N4L website launched

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

Superloop Forum Website Launched

At last – after months of bringing together the information from a variety of sources, the Superloop Forum website has been made live 😉 The Superloop Forum was formed in 2007, following the allocation of funding to five regions in New Zealand from the Broadband Initiative Fund (BIF). The forum exists as an informal affiliation of those associated with and representing the emerging networks of schools being connected by UFB infrastructure. Their mission is to facilitate cooperation and collaboration between clusters of schools in deploying and using UFB networks to enhance learning. The link titled 'building regional capacity' contains the … Continue reading Superloop Forum Website Launched

The Broadband Imperative

Following on from the videos I posted in my previous posts, here's a useful report for those involved in planning for and thinking about the roll-out of fibre to NZ schools through the UFBiS programme, and what the impact of that might be. The Broadband Imperative is published by the State Educational Technology Director's Association (SETDA) in the US. It provides an up-to-date assessment of access to broadband by students and teachers (in and out of schools); current trends driving the need for more broadband in teaching, learning and school operations; and specific recommendations for the broadband capacity needed to ensure … Continue reading The Broadband Imperative

NfL4 – Teaching and Learning

[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

NfL3 – Services

[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

NfL2 – Infrastructure

[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

N4L ecosystem

[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

The ubiquitous age is upon us.

A video report from the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin (featured in the NZ Herald today) confirms what we've all suspected – tablet technology is taking over. From the perspective of education, this heralds new challenges and new opportunities for those seeking to integrate ICTs into life at school. Firstly there's the whole issue of shifting thinking from the use of the keyboard to touch as a primary way of interacting with the device. Secondly there's the big issue of 'who owns the device'?, with increasing numbers of schools moving towards a BYOD policy.  Certainly, the combination of (a) … Continue reading The ubiquitous age is upon us.

The ubiquity imperative

My blog has been unattended for a few weeks now as I took time out to have a completely non-work related holiday with my wife and my sister and her husband in the North-west of the USA. During that time we travelled by car from Vancouver down to San Francisco, taking a very zig-sag route to include everything from the coastal sites, the Redwood forests and the splendour of the Cascade mountains.  During my time away I wasn't completely off-line – maintaining a regular update of my facebook page to keep friends and family appraised of what we were doing. … Continue reading The ubiquity imperative

Pedagogically Driven..#2

Pedagogy driven View more PowerPoint from Derek Wenmoth I presented the model shown in the slideshow above to a group of teachers representing most of the secondary schools in Christchurch yesterday. The event was held by the GCSN, focusing on our strategic planning for the year as we look at the possibilities of working together in a fibre-enabled network, with video conferencing facilities now available in each of their schools.  The concept of how we make pedagogically driven decisions about technology investment is a question I encounter regularly in the work I do – and I shared this framework in … Continue reading Pedagogically Driven..#2