Connected 2012 @ Southwell School Friday 13 July

Today, at the suggestion of my principal who recently found out about this group, I went to the ConnectEd 2012 conference at Southwell School.

The keynote speaker was Mark McCrindle from Australia. 

I went to two breakouts:

• I-Pads in Years 3-5
• E-Portfolios and E-Learning

I found both very good.  It was fun learning how to use an I-Pad and the pitfalls and wonders of using them in the classroom and sharing them around the school, the covers they can where and an idea for transporting.  A good tip I got from teachers from Te Totara School was for every teacher to be given an i-tunes card preloaded with a set amount for the year at the beginning, then it would be up to each teacher how and when it is spent, and for the benefit of the age group which you teach.

The E-Portfolio and E-Learning was also interesting to see how big it is, the possibilities and a few new ideas.  One needs to ensure that they have good support and consider how the school's infrastructure will cope, and how students and parents could access it from home.  Check out http://myportfolio.school.nz/ for more information.  MyPortfolio has been the MOE 'choice' for schools to use, and is free to all NZ schools til at least the end of 2013.


Three Recalls:

• Social technology like Facebook and Twitter are a barometer of society, and new apps come along all the time.
• I-Pads - be careful of the apps you choose.... easy to use as a time filler.
• E-Portfolios - lots of thinking that have to go into how it is going to be used and how the school, students, parents as well as teachers will use, manage and access.

Two Insights:

• You need time to tinker.
• You need to know what you want to achieve.