Report on the ISTE 2014

For full coverage of our members participation and learning please visit:

https://sites.google.com/a/manaiakalani.org/iste2014/home

Paul Coakley

Principal

St Pius X Catholic School

ISTE Atlanta 2014

On Wednesday 25 June, a small bunch of Manaiakalani members from our Tamaki Cluster

headed off to Google in Mountain View, California and then travelled on to Atlanta, Georgia

to the ISTE 2014 Conference.

ISTE stands for International Society for Technology in Education and it is the largest

education conference of its kind in the world. It's mantra is: "Connected Learners in a

Connected World".

This document was put together with the support of the travelling group.

Special congratulations and thanks go to Fiona Grant who organised this marvellous

learning opportunity, kept us informed, on time, together and collated our learning and

events.

The team from Manaiakalani included:

Dorothy Burt Manaiakalani PLD Leader

Russell Burt Manaiakalani Convenor and Pt England Principal

Paul Coakley St. Pius X Catholic School Principal

Russell Dunn Tamaki College Deputy Principal

Jason Borland Tamaki College PE HOD

Fiona Grant Manaiakalani PLD Facilitator

Richard Johnston Panmure Bridge School Principal

We spent the day at Google on Thursday 26 June and then went on to our Conference that

ran from Saturday through to the end of Tuesday. After this we all went our separate

ways, some to different parts of the world, some back home to New Zealand.

We learned a great deal and as always this learning journey has been extremely

worthwhile, providing us with knowledge and ideas to take forward in planning over the next

year or so.

I offer my grateful thanks to the St Pius X Board for allowing me this valuable professional

development and acknowledging the importance and value this type of experience has not

only to those involved but to the wider community.

I am also particularly grateful to the APPA for providing funds to cover the ISTE Conference

Attendance Fees.

Google Plex (Notes taken by team) GooglePlex, Mountain View CA

Thursday 26th June 10am,

Bram Bout Google head of Education Worldwide

This meeting was presented on:

Chromebox for Meetings This is the presenting/meeting version of Hangout The mission of Google Edu is to help schools and teachers transform learning. Google has the overarching mission of organising the world's information and making it accessible. Their mission asks them to do break through things. They frequently use the phrase “10X”, which means stuff has to get 10 times better, (not just slow, small incremental change) Another mission is to “answer questions you didn't have to ask.” i.e supply you with information you need before you need it. This means rethinking the idea of “getting there”. This is the essence of the ideas behind Google search

Self driving car pushing the thinking vs producing the car - video here

Compare this with their idea of learning; student-driven, teacher guided

Lots of focus on collaboration vs individualised learning and the changing roles

of teachers. Provision of new access has the capability to improve learning

as well as teaching practices.

Lots of focus on supporting innovation - coding academy, science fair, GTA, GEG

Google wants to rethink connectivity e.g. Malaysian example kids connecting with other kids in ways never before possible.

Platform - Devices - Content Information from Google IO

Play Store now includes Chrome Apps. Also exploring Android apps on Chromebook

No1 request from the Kiwis,

- Explain Everything for Chromebook - use with touchscreen chromebooks

"Going Google means adopting a culture that extends beyond the classroom walls:

it’s about openness, curiosity, and working together."

Jim Sill - Educator & Trainer, Visalia, California

Organising android content for education is a big job we may be involved

in the future. Google’s approach to education involves empowerment,

choice, teamwork, scalability.

Tips and clues Good tips about using Chromebooks in kiosk mode (possible use for online

exams/assessment) - how to to turn on in GAFE

Bram suggests we consider the processors quite carefully when we purchase

chromebooks. Intel processors are out performing ARM. Suggests Dell

and Acer are up there.

Google not focused on developing apps for analytics - rather not/issues on privacy...

Already doing Flubaroo, Hapara, Doctopus

Classroom

Zac Yeskel (driver of Classroom) Classroom- a product Google is developing for education.

Proves Google commitment to education over time.

