One of the first people to address the crowd at the ULearn12 conference was Helen Robinson, Chair of the Board of N4L, the entity that is now charged with delivering what schools need in terms of connectivity, content and dynamic “learning-to-learn” online services that are safe, easy, relevant and affordable across the Ultrafast broadband that is being implemented in NZ. While it is early days yet (still another six positions to fill as advertised on this site), schools should be encouraged to see progress continuing to be made at a national level to support them in this way.  Continue reading N4L website launched

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/49587694 w=460&h=250] This is the fourth and final video clip developed by my colleagues at CORE to illustrate what the potential of the Network for Learning may be, and how services provided across the Network for Learning will enable us to re-think our ideas about how programmes of learning are developed and delivered, how assessment occurs, how we facilitate collaborative activity, how we personalise the learning experience, and how we develop both global and cyber-citizenship within these programmes. Continue reading NfL4 – Teaching and Learning

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/49581218 w=460&h=260] Part 3 of the series created by my colleagues at CORE regarding a vision for the Network for Learning – focusing on the service layer that involves the local equipment and last mile connectivity that allows end users to access local and remote applications. The overarching aim of provision at this layer is to provide a seamless, end-to-end user experience, enabling access to and use of the various applications and systems required to support learning. Continue reading NfL3 – Services

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/49577268 w=460&h=260] Following the introductory video about the Network for Learning that I blogged about earlier, here's the first of three videos created by my colleagues at CORE that illustrates each of the three layers in the diagram in more detail. This one focuses on infrastructure and the promise of a robust, well designed infrastructure layer is that it will provide greater speed of traffic across the network, greater capacity, and more reliability. Continue reading NfL2 – Infrastructure

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/49565903 w=425&h=350] My colleagues and I at CORE have been putting a lot of thought into the prospect of the Network for Learning that is currently under consideration by the Ministry of Education. According to the plan, by 2016, 97.7 per cent of schools will receive ultra-fast broadband connections enabling speeds of 100 Mbps. The remaining schools, which are in the most remote locations, will receive a high speed wireless or satellite connection. I believe this represents a huge opportunity for NZ schools, and a chance to do some catching up with our counterparts in other parts of the … Continue reading N4L ecosystem