Online Student Centres

We're encouraged! Learn-Now has entered new territory yet again. This time, the theme sees us now also working alongside the development of student-driven online student centres, in schools.

There are thousands of online student centres in existence, but few (maybe if any) are built by students, for students. Why are the sites like Facebook & MySpace etc so popular with their users? The freedom to create & present.

What's with the demise of so many school sites? The teachers typically control the 'systems administration' rights - they load their intention and students 'through duty calls' participate if we're lucky. Learn-Now used to be like this... Now, 3 years on from 'risking' a mess and allowing students to also have top-level systems admin rights, we have students who no longer just come on during their allocated timetable time at school... No longer bound by teacher loaded material, their creative bents and love of an audience has produced stunning results...

So what's in an Online Student Centre and how's it created? To start with, no one centre is the same. In the case of those facilitated by Learn-Now though, several common themes prevail. A group of students need to be enrolled with us and as a team, they break into 'departmental' groups or partnerships, taking on specialist design areas. All that is created is for 'their school' - though openly encouraged to consider adopting participants from other schools too - the biggest challenge to go international. To start with though, they focus on creating an interactive site for students at their school.

Some members of this design team believe that having online clubs would be cool. Others decide a Science Discovery area would be 'hot stuff'. One student decided to create a debate/discussion around the need for a 'house competition' to exist in the school - and succeeded. Some run weekly maths challenges, others create online ebook compositions... Another's planning to feature a music arena, which includes one student teaching others how to read music, share podcasts etc. All up, it's a site by students, for students, with continual student assessment, suggestion and evaluation.

Frustrations & Jubilations...

After recent Learn-Now discussions left us with a rough taste in the mouth, we reflected our state of play yet again.

Much revolves around two factors.
1) browsers perception of what's seen
2) our user pays operational existence

However, this is nothing new. Just frustrating... We spend most of our time parting with an enormous amount of time and detail with interested parties, where much comes to nothing. One of our accountability partners strongly believes we should invoice work done, regardless of any enrolment outcomes. We shy away from this, yet who else do we know whose service of any kind is free these days? One might-be client (but we doubt it), should apparently see us invoice them for a good $1200 worth of time...yet free to date.

Passion, commitment, reassurance and huge encouragement from many to keep going, keeps us operating. We know we're sadly judged like a maths teacher can be judged by a student's maths book... or like a primary/elementary teacher can be judged by the 'look' of their classroom... Sadly, all like the cover of a book, or in the same way one teacher once viewed an incredibly clever story as terrible because it was riddled with spelling mistakes - it went on win a $1500 composition award, thanks to the persistence of an 'aunty'.

Yet when a browser calls for a login, for an indepth look at the site, this is what happens. When so much of our programme runs through 'live' environments - workrooms & skype in particular, no - evidence of all the learning won't exist. Only perhaps 20% of the actual work will 'show'. Just like in a classroom - that project stuck to the wall in the traditional classroom, won't announce the 'teaching or learning' done, beyond the text shown. That one of our students is creating a website and 7 months on she has a tiny handful of things showing...7 months doesn't note that the reality is really only about 25 hours worth of work...about an hour a week...much in discussion and learning - far more significant than what's 'to see'. Perception, or the saddened tail of it is our greatest challenge.

And then come the cost... A private tutor we know, who tutors a 10 year old for maths afterschool, charges out NZD$20 an hour. That same tutor charges $35 for a 13 year old and $45 for a tertiary student. The work we do with students sees us meeting online at least once a week - in one case, there's a student who has 4 half hour sessions a week, 'live' with us. If at $35 an hour we charged a term's tuition for a 13 year old, the fee would be $350.00 - the student with 4 half hours a week would be $750 per 10 week term. One $120 fee which turned into 4 hours work a week, was seen as 'too expensive' - a rip off... Interestingly so - that's $3 an hour. Sadly, mindboggling. Yet, one 'tough love' situation via a stance we once took, had one school most enthusiastically grab our $3000 a term business programme for 20 students. They had to fundraise the funds, but they returned for more - word of mouth snowballed and we were once re encouraged and no longer felt used and abused as often felt by others reactions... :)

We are saddened by many, yet remain encouraged by the very few... Perhaps it is time therefore to take note of another accountability partner of ours - that it is indeed time to stop running a cut-price $2 shop offering the high quality 'Harrods-like' products. It'll cut out a huge proportion of the market, but like one did - if professional trust is really adopted, a way is found to fund and enable us to do what we do best: working with those who wish for their students to enjoy some cutting edge styles and programmes, in an online world - whether or not they (the teacher/payee) fully understand it.