Model is a departure from the norm where Google products have typically be

designed without a specific sector targeted.

Commitment to schools teachers and students.

Google classroom includes some of the collaborative and interactive capacity of

Google + and this is the most likely solution for the under 13's.

It's an assignment manager that puts a wrapper over Google Drive and has its

own version of smart copy.

It's all focused around pushing out assignments and getting them back in along

with providing real time feedback.

Accessibility :

There is huge movement regarding accessibility. Working with university of Michigan

Check out Chrome Vox

Accessibility site about to be relaunched.

JAWS working with them as a 3rd party to improve functionality - should see

improvements starting to roll out very soon.

Google Accessibility

Cassandra Capuro

Devin Regis

Google Play for Edu. No timeline yet for NZ. Depends on shipping of devices.

Only 4 tablets integrate with this provision at present. (Samsung, HP, Nexus, ASUS)

Google Play for Education The NFC Chip needs to be in the device for deployment.

Uses bump technology for provisioning.

210 Seconds: 2nd graders Set Up 25 Nexus Tablets in 3 minutes

75 Apps for your class

Tablets can support personalised access for up to 5 students

I need to get some of these slides for some of the talks I have to do round

different clusters in NZ.

There are some excellent apps coming on stream. A rental system for books has been initiated.

You can push out books to chromebooks as well as to android tablets.

You can select books, YouTube clips etc to push out within a domain provisioned

for Google EDU

This stuff is all very well curated for education.

There is differentiation available.

It includes a search tool to browse for content that has been specifically

selected/filtered for EDU. Can also differentiate the apps pushed out to students.

You can upload Purchase Orders with individual budgets and departments/people

so that purchasing is easy and there is no need to touch every device when

provisioning and pushing out content.

Only teachers can review content in GPEDU

Google Sites

Sites development is a focus with major updates planned

Ashley Judd Keynote 1:

Ashley Judd

Opening Keynote

Saturday, June 28

5:45–7 p.m.

Ashley Judd is a human rights activist and Emmy-nominated actor

who has starred in more than 20 films. She was recently seen in

“Divergent” and has four other films releasing soon. In recent years

Judd has focused on poverty alleviation, public health, human rights

and social justice. Judd delivered the keynote address on the modern

slave trade to the 2008 United Nations General Assembly, and testified

before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on preventing the

spread of HIV to girls and women. Judd has filmed three documentaries

and served as an expert panelist/moderator at numerous conferences.

Judd’s filmography includes “Double Jeopardy,”“Divine Secrets of the

Ya-Ya Sisterhood,”“De-Lovely,” and “Ruby in Paradise,” for which she

won the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury prize. Judd has been

nominated for Golden Globes and Emmys and has won a variety

of critical awards, including a 2012 Emmy nomination for her work

in “Missing.”

Pre Keynote Stuff I like the connected learning in a connected world tag. It's a good mantra for all our classrooms and staffroom. I also like the entersect idea, where the world's of technology, education and learners meet. No longer your geography that determines what you can learn Loving the focus on quality teaching being the determinant Relationships always come first. Teach kids before subjects. When seeking employees always choose disposition over skill. Education dominates social media

Time / freedom to play. ("Time sucks") The passionate teachers should be the leaders Collaboration between teachers in a school is very important. We need to personalise the learning for teachers as well as for students. Passionate teachers need to lead.

KEYNOTE

Ashley makes clear recognition of the need to acknowledge someone greater than ourselves. She speaks of stories we plan, stories we do, and stories we wish we had told. Vulnerability is the essence of our creaturehood How did a kid like this end up in a room like this. She had lots of love but lots of other stuff.

