E-learning

 At ULearn, presenter Derek Wenmoth talks via video-conference to Pt England School principal Russell Burt and students Sela Pamaka and Tanielu Tele’a.

The digital age broadens

At the ULearn conference, teachers’ effective use of ICT to support student learning was in evidence. WAYNE ERB reports

It was one of those moments when you think ‘we really are in the 21st century now’ – two school children in Auckland are talking live via video-conference to teachers in Christchurch about the time they met Hollywood actor Will Smith in cyberspace.

Pt England School students Tanielu Tele’a and Sela Pamaka are seen on a giant screen in the Christchurch town hall, as they explain how they helped the actor write a poem about tolerance for an international project.

While their learning experience sounds remarkable, it is really just a glimpse of one of the many ways teachers are using digital technology to enhance student learning – be it through making new connections, improving literacy or finding new forms of expression.

So as we head further into a 21st century that is nearly a decade old, what is enabling teachers to provide the best opportunities for their students with ICT? And what does the effective use of such technology mean for student outcomes?

At the recent ULearn conference in Christchurch, there was powerful evidence that teachers are using e-learning to meet the vision of The New Zealand Curriculum for confident, connected, actively-involved lifelong learners.

It was also clear that several layers of support need to be in place for schools to make the most of e-learning opportunities, and that the government intends to cement these supports with initiatives like the school network upgrade programme (SNUP) and the roll out of broadband access to schools.

ULearn has had an e-learning focus since its inception in 2005. This year, the 1850 attendees included 400 presenters, many of whom were teachers themselves. This was no case of classroom practitioners merely listening to experts from afar, but also a time for teachers to learn from each other.

In her opening speech, Minister of Education Anne Tolley said it was time for the education sector to commit fully to the digital age. She outlined the government’s plans to bring ultra-fast broadband internet access to schools as part of efforts to raise the educational achievement of all students.

She also said ongoing ICT professional development would help all teachers make the most of broadband, which “has the potential to greatly enhance teaching and learning”.

In that context, she described a spread of e-learning expertise in the sector. About a quarter of schools have the infrastructure, teacher capability and skilled and knowledgeable leadership to take advantage of high-speed broadband as soon as it is available. Half of schools have some infrastructure or an awareness of how to use broadband for teaching, but may lack sufficient confidence and expertise to go further. Roughly another quarter of schools are unaware of the advantages broadband can bring.

And while nationwide fibre-based broadband represents a potential step-change in how schools use ICT to enhance learning, for the present there are many cases of teachers making strong use of the technology at hand. One only needed to attend the teacher-led workshops at ULearn to see that.

ECE services explained how they help young children to document and review their learning through blogs and digital slideshows that also let families see what their child is learning.

Many school teachers talked about the ways they improve identified aspects of children’s literacy through engaging and expressive applications such as blogging.

Other teachers gave examples of using e-portfolios to capture evidence about complex elements of learning like the key competencies, and to facilitate student goal setting and reflection.

Teachers often spoke of selecting an ICT in response to an identified need of their students – and that is just what the revised curriculum calls for in its model of teaching as inquiry.

The depth of professional learning was clear from the discussions held. Teachers asked each other about how to engage students in virtual classes, the need for sufficiently capable school infrastructure, and the safe use of technology. These conversations revealed a range of confidence and experience.

“We’ve come a long way and there’s still a long way to go,” says Fiona Grant, one of two national coordinators for digital content and software for learning.

Support for schools to build their e-learning capability can be thought of in layers. First, there is a foundation of infrastructure that includes the proposed broadband roll-out and school network upgrades.

Add another layer and you have the hardware, software and digital content and services each school uses. The final layer is the capability of staff to use ICT effectively, underpinned by ongoing research and evaluation of what works.

Neil Melhuish, the ministry project leader of e-learning capability says evidence shows all layers must be in place for students to receive the maximum benefit of ICT. That explains why the ministry’s plans include significant support for getting the foundations – broadband and school networks – in place, while continuing to develop resources and services in other layers.

For example, 41,000 teachers and 2500 principals have laptops subsidised by the ministry and 375 schools are currently enrolled on the Ministry of Education’s ICT PD initiative. Other developments include the availability of smaller and more affordable computers and hand-held internet-capable devices.

Neil says there is also a strong recognition of the crucial role of school leaders and teachers. They drive the required changes in practice that allow schools to become ‘ICT capable’ learning environments.

Canterbury University professor of e-learning Niki Davis has another way of describing the support structures. She talks about an ecology of people in and around the classroom who all contribute to advances in e-learning. These include commercial suppliers, academics, policy makers like the Ministry of Education and those with a political interest, from community to international levels.

In the centre are students and the teacher. Niki says teachers are the “keystone species” in this ecology and remain essential.

And with new technologies, a new curriculum and the government investment in infrastructure all on the teachers’ horizon, ministry acting e-learning manager Howard Baldwin says this is an exciting and challenging time for schools as e-learning keeps on developing.

Broadband developments

At ULearn, Minister of Education Anne Tolley announced that the national education network trial will be extended until June 2011 and expanded by up to 200 schools. Douglas Harré, senior ICT consultant at the Ministry of Education, says the trial currently provides 23 schools and about 16,000 students with access to a range of products and services across the KAREN network. The trial informs research on how an education network could potentially incorporate all schools.

Douglas also says around 100 schools will be targeted for internal network upgrades in early 2010, with more over the course of next year. This follows 14 schools to be upgraded this year to have broadband-ready networks. Upgrades will be aligned with the national roll out of broadband by the Ministry of Economic Development.

State-integrated schools are now eligible for government subsidies (68 per cent of costs) to upgrade their ICT networks and connections.

Strong schools

“The principal needs to lead the intentional selection of 21st century tools to improve learning,” says Pt England School principal Russell Burt.

He says that means principals can ensure e-learning developments meet the school’s goals for student achievement, motivation and engagement.

“The leading, I believe, has to be at its core pedagogical. It needs to apply an evidence-based filter to innovations, because many innovations are available but not all are appropriate.”

What else helps schools to make the most of e-learning opportunities? Targeted professional development for the whole school, says Fiona Grant.

“There’s an identified focus for the professional development which relates to the school’s needs and vision. There’s strong leadership around that, not only the principal as a leader of learning but also developing leadership capacity within the school.

“It’s like running on the spot otherwise. You don’t move forward.”

Her colleague Rochelle Jensen says schools should plan where they want their e-learning use to be in three to five years.

When a strategic approach is taken, you see teaching and learning that is enhanced by the use of ICT, and not just a case of teachers using “tools for tools’ sake”.

Fiona and Rochelle publish a wiki that includes stories about how teachers are effectively using software for learning. The examples are aligned with The New Zealand Curriculum’s description of effective pedagogy:

http://softwareforlearning.wikispaces.com

Information on software recommended by teachers:
http://softwareforlearning.tki.org.nz

Related weblinks

More information from the ULearn conference, including interviews with presenters:
www.ulearn.org.nz

From private clouds to smart objects, the Horizon report outlines the impact of emerging technologies on education in Australia and New Zealand:
www.nmc.org/news/nmc/7292

Latest on the ICT PD programme: www.minedu.govt.nz/goto/ictpd

“Schools should explore not only how ICT can supplement traditional ways of teaching but also how it can open up new and different ways of learning.” – The New Zealand Curriculum, page 36. http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Effective-pedagogy