Modern learning environments vs the old. Exciting.
Last week I was fortunate to have the opportunity to visit three Auckland schools as part of the Big River Learning and Change Network. This was my first chance to see what a modern teaching environment looks and feels like; my school was built in the 1920s and subsequent expansions strongly reflect the time periods they are built in, so the flowing open plans were quite a contrast.
I like to challenge myself with my teaching. I take ideas from Twitter, Pinterest and (perhaps) more serious sources and try to use these in my classes as I can. However, the timetable and curriculum approach that Hobsonville Point Secondary School utilises is far beyond what I envisaged for my classroom. This is undoubtedly because any changes I make to my classroom practice is realistically confined to this space, whereas HPSS has been built through new teaching theories and practices and there is a whole school philosophy. The challenge that I (and my school) face is taking the 21st ideas used by schools such as this and applying them to an established institution.
A key part of this will of course be the movement towards BYOD. Our ICT committee met this week to discuss the implementation process, but we must make sure that our visions match that of our senior leadership team. While our school is endeavouring to have a shared vision where teachers and leadership work together to make changes to our teaching and learning environment, we still struggle with some disconnect between the two. This means that we have must have more open dialogue.
At this stage we are planning of introducing BYOD to Year 9 students, but the exact nature of this needs to be agreed upon, parents surveyed and informed and teachers trained. PD will obviously be a big part of this. As a leader of a PLG (Professional Learning Group) which is focusing on the use of ICT in the classroom (frankly a rather difficult task given that we don't actually have ICT in our classrooms!), I am naturally keen to be part of the process but it is possible that I'll be cheering from the sidelines. I wait to see.
Regardless, this is capital e Exciting. My school is embracing change and I am a part of it.
I like to challenge myself with my teaching. I take ideas from Twitter, Pinterest and (perhaps) more serious sources and try to use these in my classes as I can. However, the timetable and curriculum approach that Hobsonville Point Secondary School utilises is far beyond what I envisaged for my classroom. This is undoubtedly because any changes I make to my classroom practice is realistically confined to this space, whereas HPSS has been built through new teaching theories and practices and there is a whole school philosophy. The challenge that I (and my school) face is taking the 21st ideas used by schools such as this and applying them to an established institution.
A key part of this will of course be the movement towards BYOD. Our ICT committee met this week to discuss the implementation process, but we must make sure that our visions match that of our senior leadership team. While our school is endeavouring to have a shared vision where teachers and leadership work together to make changes to our teaching and learning environment, we still struggle with some disconnect between the two. This means that we have must have more open dialogue.
At this stage we are planning of introducing BYOD to Year 9 students, but the exact nature of this needs to be agreed upon, parents surveyed and informed and teachers trained. PD will obviously be a big part of this. As a leader of a PLG (Professional Learning Group) which is focusing on the use of ICT in the classroom (frankly a rather difficult task given that we don't actually have ICT in our classrooms!), I am naturally keen to be part of the process but it is possible that I'll be cheering from the sidelines. I wait to see.
Regardless, this is capital e Exciting. My school is embracing change and I am a part of it.
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