Derek’s blog

Derek’s Blog, launched in 2003, serves as a platform for sharing thoughts and reflections related to his work. It offers over 20 years of searchable posts, categorized by the tags below. Feel free to comment, as your feedback contributes to ongoing reflection and future posts.

OLE – a school perspective

May 25, 2006

(NB – PDF link fixed now) More from the work I have been doing to assist the NZ MoE in determining what an online learning environment might look like. In […]

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research and papers

Teaching social software

May 20, 2006

I’m often asked for examples of people who are teaching with and about the use of social software, and to be frank, I haven’t found many useful ones. But this […]

Semantic Searching

May 12, 2006

If you’re still coming to grips with whether to choose Google or Yahoo as a search engine, and struggling to come to grips with the dynamics of Boolean search structure, […]

Podcasts from Scotland

May 7, 2006

Just browsing the web this morning, searching for some information about Podcasting when I came across a whole heap of podcasts about Learning and Teaching in Scotland on Podcast.net . […]

research and papers

Home-School use of ICT

April 25, 2006

I’ve just been browsing a recent report from the DfES in the UK titled Children and Young People’s Home Use of ICT for Educational Purposes (downloadable PDF) which contains some […]

Personal Learning Environments

April 19, 2006

A most interesting podcast by Graham Attwell via The Bazaar in which he traverses a wide range of ideas behind the Personal Learning Environment. It refers to the origins of […]

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Blogs

Does your blog own you?

April 18, 2006

An humourous entry from Firda, the WeblogWannabe. Guess this result makes me a serious blogger – or perhaps a little sad – or simply a balanced person??? 50 % My […]

Pedagogy

Thinking Spatially

April 13, 2006

The proliferation of 3D games, flight simulators and use of Google Earth are just some examples of how our young people are growing up using tools and environments that challenge […]

RSS Feed Readers

April 12, 2006

One of the things attracting lots of attention in my talks during the recent TUANZ tour was the discussion about RSS , and the way in which RSS is used […]

Social Networks

April 10, 2006

Having just finished the TUANZ educational roadshow where I ran a workshop on social software, I was interested to come across this good slideshow from BusinessWeek (courtesy of Xplanazine) that […]

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Making your LMS Dance

April 7, 2006

A great entry from the “Chief Learning Officer” by Elliott Maisie titled “Making Your LMS Dance”.Elliott describes his LMS wish list as a ??cheat sheet?? when you go in to […]

research and papers

Latest BECTA report

April 5, 2006

This report just released from BECTA in the UK is worth a read if you’re interested in perspectives on what lies before us in the uses of ICT in education. […]

New Wisdom of the Web

April 2, 2006

Following the thread of entries in my blog over the past few weeks, this diagram comes from a presentation on LukeW’s Functioning Form blog – (linked courtesy of Tom Smith’s […]

An OLE matrix

March 30, 2006

Encouraged by the responses I’ve been receiving from my last post, I’ve decided to share another of the diagrams that I’ve been working on in recent months. This one is […]

Future Online Learning Environment

March 18, 2006

Over the past few months I have been working on a project for the NZ Ministry of Education looking at creating a set of guidelines for schools that are making […]

More free software

March 15, 2006

Here are a couple of cool pieces of software that I have been introduced to in the past couple of days: Nvu is a complete Web Authoring System for Linux […]

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Similicio.us

March 14, 2006

I came across this interesting piece of social software last night while reading through a backlog of RSS feeds on NetNewswire. Called Simuliciou.us , the site author describes it as: […]

IDesign – design thinking

March 13, 2006

Idesign is an interesting website that provides a well constructed overview of “design thinking”. The approach introduces 7 ways of design thinking, and covers everything from the underpinning theories, to […]

Diary entry

TUANZ tour begins

March 8, 2006

I’ve just started on the TUANZ tour which will weave its way through the country over the next five weeks, stopping at 12 locations. Keynote speaker in the mornings is […]

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research and papers

Evaluating ICTs in education

March 4, 2006

I’ve just read an interesting paper titled “Knowledge Maps: ICTs in Education”(PDF file) from the Information for Development (InfoDev) Programme of the World Bank. The paper is subtitled “What do […]

Please get in touch to discuss your plans. FutureMakers is an approved provider of Ministry-funded, regionally allocated professional development (RAPLD). Search for Derek Wenmoth on the MoE website’s provider list when making an application.

What others say

The Learning Environments Australasia Executive Committee has received a lot of positive feedback, which is greatly due to your wealth of knowledge and information you imparted on our large audience, your presentation has inspired a range of educators, architects and facility planners and for this we are grateful.

