Ask the Connected Learning Advisory

Workshops for teachers and leaders

In 2017 the advisory is offering opportunities for school leaders, leaders of digital technologies, and teachers to come together and explore effective ways to manage and plan how your school or Community of Learning uses digital technologies for learning.

The workshops will support teachers to:

• Explore ways to use technology to bring your vision for learning to life
• Model forms of professional learning
• Make connections across local schools through clusters, networks, and sharing stories
• Gain a clear, pragmatic sense of next steps in your own context
• Access the Connected Learning Advisory (CLA) as a critical friend through regional advisor support and online community spaces.

The workshops are free of charge and will be held across the country. We aim to hold these workshops in local schools and are always keen to hear from schools who are willing to host us.

The advisory has developed two models for workshops:

Workshop model 1

These are whole day workshops in a central location covering a broad range of topics. In the morning a team of CLA advisors facilitate a number of breakout sessions for school leaders and teachers within the context of digital technologies for learning. The afternoon session allows an opportunity for participants to build on the morning session through further facilitated planning and reflection.

The host school benefits from a personalised professional development session the afternoon directly preceding the day. The local CLA Advisor liaises closely with the school principal or eLearning leader to put together a workshop that the school will find beneficial and is tailored to their specific needs.

The first of these professional learning and development days will be held on 14 March at Papatoetoe Intermediate School, Auckland, and 16 March at Tauranga Boys’ College, Tauranga.

The themes of collaboration, agency and inclusiveness will be woven throughout workshops which will explore:

• Digital literacy, fluency and citizenship
• Designing blended learning experiences
• Leading eLearning and shifting thinking.
• Registrations are open now for the Auckland and Tauranga workshops, and can be accessed here:
• Auckland(external link) 
• Tauranga(external link) 

These will be followed by workshops on 9 May at Paraparaumu College, Kāpiti Coast, and 11 May at St Catherine’s College, Wellington. If you would like to register your interest in attending, please do so here(external link)

Workshop model 2

These are half day workshops for smaller groups working with local CLA advisors on a single key topic. The topics for these workshops have been chosen in response to queries from schools, kura, and Communities of Learning.

Venues for these workshops are being finalised but the topics and dates are listed below. 

We will contact you when venues have been confirmed.

Term 2 weeks 7 & 8: strategic thinking workshops

These will be held countrywide during 12 and 22 June. They follow up on the very successful workshops held in term 4, 2016. In the morning participants will be introduced to the Strategic Thinking Roadmap.

(external link)The afternoon sessions will be for educators who attended in 2016 and now wish to unpack the eight planning strands.

The aim is to:

• Dig more deeply into the roadmap resources
• Develop greater understanding of the reflective questions and the eight strands
• Tease out goals and actions within the school’s own context.

Term 3 weeks 2–5: support for Communities of Learning

These will be held countrywide from 31 July and will aim to provide support for Communities of Learning as you start to appoint middle leaders. Content will be finalised as we liaise with Communities of Learning and hear about the issues you are facing.

Term 4 weeks 4 & 5: digital technology and senior secondary curriculum

These will be held countrywide between 6 and 19 November. They are aimed at secondary schools and will explore the use of digital technology to enhance learning throughout the secondary curriculum. As with all our workshops, content will respond to what is top of mind for secondary school teachers and leaders.

Contact the CLA

The Connected Learning Advisory is supporting hundreds of schools, and now also Communities of Learning, as they make strategic decisions related to learning with digital technologies.

If you have a query about integrating technology with teaching and learning, or you want to suggest a topic for this column, contact the Connected Learning Advisory on:

Phone: 0800 700 400
Online form: TKI website(external link) or the CLA website(external link)  

The Ministry of Education’s Connected Learning Advisory is managed by CORE Education.