Manaiakalani Combined Boards HuiHeld at Tamaki Primary School on November 24th, 2011Participants included; principals and boards of trustees members from the Manaiakalani schools, facilitator, researcher, Trust members.
The Hui began with food and a welcome by Tamaki Primary School BOT Chair, Maurice Waetford.Four areas of achievement and development were presented and attendees broke into groups and recorded their refloections and discussions of what they had heard under four headings;Positives, Concerns, QuestionsThe evening concluded with an open floor and question and answer session.General overview of year & progressThis session was introduced by Dorothy Burt, Manaiakalani Facilitator (professional development co-ordinator)PositivesGroup One- No limits, out of G.I.
- Easily accessible at the local library, McDonalds and Tamaki Uni Campus.
- Children have learnt more responsibility, taking care of their netbooks.
- Widely recognised throughout New Zealand.
Group Two- Instant communication worldwide.
- Student enthusiasm.
- Parents will be able to access children’s work.
- Teacher dashboard.
- Take home netbook rather then 20 books.
Group Three- Sharing of info between children, teachers and parents.
- Families/students buy-in, all getting on board.
- Support teachers for the teachers.
- P.D. given to teaching staff.
- Protocols for what sites can be accessed e.g some schools disallow facebook.
- Tamaki College-first state school to be wholly wireless.
Group Four- People from around the world can view our kids work and how they are doing.
- Good they are not just using netbooks all the time-do other things.
- Able to communicate with other schools.
- Cant hide anything from teachers.
- Kids more likely to want to share their work with their families.
- Connect schools to the real world-authenticate learning.
Group Five
- Community Support.
- Parental Support.
- Technical Support.
- Helps motivate children to act, create and learn.
ConcernsGroup One- Too much time, have breaks.
- Avoid square eyes.
- Sharing with other family members.
- Filtering safety.
Group Two - Costs: to parents, to schools and the overall project.
- Current concern as parent-have no idea what my children are learning.
Group Three- Measurement of the success of student achievement.
- Are we growing too fast? -gaps in wireless grid could cause negative feelings for some students.
Group Five- Need to expose the negative side of web access; to protect and teach kids that not everything they will find online is good.
- lose touch with handwriting, numeric and interpersonal skills.
- Manners need to be reinforced-especially now they are talking to people on a local, national and international scale.
QuestionsGroup Two- How do costs compare with other initiatives e.g teacher assistants?
- How do I use this technology? I have no idea what my children are learning?
Group Three- Is there sufficient P.D. for those computer illiterate teachers?
- Are the units wifi-able between each other?
Group Four- Can parents edit work?
- What permissions will be in place?
Group Five- Do laptops decrease physical activities?
Research & Evaluation FindingsThis session was introduced by Colleen Gleeson, Manaiakalani Research and Evaluation Board Forum report - interim findings Nov 2011Board Forum report - interim findings Nov 2011 PositivesGroup One- Awesome!! Everything!!
- Good to see progress and constant improvement.
- All students are on task.
- Students are fully engaged.
- Misbehaviour is low.
Group Two- There is evidence being gathered and shared.
Group Three- Engagement.
- Lack of off task students.
- Digital citizenship programme from Year One (even ECE).
Group Four- High level of engagement in learning.
- Goodnight Kiwi would be a good initiative.
Group Five- System is working.
- Gradual refinement as time and length of E book usage increases.
ConcernsGroup One- Special needs and low achievers still not “engaging”.
- “No one missies out”-everybody has to be there.
- High achievers are moving above-huge catch up with low achievers.
- One group outweighs another.
Group Two- Off-task behaviour.
- Children not engaged.
- Subjective obs. and data.
- accessing inappropriate sites.
- battery power and recharge issue.
- numeracy learning.
- how can you keep learning without this?
Group Three- Power.
- Cost to school (equipment, powerpoints).
- Plagiarism.
- Cyber-bullying.
Group Four- Experienced/skilled teachers leaving and then having to start again.
- Inducting new staff into the technology, pedagogy etc.
- Time spent on a computer-needs to be limited. How would this be monitored?
- Access to inappropriate sites.
Group Five- limit time frame of web usage for students and teachers-Goodnight Kiwi is a good idea.
- System operating hours.
- Restrictions to usage at school to allow physical activities.
QuestionsGroup One- Special needs/low achievers still not engaging-plan of attack or still too early?
Group Two- how can you keep learning without this?
Group Three- Can we turn it off? e.g Goodnight Kiwi-turn off at different times for different age groups (to cater for Year 5-8 and for Year 9-13).
- How are they going to measure the success?
- Are there limitations as to how much data children can download?
Group Four- What if my netbook gets broken?
- Can we access support to train teacher aides to help children with special needs?
Practical SupportThis session was introduced by Russell Burt, Manaiakalani Project directorPositivesGroup One- Collective responsibility
- One call-point of contact fixes all.
- Easy fix.
- Legal issues sorted.
- No conflicts of interest.
- Kids and Communtiy wins!
- Risk management is openly discussed.
- Better efficiency.
Group Two- Good idea in principle?
- Covering a lot of ground-making life easier.
- Collective agreements.
Group Three- Trust raising funds.
- Systems support-one company knows our needs and requirements.
- Good to have written Memorandum Of Understanding that each partner agrees to.
Group Four- Saving money.
- Saving time and waiting.
ConcernsGroup One- Cost unknown.
- Wait time for repair unknown.
- the “unknown”
Group Three- Current contracts for existing IT systems in individual schools.
Group Four- That the support might not cover everything we need.
- Time frame on repairs.
Group Five- Would like more independant technicians
- technicians to assist teachers-pupils with ongoing problems, technical faults.
- P.D for teachers to keep joints together-costs.
QuestionsGroup Two- Do we keep our current IT fixer server?
- How would the IT jobs be prioritised?
Group Three- How much is it going to cost schools each year?
Group Five- Where do we find a techie who can support the leg at every joint?
Manaiakalani Education TrustThis session was introduced by Pat Sneddon, Manaiakalani Education Trust chairPositivesGroup One- Brilliant team.
- Very organised.
- Passionate and driven.
- Inspirational.
- Very detailed.
- People involved are from the local community/parents.
- Committed and dedicated members involved.
- Have a great heart.
- All about “giving” for the community-at the children’s benefit.
Group Two- Great way to get around MOE restrictions on schools while still being involved.
- “Doing this together”-same netbooks equals more efficiency.
- Long term plan to step back and raise up local people on the trust.
- Done so much for free...thank you.
Group Three- Fortunate to have the trustee’s we have-insiders and ‘outsiders’.
- Collegial relationship.
- Partnership with other organisations.
- Innovative ideas.
Group Four- Thank you! All working together for our tamariki.
Group Five- Excellent job done.
- Willing to assist and teach community.
- Pilot scheme.
ConcernsGroup Three- ‘Professionals’ leaving the trust-time frame too soon?
- Sustainability.
- ‘Push’.
Group Five- Lacking second tier and next trust members.
QuestionsGroup Three- What is the government involvement (going forward)?
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