There is a lot of talk about what is being called Web 2.0 - the change of the internet from a way of disseminating and sharing knowledge to a place for creating knowledge. What implications does this have for learning and teaching?
When was the last time you used an on-line or CD based encyclopedia? Google and other search engines mean we are most often accessing information someone else has constructed, filtered or at least collated - you are reading MY blog now.
We need to teach children to be discerning consumers of information and able to evaluate what they download from the internet for truth, validity, relevance, ethical and moral worth, and so on ( Jamie Mckenzie is one of the many authors offering teachers support in this area).
Net based resources are increasingly a part of our classroom programmes. It is important to give children the skills to both find what they need and make decisions about its worth. A challenge to say the least.

http://nzdsl.co.nz/meter/ is a good meter to check out your ACTUAL connection speed.

What a difference a wireless network can make to a school! Access points are getting increasingly cheap and affordable for schools. ‘Just in time’ learning and ICT access are actively promoted by laptops and wireless networks, particularly when both are working together.
For teachers the ability to quickly and easily access sites and resources from any point in the school is very powerful. Increasing numbers of teachers are planning, assessing and recording completely on their laptops. The mobility and portability wireless networks allow is crucial to this.
Equally crucial is security. Cellphones and PDA’s are often capable of accessing school networks and without good security schools may find themselves with very large internet bills. There have been cases of schools having thousands of dollars in unexpected usage costs!
Wireless networks can also extend to places in schools it is not practical or possible for wired networks to extend. They can be an interim measure for schools with expanding or changing rolls. There is no substitute for the speed of wired networks but ‘wireless’ is certainly a powerful tool for schools empowering staff and children through ICT’s.

I am currently at the Te Waka Eke Noa Conference in Rotorua, which is the maori language ICT conference. There have been a lot of worthwhile workshops and here are some excellent places to start with on-line resources I have found out about:
* www.thm.ac.nz/home.htm
* WickEd on TKI has some good activities in te Reo too.

I will keep adding to this list as I find out about more!

Check out this FREE software!!!
They have an education programme:
“Educator Licenses are available for free to educators who would like to use SketchUp as a part of their curriculum. They are valid for the duration of your course (they expire June 30th of every year), and can be renewed as many times as you like. As with all SketchUp for Education licenses, version upgrades are free.”
Google have recently purchased rights to the software and there is a plug-in for Google Earth so you can add what you produce to Google Earth - how cool is that!

Check out what a motivated 6yr old can do
Thanks for sharing Paul - Facilitator from the Te Papanui Cluster!!

Kath Murdoch, whose Inquiry Model has been adopted, adapted and modified by many schools and ICT PD Clusters as part of their programme/s has been interviewed by the Curriculum Corporation in Australia. This short and simple article gives a good summary of what she considers are the key components of a good Inquiry Unit.
* Focus on big ideas
* Shared purpose and engagement
* gathering information from direct experience …
* learning is purposeful
* etc
A number of reflective questions are posed that are good prompts to think about when planning a quality Inquiry (or I would argue ANY) unit.

Follow this link to a good summary of the Inquiry Approach that includes examples of units, planning, planning formats, ideas, etc. This site is well worth a look and keeping for future reference. The Tasmanian education reforms are following along very similar lines to those in NZ. This site is from the Tasmanian equivalent of our MoE and has good summaries of a lot of things that are useful to inform our developments as well.

This power Point from Lyn Bird (who is the Principal of Alexandra Primary and Project Director for the Alexandra Cluster) also outlines similar themes focusing on Self Regulated Learning.

Howard Pettigrew, the facilitator from the Waimakariri Cluster in North Canterbury has a great site set up with a lot of resources for ICTPD facilitators to use. Take the time to have a browse and look at the things Howard has made/produced.
If anyone else has resources to share please pass on the URL and I will circulate it. There is certainly no point in us all re-inventing the wheel in terms of resources for workshops.
Follow the URL here and it will take you to his site.
http://web.mac.com/redbeard45/iWeb
Howard can be contacted at - howard.pettigrew@xtra.co.nz

Well they’ve done it again. If you want to know about podcasting from kids point of view check out the latest Room 208 VODCAST - a video podcast. Room 208 have been podcasting for a long time and have some quite professional equipment. Flash microphones etc are not necessary to do this in the classroom - Iain Bonney the facilitator from the Hills Cluster in Dunedin tells me SingStar microphones are quite good! (they are USB!)
Some good podcasts made by children include:
Room 5 Pine Hill School - book reviews and other things with their teacher Jane Nicholls who is also the Facilitator for the Tai o Rapuwai Cluster in Dunedin. Jane has her own podcast for teachers called ICTUCan
KPE from Auckland with their teacher Dorothy Burt
Check out the TUANZ Tips mentioned in my earlier blog too

Check out this site for free e-books. Can play on an iPod or PDA. Not nearly as cool to snuggle up in bed with as the ‘old fashioned’ paper model but an interesting, if often obscure catalogue.
http://www.manybooks.net/