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1 May 2010
MirandaNet Newsletter New Members April 2010
Dear MirandaNetters
As you know, I was away for most of April, and again for much of May, but the number of new members continues to grow! So here is a warm welcome to those who signed up in April.
Best wishes to you all
Christina Preston
Scholars
As a teacher I became interested in how the language of reflective practice and the official promotion of it within the profession was actually put into effect. When I became a Head of Department I realised that despite everyone agreeing it was a good idea the support mechanisms to encourage well constructed collaborative research in order to support the development of teachers as reflective practitioners was largely missing. Instead schools seemed to rely on a few 'ICT champions', 'classroom management mentors' or 'subject learning coaches'.
I therefore began looking at why this was the case and whether anything could really be done about it. This has now lead me into my doctoral study, which takes work on e-science and the use of virtual research environments and combines it with a qualitative study of schools identified as research-led. The aim is to design a framework for research practice in schools that is both trustworthy and capable of being integrated within the school's culture. Unlike a lot of work in the area it is not focussed on individual action research style projects or individual professional development but on treating a school as a distributed cognitive system, that is an adaptive problem solving group. In trying to address problems of technology integration and the role of teaching I am keen to both add a new perspective (design-led collaborative research by teachers based on theories of distributed cognition) whilst retaining a grounded practical approach which will translate to the real world of the British education system.
Julie Bain is a secondary English teacher and librarian at O’Connor Catholic College in Armidale, NSW. Her interest includes developing multimodal teaching resources, using digital technologies, particularly digital narratives, in order to assist students become critical, multi-literate producers of texts. She has a Master of Education from University of New England and has recently been taking Web 2.0 technologies around New South Wales to inspire fellow teachers and teacher librarians to make use of these technologies in their teaching.
I am a Year 5 teacher and ICT coordinator in a small primary school. I became a teacher just two years ago; after a career in publishing. It was always my ambition to become a teacher, but I am glad I came into the profession later in life. I feel I have more to give and more experiences to share, especially in the area of ICT. I am passionate about learning and being creative - ICT helps me to do this in an inspirational and fresh way.
I am currently studying for a MA in Professional Development and have chosen to research the effects of Nintendo DS Lites and Dr Kawashima's Brain Training. This research has been fascinating and the ultimate reflective practice; I would love to share my findings with other professionals.
I am passionate about E-learning and Web 2.0. I work 4 days a week in a secondary school overseeing ICT and E-learning, together with International Links, transition and parents, as well as a host of other issues, all of which that can be facilitated and improved by the creative use of ICT.
1 day a week I am on secondment to my LA as Innovation Manager, helping with ICT BSF implementation.
I manage the delivery of online extension and challenge programs for highly able / gifted students around the state. I deliver professional learning in online learning and support Quest Atlantis in the state, while running my own groups in Quest.
I am the Director of Information and Communication Technology at Graded - The American School of São Paulo. I am currently working on my dissertation for an Ed.D. in educational technology, with the topic being research on the communities of practice that form in international schools. My passion is understanding learning and how to create conditions that help people learn, whether it is learning by adults or by children. I am working with our teachers to implement a 1:1 program in the school, with our pilot in sixth grade (11 year olds). We have thrown out traditional school control of the laptops and asked students to bring whatever they own. Our goal is to do all of our work "in the cloud" or use only open source software. When we espouse teaching in a student-centred classroom, what does that really mean? When we espouse preparing our students for their future, what does that really man? Our pilot teachers, already well-versed in using technology tools with their students, are making discoveries every day--and finding their comfort zones challenged. I'm finding my comfort zones challenged as we work through the issues: finding time for teachers to talk; figuring out how to bring in those teachers who are on the periphery of the practice; negotiating meaning with administrators, parents, and teachers; and, always, wondering if we are doing enough and if we are doing more good than harm.
I am a Kenyan and a member of faculty at Pwani University College, Kenya. Currently I am pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. My current research is about effective application of formative assessment in online learning environments and how it can enhance ICT education for teachers.
My interest in ICT education emerged in the course of my practice as a teacher in the field of Information Technology, and ICT literacy in a range of programmes including teacher education, Agriculture and science Education at tertiary level.
My core areas of interests include Educational digital technologies, ICT education for teachers and online learning.
I am passionate about sharing experiences particularly in relation to effective integration of ICT into teaching and learning with other colleagues who share the same vision around the world.
I am currently an e-learning adviser with JISC RSC-ni http://www.rsc-ni.ac.uk. Our remit is to embed technology enhanced learning in the FE Colleges we support in Northern Ireland and the 2 HEIs.
At present, I am involved in supporting both the Curriculum and HE areas
I was formerly an ILT Champion and ILT Champion Curriculum Manager in an FE College in Northern Ireland. I have also undertaken consultancy work for a regulatory authority as a lead researcher and I have also completed an Action Research Project for another support organisation in FE.
