The first meeting of the Paerangi cluster was hosted at Turakina Maori Girls College today with representatives from Hato Petera, Hukarere, Te Aute, Hato Paora and of course, Turakina! Various guest speakers were on hand to demonstrate Smart boards, Mimio, LearnNow, The Virtual Learning Network and Aiscorp.
While some teachers appeared to suffer a little from information overload, the enthusiasm soon began to sink in as "real world" situations were demonstrated.
We also heard from the Lead Teachers that attended the Rotorua Conference (Terri never fails to bring a smile to our dial!) and the general message that came out was that our kids have the technology - but where is it going?
We heard that even our year 13 students don't know some of what the year 9 ones do. So it is up to us to embrace the technology and do the best we can.
Our learning management system, MindSpring, was demonstrated by cluster facilitator Angela and I'm sure everyone could instantly see what a huge benefit this will be. While we ran out of time to see the full benefits, most are encouraged and excited by the thought of using this for the first time.
Information Overload?
Don't panic! Keep in touch with your colleagues and never be afraid to ask!
If there is anything you are unsure about, you can bet someone else is feeling the same way!
All in all, the hui was a success and no doubt, everyone has gone home with a new vigour and mindset of the challenges to come....
Kia kaha!
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We have made it through our first hui. What a positive and energetic day we had. The teacher participants, lead teachers and principals all took everything that was on offer. It is a pleasure to be leading such an enthusiastic group of professionals. As Simon as outlined, we had a very full day. It is a pity we didn't get around to giving teachers the chance to experience an online learning environment, but it seems everyone is excited by the ideas that were presented.
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