eLearning & ICT issues for New Zealand Education

A summary of opinions and articles as a 2008 Ministry of Education eLearning Fellow.

	Michael suggests ways to bridge the gap between technology enthusiasts and skeptics. See the video here He provides a new take on how educational institutions might use and encourage apparent reluctant users of technology.
Education issues	by Waikato Doctoral Scholar Christine Fenton
	EDTalks, a free database of short videos featuring New Zealand and International educators talking about learning.

Learning from Life: Communities of Learning via a Connected Curriculum. 2009 Microsoft Partners in Learning Regional Innovative Teachers conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (NEW)

Ministry of Health HPV school vaccine DVD gets a Not Achieved in its science animations

School science earns an F by Virgina Winder, Taranaki Daily News. What did the Ministry of Education ELearning Fellowship research reveal about the state of New Zealand's science teaching? What are some example sof 'best practice' when using computers in education, particularly to teach science?

Saving New Zeland Science. Why are scientists meeting to discuss flaws in NZQA science exams? Is it a case of dumbing the curriculum down or scientists being too 'academic and expecting too much? How does NZQA pressure resource writers to perpetuate errors of fact in books and hence examinations?

2008 eLearning research report: "Authentic learning using mobile sensor technology with reflections on the state of science education in New Zealand" (NEW)

Teaching and the f word: From the New Zealand INTERFACE article....putting the fun back into teaching while dealing with the competing tensions of assessment and covering the curriculum. For primary and secondary teachers.

Michael Fenton wins a Microsoft Innovative Teacher award! He was also a finalist for the NZ INTERFACE magazines 'Best use of ICT in teaching ' award.

ICT: Interested in Conversations and Thinking - technology is less important than the conversations it permits students to have with their teacher. For the techno-phobic this puts the student in the role of expert technologist but the teacher remains the expert assessor.

Fostering 21st Century learning - collaborative thoughts and strategies from the 2008 E-Learning Fellows

Authentic Learning using ICT - collaborative thoughts and strategies from the 2008 E-Learning Fellows

How to add a PICAXE to a Casio graphics calculator for robotics, science and mathematics

Shining a light on the future by Virgina Winder, Taranaki Daily News. What comes after the "knowledge economy"? Should the focus be on technology helping with understanding rather than collecting or sharing data?

Understanding versus Knowledge…the new role of ICT and eLearning by 2008 eFellow Michael Fenton

A critique of eLearning 2.0 by 2008 eFellow Mark Callagher

Using Game Maker to create interactive whiteboard (IWB) or SMARTboard applications.

Interactive ICT tools for Mathematics, Science and Robotics - getting the most from Game Maker. Presented at the New Zealand Association of Mathematics Teachers conference 2007

MoodleBites course - learn about Moodle

Press release announcing eLearning Fellowships for 2008

Michael Fenton M.Sc., Dip.Tchg Experienced Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Mathematics, Calculus school teacher Tertiary ICT Diploma / Computing Degree Tutor Published peer reviewed articles and papers, delivered presentations at conferences. Contributed to various regional and national school ICT initiatives, developed and ran teacher PD courses and workshops, delivered presentations at public meetings, critiqued Student Learning Management tools and developed eLearning tools. 'Teachers as Leaders' professional development programme convenor at Inglewood High School Author of 'Physics Interactive', interactive CD-ROM distributed by TVNZ. Created GeneE, an interactve e-Learning resource for teaching Genetics concepts; created the MATRIX database engine for students to store interactive and multimedia content to build up shared resources. Gifted and talented students advisor / tutor Technical Advisor for EnviroPower (energy conservation/ renewable energy pilot project) New Zealand Microbiology Society Education SIG co-founder.

 

A special thanks to