Daniel Smith Chair Learning Environments Australasia

Derek and Maurie complement each other well and have the same drive and passion for a future education system that is so worthwhile being part of. Their presentation and facilitation is at the same time friendly and personal while still incredibly professional. I am truly grateful to have had this experience alongside amazing passionate educators and am inspired to re visit all aspects of my leadership. I have a renewed passion for our work as educational leaders.

Karyn Gray Principal, Raphael House Rudolf Steiner

I was in desperate need of a programme like this. This gave me the opportunity to participate in a transformative journey of professional learning and wellbeing, where I rediscovered my passion, reignited my purpose, and reconnected with my vision for leading in education. Together, we got to nurture not just academic excellence, but also the holistic wellbeing of our school communities. Because when we thrive, so does the entire educational ecosystem.

Tara Quinney Principal, St Peter's College, Gore

Refresh, Reconnect, Refocus is the perfect title for this professional development. It does just that. A fantastic retreat, space to think, relax and start to reconnect. Derek and Maurie deliver a balance of knowledge and questioning that gives you time to think about your leadership and where to next. Both facilitators have the experience, understanding, connection and passion for education, this has inspired me to really look at the why for me!

Jan McDonald Principal, Birkdale North School

Engaged, passionate, well informed facilitators who seamlessly worked together to deliver and outstanding programme of thought provoking leadership learning.

Dyane Stokes Principal, Paparoa Street School

A useful and timely call to action. A great chance to slow down, reflect on what really drives you, and refocus on how to get there. Wonderful conversations, great connections, positive pathways forward.

Ursula Cunningham Principal, Amesbury School

RRR is a standout for quality professional learning for Principals. Having been an education PLD junkie for 40 years I have never before attended a programme that has challenged me as much because of its rigor, has satisfied me as much because of its depth or excited me as much because of realising my capacity to lead change. Derek and Maurie are truly inspiring pedagogical, authentic leadership experts who generously and expertly share their passion, wisdom and skills to help Principal's to focus on what is important in schools and be the best leader they can be.

Cindy Sullivan Principal, Kaipara College

Derek Wenmoth is brilliant. Derek connects powerful ideas forecasting the future of learning to re-imagine education and create resources for future-focused practices and policies to drive change. His work provides guidance and tools for shifting to new learning ecosystems through innovations with a focus on purpose, equity, learner agency, and lifelong learning. His work is comprehensive and brings together research and best practices to advance the future of teaching and learning. His passion, commitment to innovation for equity and the range of practical, policy and strategic advice are exceptional.

Susan Patrick, CEO, Aurora Institute

I asked Derek to work with our teachers to reenergise our team back into our journey towards our vision after the two years of being in and out of 'Covid-ness'. Teachers reported positively about the day with Derek, commenting on how affirmed they felt that our vision is future focused. Teachers expressed excitement with their new learning towards the vision, and I've noticed a palpable energy since the day. Derek also started preparing our thinking for hybrid learning, helping us all to feel a sense of creativity rather than uncertainty. The leadership team is keen to see him return!

Kate Christie | Principal | Cashmere Ave School

Derek has supported, informed and inspired a core group of our teachers to be effective leads in our college for NPDL. Derek’s PLD is expertly targeted to our needs.

Marion Lumley | Deputy Principal |Ōtaki College

What a task we set Derek - to facilitate a shared vision and strategy with our Board and the professional and admin teams (14 of us), during a Covid lockdown, using online technology. Derek’s expertise, skilled questioning, strategic facilitation and humour enabled us to work with creative energy for 6 hours using a range of well-timed online activities. He kept us focussed on creating and achieving a shared understanding of our future strategic plan. Derek’s future focussed skills combined with an understanding of strategy and the education sector made our follow up conversations invaluable. Furthermore, we will definitely look to engage Derek for future strategic planning work.

Sue Vaealiki, Chair of Stonefields Collaborative Trust

Our Principal PLG has worked with Derek several times now, and will continue to do so. Derek is essentially a master facilitator/mentor...bringing the right level of challenge, new ideas & research to deepen your thinking, but it comes with the level of support needed to feel engaged, enriched and empowered after working with him.

Gareth Sinton, Principal, Douglas Park School

Derek is a highly knowledgeable and inspirational professional learning provider that has been guiding our staff in the development of New Pedagogies’ for Deep Learning. His ability to gauge where staff are at and use this to guide next steps has been critical in seeing staff buy into this processes and have a strong desire to build in their professional practice.

Andy Fraser, Principal, Otaki College