Connected Cluster
Owner: Dave Winter
Group members: 29
Description:
The Connected Cluster came about from a group of educators in Hamilton wishing to work with others for the betterment of the learners with in the region. Hamilton East Primary , Southwell School and St Andrews Middle School had worked together over the past seven years and all felt the benefit we were experiencing would be of interest to the whole Hamilton/Waikato community. The community is supported at this stage significantly by a Ministry of Education Regional ICTPD contract but is looking to expand to include more Community Partnerships.
Brief description:
Tags: ictpd, hamilton, waikato, learning, professional development
Website: http://www.connected.org.nz
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Kura Hakari - Regional Learning Feast
Kura hākari What is it?
Kura Hakari is an exciting sharing of new understandings generated from the 'Connected Professional Learning Community.' Schools will have 15 mins in which to present their journey, challenges, outcomes and next learning steps. An opportunity for audience reflection and questioning will follow each school’s presentation.Kura
1. (verb) (-ngia,-ina) to educate, teach. He aha te pai kiakurangia ko ngā tāne anake, ā kia kura kore ngā taitamāhine? (HKW 8/1898 wh2)What’s the good in only teaching the boys and letting the girls be uneducated?2. (noun) school, education, learning gathering. E kīia ana e haere ana a Marietoa ki Poihākena ki te whakaoti i tōna kura(Pipi 8/1899 suppl wh2).They say that Maliatoa is going to Sydney to complete his education.
Hākari
1. (verb) (-tia) to have a feast. Ka titohia e Paratene he waiata, ka hākari te iwi (TTR 1990 wh111).Paratene composed a song and the tribe had a feast.2. (noun) sumptuous meal, feast, banquet, gift, present, celebration, entertainment, yolk of an egg, roe of fish. He tangata atawhai nui ia ki te tāpae kai ki ngā tāngata katoa me ka tae ki tōna kāinga; e kore rawa hoki e tukua e ia te tira manuhiri kia haere ana, āpānoa kia takoto he hākari māna ki ia tangata ki ia tangata o rātou, te iti me te rahi (TWMNT 21/4/1874 wh95). He was a generous person who provided food to everybody if they visited his village; he would never ever let a party of visitors leave until he had laid out a feast for each person, whether of lowly status or of importance.
Why are we doing it?
Students learn in schools that learn (and share). The development of and support
of schools reflecting on their purpose and endeavours. Student achievement has a
direct relationship with local and district leadership.
Recent research has revealed a statistically significant relationship between local and district
leadership and student achievement.
--Waters & Marzano
Reflection
- Encourages schools to explain themselves
- Time for celebrating the work of the year
- Learn new ideas from other schools
- Friendly competition to out do each other
- Fosters regional/community identity
The Big Questions
Have 21st Century Learner tools and strategies enhanced student engagement, pedagogy and learning outcomes???
What evidence do we have to demonstrate that these initiatives are impacting on student learning and achievement.
How do we get ready to present?
15 min sessions per school. Each school is have 1 presenter who attends a preparation workshop.This Preparation Workshop will collaboratively cover
- The structure of the Kura Hakari presentations
- Technical support that may be required
- How to work with the information
- Presentation and speaking skills (external facilitator)
With reference to one or more current school initiatives:
How has this initiative changed student learning outcomes???
What evidence do we have to demonstrate that this initiative is impacting on student learning and achievement.
Journey
- What have we been trying to achieve?
- How are we changing ourselves internally in our schools?
- Data referenced Reflection
- Unexpected results
Challenges
- What barriers are there to our success?
- Specific issues we are facing are ...
- What are the schools plans for 2012 in the area of learning?
What about attending schools?
The Hakari this year is about sharing in a new way how our learning organisations can engage with and prepare students. as 21st Century Learners.Reflective Conversation to take place after each presentation
Questions to summarise and discuss each schools presentation
What are the key elements of this schools journey?How might some of these apply within our school?
