An Incredible Response

Auckland's Kids Fair 2009 was well worth the investment. Our 'eLearning @ Home and School' approach attracted parents with students as young as 3-4 years old, with the majority of the market involving parents of the 10-14 year old age group.

Of greatest interest to us, was the nature of interest by parents. Maths tuition was tops and general extension an incredibly close second. Demand for extension honed in our more outside-the-square areas, with a particular focus on small business programming, to virtual field trips and international community service work by students.

Direct enrolments were delightful and we're wading through an astonishing pile of names expressing interest, from subscribing to updates, to continued dialogue and discussion via email. It'll all be a work in progress for the next week at least. Unlike any marketing done to date, this was the most fulfilling style. We're usually made to feel as though we're a little 'too outside the square', but the majority of those we connected with during the Kids Fair/Family Expo were hugely in tune with our mission. So many took handfuls of fliers to distribute to local schools or friends.

But exhibiting at the Kids Fair wasn't the only highlight of this particular weekend. Connecting with other educators with like minds and missions left us with much to talk about and consider on the way home - both at the Kids Fair and 'after hours'. Especially One People One Planet where we caught up with Vivienne Wright & Dai Bindoff (watch this space on that one - next week!). All up, we'd otherwise like to pay tribute to:

• Polkadots: Programmes & materials for preschoolers & parents
  
• KindyRock: Preschool music - movement and dance on CD...
  
• World Buddies: World Vision's connection of students with students

However, ahead now is a new term, returning clients, new teams, programmes, schools and individuals (by way of both staff and students). It's exciting!

Kids Fair - Auckland, NZ: 11-12th August

The annual Kids Fair in Auckland kicks off this coming weekend with huge media coverage and just on 100 exhibitors, of which we are one of them. We're looking forward to it! 10am-5pm Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th July.

This time last year, when first learning of this event, we took it on in Wellington with its 3 day event and loved it! The hype of families and many teachers created a huge buzz, alongside such presenters as dance teams, Ronald McDonald, Cookie Bear, gigantic bouncy castles and everything from learning stations to face painting. While a handful of 10,000 or so visitors came through those doors, the Auckland expo brought in just on 25,000 people last year. We can only assume there'll be more this year - word of mouth and marketing does wonders and the timing is perfect...right in the midst of the school holidays.

Learn-Now will take position in Stand 74 and while we had a treasure island theme last year, we're all the more hands on this year, within the Learn-Now online learning centre itself. Students can experience life within the programme, with connections with Scotland, Astronomy, Chocolate in particular. We were to promote another partner we admire greatly, but at the 11th hour, have been thwarted by legalities. A shame - but as complimentary as it was, the show goes on, opening up more scope for our programmes.

There'll be chocolates on hand, in association with our ChocLot Paradise Chocolate Factory programme, fridge magnets give-aways (see image on right), and a running slideshow featuring life with Learn-Now. eLearning@home and eLearning@school will feature as our tag lines and we're of course looking forward to it.

(We pray that on our home front all will be well though - when last at the Kids Fair, the 5am call on Day 3 to say that Jo's house had been completely destroyed by fire most certainly dampened a little of the buzz. Be that not so this time, even if only at the interim rental, pending even a peg in the ground for the new place! :).

Kids Fair Auckland - this weekend, 10am-5pm, Saturday and Sunday @ The Trusts Stadium, Waitakere. Or follow us on twitter... http://twitter.com/learnnownz

A Slice of Learn-Now

While Authentic Encounters Online itself scored a wealth of contract work, its core project Learn-Now found itself further embedded in Canterbury, Southland, Tauranga, the Wairarapa, Kapiti - Wellington, Auckland and Scotland!

It's been a stunning couple of months/term! ERO's been involved again and we keenly await any updated reference of it within their report to the school under review. In August, feedback on Learn-Now was acknowledged in this context: "School-wide assessments are appropriately used to identify students who require additional learning support and those requiring gifted and talented education (GATE). A part-time teacher provides high quality withdrawal programmes for both groups. Students in learning support groups receive targeted assistance and their progress is well monitored. Those who participate in the GATE programme are taught and encouraged to use a range of thinking, inquiry and computer skills to assist in self‑selected investigations and practical projects."

