What The Kids Love...

The Teacher I Never Had

I went teaching to be the teacher I never had. I was all of 11 when I daydreamed what my classroom should really look like, as Mr Principal of good intent made 'middle evil' studies (as I thought it was...a la 'medieval') exciting as best he could. Years later I turned classrooms into castles, caves, jungles, oceans, pirate ships, goldmine sites, tribal villages and profitable business centres. I became the teacher I never had... My idol as such, was the teacher in the Magic School Bus series... I maintained the child-like vision and the kids loved it. Many in their 20's on FB now reminisce with a great sense of humour and assure me they're not taking the mickey out of it all :). Yet, it was all within the days of the now 'don't-go-there' industrialised teaching even so...at least my paper work reflected it, despite the defiance when with kids affront.

Industralised Teaching - Still Here...Sadly So.

Today, teachers still have the beauty of designing that pirate ship, goldmine or business centre as their classroom, combining it with Web 2.0 tools - the likes of what Learn-Now's also using. Put the Web 2.0 tools into the mix on their own or via other providers and how enviable their teaching situation is now! Yet, over the weekend, I sadly heard of one NZ school in a town I'd taught in, teaching a very industrialised model, despite their Mimo, data projectors and DVDs. This school, I had understood, was a cutting edge school... The town would put a plum a mouth in their mouth as they'd claim "Ah yes... Xyz School - that's a good school". Alas, it's more about power games, preferential staff treatment and paper work than about what the kids love. Hoping to pull a colleague of mine who works there on board with the Learn-Now teams - it was quickly established as impossible. The kids simply didn't have computer access - and were 'last in line/on the roster (if at all)' for anything remotely IT orientated - a scary thought considering we're talking about Y7-8's here. The teacher herself, simply wouldn't be allowed. Asked if the terms elearning, blended learning, co-construction or even collaborative learning were apparent around the school - the answer was 'no'. This teacher has been through the ICT PD programme, so does know in even general terms what this represents.

So What Do The Kids Love?

I can't fix the impossible, but am very into being available, with a team behind me, for who ever would like learning to be fun, to be kid-centred - if not even engineered, daring and different! Having just seen tonight's TV2's Extreme Makeover - Home Edition with the McCully family, 10 year old 'Job' (as in the biblical 'Job') gets what he loves - everything from a camp site, to pirate room and a starry role in his own video game. Joe Public gets it - they go out of their way to project what kids love. I'm not f2f anymore, but as a teacher online, I still focus on what's at the heart of today's kids. Magic, creativity, reality, friends, money, adventure, helping out or 'being the boss' - taking control, how things work, the world and 'a point to it all'. They're into colour, sound, invitations, movement, mapping out their own pathways...

As A Teacher, What Do I Do?

I experiment, I listen and I merge what I can - even if at my financial expense, and help other teachers along the same route, through the students (known largely as reverse mentoring). I desperately want to get into video game work, but that desperately needs a 48 hour day! Instead, other kid projects get due justice and in the fine print at all times, is the skill building/key competency component. Kids are taught how to take charge, source services, maintain drive and create the wow-factor impact - not just for themselves, but others as much as possible. Strangely enough, this appeals to the under-achieving student through to the happy camper and gifted and talented student. Particularly the under achiever, who very soon give the G&T kids a run for their 'money'!

You're Kidding!?

The funny thing is - my skill building agenda is as much mine as the kids. The first student wow-factor is 'You're kidding!? We can do that? You'll let us?' One student once asked 'How come you can do that and none of my other teachers do that'? Tackling that required another act of diplomacy! Much of it is being allowed to...for the students as much as for the teacher. I was lucky in all bar 1 of my 15 years 'under a principal' - I had the freedom to do what I liked with the kids, how and almost when - to even buying anything from wire mesh by the rolls instead of homework books. I had teacher autonomy. I'm even luckier now as an online teacher and elearning service provider - I have a wealth more tools to use!

The Tools That Foster What Kids Love...