Questions around clarification for schools Can you explain more about……..?
So what do you see as the difference between………and ………?Can you help me to understand what you mean when you say………….?
Name of Initiators
Mike Sutton, Hazel Woodhouse, and Angela Hammond.
Investigation
How effective are our renewed e-journals in recording and informing students, and parents of formative student learning.
Our Research Questions:
Has student engagement increased onto the e-journals? (Comparison in data from our last benchmark taken in 2010)
What impact are the renewed e-journals having on the students teachers and parents?
How are we going to find out what is happening at present?
Collection of Base Line Data
We are using a questionnaire to gain response from parents, teachers and students into their opinions of the effectiveness of the renewed e-journal as a formative assessment tool.
The responses gained will then be compared and analysed against the last benchmark questionnaire, which were issued last year before the e-journals were re-designed.
The questionnaire to parents will be the same as last year, but when reviewing the student and teachers questionnaire we are asking questions that we feel will give us a greater insight; focussing more on engagement and opportunities to engage in class/home.
Further data will be gained form Ultranet where we will be looking closely at usage by parents students and teachers to again compare with our initial benchmark assessment.
Teacher practice data
The teacher practice data will form a large part of our research. In our research last year we trialled an integration of e-journals to classroom practice advocating a move of not being an "add -on" which teachers did at home.
Since then as part of our professional development in staff meetings and Retreat we have had a strong focus on formative assessment. We have looked at examples of formative assessment in a classroom which in turn devoted professional discussion time to what good formative practice looks like/sounds like and developing how it can be added to a child e-journal.
Through our teacher questionnaire we are collecting responses and comparing those with the ones gained from the previous benchmark questionnaire.
We particularly would like to focus on opportunities teachers create in the classroom and outside the classroom to engage in the e-journal for their students and any strategies they have developed.
Student Voice Data
Student voice will be taken directly from Ultranet in the form of recorded comments which students have left on their own and others portfolios.
This may take the form of a social comment or perhaps a comment made on their own portfolio or another students about an extract of learning which has been posted onto ultranet.
This will enable us to see how the students perceive the site and its purpose by the comments they leave.
Research and Professional Readings
Dr Helen Barrett, electronicportfolios and digital story-telling
http://electronicportfolios.com/
Directions for Assessment in New Zealand on TKI
http://assessment.tki.org.nz/Assessment-in-the-classroom/DANZ-report
MOE Guidelines to e-portfolios
http://www.minedu.govt.nz/NZEducation/EducationPolicies/Schools/Initiatives/ManagedLearningEnvironments/MLEPublications/ePortfolios.aspx
JISC e-portfolio Key Resources
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/eportfolios/resources.aspx
Editure Celebrating Learning eportfolios
Becta Impact Study of e-portfolios on learning
Futured - E-portfolios for the Assessment of Learning
http://www.futured.com/ePortfolioforAssessmentofLearning.pdf.pdf
Decided Actions
Term 2, Week 4 - 8
- Formulate Questionnaire for Students, Teachers and Parents seperately.
- Set time limit for return
- Collate data
- Analyse Data Trends and Relationships
- Report back to Leadership Team
- Formulate next stage of research in conjunction with school directions
Term 2, Week 9 - 11
- Formulate new student questionnaire to explore their home use of digital technology.
- Further analyze data, comparing and contrasting with 2010 results.
Term 3, Week 1 - 5
- Circulate Questionnaires
- Set time limit for return
- Collate data
- Analyse Data Trends and Relationships
- Report back to Leadership Team
Week 6 - 10
- Meet with Jo Wilson, Dave Winter and Tania Thompson to discuss journey so far and next steps.