Microsoft Certified Trainer
Qualified Teacher Status (Secondary Science)
e-Learning Manager and VLE specialist (Particularly FRONTER)
Becta Award runner-up 2004 (Teaching Post 16)
Specialties:
MCSE, MCSA, MCDST in Server 2003 Virtual Learning Environments: Fronter, Learnwise, Blackboard Paperless Portfolio Systems: ENVQ Problem Solver, Innovator.
I have just attended a presentation with Christina Preston, here "down under" in Christchurch, NZ. She invited us to join the MirandaNet! My mind is buzzing with the collaborative mapping concept. I have been a huge fan of brainstorms/concept maps in my classroom.
Currently studying for a Masters paper in "Best Practice in Online Teaching and Learning" to improve my academic understanding of online learning as well as increasing my skills with practical applications. My next assignment, I am going to use Collaborative mapping concept.
I teach in a multicultural secondary school; Hornby High School, which is located on the south side of Christchurch, here in beautiful New Zealand. My teaching subjects include Home economics and in the Learning Area Technology through the contexts of food and textiles. it is time for me to embed (e-learning hybrid model) more ICT in my day to day teaching. My school is beginning to make a significant move in using ICT tools in the classroom for a variety but obvious reasons. Some of us are more enthusiastic.
Our kids use a variety of technology tools eg cellphones, computers, I-pods etc they have a range of skills and knowledge that we don't utilise. To engage 21st century kids this is just another methodology to engage them and to increase academic performance etc and increase NZ's GNP.
I work at ORT SA, Educational and vocational NGO based in South Africa, Johannesburg. Heading the Educators Empowerment division which specialises in Teachers' professional Development (in the areas of Math, Science and Technology). Big believer and driver of the use of ICT in your own development and in integration in teaching. Can be found tweeting at @Ariellah and blogging http://ariellah.wordpress.com
I have been teaching English at Beaconhouse School System for several years. I have mostly taught senior and middle school students and am currently enrolled on the CIE Diploma in Teaching with ICT programme. I have been on many in service professional development courses but with DTWICT I have the opportunity to connect all my learning with technology and that has made teaching quite an adventure.
I am very much interested in promoting 21st century literacies in my home country and all over the world. Our educational systems need to be improved so that every person has an opportunity for personal and professional growth, and we all together as the humanity are able to solve global problems we are facing.
I am a primary school teacher and I work for almost 12 years. My home town and work are located in northern Greece. Throughout my school experience I came across with various problems and difficulties as regards children’s behaviour, interest in learning and management of special abilities.
Additionally, though I take that cooperation and good relation among co-working teachers is of high importance in our profession, as it is for every job, it occurs to me that this is not always easy to achieve. So, I try to find ways to coop with both pupils and other teachers as well.
Within my class, every school year, besides the curriculum lessons, I try to implement various activities and educational programs such as environmental programs, health and socializing activities, art and culture familiarization.
My work field calls for me knowing and teaching a variety of lessons for children 6 to 12 years of age. Every year I have a new class and I teach all the respective lessons, that is Greek language and grammar, maths, geography, history, physics, civics, drawing. It is inevitable that sometimes all this accumulation of work seems quite wearing but most of the time gives me great satisfaction.
I am interested in being a MirandaNet member after I presented at the ACEC conference in Melbourne 2010. I was encouraged to join by Dr Christina Preston after she heard my presentation; “Blogs and wikis capturing creativity in diverse classrooms”. I utilise blogs and wikis to create an online learning environment for the students at the primary schools I have worked at. Currently I am at St Michael’s College in South Australia and run an Art wiki to programme year 3-7 art and showcase students’ work. http://artsmc.wikispaces.com. Last year I ran an Eco Design wiki for the year 6 boys at my current school. http://ecodesignerssmc.wikispaces.com I have developed an educational blog and used it for PD refection as well as creating class room blogs that are maintained by me. One of the public pages is the Year 2/3KT page: http://kateteaching.edublogs.org
An educational blog and wiki can support students with diverse needs. Blogs and wikis provide a platform for teachers to personalise their curriculum and deliver differentiated learning. By having the ability to contribute their own ideas the students' ownership of the blog and wiki is significant and gives them an audience and purposeful learning opportunities. By sharing their work in the digital realm their engagement in all learning areas is magnified and relevant to today's learning. I am interested in the MirandaNet Braided Learning E-Journal and becoming a World E-Citizen if accepted.
Members
I am a research and teaching assistant for the business education at the University of Innsbruck... and ICT is part of my teaching and research.
I’m teaching science in BSS form the last 7 years. Now I’m doing DTWICT from Cambridge University. I want to equip myself with more strategies to integrate science with ICT.
A PhD Student in National Chung Cheng University.
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