Attended 12 schools in 13 years. When I have the information I'm responsible for who I am. We need to believe kids when they tell us stuff. Stuff from childhood can be a corrosive friend if kids can't talk about their lives. She describes a journey from hurting to healing to helping Abuse is anything that is less than nurturing. Normal is just a cycle on a washing machine. Pressing charges and forgiving are not mutually exclusive. Like in so many stories, some key teachers made a significant difference. This amazing lady lived alone from the 10th grade. It is incumbent upon us as teachers to notice the kids we teach and provide for them what they need. The small acts of kindness matter a great deal. Extremely revealing story of the accumulation of childhood shame and the difficulty of coming back to school after being absent. Small encouragements have a huge effect on the children under our care. Losses can fill and experience restoration. Victims are separated from resilient survivors by the taking of responsibility, facing and dealing with events of the past and making the choice to move forward believing in the miracle of restoration. We want to do big sweeping transformative things but so often small things we do each day matter most. Desire to do the thing that helps and pleases and you will never be alone to face your peril. We often don't know what's going on for kids so......... "Believe the child that comes to you. "

Middle Keynote Kevin Carroll- the katalyst

Books

Rules of the Red Rubber Ball

What’s Your Red Rubber Ball?!

book offers tweens and teens a fun, accessible way to think about their hopes and dreams.

http://www.kevincarrollkatalyst.com/ (not huge amount of information re learning at his site) Kevin Carroll is the founder of Kevin Carroll Katalyst and the author of three highly successful books: Rules of the Red Rubber Ball, What's Your Red Rubber Ball?! and The Red Rubber Ball at Work, published by ESPN, Disney Press and McGraw-Hill. An author, speaker and agent for social change, Carroll inspires businesses, organizations and individuals — from CEOs and schoolchildren to employees of Fortune 500 companies — to embrace their spirit of play and creativity to maximize their human potential and sustain more meaningful business and personal growth.

play@work: unleashing growth through play and innovation

Pre keynote Let the people know what you are doing. This helps deal with naysayers and resisters

Twelve thousand homeless students in LA

Sports and play as a vehicle for success and development Catalytic connections - recant rise above anything Had to find a way to get a hold of his life. Food challenged He was abandoned by his mother. Phoned as a six year old to save himself his brothers. Until you commit there is hesitancy. Reading books make you better. Ceo chief encouragement officer Got to have a want to

What is your red rubber ball.? What are you chasing. Play is serious business video Nike ad

Play is the highest form of research Albert Einstein Toilet tag Nike ad You can find out more in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. Plato Play is a serious business a necessity. Communities make their own balls if they don't have one.

Socket kick a ball for three hours of light. If your dream doesn't scare you it is not big enough Simple truths Don't talk about be about it be about it. Red ball project Portland video Everything I ever needed to know I learned in a playground.

Everyone needs a CEO - “Chief Encouragement Officer of my dreams” –lifts you up and challenges you

The power of belonging through games Amazing how balls make friends for boys. Books are great friends as well Gotta want to Check in on your "want to"

Help others turn ideas into reality

Nike movie Play is the highest form of research. If we can bring a community together around an idea we can do amazing things Play has shaped a lot of who we are We all speak ball Soccket. Rethink fun

If your dream doesn't scare you it's not big enough

Freedom is a movement -play is the highest form of research Albert Einstein

When we bring our collective energy together we can achieve anything

You can find out more about a person in one hour of play... Some of our greatest lessons learned at recess "We all speak ball" If your dream doesn't scare you it's not big enough

Mastering the language of the world - how to navigate the changing world

A Kevin Carroll Katalyst Production - Oh the Places You’ll Go

We are all connected through play - hardwired for it Tag in the streets ;) http://youtu.be/UulU1QOn_Ds

Right to Play - advocates on behalf of children

Soccket.com - clean energy idea - kick a ball, turn on a light, off-grid solution

Don't talk about it , be about it Language of the world. This ever changing world. “I have no special talents. I'm only passionately curious "

Albert Einstein

red ball project http://youtu.be/5Dz2o2J99cM

Kevin reminds me of Forest Gump.

Jeff Charbonneau

Closing Keynote

Tuesday, July 1

2:45–4 p.m.

