Nano Presentation!

Upon leaving #Ignition13 Sonya (@vanschaijik) asked if I would give a three minute (nano) presentation at the first #teachMeetNZ that she is courageously (and effectively!) lifting off the ground.
This is happening Saturday 4th May at 2pm! 
It will be via Google Hangout and will stream live.
Sonya got a range of teachers say they d give it a go just like that! (Compare this with what it takes to get to agree on a date and time to meet with some colleagues...)
 
And I said I would join in. 

I am not too worried about the tools, I have used HangOut and screenshare quite a lot (especially since Skype removed screensharing), and right now it looks that the format of TeachMeet requires that I send the moderator (Sonya) my 12 slides spaced with 15" in between. Total time presenting is 3 minutes. That is the scary bit.

Thought I would talk ePortfolio why not? Although I toyed with an idea around Intercultural Competence (maybe another time LOL!)
And that got me to trial the text to speech SlideSpeech. The developer John (@slidespeech)  was showing its capabilities at #Ignition.
I remain unconvinced about the mechanical voice and the intonations. Maybe better than the French accent though. (Edit: I have now chosen to do a voice over version though!)  On the plus side the synthetic voice will deter from focus on content: getting a point across in 3 min flat is a big ask, and I am unsure that what I am saying is either clear or convincing. Having said that I will actually be presenting on the day. If you want to watch, it will stream live from here. There are some cool people lined up.

Anyhow, here is my first ever 3 min worth. I will really welcome feedback my critical friend!

                   You Teach You Learn - ePortfolio approach  

May 4th:
#teachmeet took place and it was a great experience!
Very good presentations indeed! Worth checking out here and more about the presenters on the wiki
Due to last second "stage fright" I pressed on the wrong button and my slides did not display properly. Luckily I was stopped midflow and could readjust! When you show something on Hangout you dont actually see as the other participants. Yet did not capture well on the clip... La prochaine fois!
So here is what I actually presented. Hover over the little cog option tool (bottom left) to bring up speaker's notes):

Day 3 #Ignition13

I went to Ignition13 with a couple of things in mind and came back with many more... Since I have been thinking about it all day,  I called this post Day 3!

Here is what I wanted to find out about:
-  What does a two day unconference look like? I wanted to experience how the succession of time slots complement each other. My only prior experience was with attending some Educamps and with running a immersed FrenchCamp last year.
-  How are teachers accessing PLD in their schools? What if it has not been "planned for?" Some of the participants paid their own registration, others came as a school team but all came to share something with others beyond their school and all recognised that there is something to learn from one another. What are some models of "in house" PD? Thought to hang on to #1
- Is eportfolio part of the landscape, if so to what extent and how? I got asked about MyPortfolio beyond Dec. 2013 which I can't answer because I don't know and it is frustrating, but I am better off thinking happy thoughts. There was evidence of use by teachers, there was talk that it is too much for primary, there were also concerns that despite building the eportfolio in primary it was never looked at by the next teacher at Intermediate. There is a need for more eportfolio information. What is going to change the game here? Thought to hang on to #2
- I set out to feel very humbled as I expected to mix with a wide range of people "who are doing it" "who are walking the talk" and "sticking their necks out". I was right to be prepared and I hope not too many noticed my jaw drop at their awesomeness. I had not thought though that the format and above all the people would make this such an inclusive event. And such a provocative one. Phew and thought to hang on to #3

SO this is where it gets very messy!

                                       Thanks @NatashaLowNZ  for the reading me so well!
Some general observations:
Emerging Leaders at #ignition13 are self directed learners. The conversations are about Teaching and Learning. Period. We are not exchanging resources here: this is big picture stuff.
All have a network outside of their schools, some outside of the country, ideas they share willingly, warts (very few...) and all,  use social media to connect with others, read extensively, lean on research and best practice, tend to substantiate what they talk about, use ICT naturally, don't think in terms of eLearning as it is before anything Learning, want to learn and use Te Reo more and have an awareness that Culture is in Language and that Language is in Culture. Many present a side of themselves through Ignite talks and this adds to the respect and warmth and support.
The following words are used not because they sound clever simply because they are internalised, (maybe to various degrees but still no need to "unpack"!): Student centred Pedagogy, Assessment for Learning, Key competencies, Teaching as Inquiry, Student Voice, Co construction, NZC Vision and Principles, Te Tataiako.
NCEA is recognised for what it is: an opportunity to evaluate in this very context. Rapport with families and communities around their schools is built and taken into consideration in their work.