Phew - a tough thing to blog!! Transparency has a lot to answer for...

Reshaping Ourselves!

We're likening ourselves to that of a beehive at the moment - much attributing to why we've not updated this blog for almost 3 months! We've been reshaping ourselves and following some wonderful new leads.

Our Learn-Now way-of-life is set in concrete, full of great feedback and is a wonderful package for supplementary and complementary student learning. Within, Learn-Now is now a model (to a point) from which our next direction journeys forth. To create what's 'inside' for others, but outside of Learn-Now - in a customised whole new way-of-life and presence...

We're 10 years on now, since we first started the design and implementation of internationally based educational online lives for students. The first of this began within the 4 walls of one classroom, in the new Jerudong International School in Brunei, in 1997... The keys to the focus range from how an online environment is created, navigated, facilitated and monitored, through to the student driven, globally minded factors. Learn-Now is a website full of websites - full of different learning environments for different online communities, each customised to often very different audiences. Our passion now, coupled with continuing the Learn-Now programme, is to contract ourselves out to others - to build for them (ideally with them) their own online learning environment. An environment with their own look and feel, but without the need to take over 10 years to get it workable ;). Online learning environments for a whole school or syndicate, for clubs, community groups, youth groups, national or global in orientation, either student or adult based.

Meanwhile, we're also buzzing with a potentially incredible programme for Learn-Now for next year or ideally, maybe sooner, dependent on the vision of several schools. We've received an approach from Beijing, with an educationally based desire to connect Beijing and NZ online for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We've since shared the vision we have to connect not only NZ to Beijing, but Beijing to all other Olympic countries, which in turn connects all countries with each other - not just two of us. Not only will our focus be student orientated, but hosting various athletes as well, to the site is envisaged as part of the plan.

Digital Classrooms

I found myself describing Learn-Now as a Digital Classroom today. Intrigued by the diversion from referring to it as being an online learning centre, I couldn't help but ponder and research the term of reference a little more. I wondered if in the end, I'd still tag it as a Digital Classroom. I do, but without a doubt, know I would have many who'd challenge that notion.

Google 'Digital Classroom' and you find everything from recommendations to shy away from the term completely, to proudly presented examples from around the world. After a good two hours surfing, all but one, two if you count Learn-Now, involve references to face-to-face classrooms. I personally know teachers who work in a Digital Classroom, am getting to know others who are trialling the concept, and today, met with an Intermediate in Wellington who are enroute the journey.

What has Learn-Now got to offer? We are an online learning environment that is much alike what I visualise face-to-face classrooms need to create as their online arena. An environment where students have several learning environments to work in; an inquiry based focus; choice of activity; the ability to co-operate & collaborate 24/7; (from having their US partners contribute while their own NZ contingent sleeps through to accessing their school life from home anytime, anywhere)...as but some examples.

From a technical perspective, it gets much deeper. We can offer huge inroads to design, management and engagement issues. Why does a page show a tabled arrangement of topics rather than a list of forums? Why have public spaces? Why have tuition lounges? What advantages are Members Lounges? What's with a booking room? What's with the red, blue, green & black paragraphs in that order? How many new items a week are highly recommended? When should a facilitator fade in and out? What is really deemed an extension activity by a student? When must a teacher direct in a learner-centred area? When will a topic flop? What ONE key move will entice a response to a thread in a forum? Out of 10 components in a topic/learning area, how many need to be forums?

We don't want Learn-Now to just be 'Learn-Now'. We desire that it also be a model to learn from and transform even more so, as we too learn alongside others to up the edge on what works. Learn-Now is a Digital Classroom - and while we prefer the term online learning centre, or 'school on the internet' as some insist, our closest relative is a school classroom. However, we'd represent a space more in keeping with a school running several digital classrooms, than just one. Food for thought...

Assessing Learn-Now re: G&T Education

Having been invited to present Learn-Now to the Sector Advisory Group for Gifted & Talented Education at the Ministry of Education, it posed an opportune time to assess the level to which it fits into G&T Education.

While often cruising the research articles on TKI site, this time two in particular seemed particular pertinent. Dr Tracy Riley's Creating a Learning Environment for Differentiation (2000) and Sonia White's Reasons Why Gifted Children Sometimes Underachieve (2001). With a passion for student-driven learning, Learn-Now is hugely encouraged by what's presented within both papers. While Riley's paper addresses the physical classroom, it's very easy to translate the same points to the online environment Learn-Now resides in. White's paper endears us to sighing with relief! Class-based, 3 staged enrichment programmes based on a thematic approach with topics, over an 8 week time frame is right on par. But that's not all...