Jeff Charbonneau, the 63rd National Teacher of the Year, has

taught high school chemistry, physics and engineering at

Zillah High School in Zillah, Wash., for the past 12 years.

Charbonneau earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and his

master’s degree in education from Central Washington

University, where he was a member of the William O. Douglas

Honors College. A National Board Certified teacher, he has

received numerous awards and is the founder and director of

the ZHS Robot Challenge, a statewide robotics

competition. Read more.

PollEv.com looks like fun. @JeffCharbonneau

Lots of things start with what if? Being curious. Real science Program robots and teach kids

We’re here to do stuff for kids

I'm loving project croak and I still have my palm!

Learn with the kids moved from frogs to rockets.

We have to model problem solving. They gave away robots to other schools to create the robot challenge The kids do not choose the school they go to - Has anyone seen the box we have to think outside of our dig deeper in?

People want to see robots but we should be looking at the kids. How into it are they?

Are you willing to model problem solving? What if we focus on something different? Think outside the .....has anyone seen this box? ;) What if? Embrace opportunities to model 'what if' What if .... 'what if' drove you Students want to learn to be courageous Self-sufficient before group proficient It's time we got uncomfortable for our profession Believe and share your belief

Best answer in education... It depends 3.3 million teachers in US Model failure ....that is what is it's like to fail...how you respond to failure, We have to teach all our kids like they are members of our family

Kids made the model of chemistry lab including light shading etc

Artists hand and engineers mind We don't have a courage class

Ask our students to be self-sufficient. To become group sufficient So they can become

group sufficient.

Get uncomfortable for your profession. It often depends .

Fail and own your failure as a teacher

Teach kids as if they are member of your family because they might be one day.

Wouldn't it be great if we didn't pick sides but participated in meaningful debate. What if we taught adults with the care and passion we have for our kids. We need to own our failure.

We have to teach all kids as if some day they may become a member of our family!

Content is the method (we use to teach the kids) not the goal

1st Positive relationships

2nd Content

3rd Technology that allows it to happen

We are the guardians and purveyors of hope!

Ignite Talks Ignite Talks ISTE Ignite sessions — Round 1

Saturday, June 28, 2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. GWCC Sidney Marcus Auditorium Allison Finn

Global Nomads group

Americans trying to teach kids to think globally because it's not part of their way of life. This is a good thing and a really good opening thought for iste. Wouldn't hurt our Decile 1 kids in G. I.

Digital Citizenship Need to talk to kids about their digital legacy. Will we find rubbish or worse, nothing at all when we look for their digital footprints ? Digital vaccination is a waste of time. She's applying the Tree House Treaty idea to digital citizenship. Write your own responsible use agreement. This chick is in awe of her own cuteness and has practiced in front of the bathroom mirror too much. Her whole point is, teach digital citizenship in an integrated way along with every subject you teach. vaccination approach to teaching digital citizenship vs developing a positive digital footprint Kids need to learn importance of owning their digital legacy

Braedensartplanet.blogspot.com

This chick is advocating learn create share. AMEN

Sharing creative education through the lens of an 8 year old puppet maker. Very cool.

Infinity and beyond Three keys to success 1. Ask quality questions 2. Don't accept no. Brick walls are just there to keep other people out 3. Accept discomfort and that its OK to cause uncomfortable disequilibrium

Assessing students on quality of questions they ask not answer Go around the brick walls

Go where the magic happens outside your comfort zones

Jennifer Mageira

Powerful chick talking about how to stay powered up. Actually talking about how to make PD interesting. They must have absolutely terrible PD. They don't have Dorothy or Fiona. Teachers are big kids...challenging sit and git PLD

Play dates ....sounds like our tool kits sessions? Individualised exploration plans ...teaching as inquiry?

@msmagira

Auto Ethnography Rurik Nackerud

Using the Hackers Manifesto

Talking about intersections of identity. How do individuals fit into institutionalised education. This guy is applying the Hackers manifesto to education. How do you hack education and how could gamification help with this.