All participants' are encouraged to share Ignition13 experience beyond and across so spread ideas further and beat the echo chamber effect, to find "your way to change the world". Tall order for this isolated disinstutionalised cookie but I ll give it a shot here and there to start with.

About thought #1: 
- do Professional Learning Programmes and PLD providers (Universities?) build self direction in their programmes? What tools can they use?  Te Kotahitanga as an excellent model is caned for "costing too much?" What next? Rethink PLD all together?
- is the gathering of evidence of professional learning occurring systematically towards the key indicators of the Registered Teacher Criteria? (Could be collected from evidence gathered over Teacher as Inquiry and tagged according to the RTC?)
- do teachers actually get any "mastery" and "autonomy" to support their professional lives (one of those big "badaboom" questions that did not get answered!) Am I right to think the following happens: school principals align the school goals to the Ministry Goals, state them in their Charter, then Faculty/Departments/Learning Areas state goals in line with these goals and same for teachers who them make these Professional Goals their appraisal goals? Is this allowing for mastery and autonony? Why not?
About thought #2:
- What is the core purpose of ePortfolio? To film the learning occurring over time. A conversation I have re centers the core business of an ePortfolio: think Assessment for Learning, Co Construction, Student Voice. It makes learning visible, amplifies learning, connects learning, shares learning. That should be my pitch if I wish to continue investigating how I can make myself useful in the support of the adoption of the eportfolio approach in NZ schools. I need to bring this to the fore more prominently and convincingly: this is Why. And this is the reason why workshop PD does not work, because this needs discovery and conversations over time. I need to read and research more in this area in particular if I intend the "change the world" there!!  And ought to use an inquiry cycle too. I know that ePortfolio will support the students' learning and the teachers' professional learning. 
About thought #3:
-  A series of sessions I attended complemented each other. The first piece of the puzzle was facilitated by a secondary teacher inviting to discuss Student's Voice and Co Construction and where we where at with that.

There was mention of knowing the students before the planning and using the rigor of the Teaching as Inquiry for the Planning, of the importance of knowing the NZC backwards to frame the action, to engage deeply with the Assessment objectives and all documents, to survey to co construct not as tokenism, to find a common language between students and teachers in order to allow for that. ( I think now too about the Key Competencies as indicators and to "trust the process" as urged by Guy Claxton for positive students outcomes in formal assessment). The contributions, ideas, practice shared flowed very well. 

Then one question arose "What about co constructing between teachers?" Some practitioners in the room have experienced collaborative teaching, some are in schools where it is the practice. Some are not. Some are doing change on their own, no matter what/who gets in the way, for the good of their students and to be true to their pedagogical beliefs.

                            "Knowledge emerges when people take uncertain action"

Then boom! Another torpedo of a question: How to co construct change in schools? followed by "What decade is your school at?" to start debunking. Another session that attracted another fair few, yet did not quite flow so well: end of day 2-itis maybe? Maybe simply because those are hard out questions. While other conversations had revolved around familiar (to a certain extent) themes, this one felt left field. It stuck around appraisal (box ticking appraisal?) and a tad of management bashing. Hard questions, little time to investigate together to assess if yes or no there is the freedom to do just that: change the lot. Would be a great question to explore with Design Thinking the NoTosh way. I think that more time and a bit of structure would have lead to a more satisfactory outcome. Or maybe it would be something for a World Café event?

And I have been thinking about this all day!
If schools were stripped down naked what would be the bare essentials to create an environment where each child succeeds and is equipped for his/her life ahead?

What if collaboration forever replaced competition?

