Ask the Connected Learning Advisory

Issue: Volume 96, Number 11

Posted: 26 June 2017
Reference #: 1H9dLD

The Ministry of Education’s Connected Learning Advisory – Te Ara Whītiki is committed to supporting schools and communities as they plan for, manage, and use digital technologies for learning. This month we invite you to think about how you use both standard and assistive technologies to support your students.

Using technology to support success for all students

The Connected Learning Advisory team can support schools to make the best use of digital technologies to meet the needs of a wide range of learners.

While technology is not a cure-all, it can transform learning for some students by making learning materials accessible and useable, by giving students a voice, and by offering curriculum materials in a range of engaging formats. We want you to know that the Connected Learning Advisory can help support you to make the most of both standard and assistive technologies in your work with these, and all, students.

For example, our team has provided advice on using digital technologies within schools to cater for students with reading and writing difficulties (including dyslexia); engaging students who are isolated or have difficulty communicating with their peers; and using a range of assistive technologies to support and include students.

Our regional advisers can also work in collaboration with Ministry of Education assistive technology coordinators and teachers to help identify the best use of technology to meet specific student learning needs.

Some technologies that you can ask the Connected Learning Advisory about include:

  • video modelling – this well-researched technique has been effective in supporting learning and behaviour change for students, including those with autism spectrum disorders
  • text to speech tools – these read text aloud and, as they are free across all operating systems, can provide immediate support for students who want to access text above their current reading age (including those who have dyslexia)
  • voice typing – for years we have struggled with speech recognition programs that needed hours of training and did not work very effectively. Recent progress with these tools, including free options in all operating systems, has meant the technology is finally beginning to come into its own
  • acoustic options – these include sound fields which schools are investigating as part of their move to innovative or shared learning environments.


The Connected Learning Advisory can help schools to identify the right technology to support an individual or a group of students. We invite you to lodge a query with us to find out more about how we can help you to use technology to support learning for all.

Visit the Connected Learning Advisory online

Our web presence on Te Kete Ipurangi (TKI) has been refreshed, and we invite you to visit the site () to lodge a query, meet your local adviser, help yourself to one of our many free resources, to register for an upcoming free professional learning event, or even to learn more about what we do and how we help schools and kura for free right across Aotearoa New Zealand. See you online!

Contact the connected learning advisory

The Connected Learning Advisory is supporting hundreds of schools, kura, and now also Communities of Learning | Kāhui Ako, 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:

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

BY Education Gazette editors
Education Gazette | Tukutuku Kōrero, reporter@edgazette.govt.nz

Posted: 10:00 am, 26 June 2017

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