Research Reports

• The majority of students who attended the workshops were not previously aware of the WickED resource and repeat use was limited by both students and teachers.

• Generally, the students liked the interactive features, for example, quizzes, wordsearches and crosswords.

• Immediacy was also a high priority for users, students did not want to wait for feedback and preferred the immediate interaction that occurred when using the

• WickED resource. WickED was also used in a variety of ways by teachers, for example, as a reward, as a teacher led resource and for providing opportunities for home and school links.

• Teachers’ perceptions of the site were mainly positive and they stated that they thought the site used a suitable level of language, had an interactive nature and thought that the bright and colourful appearance created a sense of fun.

• Teachers also felt confident that WickED was a trusted site for school use.

• The usefulness of WickED for new pedagogical approaches in the classroom was questioned as teachers considered that it was not always suitable for inquiry-based learning and both teachers and students recommended that better search tools should be incorporated because finding the appropriate materials often proved difficult.

The research demonstrated that there is no ideal solution for organisations wanting to utilise the most appropriate learning management system. For those organisations that want the security of a proprietary solution, are able to work with the constraints of a course based learning management system and can afford the cost of licensing, then Blackboard offers a suitable system. However, the results of this research indicate that Moodle is the most engaging learning management system, has better socialisation features, is more flexible and has no cost. Interact is a locally developed learning management system, which also has socialisation features, however, the small size of its user base brings into question the long-term sustainability of Interact as a learning management system.

• Online professional development needs to be part of an overall professional development strategy for tertiary institutions.

• Online professional communities must cater for a range individual differences and a range of groupings within the community.

• Strong facilitation is essential.

• Effective mentoring is required. Incentives for participants to be involved should be linked with legitimate work-related reasons for participation

• A flexible and adaptive online environment is essential for success.

• The design and core features of the environment should be in place from project inception.

• Students used Studyit website to find out information and ask questions about a range of essential learning areas including Maths, Languages, Science, Arts, Social Studies and Technology.

• Learners were able to utilise the website to assist them with planning and preparation for exams and coursework, for investigating, researching, organising and making sense of their assignments, reflecting and communicating.

• One of the unique features of the Studyit website is not only the involvement of experts and teachers but also the high level of student-to-student interaction that is encouraged to aid learning.

• There was also a high level of social interaction in the forums, which demonstrated a range of observable online social skill development that includes communication, building relationships, empathy and the ability to assist others.

• Studyit provides a valued source of immediate learning for 15-18 year old NCEA students who are actively involved, but there is also likely to be immediate learning value for those students who are registered and who use the site but do not actively participate.

Using virtual worlds as a learning resource was deemed to be highly engaging for learners and offered them the opportunity to practice skills in a situation that was imitating real life but that was not causing any real life risks. There were barriers for the learners, for example, in order to get the most out of the virtual world, it is imperative that the learner is able to control the avatar and manoeuvre around the world, and this takes considerable time to master. Also, the hardware and Internet requirements have to be of a high enough specification in order for Second Life to run at the optimum level. Overall, this innovative project has been a success and has won international awards.

• Teacher participants had a range of different prior training, qualifications, and professional experience. Some had different levels of competence in te reo Maori, some were familiar with the Marautanga o Aotearoa redevelopment, and some knew less about classroom management, curriculum and pedagogy. Teacher diversity and readiness for professional learning are important factors to consider in professional development provision.

• The aim of the project was to raise student engagement and achievement through supporting and changing teacher practice. The participants gained enhanced knowledge of Tikanga-a-iwi, learned about teacher inquiry and action research and developed their critical reflective practice. Progress was made in these areas, but teachers needed more time and opportunity to practice what they had learned.

• There were many challenges with a qualification based professional development programme, such as funding issues, pressure to succeed academically, some people wanted to participate but not have to do formal qualifications and others appreciated the opportunity to combine professional development with upgrading their qualifications.

• There were some inconsistencies of expectations, which meant that the roles and responsibilities of the participants were not always clear. The full report indicates that many teachers did not have the expertise required, access to computers at home, or time to engage in online community learning, and preferred face-to-face contact to develop stronger whanaungatanga.

• Teachers developed their understanding of how to turn learning intentions into positive learning experiences for students. They made connections between pedagogical knowledge and their subject knowledge and their subject content knowledge. This enabled them to develop students’ knowledge, understandings and social inquiry skills. Teachers were also better able to transfer effective pedagogical approaches developed through their inquiry in tikanga-a-iwi to other learning areas.

When specifically asked about the similarities and differences between pre-service teacher educators’ and in-service teacher educators’ jobs and functions, both groups highlighted a broadly similar range of similarities and differences. Both groups tended to describe and compare their jobs in terms of teacher education as practical activity, organisation and as content or knowledge, espcially when discussing their similarities. They talked about both groups having a common knowledge base, and especially the need to have expertise and knowledge about pedagogy and the curriculum as elements of both jobs. When discussing the differences there was consensus about what those differences might be, but also a tendency to see such differences  in the mechanical, organisational and structural aspects of the job, or the functional accountabilities involved rather than in the fundamental nature of the relationship between teacher educator and learner.

The broad conclusion drawn from the analysis of the two groups of teacher educators’ comments on the similarities and differences was that they had very similar visions of what they would like their roles, practices, prioritiies, mentoring/pedagogical ‘styles’ and relationships with their teacher-learners ideally to be, but that quite different sets of institutional and professional ‘culture’ enablers and constraints operated on those roles, practices, pedagogies, priorities and relationships. They were basically doing the same job, and holding similar values and philosophies, but in different organisational and operational contexts.

CORE Education worked with Canterbury Pasifika Ltd to develop and implement a Pacific ICT audit that informed a Canterbury Pasifika strategy, the results of which helped to establish a multilingual Pasifika Community eLearning centre. Training providers were brought in and culturally relevant ICT training programmes were developed and delivered in community languages to 100 members of the Pasifika community. The development of online website communities were created as a communication tool to keep the Pasifika community informed both locally and globally. The project also sought to meet the needs of Pasifika business and community organisations by making the centre available for them to hold meetings and giving them access to broadband Internet.

The external evaluation and review focuses on

• The valued outcomes at various levels – learner, employer, regional, community

• The extent to which stakeholder needs are systematically determined and effectively addressed

• The quality of the organisation’s self-assessment processes and results

• The extent to which stakeholder outcomes, including value-added, are analysed honestly and transparently and are used to inform future programme design and delivery

• A robust identification of the tertiary organisation’s strengths and weaknesses and an expectation that changes are being made in the interests of enhanced learner achievement

The external evaluation is a periodic process designed to support the tertiary education organisation in their self-assessment process in order to drive continuous improvement and performance.