If the teacher facilitates learning for the students by empowering them to own their learning, what if  the principal applies the same principles to empower teachers to own their the professional learning? (Helen Timperley's 10 Principles of Active Leadership)

And what if the Key Indicators of the Registered Teacher Criteria and Teachers' Council really were used as they are intended?

Twitter today led me to The Essence of School Leadership for the 21st C : it looks that this Principal is co-creating a culture of change by utilising the powerful, creative, daring bare essentials NZ schools have at their disposal.

Needless to say all this thinking is contributing to change my way of being in this world ;-), through raising my awareness of some really deep issues and inviting me to further my understanding of Assessment for Learning in particular. Still at cross roads, but not stuck in the mud!

#ignition13

I marvel at what happens when 80+ teachers get together during the holiday for some self directed learning. This is now happening now at Ignition13
I admire the commonality:
All deeply care for their students' learning. All deeply care that the students own their own learning.
The participants embody change as it is enabled through NZC, effective pedagogy, aligned NCEA standards, natural use of ICTs...
All are practitioners that are effecting change.
I am in owe of the sharing of ideas taking place.
I appreciate the mix of primary and secondary teachers exchanging.
All talk thinking, talk inquiry, talk modern learning environments, talk evidence of learning, talk assessment for learning, talk mindsets and mindfulness.
All prepare clever, crafted and convincing Ignite talks on subjects as diverse as "flipped Library", "Music as alchemy", "Mindfulness", "Exploration", "Call of Duty", "Overcoming stigmas"... (I ll edit here to link to them when they are posted).
All are change agents because this is what they want to model to their students to enable them to be change agent themselves.
I appreciate the goodness of what is shared and learned as it will keep on giving as it will be in turned shared to those not present.

I respect that all are prepared to stick their neck out, have their views challenged, stumble and start again.
I have all to learn from this ever growing group of emerging leaders: their risk taking, their clarity of purpose, their drive, their confidence in their role, their enthusiasm.

All today embody this culture of "working together to make things better for all". How long before this mindset is mainstream in NZ schools? 

Next steps?

Professionally and personally, I have benefited hugely from teaching and learning with MyPortfolio. I have developed new skills, discovered a newly found self motivation through working with hundreds of teachers and kept in contact with quite a few, received hundreds of messages indicating interest, necessity, questions arising, support needed, often carrying a heartfelt message of thanks, engaged in conversation in my replies. The teachers I met briefly at Taster sessions like the ones I met at workshops just saw something that talked to them, that made visible much of what they had been trying to do, that gave the NZC a form to visualise.

What I don't know is: has what all these teachers I have met learnt that day made a difference to them and above all to their students?
I know the punctual workshop model is NOT the model that makes any difference. But that is what was made available and it served a purpose: to gain awareness of MyPortfolio existence, to start a conversation about eportfolio, to plant a seed. Relying on the growth of the community of users to support one another from within for the long term was a good idea but like any good idea it would need stronger scaffolding to eventuate fully, as MyPortfolio is not learning to use a tool, it is enabling learning to learn with a focus on the future.

MoE laments that while there is plenty of users and groups there is not a lot of activity.  All change especially of this scale takes time, and a lot of time. Using MyPortfolio is not using a tool: it is using a suite of functions which complement each other and replicate a learning environment. A learning environment as complexities, intricacies born from the relationships within, must be flexible, inviting and expandable, needs to welcome the learner so that s/he wants to be in there, in a safe, supportive space where s/he can be on his own when wanted or within a community. MyPortfolio allows for that.
Regular log in in MyPortfolio to look at  the latest (public or shared) pages show students and teachers alike in a range of schools using it: sometimes it's entry level, sometime it's more advanced stuff, sometimes it is the same users, sometime it is new ones. Big users report the transformative changes MyPortfolio has brought about in their practice. Big users also report that short of MyPortfolio being championed by at least one user and this(these) champion(s) being supported by a leader and a clear strategy there is little change at institution level. Hence little activity.

With thousands of schools and accounts registered on MyPortfolio, ongoing interest in getting started, in implementing, with no more taster sessions and with community support limited to developments, with the MoE committted to maintain MyPortfolio till December 2013, what to do?