Term 4
- Reorganise and Prioritise VLN site
- Create presenation for Kura Hakari
- Interview Middle School Teachers
- Interview Middle School Students
- Investigate buddies
Reseach Data Findings:
*Please read the presentation which summarises the findings and changes made from our 2010 action research.
cluster presentation.key ( Mac Compatible)
Cluster Presentation.ppt (PC Compatible)
2011 Questionnaire:
Data Results analysis of trends - (Comparison with 2010 questionnaire results).
We purposely kept the wording and questions very similar to the 2010 questionnaire involving the same-targeted groups.
- Parents
- Teachers
- Students
We wanted to be able to look at any trends and relationships, which may have shifted from our original questionnaire taken 12 months ago.
Student view
If you wish to view the full data click on the below links.
Next steps based on our findings…
We want to find out more from our students. We intend to questionnaire again this term to clarify exactly what students do in their own time on line/digitally. We feel that this data will give us a clearer direction in our research.
Findings from the student questionnaire
So what?...
What did the information and data tell us?
The middle school students are more engaged with their e-journals that the both the juniors and seniors generally.
The juniors use the games on their school pages as their main part of the site.
The seniors favour the option to chat to buddies, but when making and reading comments at home we found that the students are not contributing to their buddies page with feed back on their learning.
It was surprising how many did not know the basics of getting on the site, for example, knowing their password, locating class page or their portfolio. This was most surprising in the seniors as some have had an e-Journal for three years therefore we felt would of been more than competent at this job.
The weakest area we found in student engagement was the uploading of pictures and videos both at school and at home. This refers particularly to illustrating examples of the student’s own learning through video and pictures. This could be due to not making time in school or not having the opportunity or even perhaps down to student knowledge of how to do so.
Now what?..
Some potential next steps to increase student engagement in four areas.
1) Leaving comments for my buddy, which gives them some feedback from my learning to help them improve theirs.
2) Working with students to encourage them to sharing of learning, focusing on uploading more about themselves using videos and pictures both at school and at home.
3) Showing and working with students who do not know their password or how to log on.
4) Interview some of the middle school teachers on some successful strategies they have used to encourage student engagement and getting the basics right.
What tools they use to show their learning? Well the above is a diagram of all the student friendly web2 tools that are compatible with our eJournals, hosted by eJournals. ( Exact details of these programmes are outside of this particular research but can easily be accessed at https://sites.google.com/site/webtoolsbox/ )
Our results showed that our middle students have more buddies and write more comments. So, we asked 4 students to map out their buddies and see how they connected up. This showed that alot of our students, within classes but also across the school, are very connected. This shows how successfull the buddy system truly is.
Teacher Voice
Terri Hokianga is one of our successful Year 4 teacher who is engaging students in their e-Journals. Here she talks about her successes and her hopes for the future.
Action Research:
Languages and the Key Competencies through: E-PortFolios in Language Learning
Name of Initiators: (Dave Malloch, HGHS, ICT Facilitator), Ronja Skandera and Patsy Hall (HOD), Language Department, Hamilton Girls’ High School.
Investigation
The Language Department over the past 18 months has been changing its focal direction away from formal teaching where the learning was totally teacher directed. This is lead by Ronja Skandera who has a particular interest and expertise in e-portfolio use and the pedagogy behind it. The use of e-portfolios is an innovative recent development in the NZ education system. With the introduction of the NZC, teachers need to change their practice to enable learners to meet its intentions.
The Languages Department at HGHS believes that the use of e-portfolios meets the following components of the NZC:
- the Vision - for young people to be Confident, Connected, Actively Involved, Lifelong Learners
- the Principles - High Expectations, Learning to Learn, Community Engagement, Coherence and Future Focus
- the Values - students will be encouraged to value Excellence, Innovation, Community and Participation, and Integrity
- the Key Competencies - Thinking, Using Language, Symbols and Text, Managing Self, Relating to Others, and Participating and Contributing
We need to embrace the theories espoused in the NZC regarding effective assessment:
“Effective assessment-
Benefits students - it clarifies for them what they need to know and what they still need to learn. When students see that they are making progress, their motivation is sustained and their confidence increases.