For me (the kids and AEO staff I work with in particular), much boils down to just a few, once the core mission as been designed. The last thing we do, is choose the tool, then figure out the rest (as we see happens so very often elsewhere). In no particular order, we'll ensure that there's:

• A project (it too is a tool) with an impacting mission
• A team (another tool - a means to do something)
• Individualised and peer-tutoring components
  
• A central online hub (eg: moodle) to satellite spaces/tools
• Ability to create their own online environment
• Spaces to discuss, announce and debate - esp forums
• A space to 'waffle' (as one group called it) - a blog
• Support services e.g: websites, news clips, cyberpals
  
• The ability to create a community and invite others
• The ability to post pics and video
• Freedom to 'YouTube' and 'Flickr' it
• Scope to invite experts and guests
• Scope to be social, think, inquire, do, re-do and be.
  
  

A Contented Bunny Am I...

As a teacher today, I have the best of several worlds. The love of building life into projects; the world to loop in more easily than the class next door; kids who jump into elearning like ducks to water; the ability to reach more kids in a year than ever possible f2f: and dare I say...one very special MOE 'elearning' department who single handedly encourages, edifies, supports and dreams 'for the kids' with gob-smacking passion. I get to share with this dept, the buzz of winners who adopt the cool edge to learning and help path the way for next step potential. Ahead now, is the dream that every teacher and school desires to be on the same page. For years now, Learn-Now would hear the 'come back in 5 years time when we're ready for you' line...and still many wouldn't be ready 'in 5 years time'. I read dozens of teacher blogs a week now and thankfully though, it's heartening to see the positive, anti-industralised journey some are on... Way2Go to the winners - or at least to those who are allowed to be - many thanks to their leadership team who in turn allow it.

At the heart of the matter - is what kids love.
If they love it, they'll do well...

* Don't underestimate the kid
* Don't stifle their future
* Ask them what they'd like to incorporate
* Ask them how they'd like to adopt a focus
* Ask them who they'd like to involve
* Ask them why and where it should happen
* Help them with their learners' 'drivers license' to apply independence in time.
xx

Ulearn - Upcoming Taster Workshops

The heat is on!
With a week to go, the heat is on at Authentic Encounters Online Ltd. Staff are preparing teacher-parent spaces within their project sites in anticipation of Ulearn visits, while RfP's for Ministry of Education contracts dominate alongside.

The heat is on the Learn-Now project with ePals now gracing their presence from Turkey, Singapore, India, Russia, Spain and Peru. To top it all off, the team at Kidspot.co.nz have recognised Learn-Now for some high profile status, beaming out to 900,000 parents nationwide.

Presenting 'Taster' workshops at next weeks' Ulearn
conference, couldn't come at a better time.
We're delighted to step out and share the following...

Breakout 4A: CCC Meeting Room

Learn-Now: an online learning centre you

can enrol your class or individual students in.

Beaming out of the Wairarapa is an online programme, that is becoming an increasingly popular service for schools. Learn-Now, an award winning online learning centre established in 2002, is now run by a team of 8 globally minded, digitally passionate staff. Learn-Now offers programmes for students, and support for schools developing their own online learning centre. Delegates will get a taste of the tools used, partnerships adopted and Learn-Now’s point of difference in design, concept and student involvement. See how it can integrate into class programmes, be a homework service, make money for your school, take your students on international cyber-trips and more?

Breakout 4B: CCC Meeting Room

A Gifted & Talented programme online4u
– one that’s daring, different and dynamic

Meet (virtually) teams of students from Solway Primary, Masterton, for a taste of an online programme available to Gifted and Talented students at school and at home. Since 2007, Solway Primary has adopted Learn-Now, as one of its providers for extension and enrichment. Delegates will gain an insight into a progressive learning model with Lead Team and Dream Teams. Enjoy perspectives shared from the principal, parents and students. Savour a slice of student life with Peru, Uganda, Pakistan, financial literacy, and international community service and enterprise work etc. There is even their Teach English programme to students learning English as another language.

Breakout 6B: Crowne Plaza, Gallery D

Developing an online learning centre for students – what’s cool, what’s not and what’s crucial?

