when Rangiroa and his class get a handle on this podcasting then they will be up there at the leading edge :-)

Te Reo Online

Back at Opunake today to spend a PD day with Rangiroa. Our main focus today was the development of his course for putting onto his class website on Interact. We discussed the challenges of teaching his L1 Te Reo class of mixed abilities & ages - year 9 through to 12. There are students who are thinking this is too hard and others way too easy. We talked about how best to meet the needs of Maori students learning at a distance. There is an initiative running in all our cluster schools on raising Maori achievement so what about our maori students who are distance learners? We have talked about organising a VC hui for Maori teachers to discuss these questions. There is some interest from other teachers in the VLN schools but have not found someone with the depth of experience to lead and mentor this group of teachers.
A little googling shows me that there has been some research in this area but in the area of higher education. Maybe some of the answers can be found from the KAWM schools.
If you are or have been a distance learning Maori educator and would like to share your expertise with our teachers please contact me.