Educators today face a confusing landscape of competing pedagogical approaches – each claiming to offer the answer to effective learning. Project-based learning, competency-based education, learner agency, futures literacy – these frameworks are often presented as separate initiatives, leaving teachers feeling pulled in multiple directions and uncertain about where to focus their efforts. Creating FutureMakers offers […]
Our education system stands at a critical juncture. Despite declarations of intent to create an inclusive, learner-centred system, we remain tethered to outdated paradigms that fail our tamariki and rangatahi. The statistics tell a stark story, particularly for Māori and Pasifika youth, whose disproportionate rates of academic failure, depression and suicide attempts reveal the human […]
This paper provides an analysis of the responses received through submissions to an online survey posted on the FutureMakers website in early 2023. An initial attempt to design a survey featuring questions with multi-choice responses was abandoned in preference of a simple survey asking two open ended questions about change in education: The dataset reveals […]
A toolkit for strategic resilience planning REVISED VERSION AVAILABLE – after several requests from and conversations with educators following the release of the original paper in January 2023, I have revised the document to include the topic of extreme weather events and natural disasters as another area to be considered as we plan strategically to […]
This paper provides guidance for school leaders as they seek to work with their staff and communities to design the systems, structures and processes required to ensure they are able to continue providing high quality learning experiences for their students in the wake of any disruption they experience, be that short or long-term, impacting all […]
Hybrid learning has emerged as a focus for many schools and education systems in the wake of the COVID-19 disruption. The benefits of pursuing such approaches go far beyond being a simple ‘fix’ for a short term problem – if properly pursued, they set the scene for a fully transformed education system. This short paper […]
We live in an era of accelerating change, affecting every sphere of human existence. Globally we are faced with unprecedented challenges including climate change, environmental degradation, global pandemics, poverty, political instability, and acts of terrorism for example. All of these things are already or will in the future impact what we are doing in education. […]
This paper brings focus to the work of teachers in a hybrid approach – their pedagogical practice. It provides a practical approach to considering what is required in order to support the change in teaching and learning behaviours and approaches to achieve a fully hybrid system. Included in this paper are templates and guidelines that […]
Getting Started With Hybrid Learning: A teacher guideThis document provides some practical advice and guidance for educators faced with the challenge of having to deal with students learning from home and in classroom settings due to the requirements for self-isolation during the pandemic response. The guide contains a six-step framework that can be used to guide the […]
Resilience Planning for Schools in an age of COVID-19 This paper provides a framework for considering what options a school might consider to be adequately prepared for this eventuality, proposing the adoption of a hybrid model as a solution. The elements and benefits of a hybrid model are explained. The video at the bottom of […]
This report provides a comprehensive overview of over 40 national and international research reports that were completed in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic caused schools to close and moved teaching and learning online. A key focus of the report is the role of digital technologies in the education response made across a range of jurisdictions. […]
This document provides perspectives on the broader context of the work, and the digital environment that today’s and tomorrow’s students will be entering throughout their lives and careers. The paper provides a synthesis of existing reports that are publicly available both nationally and internationally to provide an overview of the factors that other jurisdictions are […]
The Virtual Learning Network in New Zealand: History and Future ThoughtsThe Virtual Learning Network has operated in New Zealand for over thirty years as a collaboration among clusters of schools seeking to provide access to quality learning opportunities for all of their students. The first part of this paper provides a background to the development of […]
This paper presents a case for bringing initiatives such as the VLN into the ‘mainstream’ of our education system in New Zealand. The significant question that this report addresses is how the Virtual Learning Network (VLN) might be re-conceptualised in line with its original vision of being a national learning exchange, and grow to become […]
The Virtual Learning Network in New Zealand: History and Future ThoughtsThe Virtual Learning Network has operated in New Zealand for over thirty years as a collaboration among clusters of schools seeking to provide access to quality learning opportunities for all of their students. The first part of this paper provides a background to the development of […]
Part two of a series: Leveraging the potential of digital in a post COVID-19 world. The focus of this paper began with thinking about two questions,1. what are the characteristics of a digital enabled, future focused education system? and2. what will be the impact on our pedagogical practice in such an environment?The paper introduces three ideas […]
Part three of a series: Leveraging the potential of digital in a post COVID-19 world.The focus of this paper is on what is driving the adoption and use of digital technologies at such scale, and why the ground keeps changing in terms of how well we believe teachers and schools are prepared to meet the […]
Part four of a series: Leveraging the potential of digital in a post COVID-19 world.This document provides an overview of the ways in which digital technologies are being used currently across different settings in New Zealand education. Examples demonstrate how digital technologies are being used to support a wide range of pedagogical activity, from accessing information and […]
Virtual Learning as an Impetus for Educational Change. Michael Barbour and Derek Wenmoth, 2013. This document was originally published by CORE Education who supported the research that was undertaken for it. Over recent years, there have been significant events within the virtual learning community in New Zealand that place it on the cusp of being […]
