Tēnā koutou kātoa!

I trust the school year has begun successfully for all in NZ? Looks like another year of change ahead with the impending announcements about the Tomorrow's Schools review and the review of the NZC etc - not to mention the global concerns about the Coronavirus and the potential impact of that on our communities and our economy. It's a time when we need to be thinking like future makers, and imagining the positive outcomes for our learners and their future.

NPDL Facilitator Institute

On 17 & 18 February I had the opportunity to attend the first NPDL Facilitator Institute in Christchurch, run by Joanne Quinn who, along with Michael Fullan, is a global director of the New Pedagogies for Deep Learning programme, and leads the Capacity Building team. This programme is coordinated in New Zealand by CORE Education, and currently has around 50 schools involved from across the country. It was really exciting to be a part of such a well facilitated two days, and to enjoy the stimulating discussions among the educators present, most of whom were teachers from the participating schools (including a couple from Australia) who had stories to tell about the impact that this programme is having in their schools and on their teachers and students. NPDL is designed to provide the focus for whole school change and the acceleration of progress towards improving learning for all learners - and with a strong emphasis on the development of the global competencies that our young people will need for their future. Check out the EdTalks site stories of the impact of this programme from schools across the country.

If you're interested in joining this programme give Margot at CORE Education a call. 

[photo: Joanne Quinn (left), myself, Margot McKeegan (right)]

Focus on online learning

Speaking of the CoronaVirus, there's nothing like something of catastrophic scale to ignite thoughts about the impact on schools and what happens if they need to be closed for periods of time. Globally, as well as in NZ, there is consideration about how online learning may be used to enable leaners to continue connecting with their learning despite not being able to attend a physical school for a while.

This thinking is not new - we've had learners in NZ schools able to access their learning online through Te Kura (the Correspondence School) and the Virtual Learning Network (VLN) for more than 20 years.

This month I want to look back at the background to the Virtual Learning Network in New Zealand. The video clip below is assembled from some material I recently retrieved from an old VHS tape I had in my cupboard. It features an interview with Carol Moffatt who was then the principal at Oxford Area School before moving on to manage the ICT unit within the Ministry of Education. Carol is truly one of NZ's innovative educators, and a pioneer in bringing online learning into NZ schools - this clip was made in 1997!

I've written a blog post titled "Virtual Learning In NZ Schools" that discusses this and provides a link to a paper I've recently published titled "The Virtual Learning Network in New Zealand: History and Future Thoughts" in which I provide an historical background to the VLN, how it developed and why, and finish with some thoughts about where it might go next. I'd love to receive feedback on this report as it is a hot topic in may quarters at the moment as our government considers ways in which online learning may provide solutions to some of the challenges we face. Simply leave a comment on my blog post.

Interesting links...

Here are some links from various lists and groups I belong to that I've found interesting this month, so thought I'd share them here:

• Exploring the communities of learning policy in New Zealand using social network analysis: A case study of leadership, expertise, and networks - fascinating research insights into the extent of collaboration among schools involved in the Kahui Ako in New Zealand

• Climate change: Schools failing us, say pupils (BBC) - It's educated people who are causing the most damage to the planet," says sixth-former Joe Brindle.

More from my blog...

Some other posts from my blog this month that may be of interest are...

• Why theory matters - in this post I argue that learning theory matters to us professionally. But it can’t be left at the door when we finish our training. It must be engaged with and referenced in an ongoing way to ensure our practice has meaning and is effective.
• Preparing students for the fourth industrial revolution - this post references a recent report from the World Economic Forum which introduces the Education 4.0 framework to provide a vision for how school systems can be updated to deliver on children’s future needs. There are some useful links here to practical things you could be doing in classrooms now to help your students develop these competencies.

That's it for this month - thanks for subscribing to my site - please feel free to pass the link to others in your network who you think may find it useful.

Planning for 2020

If you would like some help with planning any aspect of your programme and exploring how you might add a future focused approach please feel free to contact me at derek@futuremakers.nz.