Googleglass for Assistive technology

Wearable tech is not new

Convenience vs possibility

GG hands free - glassware

Makes access to social media and productivity software and activity possible for learners with executive function challenges. This is really cool and very heartening. Pt of view screen casting is really quite exciting. Opening up possibilities for all learners

Pat Yongpradit -hour of code learn.co.org

Advocating for all kids to learn Computer Science

Representation gap gender/ethnicity

Saying this is a foundational skill In the 21c

Only 1:10 schools in the US offer computer science as a subject Encouraging kids of both genders to get into coding and computer science. Includes unplugged activities to understand coding....I like this....combining digital with non-digital

thenerdyteacher.com Experience is the teacher of all things We are all geniuses

Do it then ask permission

This guy is advocating for genius hour If we don't do it no one else will

Learn Create Share has been solidly the theme of this series of Ignite

Real theme of urgency and challenging norms (including the 'system') in this series of ignite talks, speakers very passionate about student ownership of learning

Creating learning experiences vs pre-packaged content

I Predict Don't know this person’s name Isaac Asimov predicted in 1964 that telephone calls would become video calls in 2014. A real tension between commerce wanting to control and manage content and connectivity and genuine democracy of learning, access and what we get to access. Next divide will be between those of digital privilege and the digital have nots.

@futuretvwriter Using TV shows to inspire design of learning opportunities

Not sure how this would work in reality as way too much TV is crap! And it is only primary classes that have the kids across subjects and the content suggested in general is inappropriate But there is some stuff out there that may help think differently about how learning opportunities are designed

App Creator and Math Teacher @ReshanRichards

You're not necessarily good at teaching something because you know a lot about it Using screen casting for formative assessment or little data. Qualitative formative assessment. This guy created. Explain Everything. He's unbelievably cool. Teach kids to have ideas they turn into reality. Qualitative formative assessment - screencasting Email ReshanRichards@gmail.com +we met him after the talk, - yay!

Prese

nters

Curtis

Jones

Dr.

Curtis

L.

Jones

Jr. was

named

Superin

Superintendent of the Griffin-Spalding County Schools

on June 2, 2009. Dr. Jones, a graduate of the United States Military Academy, has served

as an Assistant Superintendent, high school principal, and JROTC instructor. Dr. Jones

holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Albany State College, a Specialist

degree in Educational Leadership from Lincoln Memorial University and a Doctoral degree

in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. His wife, the former

Evelyn Kendall of Griffin, Georgia, is a career educator and is a elementary principal.

They have three children.

Just like us their 1st data set was crap because no one knew how to do anything

They also didn’t know how to apply what they found out Couldn’t connect historical and current data

They also had shonky tests and shonky software

They wanted to answer 3 questions

1. how do we compare to state standards 2. are we improving over time 3. how do we compare with other schools

Transparency: -Looked at each other’s data

Checked to see if Principals were looking @ data, because if they don’t look they can’t talk about it. Used eBoard then moved onto Performance Matters

Data Driven Decisions

This choice has made a large difference Doing 4 lots a tests/year: August, October, February, May

This is a ton of testing

There is a draconian focus on standards. These folks are creating pre-tests against the achievement of the year to come. Kids write the test which is then auto-uploaded via a scanner and the software shows via a console type visualiser where kids gaps are. They then have three on-trackness tests during the year before they take their final assessment against the Common Core Standards. Believe it or not, they call this formative assessment! They have had the same concerns as us about the validity of the tests. These assessments and the resultant practice change or instructional focus were highly successful for elementary and middle schools and in his words were a miserable failure at the high schools. Teachers became data conscious and analytical, held hard conversations. Had to follow the curriculum map, could not make excuses for kids who made no progress or who went backwards. They obviously did a great job of on-boarding the primary and middle school staff. They made huge progress against State Indicators and against like schools. This showed up in the “Summative” State Testing. So what they called formative assessment was quite formal District Wide testing against standards with item analysis available to teachers. Then at the end of the year, they sit the State Tests. They then held learning conversations across schools after the State Tests, using the item knowledge and analysis from the District Benchmark tests.