No matter what platform is used, Moodle, Ning, Shutterfly etc, it is the design and autonomy students have, that will make or break the success of online learning environments. What is a captivating experience? What is smart facilitation? What is typical of a groaning student or a ball and chain experience? Delegates will see how different platforms are used, as various tutors and teachers creatively present individual needs. See an example of a social studies, science, enterprise and language learning environment. See too, examples of learning pathways and how web conferencing is possible, and free, for homework or even interschool connectivity.

It's busy, but the excitement reigns high. One could say, we're achieving all dreams! Demand is tops, work comes knocking at the door, sharing what's learned enabling others to further reach their own goals is stunning. We're definitely growing in all terms possible.

UFB, RBI, Ulearn, Learn-now and more...

Dog Training Online?!
Students can now learn to train their own dog, with the expert instruction and assistance of a highly experienced dog trainer and ex-dog trialist online, with Learn-Now.

As Learn-Now continues to recruit new staff, Masterton's Tony Gibson steps up as one of its newest facilitators, leading the way forward for students to learn dog handling techniques, online.

After decades working within the rural sector and chasing dog trials from one end of New Zealand to the other, he's now developing a cutting edge dog training programme to provide personalised, student centred support. Tony will merge information based websites, with discussion forums, online meetings and movie clips. Mid-late October 2010, will see the launch of the new dog training programme. We welcome enrolments now with admittance on a first in, first served basis. This course is limited to 6 new students per month. Once enrolled, students are recommended to undertake a 6 month programme. For further discussion contact Jo...

Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB)
Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI)

As our core business expands further into Ministry of Education and rural sectors we're thoroughly enjoying a more direct ear to ground with information streams and networks. Of huge appeal is the latest, now more publicly profiled next step in NZ's UFB and RBI as alerted to today, on WikiEducator...

Ulearn - A Conference MUST for Educators!

October 5-8, Christchurch, New Zealand... This is the best conference in my mind, for keeping abreast of just how it is in the educator sector, from the toddlers to the university age. This year, we're stepping out from behind the web, to present 3 'Taster Sessions' and high on our agenda is the design and development of online learning centres. We'll be presenting an insight into:

1) Learn-Now's online learning centre, life abroad and its offers
2) A snapshot of the Learn-Now's Gifted & Talented sector and
3) A guide into how one can create their own online learning centre.
If attending Ulearn, these are tagged as Breakouts 4A, 4B and 6B.

While AEO's got a 14 year history of eLearning, the last 10 years have been wholeheartedly involved in designing online learning centres. We've had wonderful support along the way, scoring an innovations award, becaming a MOE research project and most recently, an ICTELT Consultant for the MOE.

It's been a thrill to design the National Plan for Primary on the (MOE's) Virtual Learning Network NZ for the MOE's eLearning Department and help design and build what is perhaps becoming one of NZ's most comprehensive, specialised online learning centres - for the Ministry of Education's ESOL sector. We can't but help think we need to give a little back in return! So, hence the tasters on offer... The kids love online learning centres, they're easier to create than imagined and we'd love to see and support more of them... They are the way of effective, efficient, student centred, student-networked education.

ImageCodr.org

by aussiegall

Best find this week? The site that takes the pain out of sourcing the most user friendly images to use as we're in full flight redesigning all our web spaces! More on those spaces next time, but for now, see ImageCodr.org - a wonderful tool in association with Creative Commons.

In just 90mins per week...

It's snapshot time
It's time to record an insight into the Learn-Now 'online learning centre' as it is for just one group. In brief, it's a taste of what 90min sessions per week have encompassed. The mechanics of elearning, global connectivity, international community service work, financial literacy, responsibility for personal impact, strategic planning, design, productivity and social inquiry reign high on their agenda...

It's Thursday
...and as is the case every Thursday there's a team of 13 students who give up half their lunch hour to take a quick flight to Uganda, Peru and wherever else is on their itinerary. It's a 90min flight, more easily recognised by the students as a 90min Learn-Now session. They're classified as Gifted and Talented 9-10 year olds, and have the luxury of a computer each, to use during this flight. They require little in the way of encouragement to turn up on time, to think twice about what they could be doing, or which tool, site or technique to be using.