Maths Tuition, Science, Youth Enterprise, Literacy programmes, Team work and Virtual Field Trips currently dominate the life of Learn-Now. Scotland is at the top of list, with dozens of students following two NZ students in ancestral homeland Scotland, while also creating their own travel centre and partaking in challenges, case studies and collaborative activities. A new chocolate product's all go again with its associated survey still seeking participants (please be one). 84 students are actively enrolled and thrown into the mix is homeschool support, learning support tuition, gifted and talented programming, after school activities and a wealth of tools.

Student programming has involved Skype, Adobe Connect, VoiceThread, YouTube, Twitter, Wix.com, SurveyMonkey, Google Docs, Flickr, Online chat & forums, Jabbster, various widgets, wikis and LAMS - through to even PowerPoint (still) and the MOE's Digital Learning Objects (c/- Learning Federation). Many are age-old tools to some of us, but ALL those above are brand new to 85% of the students who've adopted them with us this term. They're but tools applied to the learning intentions and are just a taste of those commonly used, rather than the life of the programming. Even Bebo's been a requested connection for one student's Astronomy work with us...integrating her associated community as interactive participants for her work :).

Learn-Now Updated

Something of a Catholic confession is brewing in my mind... 'Bless me Father for I have...no, not sinned - just have been remiss of keeping up this blog'! We'll aspire to be amazing bloggers... pray for us that it'll happen. LOL!

Life behind the scenes has reached wonderful new heights - and finally, Learn-Now / Authentic Encounters Online Ltd, isn't just seen as a Gifted & Talented Programme - but where intent and experience is now the desired nature sought of us, for support and insight, by others - beyond G&T education at that too.

Up opened the world of official IT consultancy work - and within one amazingly bizarre week end of April, three completely independent approaches were made, and varying 'titles' were employed. One labelled their request in need of an IT Consultant for an MOE (ESOL) contract, another an eLearning Consultant and the third, a Practitioner Consultant. All in the field of practical eLearning, providing support at grass-roots level. For one contract, that meant an ideas development phase; another, that 'right-now-for-the-student-tomorrow' approach and the third, an 'up-and-running-for-next-term please', deal. Even fees offered were stunningly relative in today's consultancy/commercial market.

In the process, Learn-Now itself grew tenfold+, much attributing to the swine flu and the wish for so many more parents to homeschool, but also with a great deal more interest from schools, in outsourcing G&T and from parents - remedial tuition. Repeat clients are full on - with many upgrading enrolments for each and every subsequent term to date. Still though, many others struggle to handle the 'we're not a course' nature of Learn-Now and continue to seek more traditional approaches to learning. The toughest thing we still handle, is the adult world baulking at student autonomy (right through to even baulking at animations on a page - those heartened 'way2go' features from students, but quashed as always by so many in charge). But it's all part of the fun and we are so very used to it. The amazing takes however, far outweigh yesteryear moments.

So that's us - but not for so long this time...our next post is in the making :)

Journeys of Medical Missionary

This morning was stunning! A team of 8-10 year old students had an amazingly bouncy experience, 'live online', with special guest Jo Gundry.

Jo Gundry's a medical student in Tauranga NZ, who's life (between studies) is devoted to voluntary work in third world areas. She's hugely passionate about sharing the experience had in Indonesia last year and became the most outstanding 'Guest' today, that Learn-Now has had in its seven years of operation.

Going 'live' in our workroom (synchronous chat) facility, saw 12 experienced Learn-Now elearners and 11 elearning novices, take her on. Their mission? To inquire after all that she represents, applying their questioning skills, while learning a little more about specific detail and information gathering.

From 'is there punk rock music there?' to 'what's the economy like', Jo Gundry's fingers were smoking in response! Her responses certainly had that 'Wow Factor' - a tag being immersed in all Learn-Now programming this year. Reactions in the computer suite hub, heard the 'No Way! No toilet?' cries, through to 'Oh - no electricity, so of course, no electric guitar'.

Influx vs drip-feed... There was also the reality check for the students, on behalf of the presenter, pertaining to managing an influx of questions vs the drip-feed approach, and avoiding the repetitive nature (ie food being the hottest topic). But such is the nature of learning to work collaboratively and the best use of a community environment. Adopting multi-tasking habits took ahold too, and within moments, the discussion forum almost drowned in a new wave of threads. While Jo was given the go ahead to take up to a week to respond (poor soul's also got an assignment on the lymphatic system to do), just about all was responded to within the next hour.