The teachers I’m sitting with are completely driven and controlled in their teaching by the standards. The younger woman at this table genuinely doesn’t know the difference between the standards and the curriculum

They have massive improvement in primary and middle school. Gone to 71% pass at State Level. They have some improvement at High School but nowhere near as good. Really struggling with Math and Science

Overall their successive is impressive and they have won all kinds of awards for raising achievement in a Title 1 District. They would be really impressed with Tamaki College.

Untangling the Web

Presenters

Adam Bellow, eduTecher Steve Dembo, Discovery Education

A former kindergarten teacher and school

Director of Technology Steve Dembo is a

pioneer in the field of educational social

networking. He currently serves as

Discovery Education’s Director of Social

Media Strategy and Online Community.

Dembo is the co-author of the book

Untangling the Web: 20 Tools to Power Up

Your Teaching. The National School Board

Association named him one of 2010's

"Twenty to Watch." In 2013 he began

serving the Skokie/Morton Grove District 69

as a member of the School Board. Dembo

is a course designer for Wilkes University's

Instructional Media degree program..

Kahoot.it is really cool. We had lots of fun with it. Excellent Quiz engine to set quizzes for a class or group. 81dash.com is a cool collaborative tool. An editable kind of chat. Let's you print it out, turn it into a pdf. Designed to let children talk an collaborate. Built by an educator. Creates a good bank channel. iftt.com is a great photo compiler. dlc.com/utw-lucky you can assign things to groups or classes. Weirdly this does what Google classroom does except quite a lot better. I wouldn't worry about using padlet Pear Deck you can make quick and slick presentations and quizzes etc. It's easy for your students to log into. The where are you from map thingey is really good Using Flubaroo with Google Spreadsheets to analyse data

Pictochart let's you create cool info graphics in realtime from Google spreadsheets. These live and breathe a people respond. thenounproject.com Tons of clip art and icons you can use for all kinds of things AWWAPP-bit.lyawwappUTW Let's people draw in one frame simultaneously including embedding sound and stuff. Simple and easy to use. Quite a few of these things could be great for Waenganui (my reading group)

All this is archived in educlipper

SAMR Model

Learning, technology and the SAMR model: Goals, processes and practice

Sunday, June 29, 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. GWCC Murphy Ballroom 1/2

Presenters

Ruben Puentedura, Hippasus

.

Dr. Ruben Puentedura is the Founder and President of Hippasus, a consulting firm focusing on transformative applications of information technologies to education. He has implemented these approaches for over twenty-five years at a range of K-20 educational institutions. He is the creator of the SAMR model for selecting, using, and evaluating technology in education, which currently guides the work of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative, as well as multiple other projects worldwide. He is also the author of the EdTech Quintet, a categorization of the core technology toolset required for education derived from the Horizon Report Rubens Puentedura

How are we maximising the affordances of the newer technologies. Remember that paper and pencil are technologies. How are we augmenting , rethinking learning and teaching and making significant modifications. New tasks making available new possibilities. Intersection of technology, content and pedagogy. Pedagogy enables meaningful access to content. Technology enables pedagogy. TCPK is the goldilocks zone The affordances of different tech have immediate impact on pedagogical enablement. What tech brings to the table?

How does what you are doing now relate to what you did before?

Challenge of moving from enhancement to transformation - using TPCK model, thinking In parallel with each other Using technology to leverage pedagogies that enable greater agency for students' learning How do I adapt pedagogy to a specific content area to make it understandable, reusable by students. Understanding how tech makes pedagogical practices possible that were not previously afforded. PCK essential if you are going to change practice

Integration of SMAR and TPCK

Metaphor the. Valley - teachers as nomads exploring the valley

If the valley is just comfortable we end up with substitution.

