Masterton Kids explore Global Citizenship

Dedicated To Our Enrolled Kids...
This blog site's a shocker at taking forever to feature new posts and just as much a shocker for marathon ones. Core business (Learn-Now) is often overlooked and it's taken a student to pluck up the courage and ask why they're very rarely featured here. Fair call.

I have to confess that I've underestimated them again - I'd never even assumed they'd even be an audience! In light of that, marathon blogs had better become a thing of the past! Welcome, from this moment on, to Bite Size Blog Posts!

Uganda: The WOW Factor
The beauty of Learn-Now, is its freedom to (eg) enrich, motivate, and generate. With scope to seed concepts and enable students to create a focus, be entrepreneurial and go global, we find ourselves off to Uganda! At Solway School, Masterton, there's a fired-up team of G&T kids with us, aged 8-9, who are adopting the issue of global citizenship.

This young team's hooked into the life & times of 16 year old NZer, Lucy (a Learn-Now student from 2001-3). When Lucy's not rescuing abandoned babies, she's (eg) teaching local Ugandans and working alongside her Dad, Kiwi farmer John Ward from Raetihi, teaching locals the basics of farming, be that tick spraying, or washing hands before milking etc!

The intrigued young Masterton kids have decided to adopt an entrepreneurial spirit, that aims to generate funds for a little hand-up support. Funds aim to buy a milking goat (NZ$180) and supply Lucy with activities to use with the Ugandan kids around her. For more, check out 'Wards Under African Skies'. Consider too, joining us! We're launching an official Global Citizenship Programme encompassing Uganda and much more...

Ulearn - collaborate, innovate, educate

Way2Go Core Education!

There's a stunning face2face & online buzz at Core's Ulearn conference (Christchurch, NZ) 2009. The tools used alone, prove how in tune they are with cutting edge ICT. It's possible to be at one breakout, while at the same time, attend several others located blocks way from each other. Or for that matter, when most presenters are in the land of nod!

CoveritLive / Backchannel & more.
Ulearn's on twitter, coveritlive, facebook, a wiki, flickr and now probably 100s of blogs. There's video, photography, TV, student reporters and website support that's not only accessible for delegates, but globally. Curious kids who are checking in on eTeacher 'yours truly' are here too. They're virtual delegates - digging in to even the latest on tweets through to even Netsafe voting campaigns, while behind the scenes, they're sharing views on what they hear (from the horrific, to the amused and exciteable).

Key Snippets Accumulated So Far...

• Change the system, not the child.
• Do things with children, not to them.
• Testing content is dead as it is freely available to all
• Don't write a strategy for something you haven't used
• Teacher has to talk less, so that the kids can learn more.
• A goal for schooling: "its the best 6 hours of a students day".
• Goggle Apps = ownership of learning, feedback & feedforward;
• You can lead kids to the internet but you can’t make them think
• All curriculum planning documents MUST incorporate ICT in tchg.
• Imagine if the goal for 'education' was not to kill curiosity & creativity.
• Kids will have access but yearn for structure – that's the role of educators.

..and when browsing around...
(thanks to tweets leading us productively astray), here go my favourite ones (and after 11 years as a face to face teacher & 9 years as an eTeacher, I agree!):

• Online education is more effective than face-to-face learning;
• Online learning combined with some face-to-face learning (blended learning) is the most effective;
• Face-to-face learning alone is the least effective method among the three types studied. (notes to self for 2moro nite: must blog a personal take on this...)
  
• ...for more around this, see Derek Wenmoth's latest presentation notes

A Multitude of Projects

Not one project, but a multitude...

We're holding true to our key focus - taking kids global is now happening on a weekly basis. There's also a global focus in terms of developing an online learning centre for learners from afar, upon entry into NZ schools, at an ESOL level. On the national NZ stage, there's even a focus ahead that's wonderfully exciting for the Primary & Intermediate sector within NZ's Virtual Learning Network.

Taking Kids Global

Learn-Now is currently responsible (both directly and shared) for the online learning life of 284 students. The largest contingent live in the US, with neighbouring Australia, Fiji and the Soloman Islands amidst the fun. Indonesia, Italy, Canada and New Zealand are interconnected, with Holland, Uganda and Pakistan in the throws of adding a considerable level of interest and activity. The extent of it all is not without its gremlins though. Timetables, internet speeds, school buy-in and student ambition has its trials! The greatest of which, sits with schools who won't allow students on idle classroom computers due to supervision issues, view YouTube, use email, blog, or get anything more than their scheduled hour per week in a programme. Thankfully, the successes far outweigh the gremlins, so productivity & skill acquisition remains high.

Global Projects

Between the life alongside Operation Christmas Child, CyberPals and ePals, Learn-Now's joined a Virtual World Tour project with an Australia school, and is cranking up a life that'll involve (enjoy this...) cows, orphans, seeds and medical supplies in our own International Hands Up programme. Care packages, learning support packages and Christmas packages meander through programmes, alongside youth enterprise work, cultural awareness programmes and heated global issue discussions. Curriculum & key competency coverage is wonderful. Wiki's, blogs, tweets, wix sites, forums, snail mail, live chat, interactive online whiteboards and personal project architecture is very much alive and well...

eLearning IT Consultancy

The most thrilling nature of all so far though, has been the recently stunning levels of consultancy work gained within both the eLearning Department & Foundation for Learning Departments at the Ministry of Education (NZ). Learn-Now has not just been about what it can provide by way of enrolment and direct programming. The experience and student-centred nature of Learn-Now's online learning centre has been 'hopefully developing' as an online learning centre model. A model by virtue of structure, design, intent, story and journey. Of perfection? LOL! It would be unwise to think that such an attribute is possible with any kind of learning centre - desired of course! Will keep the blog posted with developments as they take root...

Ulearn - Christchurch, NZ & more...

Ahead for now though, is the Ulearn conference in Christchurch, New Zealand, just 3 days away. Time to catch up on the latest around the eLearning world and meet with colleagues and potential new (Learn-Now & sub-contractor) recruits. It's also a chance to connect with those who are about to make a mark in upcoming contract work. The latter being those who in turn have wonderful online learning models of interest for the wider online learning communities.

All's well on this front - like never before!
How great it is, to be saying this despite recessions, public (and often colleague) skepticism and a tiny rural office space. Thanks goes to those who share a passion for learning that's on the same page as students with the 21st century buzz.