General Operations

The sessions are a combination of teacher and student driven components with a range of activities to deal with as per choice, mandate and routine. There can be 13 very different activities on the go at times and aside from 2-3, most can also be found chatting through all that's being learnt, considered, designed and developed. In that Learn-Now's a collaborative programme, silence rarely prevails unless we're Skyping, composing complex text or presenting for team input and due consideration.

Managing Impact
The team may only be 9-10 year olds, but they're engrossed in 'life as it is out there'. Curriculum management of Learn-Now sees the staff team source or design opportunities to match, designed to enable students to drill down into life around them and consider making an impact. What impact does 'life out there' have on their life and how best might they consider managing that impact? What impact in turn, could they have on these environments, now or in time? It's amazing how much can be covered in just one 90min session per week.

Life as it is 'out there'...
Over the past many week, these students have gone live with Learn-Now Project Architects Lucy and Cushla, in Uganda and Peru respectively. One moment, they're tuning into the NZ Heifer Project with 18 year old Lucy, and coming to terms with the plight of the abandoned babies she's also looking after. Next, they're learning Spanish, ensuring their English is a perfect model for a 10 year old in Peru, before tuning into the incas or Peruvian culture with Cushla.

There's Operation Christmas Child to fall in love with and of the greatest hype of all, is their financial literacy programme... There's a wow factor developing around what tax, interest and GST are. So too credit cards, online banking, loans and mortgages. They earn virtual Learn-Now dollars as they work and cover the ground of entrepreneurial thinking, employment and sales pitching... They're creating business websites, employing one another, selling goods and services to each other and in all, doing an amazing job of developing a community spirit (give 'n take a little competition which threatens some).

They want more?
As of this week, 90mins may well be a thing of the past for many of them. For some, it has been for a long time. Independent time at home has been instigated by some, in pursuit of further depth to a focus. Now, student-organised sessions for additional facilitation steps up the anti... I couldn't have asked for more! Did they have a little encouragement? Of course...they're still learning to speak up and see support as more than something that is put upon them. The beauty, lay in their enthusiasm and desire.

Young tycoons help beat the odds!

Back, again!
It's been a busy few months - new staff, new styles, new programmes, initiatives and potential and new focal points - galore! One team even scored themselves little media coverage...

Authentic Encounters Online
We're now a team of 6 staff - all specialist, part-timers, merging eTeacher, Tutor, Facilitator, Sub-contractor and Project Architect roles every which way. Four of us (staff-wise) are North Island based, New Zealand but two of us are as far away as Uganda and Peru.

AEO Ltd's wearing consultative and advisory hats for three Ministry of Education contracts, and consultative support to two other independent groups of schools and teachers. All revolves around virtual learning issues in NZ, from the development of a national plan for Primary schools on the VLN (Virtual Learning Network), to demonstrating models depicting learning pathways of young eLearners. The greatest of all contracts lies with the development of the Online Intervention Model for ESOL students - Foundation to Stage 1. A successful trial for the proof of concept saw the end of Term 1 out and follow-up design and development's been all go since.

Managing demand, perceptions and scoped visions is our greatest challenge though - a prayer goes out seeking miracles often! Our own Learn-Now online learning centre had been on hold to some degree, but with an amazing team on deck now, we're ready to roll again, with marketing and promotional ventures underway accordingly.

Meet the 'Sugar Squad'.
Matt Stewart, journalist for the Wairarapa Times Age, caught up with our ex'09 Solway Lead Team (Masterton), last week, as they handed over their $520 portion of chocolate production profits, to a Ronald McDonald House rep, Wellington. Our Learn-Now project was the driver... See pic above. The mission? To help 'all-sorts' of sick kids and their families when living away from home, while undergoing long-term medical care. The newspaper article tells the rest - enjoy all...read more!