Learn-Now first evolved in 2003 more by accident than design, when a principal of a decile 1 school, saw its programme, employed a 0.2FTE component and became responsible for the first of many progammes since. After a year, he spread the world, resulting in an entire cluster of G&Ts in the surrounding schools being enrolled. Some of these students hugely benefitted, others - it was literally a waste of money to have enrolled them. The difference? There were schools who either allowed the students to drive their programme, or there were those who hardly gave them enough scope to have barely 30 minutes a week involvement and dictated much of what they'd do.

As the years passed and the liberties of Learn-Now became more flexible, our emphasis on providing for just G&T students eased. We chose to open the doors to what White's paper calls 'uncovering hidden talents'. Giving more students the opportunities to demonstrate their potential...to uncover 'talent in the making'. Right on cue with White's references, there became flexibility in identification and programming, so that students at risk of underachieving can have the opportunity to demonstrate potential.

Riley's makes mention of Learning Laboratories and Learn-Now is, in our view, one such example. It's a comfortable, autonomous environment, and while our 'furniture's not comfy, we have lounges, cafe's, chat(work)rooms and personalised (but audience designed) areas. It's learner-centred, not teacher directed; teacher independent; open to new people, material and risk tasking. It's hugely complex - often to its detriment, when many teachers will cruise through and see it 'too complex for us' - but ask the students who have been allowed to determine its suitability themselves...they love it. Students simultaneously participate in variety of activities; access material at different levels; engage in instructional groupings; self manage their work (with facilitation where needed); and there's a comfortable ambience...interschool and global at that.

We're on the right track. Yet, in saying this, we believe that every student deserves opportunities for enrichment and extension. All students are at 'a place' right now. How do they get to their where-to-next? By giving them opportunities to discover their potential. One student, once deemed 'hopeless' by their teacher came to us as a 'last resort - just for some computer work to keep him quiet' they said. He became the CEO who ran an International Chocolate Factory with us; lead an online house group to a winning end and lead a computer club in his district for 3 years. He found his potential in leadership, strategic thinking, compassion, creativity and team work. Maths still isn't his thing, nor is spelling, but there was a lot more to him...

The beauty of it now, is that G&T thinking in NZ is launching into an elearning, online headspace. Just yesterday we were approached by a very forward thinking group in the Wairarapa, about to take G&T into a whole cutting-edge zone, with online thinking. For our students who often wish there were more 'like them' here, their prayers may be about to be answered.

Enjoying The Ride

The journey that's on the go right now, is vibrant, progressive and wonderfully energetic. Life involves an incredible array of people, situations and a buzz that's picking up momentum.

As a Mac user, iLife has now (perhaps finally) been able to show itself off. Invited to present a workshop for the Time4Online national conference running in NZ right now, we got ourselves onto the podcasting bandwagon. Podomatic.com was a nightmare, amongst other alternatives, but thanks to the discussions in many Mac-based forums 'out there' we installed iLife and have had a ball since!

GarageBand 3 now has given us a new adrenalin rush. We're early days yet. We often keep uploading and deleting our (trial&error) podcast efforts, but all the same, watch Our Podcast arena!

Next up, we've been invited to present the life of Learn-Now to a national Gifted & Talented advisory group in Wellington, with the Ministry of Education, as they look into an online way-of-life for GATE students in NZ.

Along the way, we've continued to enrol new students, take on new staff & seed some very exciting upcoming projects. We've also been taking Authentic Encounters Online - as a company, to a whole new level of profile, with huge results. In particular, within the field of consultation contracts for parties keen to develop collaborative online environments themselves. All's good - aside from the hours being kept! The bounce makes sleeping feel like a waste of time...!

Travel to Turkey with us!

The greatest number of school and students within Learn-Now this term, are those involved with our Travel to Turkey programme. We've gone global with International Cyber Trips...not wanting to tred on the toes of LEARNZ, who run the most spectacular NZ based field trips, rich in Science, in particular.

Pauline McLeod, an ICTPD facilitator within the Cambridge district is off to Turkey and right beside her, are several schools who've been getting a taste of life online together, with a common theme. Learn-Now hosts her trip and has enrolled a huge number of students as her virtual tourists.

Pauline has her travel blog underway, the Learn-Now site has been running a Travel to Turkey programme and we've had students as young as 5 involved. There's been a great attempt to immerse ICT with inquiry based learning, and students 'home sick' haven't been able to take down time, logging in so as to not miss a beat.