If we implement technology at the substitution level of its merely technical. Little or no connection with TPCK. Augmentation provides functional improvement

Moving from augmentation to modification ... Redesign task based on analogies or similarities...what do you already know. What types of knowledge is needed is the intersections between PCK- focus on these three areas for PLD Building communities of practice to support this using these framework

Redefinition allows for the creation of new tasks previously inconceivable The TPCK combination allows new approaches in the enablement of learning s to ground professional conversations

For teachers - Identifying patterns again and combining to move forward

Lively, effective communities of practice to sustain development/change at the redefinition level KIVA example at redefinition level

http://hippasus.com/rrpweblog/ - for notes and slides

Eg: Use SAMR to explore assumptions Article-The pen is mightier than the keyboard: advantage of longhand over laptop Substitution - annotating notes provided by teacher eg presentation

Augmentation- using concept maps, students can add to enables them to expand ways they couldn't previously bring in images, links etc synching with others, note taking can be in a written form on a tablet , share in different formats that can also be explored further and adapted Modification- note taking is collaborative, social, (consider from a TPCK perspective ) can be much richer, redesigned Redefinition - leverage note taking process so it becomes an integral part of the learning process not just something that is referenced in isolation e.g note taking is used to create an environment reflecting individual learning, thinking of individual learners. How do the notes themselves become something that others can utilise

See his questions for self-assessing on site - not recommended for beginning teachers

Exhibition Hall Just to give an idea of scale.

And now an assortment of stuff and what I thought about it:

Samsung is 1st off the block with the new Android Watch. I think every boy will want one. They do every thing Google Glass does, but in Watch format. This includes 15 sec movies off the front of the rim. This is cool!

Asus detachable Tablet/Keyboard Looks and feels fantastic till you type on it!

Little hand held controller that's making a screen object do stuff. Kind of like what logo used to do for programming, but lots more fun and colourful.

Some amazing 3D modelling, both of the software variety and hardware solutions. This, obviously, was software modelling

Paul and Fiona looking at an Interactive Whiteboard exhibit, They still take the cake for investment in being imposing and conspicuous with whole trucks driven into the Exhibition Hall to provide a multi-level teaching and selling space.

As mentioned above 3D modelling and Robotics and a combo of both are really affordable and are coming into their own now.

Plus lots more very cool stuff . . .

Conclusions

This has been such a worthwhile trip. We have learned of solution sets that can be adapted and cohered for our environment. We have seen, heard and learned things that can support and extend our pedagogical development. It has been excellent travelling with other Manaiakalani Colleagues. This made the experience, richer, more fun and produced a real sense of unity around what we are doing and learning.

Research and Data

Everything of this nature we attended, says that we have done extremely well indeed.

It was reiterated that in the 1st 1 - 2 years of implementation it is common for achievement

levels to remain static or go backwards. We were reminded that we are in a 3 - 5 year game

for seeing substantive embedded change and that it frequently takes even longer.

Our stats stack up amazingly well, especially Tamaki College, as typically in these studies,

the primary schools are making all the progress, whilst the secondary schools are static

or even lose ground whilst they are implementing 1:1 (from team discussions)

Assessment & Pedagogy (from team discussions)

Attendance at ISTE has emphasised the necessity of assessment methods matching the

student's pedagogical experience. If these 2 things are out of step we will never get a

true measurement of how well we're doing.

We believe our assessment methods are out dated and uncertain as to their genuine

accuracy in terms of reflecting student performance, especially if we are concerned

about how they will perform as citizens.

We seriously hope our education system does not follow the US and the UK into an ever

narrowing quantitative results driven judgement about student success that then reflects

directly onto teacher accountability. We are seeing far too much political interference

with the learning process in both these areas.

We should remember that we had a high quality compulsory education system before

either of them and we should look to the jurisdictions that are seeing genuine improvement

in all round performance.