Ask the Connected Learning Advisory

Connected Learning Advisory events

Making the best use of your student data

The Connected Learning Advisory – Te Ara Whītiki is running a series of half-day workshops throughout Term 2 covering best practice for student data and student management systems (SMS).

The workshops are free of charge, and are being held at venues across the country. They are not intended as a substitute for SMS training from your product vendor and are not looking at particular SMS platforms. Instead, the workshops provide a broader framework of ideas to help you make the most of your chosen SMS.

The workshops will include:

• an overview of the SMS and its central role in any educational setting
• planning and data management to give confidence in your understanding and analysis of data
• using data to support teachers, learners and whānau towards better outcomes.

Facilitators will support you to unpack and review your current practices, and consider new opportunities to harness the full capability of your SMS.

For more information and to register for the workshops go to the Ministry Of Education website's events page(external link)

A guide has been produced to support the workshops which you can find at: TKI website(external link)

Online resources

The Connected Learning Advisory produces a number of resources including webinars and online guides. These resources are focused on key trends arising in the use of digital technologies in schools and kura. The online guides are published on the CLA website(external link) and the webinars are advertised in the CLA VLN group(external link)

A series of decision-making and ‘how-to’ guides covering a wide range of topics can be viewed on the resources page(external link) of the CLA website

In-depth guides that have been published so far include:

• Using social media to connect with your community: Social media(external link)
  This guide offers schools starting points to support planning for, and getting started, using social media with their communities.
• Planning for and managing 1:1 digital devices in your school: BYOD(external link)
  This guide offers schools starting points and a brief roadmap to support planning for, and managing, a 1:1 digital programme.
• The strategic thinking roadmap: CLA roadmap(external link) 
  This guide is designed to help your leadership team implement a strategic direction that ensures technologies are integrated into a schoolwide drive for effective teaching and learning.

The following webinars are coming up in Term 2.

• The strategic thinking roadmap: Thursday 9 June 3.45–4.45 pm 
  In this webinar CLA advisors Charles Newton and Viv Hall will take you through and unpack the online guide and the many resources it contains. There will be opportunity for questions about the guide to be asked and answered. Register at the CLA VLN group(external link)
• Building digital connections with your community: Wednesday 29 June 3.45–4.45pm.
  In this webinar CLA advisors Renee Raroa, Viv Hall and panelists will explore a rationale for using digital media to connect with your community, give opportunities to explore and discuss models of how schools are communicating positively with their community, and identify ways to support your staff, students and community to explore the role of digital technologies in their daily lives. Register at the CLA VLN website(external link)

All the webinars are recorded and made available in the CLA VLN group(external link)

Contact the CLA

The Ministry’s 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 CLA website(external link)

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