Last meeting and Next Meeting

I can't believe how fast this term is going. My apologies for not getting on this blog sooner.

We had a fantastic meeting at Papatoetoe South on 16 February. Thanks Mark, for your inspiring talk on 21st Century classrooms, and Greg, for putting together an awesome presentation of some of the things happening at Papatoetoe South School.

The following notes were taken by Megan from Puhinui:

South Auckland ICT Cluster Meeting – 16/02/12

The need to create exciting learning spaces – inviting 21st Century spaces (conversation pits, lofts, cushions, quiet areas, ‘caves & watering-holes’)

· What do we want to explore as a group this year? Ways of using ICT to extend deeper thinking; further guest speakers (could be education or product); sharing how software, apps, tools etc are being used in schools; ‘smackdown’ (2 min sharing of predetermined ideas); create a list of blogs, twitter names, wikis, skype names etc, for opening up different ways of sharing information, experiences, and thinking.

. An increasing number of schools are using different LMS formats to support student learning, including: Moodle; Google docs; Knowledge net; Ultranet; blogs; wikis.

· Explore goal setting (in blog format), no matter how small. southacklandelearning.blogspot.co.nz

· Quad blogging (quadblogging.net). Schools are connected with three other schools in the world to explore learning.

· Congratulations to Rachel from Waiuku on her Core eFellowship. She will be exploring ICT and behaviour.

· Ministry has paid for the Lion upgrade. See Yoobee (Renaissance) and remember to fight for it free of cost (contract is only for 3 more months).

· Next meeting: Term 1, week 8;,Thursday 22nd March at St Joseph’s in Otahuhu.

So, everyone, come along to our next meeting - be part of the ICT revolution in South Auckland. Your ideas, your enthusiasm, your experimenting, your discoveries, and your refusal to get bogged down by the SYSTEM - will prevail!

Our group is like a living, breathing organism - it's starting to take on a life of its own, but it's only as strong as the enthusiasm of each member. Go for it!

Cheers

Steve