Journey's of a Medical Missionary launched this week, as a wonderful programme of insight, adventure and problem solving. It's open to elementary, primary, intermediate and middle school students around the world. There's a competition about to launch for the students involved, discussion topics, mind-bending challenges (eg: sterilise some dirty water, fit to drink), and mini case studies. One team enrolled will also bring their whole school on board to be partners in the same journey.

But wait...there's more...
Operation Orphans and One People, One Planet are about to be affiliated partners in this work.

Way2Go Solway Primary!

Solway Primary School, Masterton, has just entered their third year with Learn-Now, enrolling a stunning team of 25 Year 4-6 students.

ERO's visit to Solway presented a favourable reference to Learn-Now last year, so with even greater confidence, another level of programming launches.

Grants, subsidised by parental contributions, a proportion of the G&T and staffing budget manages the funding, while the team of 25 students have been split into two teams. Monday-Wednesday classroom teacher Pam Paterson, is released as the Learning support teacher on Thursdays, supervising the respective Learn-Now teams within the computer suite from 9-11 am, and Learning support thereafter.

The two teams are known as the Year 6 'Lead Team' while the Year 4-5 contingent represent the 'Dream Team'. Each team receives an hour of official school time and already, the students have nabbed extra time in class and at home for more. The long-term plan's been tabled and the learning intentions for Term 1, are already ticking off achievements.

The Learn-Now Solway Primary teams are destined to be:

1. Designers & managers of a Solway Online Student Centre for their Y3-6's;
2. Employees of ChocLot Paradise - designing & marketing a new chocolate product;
3. Participants in Operation Orphans - a Learn-Now international community service programme, producing educational material for a team of 10 orphans in Pakistan;
4. Inquiry learning project managers in Journey's of a Medical Missionary, learning about the life and times of third world survival - spotlighting on Indonesia;
5. Travel consultants for Mascot Mania managing an international Cyber Surfari travel project to selected schools in selected countries;
6. Journalists, Editors, Photographers etc of the Journal Headquarters, creating an Online School Journal, with interactive stories, articles, plays, poems & special features.
7. Youth enterprise business owners, within the Learn-Now Business Zone, designing and implementing small, money making businesses.
8. Vitrual Tourists with Virtual Field Trip to Scotland first... during Term 2-3, as one member of the Lead Team designs a Cyber Surfari for guests (hopefully other schools) to follow, during his lead up and visit to Scotland. In December, they'll head to Pakistan with a NZ med student.
   
9. Programming designers with Made2Order - a student-driven, student-centred programme... Focus unknown as yet, but a real test of applied learning for Term 4, based on Term 1-3 work as they build their own Term 4 programme.
10. Christmas case study workers with Christmas Worldwide - connecting with selected schools & families in selected countries, teaching their traditions to others, reciprocated by international ePal teaching in return.
    

...and that's just what's planned, beyond core key competencies, integrated programming factors, and learning the art of being a collaborative, self-driven elearner. Since flexiblity incorporates highly encouraged spontaneity, there will also be, without doubt other key elements that'll come to fruition. School wide issues, focal points, guests, student requests...etc.

Way2Go Solway!

What's the focus for 2009?

1. We're expanding.
   
2. Our flexibility's changing.
   
3. Repeat clients dominate enrolments.
   
4. Cloning kicks in & criteria modifications feature.
   
5. Quarterly and/OR Annual enrolments now on offer.
   

We celebrate the greatest return of re-enrolments ever this year and having sounded out a variety of markets during 2008, we're set to:

• offer more task-orientated, off-line activities
  
• create an environment for students under 7 years old
  
• provide cultural programmes for exchange students
  
• develop online learning centres, similar to Learn-Now for various schools and a range of community groups.
  

Our 4 enrolment packages have met enormous levels of interest and subsequent enrolment, and while they're deliberately an 'empty-shell' upon individual enrolment, we'll be offering more activity/task based work. We lock into place the following packages:

1. Pick n' Mix: offers to choose from - self help, with parental support
   
2. Smorgasbord: offers to choose from with extensive online teacher faciliation/tutoring
   
3. Made'2'Order: the enrolling student tells us what they'd like to learn & we design & develop the programme alongside them
   
4. The Banquet: All of the above encompasses a single enrolment.

We're looking forward to growing staffing numbers and even working outside the 'student environment'. Aside from all this, we're in the face of tendering for contracts on offer. We know that marketing is not within our field of expertise and so we're also seeking to means to develop a sparklier image and learn the art of marketing.

Forever a work in progress as should any company be :)
Roll on 2009!
:)