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The first week of the eLearning fellowship has begun and it is quite an oddFellow experience not being at school for the first time in many years during teacher prep week. After years of multi tasking having ONE major focus for the year is a change in mind set that will take some getting used to!

This is the first week of the 2007 eFellows.  We have spent a lot of time refining the research question that we want to look at. 

This year is a great opportunity and I am really looking forward to being able to take a break from teaching and take my time reading and learning about this new technology called podcasting and its effects on oral language.

 
 

Happy New Year everybody! Once again Christmas has been and gone and another new year is with us. It has been the quietest one yet and I am making the most of this time to catch up with family and to do a bit of light holiday reading. I always enjoy the luxury of reading until the wee hours of the morning knowing that I can sleep in the next day. The weather hasn't been the best, but who cares when you have a good book and no one else is around to disturb you! I have also spent a bit of time looking at some websites that have been pointed my way over the last year and one that stands out is David Stewart's website at www.edex.net.nz. David spoke at the Auckland EiFel Conference in December 2005 and gave out a pamphlet called "A No Nonsense Guide to Digital Teacher Portfolios". This I recently recovered from my folder of conference bits and pieces and as I am looking at incorporating some of his ideas into my performance appraisal this year, I dropped him an e mail. He replied that although he is still involved in the process of using teacher portfolios as part of PD with principals and other teacher leaders, his focus has shifted towards improving interactions between teachers and other educators within schools. Based on the metaphor of schools as social incubators he uses Quality Learning Circles as a means of facilitating this process. Within this context I see digital portfolios being used as containers for holding and storing evidence of a teacher's progress towards the achievement of personal and professional goals & standards. With the added practise of reflective thinking I believe that these have an important part to play in the appraisal process of teachers. What do you think? I know that he is definitely looking for more schools to work with, so go and have a look.

 
The condensed version of my research is attached. This will be available next year as an online flipbook and on CD but in the meantime I have attached a Word version.

I have also attached a copy of my Digital Opportunities case study. This involves the same case study as my e-fellowship research but examined the use of KnowledgeNET to develop home-school partnerships when students were involved in inquiry-based learning.
 

Kia ora!

My final report is now up on this site.  To access it, save it first then open it.  I hope you enjoy reading it and any feedback is most welcome.

"Parting is such sweet sorrow" - never has a truer word been said.  Today I said goodbye to my efellow family after having spent two fun filled days at Mount Vernon Lodge in Akaroa.  The opportunity to unwind and prepare ourselves for parting was god-given and we were most appreciative of this opportunity to prepare ourselves in the most beautifully serene surroundings.  For me these two days were a most fitting end to an awesome year - a once in a lifetime opportunity that has left me wondering "where on earth did the year go?".  According to this blogsite I have been an efellow now for 44 weeks and 2 days now and each one of these will forever be indelibly etched into my scrapbook of memories.  If I could wind back the clock I would eagerly do it all again, but seeing as I can't I will start planning for next year's reunion instead.  It promises to be a good one if the last two days are any indication.  I wish all the other efellows a MERI KIRIHIMETE and for those applying for the Cambodia Conference GOOD LUCK!

The end of the year is approaching rapidly and the next challenge will be for me will be to implement my research in the classroom next year. I am really looking forward to using the interactive whiteboard in my classroom - provided by Envision.

A reminder to save the full project report and then open it, should you decide to read it.  

The online version of my research is now available. If you have trouble opening it, try saving it to your computer first and then open it.

Yes!  We're about to go online. What would we do without free software such as PDF995.  Most of us have now converted our Word documents into pdf format and are eagerly awaiting their launch onto our 2006 efellows website.  It's so empowering to see the final product and to know that it is out there for anybody who might be interested.  I, along with all the other efellows are now furiously trying to complete journal articles and other web articles before heading off to Akaroa next week.  What a wonderful incentive and I am looking forward to further exploring this beautiful part of the South Island.

 
My final research report is now available online. If you have trouble opening it, try saving it to your computer first, then opening it. For those wanting the condensed version the flipbook will be available by the end of next week.