Manaiakalani Research: 2008 - 2010

Colleen Gleeson from "The Learning Edge" has released the eagerly awaited report from her research into the Manaiakalani Project.  The focus question was  "What is the impact of the Manaiakalani Project on literacy teaching and learning?"  She has been gathering data from students, lead teachers, principals and parents over three years, 2008-2010.  She has released interim reports at the end of each year which can be accessed here.  Her final report is available here.

The Project definitely provided a motivation for writing, an improvement in audience awareness and purpose and in presentation skills. Other school interventions also had an impact on literacy achievement; however the Project has provided a purpose and enthusiasm for literacy.

The students of Manaiakalani were provided with a “hook” (e-learning outcomes published in on-line spaces) which gave these decile 1 students a voice to be heard globally. Subsequently, participating in the Manaiakalani Project enhanced their literacy, engagement, oral language and presentation.

With the advent of netbooks in 2011, schools are starting on a new and innovative initiative that, with careful planning and implementation and adequate support and funding, could be the key to 21st century education in New Zealand.

This gives us a lot of confidence in our pedagogical foundation as we move into Phase 2:  The Manaiakalani Project provides 1:1 digital learning opportunities for all students in years 5-13, rolling out across 7 Decile 1a schools in 2011/2012.

Swimming Technology - WaterSafe Pools2Schools

"If schools can't get their students to a pool, why not bring the pool to the school?

It sounds far-fetched, but that's exactly what WaterSafe Pools2Schools programme is doing in Auckland..."

Pt England School has never had a swimming pool and providing water safety lessons for the 600+ students has become increasingly difficult as the local swimming pool, a short walk across the field, has intensified the barriers: regular price hikes, making access very difficult (ever tried taking 60 kids for swimming lessons in ONE lane -while the other lanes have at most 1-4 members of the public doing lengths in them?), and a general attitude of intolerance to the local children sullying their waters. It became so difficult that a group of children invited the Mayor of Auckland to school in 2010 to present to him their concerns about why they were unable to access their local swimming pool.

So it was a wonderful bonus when Watersafe Auckland decided to bring their pool - and all the associated paraphenalia - to the school and put it down on the netball court! And as an added bonus it also came with WaterSafe Auckland's aquatic education facilitator Chris Burton, who taught the students and the teachers.

Check out the video below to get an idea about it, and this article in the Sunday Star Times. And more from the kids themselves about it below....

Swimming Pool from KPE TV on Vimeo.

The students LOVED the whole concept and blogged endlessly about it:
Chante;
On Friday after school the hard courts were empty but on Monday it was a different story.
When I came to school a pool had magically appeared. I went to go see how big it was but there was a big bunch of kids doing something so I went to see what all the commotion was about. It was just people admiring the school pool...
Dante;
We all had life jackets to put on. Some of them were a tight fit and some of them fitted snugly. When I put on my life jacket I was shivering and shuddering.
Lola;
Eagerly waiting outside the pool, we all had to put on a life jacket. It was damp and clammy because it was wet.
Turuhira;
I wish we could still have the swimming pool so we don’t need to walk down to the public pool near our School.
Teresa;
Chris is from Water Safety NZ, he is very kind. Chris teaches the whole school about safety, one of the safety rules is to float on your back and don't panic.
Brooklyn;
As I hopped into the pool my teeth started to chatter like beaver gnawing at wood. After a while I got used to it and and the chatter of my teeth started to die down.

Food Technology

Holidays at the beach, and this year we are enjoying a faster internet connection than many New Zealanders experience in the city. We are making the most of the fibre rollout around the Coromandel and are catching up on all kinds of recreational web surfing that got put aside in the busyness of the year just gone.

We discovered one piece of technology that made us laugh when we walked down the beach to Luke's Kitchen for dinner.  Luke has been enterprising and has started up a pizza place out of a caravan and a lean-to he built that kinda reminds us of eateries in Phuket.  He says he built it himself using bamboo out of the bush behind (it is at the foot of the Black Jack Hill). He also has live music provided by friends playing in the garage alongside. The pizzas are fabulous and the million dollar view over the Bay makes it a great night out.

After placing our order over the counter in the caravan, the waitress attached the Post-it to a pully and whisked it outside to the oven.  I pulled out my iPhone to grab a few photos and put together this movie.

I have been experimenting with a fun piece of movie making software from Aquafadas called "KidsMotion". These guys keep rolling out cool apps that are must haves for schools.

2010 - Young Ambassadors

During 2010 a group of Year 6 students from Pt England School have acted as ambassadors not only for the school but on behalf of the Manaiakalani project.  They auditioned for the role in February and developed their own presentations which they have since shared with visitors from around the country and overseas. Some of the groups have been large, some have included folk like Cabinet Ministers, and some have been interested classroom teachers.  Regardless of who the audience was (and what these kids were missing out on -  from Maths to Art to Swimming!) these ten year olds gave more than 100% to the task of sharing how they learn with others.

Housing Minister Phil Heatley chatting with the children after they have presented to him.

Many people have asked if they could have a video of the student presentations, so as the year ends I am publishing links to them.  I am not embedding them in this post. You will need to follow the links to each of their blogs - and leave them some feedback :)

Angela: What is eLearning?

Selena: Television and other screens

Toreka: Blogging

Ala: Graphic Art

Seini-Mino: Podcasting with KPE

Mubasshira: Google Apps

Erene: Video Conferencing

Aidan -Multimedia Technician 

Wireless Solution

Sometimes you see something that makes you smile and you just have to pull up, hold up the traffic on the round-about and take a photo.

This was one of those times - driving past Tamaki College and I saw the big aerial going up on the roof for the wireless connection to Pt England School.  For someone like me, who needs to see something to believe it, this was a big moment.  Yes, this wireless connection between our schools is really happening. Thanks to the team from Fusion Networks.  This is a big project they are giving their time and energy to.

So I went round the round-about again and got myself into position to take my pics - and because this is Glen Innes, the traffic just waited :)  The next visible sign of progress is seeing the network pop up on my mobile devices as I drive around the district - and No, I am not about to reveal the password! But TLN is the Tamaki Learning Network...