Enabling the 21st Century learner

This documents purpose is to outline the key outcomes and actions for e-Learning in New Zealand schools. It describes goals for e-learning in schools and the projects, tools and resources that are being developed to address those outcomes.

It builds on two previous ICT strategies for schools. Interactive Education (Ministry of Education, 1998) and Digital Horizons (Ministry of Education, 2002).

The schools' e-learning action plan

All students achieve their potential

Students use ICT to:

• relate to others,
  
• increase feedback and del-assessment
  
• work interactively with local and global learning communities
  
• pursue knowledge
  
• represent, negotiate, and communicate ideas in a creative and critical way.
  

This requires innovation and change within schools. The focus of the previous ICT strategy documents was to lay the foundations for the effective use of ICT in schooling by:

• providing professional development for educators;
  
• ensuring appropraite online learning resources are available;
  
• building infrastructure
  
• mainstreaming and integrating the role of ICT into schooling in a more strategic way.
  

These have lead to substantial growth in the effective use of ICT to support teaching and learning. With particular strength has been on the focus on increasing the capability and confidence of teachers to use ICT to support students learning. 

This has been shown in our school with the board funding TELA laptops for all staff and integrating datashow projectors into 78% of our classrooms. Internet technologies are being brought in more into the classroom, this has had a negative effect on the library borrowing. However, with literacy being a focus in our school and various other library competitions we have managed to turn around the decline. We are using Internet Technologies for the students to write reviews during the competition to help get more students involved. See www.booksinthewild.co.nz for a similar competition held in west auckland.

Also we are using KnowledgeNET, which is a LMS to help integrate ICT from school to home. Although this has been a long and arguers journey, as it is still missing some vital parts to make it more of a LMS rather than a CMS.

So far the focus has been on small manageable innovations rather than on big changes. But the challenge is to change, the actions plan proposes to:

• provide teachers with relevant and timely information about effective e-learning teaching practice.
  
• use ICT to facilitate the spread of that information by teachers and for teachers.
  

These have been brought into play with the ICTPD clusters with the teachers being involved sharing their knowledge with their colleagues in the school. Out school provides ICT Professional Development through our Professional Develop morning, these have mostly focused on application development and knowledge, cybersafety with netsafe being brought in, and how the teachers in various department have integrated ICT into their own teaching and learning.

All students achieving their potential

• promoting e-learning to extend and enrich educational experiences across the curriculum;
  
• supporting students to become profecient in ICT literacy skills;
  
• supporting students in developing the sense of identity, the self-confidence, and key competencies that are prerequisites for independent, collaborative, and lifelong learning;
  
• supporting students who identify as Maori to use ICT to access high-quality learning, both of te reo Maori, to participate as citizens of the world and to experience success in schooling;
  
• supporting Pasifika students to use ICT to embrace their unique Pasifika identities and to experience success in schooling, both academically and socially.
  

e-Learning and effective teaching

Effective teaching for all students through e-Learning will depend on teachers:

• having the opportunity to explore ICT and to become confident and capable users of it;
  
• being supported by leaders at all levels of the system;
  
• having access to a wide range of relevant, high quality educational content.
  

Teacher Capability

Effective teaching for all students will depend on teachers becoming confident and capable users of ICT and understanding how to integrate ICT effectively into their teaching practice. Teachers make key decisions how to integrate ICT effectively into their classroom in order to achieve the desired learning outcomes for students. They evaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of available technologies and digital resources and decide when and how to use them with students.

Effective teachers use e-learning to:

• create new learning environments based on a blended learning approach, which allows students to explore and experiment, think critically and work creatively reflect and plan, use feedback and self assessment, and create new knowledge.
  
• make teaching and learning more effective and efficient by using customised that aid preparation, programming, assessment and reporting.
  
• customise learning experiences to recognise individual, cultural and developmental differences;
  
• enhance communication and collaboration to build partnerships beyond the classroom, expanding the communities of learners and enhancing the quality of learning;
  
• create new education communities by increasing the modes of teaching and learning and the range of people that can be involved.
  

to be able to achieve this, teachers must be supported in developing and enhancing their own ICT knowledge and skills, through professional learning and consistent ongoing support across the education sector.

Outcomes

Teachers have the confidence and capability to effectively integrate e-learning into their professional practice.

All ICT professional development programmes in schools focus on effective teaching, ICT literacy, and understanding the potential of ICT to support learning across the curriculum.

Teachers use online communities of practice to strengthen collegial support, professional dialogue, and reflective practice.

Their is a clear and consistent understanding of the literacies related to e-learning across schools and their relationship to the key competencies.

Interventions are in place that relieve workload pressure in Maori Teachers and explore and provide professional development opportunities.