Involves students - they discuss, clarify, and reflect on their goals, strategies and progress with their teachers, their parents and one another. This develops students capacity for self and peer assessment, which in turn leads to increased self-direction.
Supports teaching and learning goals - students understand the desired outcomes and the criteria for success. Important outcomes are emphasised, and the teacher gives feedback that helps the student to reach them.
Is planned and communicated - outcomes, teaching strategies, and assessment criteria are carefully matched. Students know in advance how and why they are to be assessed. (...)
Is suited to the purpose - evidence is obtained through a range of informal and formal assessment approaches. These approaches are chosen to suit the nature of the learning being assessed, the varied characteristics and experiences of the students, and the purpose for which the information is to be used.
Is valid and fair - teachers obtain and interpret information from a range of sources and then base decisions on this evidence, using their professional judgement. Conclusions are most likely to be valid when the evidence for them comes from more than one assessment.”
We like what Absolum, Flockton, Hattie, Hipkins and Reid state in their paper “Directions for Assessment in NZ”
- “Students need to participate as fully in assessment as in learning.”
- “It is our view that students will only learn how to learn if they are active participants in the assessment of their own learning.”
- “Students are likely to feel more in control of and accountable for their own learning if they can access and engage with their own assessment records. We suggest that electronic portfolios and databases offer considerable potential for the interactive compilation of records of learning.”
Our Research Questions:
- How can we improve student learning outcomes?
- How can students actively embody the Key Competencies of the NZC?
- How can we involve the major stakeholders in our students’ education (teachers, peers, whanau)?
- How can we make learning less teacher and more student-directed?
- How can we give students more voice and opportunities for individualised learning and development?
How are we going to find out what is happening at present?
Collection of Base Line Data
There has been no collection of baseline data. Students previously undertook one-off endpoint high stake assessment. Writing 1.6 - one essay, Conversation 1.3 - one conversation, Spoken Presentation 1.2 - one speech. With the implementation of the new Achievement Standards in 2011, there was a need to shift to a portfolio based approach with a larger collection of evidence, and more opportunities for peer - peer feedback, teacher - student feedback. There is now opportunity for students to show progression in their learning over a longer time frame and it is their decision which pieces of work they submit for assessment, as the new Achievement Standard for Writing 1.5 requires three samples of writing, Interaction 1.3 requires three samples of interaction, and Presentation 1.2 requires one sample.
Ronja Skandera began the implementation of e-portfolios in Y10, 2010 as a trial.
She thoroughly investigated a range of possibilities before deciding on the use of Myportfolio
( www.myportfolio.school.nz ). She spent a lot of time upskilling four department members on the potential of this student managed tool, before sharing this knowledge in the ICT cluster, in the wider learning community and across our school. Teachers in the Languages Department have learnt to create a group, create a page, to upload Flip Mino files and documents, to insert clips, and to give feedback to individual students on their written and oral work on their e-portfolio. In 2011, the decision was taken to use e-portfolios to manage NCEA Level 1 assessment in Languages at HGHS. Teachers have been involved in the creation of templates - to give specific language based feedback, and task based templates allowing students to choose when and which assessments they will undertake to contribute to their final assessment portfolios in Writing and Speaking.
Teacher practice data
“As teachers we need to:
- create a supportive learning environment.
- encourage reflective thought and action.
- enhance the relevance of new learning and facilitate shared learning.
- make connections to prior learning and experience.
- provide sufficient opportunities to learn.
- e-learning presents a multitude of opportunities that support increasing student achievement in Learning Language through:
- assisting the making of connections by enabling students to enter and explore new learning environments, overcoming barriers of distance and time.
-facilitating shared learning by enabling students to join or create communities of learners that extend well beyond the classroom.
-assisting in the creation of supportive learning environments by offering resources that take account of individual, cultural or developmental differences.
