How Google wins by giving staff one free day per week (quicktime movie format) below:

Our Cluster attendees at the ULearn Conference, October 2008  Check out theICTPD Calendarfor list of conferences, workshops and attendees. The ICTPD Pageflakes Page Hot Topic: Students at Presbyterian Ladies College (PLC), a private girls’ school in Sydney, Australia, are participating in a pilot project in which they can use cell phones, the internet, and can even call a friend or relative to help them with an exam question. Read More in the latest eSchool News.

Focus Article:Hybrid Courses improve student learning.Click here for the full article.

E-Learning in the new NZ Curriculum The new Curriculum document, page 36, notes that "Information and communication technology (ICT) has a major impact on the world in which young people live. Similarly, e-learning (that is, learning supported by or facilitated by ICT) has considerable potential to support the teaching approaches outlined in the above section. For instance, e-learning may: assist the making of connections by enabling students to enter and explore new learning environments, overcoming barriers of distance and time; facilitate shared learning by enabling students to join or create communities of learners that extend well beyond the classroom; assist in the creation of supporting learning environments by offering resources that take account of individual, cultural, or developmental differences; enhance opportunities to learn by offering students virtual experiences and tools that save them time, allowing them to take their learning further."

ULearn 2008 Conference (Christchurch, Oct 8-10) Read ConferenceReports under "Related Media" Theonline survey for teaching staff is now closed If you want to try out our ICTPD Survey,click here HOT NEWS How to rescue your laptop from a spill If you areinterested in attending any of the ICTPD workshops or conferences,please check first with your school's ICTPD facilitator (J. Blyth atAGS or D. Hayden at WBHS).  Derek Wenmothis currently theDirectorofeLearningatCORE EducationLtdbased in Christchurch. He has abroad backgroundineducation, with experience at the primary and secondary school level, and as a teacher educator. Derekwas a keynote for the first ICT PD Online Conference with a focus on Educators as Professional Learners Newsline: Here is alink to the use of Google Earthas a mapping tool for Geography students at Katikati College Learning@Schools 2008 was a highlight for ICT in term 1. AGS had three staff attend the full conference and five staff from WBHS attended the first day. Mr Hasler reports on histhoughts from conferenceand also on theUse of ICT in his classroom. A staff member who attended 'Sometimes the technology but always the thinking' seminar given by Jill Hammonds remarked; "We received tuition on effective questioning techniques that, naturally, embraced Bloom's Taxonomy (old and new). The relation between technology and education, quipped Hammonds, is best summed up by ‘if you’re on the cutting edge, expect to lose blood from time to time.’ In addition, participants worked with blogs and wikis in hands-on sessions to experience Web 2.0 possibilities for increasing teacher effectiveness." Click here for Jill's Edblog. Teacher Tube - yes, just like You Tube, but for teachers and studentsand with easier downloading This section of the Grammar Intranet is specifically designed to provide useful information and pedagogical ideas for the Westlake Boys High and Auckland Grammar School ICTPD contract. However, all this information is in the public domain and we welcomefeedbackfrom teachers and students alike. The ICTPD contract is with the Ministry of Education and its goal is to improve teacher ICT competency and classroom integration of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies). Many subjects now rely heavily upon computer and internet-based technologies, and all subjects are now able to access a wide range of resources from both the internet and intranet. However, teaching staff have few opportunities to investigate different approaches to teaching with ICT, visit other schools, prepare e-learning resources, or to attend important IT-focused conferences. This contract addresses these issues. Our ICTPD contract (known affectionately as WAGS) has Auckland Grammar as the Lead School, and Westlake Boys High as the partner school. Chris Hayden, our Director of Information Services, is Director of the contract. All Milestone reports, along with comments from the Ministry of Education, are filed under "Related Media" --> "Cluster Reports" on this page. Pleaseemailany questions or feedback regarding our ICTPD contract. ICT in Schools (the MoE site) Leadspace (ICT for School Leaders - from the MoE) DigiOps (Digital Opportunities Project) (MoE ICT Initiatives) Research and Support for teachers using ICT  Jamie McKenzie's Informative ICT in Education Site A nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. Check out theTeaching and Learningsection.  Online professional development with Lynda.com User: ags1 oremailfor password details   check out the Social Studies del.icio.us page Will Richardson on Web 2.0 - NCCE 2007 Closing Keynote (large Quicktime Movie) The3rd Wave of ITin Education an extract... "Jane Gilbert in her recent keynote at the ULearn conference inChristchurch, addressed the question of why ICT has not brought about the expected changes in teaching practice. She believes it is because ICT has been added to a schooling system that still belongs in the industrial age. She believes that a significant paradigm shift will be required for schools to move from industrial age thinking to knowledge age thinking. Central to this is the need for education to change its mental model about what is knowledge." Click hereto read more in the full article  link to ICTPD pageflakes page The Read/Write Web (notes on Web 2.0) an extract... "Over time, perhaps the most important value of SMS will be of the kind described by Howard Rheingold in his prescient bookSmart Mobs:52a self-organizing information system in which individuals and small groups tell each other important news." Click hereto read the full article (in pdf format) "The role of the classroom teacher is the crucial factor in the full development and use of technology in the schools (Office of Technology Assessment, 1995; Trotter, 1999). "The transformation of classroom technology from hardware, software, and connections into tools for teaching and learning depends on knowledgeable and enthusiastic teachers who are motivated and prepared to put technology to work on behalf of their students," notes the CEO Forum on Education and Technology (1999). Yet, many teachers do not have the technical knowledge or skills to recognize the potential for technology in teaching and learning. Just knowing how to use a computer is not enough. Instead, teachers must become knowledgeable about technology and self-confident enough to integrate it effectively in the classroom. Teachers, in other words, must become "fearless in their use of technology" and empowered by the many opportunities it offers (Illinois State Board of Education, n.d.). Most teachers want to learn to use educational technology effectively, but they lack the time, access, and support necessary to do so (Guhlin, 1996). " fromCritical Issue: Providing Professional Development for Effective Technology Use