The go-getter attitude of some schools has been wonderful. It's a tough call for teachers to let students lose with others 'on the internet', let alone squeeze yet another thing into the already tight programme. All credit to those who've let it happen - or more to the point for some..let their students 'go', work with us and explore a little bit at a time. Just over 100 threads within forums have featured in the very recent weeks, 18 'live' workroom discussions and copious emails. Not bad for a trip that's yet to step foot on the aeroplane...

There are three aspects to the programme:
1) Partake in an inquiry study
2) Engage in role play: be a consultant for Pauline eg: travel, food, medical...
3) Watch and interact with the trip as Pauline 'beams' in from Turkey.

If reading this and interested in taking part - or know of someone who could be, please contact us. We need to assign access to the actual student site, for facilitation & monitoring purposes. Ready for new members - now... interested particularly in proactive connections and contributors. Watch this space! This is still 'early days'...

Recent Activity

Term 1 is over for Learn-Now and Authentic Encounters Online and much has prepared Term 2 for a stunning amount of hype and activity!

80 individual students are currently enrolled, from homeschool settings, afterschool activity programmes and school groups. 17 schools are now aligned to Learn-Now, with 23 teachers - some of sole charge schools. Currently our age range of students is 5-15 year olds.

We're exposing action in Turkey, Brazil, England, Australia, Fiji, Germany, the USA and New Zealand, with plans afoot also, for Denmark and Sweden.

The key environments targetted to date involve our Global Horizons, Project Central and After School Activities learning areas. Within those fields, Maths Matters, International Cyber Safaris, Career Studies & Science Novelties feature, along with History 'with Sarah', with a look at WW2, Henry VIII & Elizabeth I.

Outside the Learn-Now programme, we've been honored to take the lead as the current 'Hotseat' guest for a module of study in progress by team of teachers at the Middlesex University, England. The module is developed in partnership with Core Education and SSAT. Learning through International Partnerships is the theme.

Alongside the Learn-Now programme and time with the Hotseat, is also a taste of contract work with the Virtual Learning Network with the NZ Ministry of Education. Creating an online environment for work around professional development work for Learning Communities Online, is all go!

Authentic Encounters Online Ltd

It's official. Learn-Now is the core project of Authentic Encounters Online Ltd. Authentic Encounters Online represents the nature of work that's become the key focus for one of New Zealand's newest education related companies. The focus is online and the encounters are authentic.

AEO (Authentic Encounters Online Ltd), is a hands-on elearning service for students and educators. Currently, AEO operates with a staff of six and three dimensions to its way of life. AEO both consults to and creates online learning environments for education providers; runs One Day Online Learning Experiences for staff, students and parents; and operates Learn-Now, an online learning centre, providing extension and enrichment opportunities for students aged 7-15 years. There are international cyber safaris/field trips (one coming up to Turkey in May), small businesses to design and develop (for even 7 year olds) and more.

All is based on the life of elearning, a wealth of experience and backed by MOE research and endorsement in several quarters. AEO's point of reference to much of what's going in the elearning industry, is via Derek Wenmoth. His blog continually keeps us in check - as he does with many education providers.

Dr Garry Falloon...

In NZ's 'Good Teacher Magazine' Term 1, 2007, Dr Garry Falloon, Waikato University, poses this question: ICT is it a case of too much too soon? There's reference to students with laptops to those sharing a PC, to digital film making and interactive whiteboards. But what caught my attention, was his support of what he sees as imperative. In particular:

* "We need to be educating children to be out of the box thinkers, who have that creativity and entrepreneurial attitude and the whole desire to learn..."

* "Kids need to know to respect others when interacting in an online environment..."

* "...not just taking notes about what they are seeing, but really learning more as they are doing it.."

These are the angles that drive Learn-Now. It's these practices and these reasons that have become 'the Learn-Now way'. But, most encouragingly of all, is our "Yes! We're just that', with regards to responding to Falloon's final point.

** "What are kids learning when they are on the computer? ...Are they learning about the world? (With Learn-Now, yes!). Are they learning about how to get on with other people? (With Learn-Now, most definitely). Are they learning about environmental issues? (With Learn-Now, yes - both NZ and globally). And do the children know what the contextual learning is around these activities? With Learn-Now, yes. It's built within their programme, through contact reflection and self evaluation.

We're hugely encouraged by what we read here. Learn-Now itself continually goes through intense reflection and evaluation. We are on track.

Incredible Leads!

A week on from being an exhibitor at the Learning@Schools conference in Rotorua, it's apparent that the impact of it is far more significant than imagined. We aimed to give schools an insight into what we offered. Instead, an additional buzz featured as well...

