Wednesday 30 July 2014

2 Connected Communities

Hoon Hay and Our Lady of the Assumption schools join together to move forward with eLearning!




Hoon Hay and Our Lady of the Assumption Schools are thrilled to announce that we are part of the Ko te Tihi o Matauranga Cluster - a Christchurch wide project made up of five different communities of schools. We are part of the Hillmorton Community. The aim of this project is to ensure that our students have access to suitable digital technologies at home and at school. It is all about building digital learning capabilities.

In a nutshell we are a part of a number of local schools who will receive Ministry assistance to further develop eLearning in our schools.

Why is this good?

This initiative helps us to achieve our goal to meet the needs of equipping our children with 21st Century skills and digital competencies more quickly than we could if we worked in isolation. We will receive Ministry funding to provide professional learning to staff to ensure that we are planned and ready to meet the challenges that having more digital devices will bring.

It is an advantage that our two schools work together to utilise the strengths and demonstrate collaborative learning practices. We are the same community and let's celebrate that and work through the process together.

The Modern Learning Environment is coming! This cluster development will place our schools in a positive position to know how we need our schools to look, to reflect the way we need to teach, to ensure success for all.

Until now this approach has been accessible to mainly independent schools and we are very fortunate to be funded for this development.

What does this mean?

Digital technologies change the way students learn, the way teachers teach and where and when learning takes place.

It is our thinking that we would like to introduce this learning in a planned and structured way. We plan to run a pilot programme in our schools focusing on our senior students first. At OLA year 5-8; and at Hoon Hay Year 5-6.


Do I have to supply a device for my child?

The cluster is considering how to make this happen in a cost effective way. Sit tight, and we will keep you posted.

What has happened so far?

Both our schools have many digital devices so children using technology to enhance learning is not new. However the possibility of every child having a device is new and will require a carefully thought out strategy.

Our senior school teachers have attended a number of workshops focusing on readiness and discussing how it might look in our classes if every child has their own device and how this will change the way we teach and what impact will this have on learning.

We have spoken with and will visit schools who have successfully implemented this approach. Our staff need to feel confident, competent and ready.

We will be providing you with regular updates via our newsletters and this newly established combined blog. We have a combined community meeting planned for early in Term 4.

We are excited about this opportunity and we are very keen to get it right. Your thoughts are important to us so please use this blog to comment should you wish.

Here are some articles you may like to read to ensure you get a balanced view.

Classrooms Flooded with Devices

Digital Literacy Investment for Christchurch



Lee McArthur                        Jo Earl
Hoon Hay School                   Our Lady of the Assumption