Learn-Now - the opportunities just got a whole lot bigger!
There's maths tuition beaming out of Carterton via web conferencing using Adobe Acrobat Connect; student website and wiki development; Cyber Field Trips to join with (NZers) Cushla in Peru and Lucy in Uganda; CyberPal exchanges with Spain, Peru and Pakistan pending and Spanish lessons which are about to beam in from Peru...to name but a few programmes. Amongst all, is a financial literacy programme where students can collaborate together learning everything from tax issues to just how banks can afford to provide loans - but the students are creating the programme - stategising, gaming, virtually operating, designing and developing at every step of the way.

For now though, it's just great to share an update! This isn't really official 'blogging' (since we've been told that there's a very right and very wrong way of 'blogging' and duly suspect we don't cut the mustard...), instead consider this as just a news board.

We're looking forward now to diving into all that's been in set-up mode, ready now to enjoy interactive time with new enrolments, existing enrolments and those we'll be inviting in. Come and join us! Or at least, chat about options :)

Cheers!
Jo
Director, AEO Ltd
eTeacher & ICTELT Consultant

National Action in Y7-8 Languages

Learning Languages in NZ

When at a UK curriculum leaders conference, in Warwick (Shakespeare's theatrical turf), England, 1999, I found myself caught in a situation that NZ students today, should never experience. ESOL was the topic and in an auditorium of over 1200 people, I raised the only hand at this question: 'Who knows no other language, other than English?'. While I was working in Brunei at the time, learning snippets of Malay, this didn't count. All bore reference to what was learnt at school.

Matapu School, Taranaki, NZ

To the south east of Mt Taranaki, lies a school who's leading the way in its adoption of the new Y7-8 curriculum mandate, re: the learning of languages. While there may be schools dotted across the country who've ventured thus far, Matapu School has a very 21st century, inter-school, online learning, collaborative approach. As partners in action, Cambridge East school in the Waikato are also hot on the case. Spanish lessons by teacher Jarad, beam out of Matapu School to two other interested schools and Cambridge East. French lessons beam in from Cambridge East School, under the fluent facilitation of French speaker Sandra.

This team has become the latest case study for a contract AEO Ltd has with NZ's Ministry of Education's eLearning Department. In production mode, is a Virtual Learning Network (VLN) Primary/Intermediate development plan. Matapu School presents a wonderful model, with doors open to enrol more students. The development plan is a work in progress and while languages is but one focus, there's also music and Te Reo...

National Action in the field of online learning continues to thrive, but just as remarkably so...so too is the learning of languages for students in NZ - thankfully not something a student can only do at secondary level, but now also primary. The beauty of it all, a school need not have the specialist factor to teach a language. Beaming out for it, is in action! It's hugely encouraging...!

Care Packages Gone Global.

Operation Christmas Child

Several members of Solway School online G&T team delightfully set out to add a 'wow factor' to Christmas, for a group of Pacific Island students.

Enrolled in a Learn-Now International Community Service programme, one could wonder 'where were the online elements to this very hands on project'? While their virtual office housed forums to contribute to and study sites to soak up requested details, videos, skype and email created the additional authentic touch. While this team was in Masterton, they had online peers working from Canterbury, Otago, Hawkes Bay and Bay of Plenty join the project as well. In total, Learn-Now members contributed 34 boxes to Operation Christmas Child, with an alternative meaning to Christmas, not so far from their own reality.

Team Tapu, NZ to Team California...
Meanwhile, further north and east, Tapu School in the Coromandel and Valley Preparatory School in Redford, California, went global together. Videos fly in from California on a regular basis and the introduction to email for students at Tapu School has them buzzing with the communication potential it promises. Forums and a wiki will follow and thanks to http://www.onetruemedia.com, videos will fly back to California.

The Highlight?
The exchange of care packages! Amidst the gifts, clocks in California time sit proud on a Tapu classroom room, and as for marmite? This definitely didn't go down well in California! From a NZ angle, the programme integrated Te Reo, cultural inclusion, profile descriptions, photography and also maths with regards to timezones, parcel travel and cost comparisons. Learn-Now brokered the exchange, facilitated the online connectivity and will foster further exchange within wikis next year.