Three significant angles have presented themselves, some more directly than others. In presenting a 'Go Global' angle, we've found ourselves invited to now also make a connection with Jennifer Corriero from TakingItGlobal in Canada and thanks goes to Derek Wenmoth for the referral. Learn-Now has a huge network of international connections through travel done, a continued life with previous teaching environments, situations and colleagues, and more recently with conference associates etc.

We had a hugely exciting connection with one new conference associate this year. Pauline McLeod, an ICT cluster facilitator within the Cambridge area, may well be one of our cybertrip teachers this year, to Turkey. It's a personal trip that's on it's way to include an active example of what ICT can entail, with students destined to be her virtual tourists. If all goes well, they could also be her travel consultants, health advisors and project managers. Pauline is known by many through the Sunflower Connection, with World Vision, regards her trip to Malawi. Her enthusiasm is stunning. Her vision is very 21st century education.

Her latest journey, can be found in the Good Teacher Magazine', NZ. 'Catching Them - Hook, Line and Sinker', takes the reader through what Pauline McLeod and co-researcher Louise Bonnar share as the four key areas essential for a successful journey online: Preparation, Baiting your catch, Reeling them in and Keeping them hooked online. It's an awesome read! Within this same publication, we're also very drawn to the work by Dr Garry Falloon. More on him in our next entry here.

Learn-Now Open For Business

Now that schools are back for the new NZ academic year, Learn-Now re-opens for business, inviting new enrolments. Having had some hugely exciting leads from last year, along with many who expressed interest in returning, Learn-Now could potentially face its bounciest year to date.

Parents & schools are welcome to enrol students. Parents have the means to use Learn-Now as an online tutoring service this year (depending on the types of staff we have to cater for requests) and as an After School and Holiday Programme.

Schools have a variety of opportunities available to them. They can enrol a single student for extension & enrichment, a group of students as a team, or take up the whole class single-login membership. The whole focus lies in an elearning one, perfect for ICT cluster groups and anyone wanting to enrich learning with a serious 21st century style.

There are two key factors to consider when enroling a student in Learn-Now. Computer access time granted is crucial. At least an hour a week is needed, plus an hour offline. Secondly, when considering the fees involved, it has to be understood that this is what covers teacher salaries and if in keeping with the 1:1 time given, should just about be double! Staff deal not only with tuition and a huge amount of monitoring and facilitation, but behind-the-scenes development of a students' programme as well.

Check out the site! On offer, are customised projects, but our greatest offer is the invite that's extended to students to come with their own topic (maybe a class one) and develop that with an elearning angle with us. It'll reach students in other schools - and this includes international based students we have waiting in the wings right now. http://www.learn-now.school.nz

Interact: Online Learning Environment

Learn-Now's designed and developed in the open source software Interact. It's an Online Learning Environment which 'let's you take control'.

The beauty of this, is that the students too can be granted a huge amount of control as well and Learn-Now does dare to take what some have called an extreme step - letting the students have adminstration rights as well, for even greater control of their design and their work.

While Moodle and other software could have been an option, the most stunning difference between others and Interact, lies in the technical support. The Interact team are based in Christchurch, NZ and are such an easy email away. An incredible level of thanks goes to Glen & Bruce in particular, for their prompt responses - often within the hour! Interact suits students & its pedantic staff users perfectly. We can add what we like, when we like, how we like and for whomever we like.

Thanks to Derek Wenmoth...

Learn-Now began and continues today with thanks to Derek Wenmoth. We fondly call him our elearning guru and through his blog, we're kept up with his 'musings on the use and impact of technology in education, and of the future of education in general'.

There's little Derek doesn't know when it comes to elearning, not just within New Zealand, but also globally. It's thanks to him that Learn-Now maintains the drive to take another step beyond what was word-of-mouth enrolments only - not just in NZ but further afield even more so. To get your head, into his head - check out Derek's Blog!

Learn-Now Gets Blogged!

While Learn-Now presents itself as an online extension and enrichment programme, it's also fondly referred to as a 'School on the Internet'. For students aged 7-15 years old...

If we stretch ourselves a little further, we could just about claim fame to being an 'International School on the Internet'! To date, we've had students from 23 countries, with the majority from New Zealand, France and the USA.

With over 1100 students having been exposed to what it offers, we start each new 'down-under' academic year with a zero roll. So, in a sense, we're not quite a school! At least schools have a roll-over roll...

Behind us, we've enjoyed the buzz of schools who've taken a leap-in-faith with us and let their students 'loose on the internet' with us. On the other hand, we've been severely challenged by many who run a mile when hearing our students 'chat online'. The purpose of taking Learn-Now into a blogging zone, is to hopefully expose how we do what we do safely. Watch this space!