-enhancing opportunities to learn by offering students virtual experiences and tools that save them time, allowing them to take their learning further.”
(Senior Secondary Guidelines Learning Languages)
Addressing our Research Questions
1. How can we improve student learning outcomes?
Through increasing levels of motivation and interest, by targeting 21st Century learners who are surrounded by technology everywhere but in the classroom.
2. How can students actively embody the Key Competencies of the NZC?
The Key Competencies - Thinking, Using Language, Symbols and Text, Managing Self, Relating to Others and Participating and Contributing.
Students manage their portfolio, their work, and their assessment submission. Students collect and present evidence of their ability by completing open ended tasks that allow them to creatively and critically process and produce information in a self-controlled and self-directed manner, at times individually, at times in a group. By introducing a different learning tool they are broadening their use of language, symbols and text. They think and reflect critically on achievement and progress. They are developing capacity for self and peer assessment.
3. How can we involve the major stakeholders in our students’ education (teachers, peers, whanau)?
The tool itself is unique in this aspect. Previously, speaking assessments were recorded on a CD and put in a drawer. The only person to hear it would be the National Subject Moderator. With an e-portfolio, students can readily share documents and recordings of everything they do at school, not necessarily just in the language classroom. A parent can now see their daughter’s speech, watch her act in a play, read her essay AND can leave feedback on her page. The student can give access to others to see their page or can send a secret URL to their page via email. Students can also control the timeframe that access is available - from one day - to indefinite. This is extremely powerful. Ronja Skandera has seen students embrace this aspect, and has herself received personal emails from parents proud to finally be able to see what their child can do. Students who have family overseas are also able to share their learning journey with them. This is an incredible new development in education - to be able to bridge vast geographical distance with the click of a button.
4. How can we make learning less teacher and more student-directed?
The learning is co-constructed. Students have control of assessment tasks and timing - they are as fully involved in assessment as they are in learning.
5. How can we give students more voice and opportunities for individualised learning and development?
We have given them the control and power to choose. Templates before and/or after specific activities require students to reflect on their actions and decisions, develop an understanding of the learning process, evaluate the learning processes and the outcomes and identify future learning needs.
Student Achievement/Learning Data
Students are working hard to meet goals each term, uploading work to their e-portfolio and acting on feedback/forward. Rubrics have been designed to help them meet the standards - providing guidance on what makes a piece of writing effective or convincing for example. Tick boxes ensure that they incorporate requirements of the tasks - different text types, use of past, present, future, sharing opinions, information, ideas.
Student voice:
Student voice is at the very heart of this entire project. Student voice determines every aspect of the teaching and learning including assessment. We have begun to collect examples of student voice. Ronja Skandera has video interviews of students sharing their opinions and experiences with e-portfolios. Language classes have e-portfolios showcasing their work.Analyse Data
NA
Research and Professional Readings
Nick Rate, ICTPD National Facilitator, CORE Education
Ian Fox, FoxEd Education Consultants
Dr Helen Barrett, electronicportfolios and digital story-telling
http://electronicportfolios.com/
Directions for Assessment in New Zealand on TKI
http://assessment.tki.org.nz/Assessment-in-the-classroom/DANZ-report
MOE Guidelines to e-portfolios
JISC e-portfolio Key Resources
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/eportfolios/resources.aspx
Editure Celebrating Learning eportfolios
Becta Impact Study of e-portfolios on learning
Futured - E-portfolios for the Assessment of Learning
http://www.futured.com/ePortfolioforAssessmentofLearning.pdf.pdf
Decided Actions
| Goal | Actions | By when | By whom | Progress |
| Goal 1 To develop specific criteria and investigate and choose an e-portfolio system based on this criteria. |
Development of criteria, after research and PD with current leaders in the e-portfolio sector such as Bethlehem College and Albany Senior High School.
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June/July 2010 | SA | Looked into tools such as: · Ultranet · Knowledgenet · Wikispaces
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