Today I was lucky to be able to spend some time in school, but not my own school. Today I travelled and had the opportunity to visit with Tauriko and Tahatai coast schools in the lovely Bay of Plenty. What fantastic welcomes we had. The purpose of our trip today was to look into next steps for our own schools e-learning journey, and these schools didn't fail in providing us with inspiration and ideas to ponder moving forward.
We saw versions of BYOD working at various class levels from year 3 to year 8, we saw paid in digital 1-1 classes, and open BYOD classes, we heard children explain why BYOD helped their learning, and we experienced a variety of e-learning in action. Fabulous.
My takeaways...
- the problem of the haves and have nots is always lessened by more devises in the school, regardless of paid in, or BYOD systems, more devises just means more access for all.
- children take much more pride in their own devices
- children didn't seemed phased over whether they were writing in their books or doing a computer task, and interchanged between these two things easily.
- having a bank of similar creation tools meant children gained higher output rates due to familiarity with the tool.
- digital/ e-learning/ computer classes, they all still use books. Children often choose whether to write digitally or on paper, or this can be balanced by the teacher alternating.
- the focus is always on what we are learning, and will the tool support or extend this learning or not.
- the focus is on students choosing when to use digital tools, blended with some tasks created to increase particular skill sets needed.
- google apps for education has great potential.
- google sites an option for e-portfolios.
My wonderings...
- Am I becoming more convinced of the 1-1 model and its potential?
- Could charging our children be an option at our school? Would it increase the importance of e-learning in the school?
- How is our school insuring staff are all moving own their journeys? See Taurikos teacher e-competences.
- Am I now more convinced that BYOD could be an option for me next year?
Where is your school in its e-learning journey?
Are you on a BYOD path?
How does you school do it?
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