Facts:
- I am isolated: with no institutional identity, no team or colleague in the same boat to build on what has been acquired together, no visibility passed Dec 2013, it is all the harder to make a sustainable plan.
- My name is linked to MyPortfolio and people stop there: the "tool". As in "Pascale knows how to use the tool".  Pascale knows why to use the tool is the reality.
- I am now able to articulate the Why? of eportfolio and the How? MyPortfolio is one way to achieve this.
- I see the ePortfolio approach gaining traction worldwide, as showing mastery of skills (e.g. critical thinking and communication) and understanding, as evaluating achievement through evidence of improvement are replacing the content knowledge and summative tests once relied on to assess one's abilities.
- I have become aware that to inform and support individual teachers is not going to bring change about, unless they themselves are true change agents within their institutions (and in which case they don't need me!). Principals need to be on board, own it and lead the change.
- I also know that to support any great change involving technology a commitment needs to be made to Professional Learning, and that there is a huge cost to ongoing Professional Learning. And that if you buy Professional Learning you need to have assurances that it is going to bring in results. That is if schools can "buy" it... (Accessing PD for schools in NZ is not a matter of saying "We need"...)

My Options:
- Strategise a plan in knowledge of what I know and who I know to offer ePortfolio support  as a consultant?
    > Need colleague(s)-business plan-investment - business mind- inquiry- well defined/tested product and tool - is there a need for ePortfolio understanding in NZ schools or is it my perception?
- Hang in there to see what becomes of MyPortfolio , if N4L picks it up, and what professional learning will be associated (if any) with their products.  And if any, is that a chance for a trainer to offer a course?
     > More unknown - waiting game-  would positions if any be advertised? - another case of "who I know"? - would be less inclined to go with the flow due to what I now know - join an existing team?
- Further my qualifications formally? Do a series of Uni papers related to the area of interest? a MOOC?
  > better credentials, other opportunities? to find something that is not research based is tough as I dont have an institution to research from.
- Continue voluntary involvement in the MyPortfolio community, the eportfolio community at large and associated communities through forums etc
    > adding to my kete, networking opportunities enhanced, but not active at the chalk face, theoretical knowledge increased not working knowledge, few face to face real contact with a specific goal, no monetary recognition of involvement
- Give up and volunteer to walk the SPCA doggies.
    > instant gratification, feel good factor, no fear to do it wrong, no intellectual demand just fluff!

Now what? I may be sometime trying to answer that...

Which way back to the Drawing Board? - Part 2

MyPortfolio is the tip of the iceberg! Upon establishing how my involvement with MyPortfolio developed, I now want to attempt and take stock of how it has impacted my understanding of education in the New Zealand context (and beyond?), my personal and professional growth, my interest in Professional Learning  and generally speaking my own Learning. There is a lot in my kete, and it is pretty messy...

Where am I now? 
Being a MyPortfolio trainer has allowed me to fill many gaps in my knowledge and understanding of teaching and learning (not an easy thing to admit but my reality nonetheless...)

- an ePortfolio makes the learning process visible to whom it matters most: the user
- an ePortfolio is user centred
- it helps develop a sense of individual purpose, self direction, achievement, over time
- it provides a space to gather all sorts of information in a same place: links, images,  files etc which are either gleaned in different places or at different stages of development (drafts, notes, productions...)
- it allows to share this information, files, reflections with others and invite their input.  Its online nature lets you connect with others and that contribute to collaboration.
- it supports a reflective approach to learning: through revisiting things in one place it allows the user to step back and think about what s/he is doing
- it stores work that is in progress and keeps it when investigation for more/different info is taking place
- its ongoing use favors:

    > the development of digital competences (use of webtools, effective research, file/resource management, content creation, use of tags, understanding attribution, creative commons, leaving comments and feedback, participating in an online community and associated behaviours, digital footprint... _
    > exploration and curiosity!
An ePortfolio approach (MyPortfolio use) supports the intent and vision of the NZC. 
An ePortfolio approach supports a socio-constructivist pedagogy, authentic learning based on learners' experiences,  group work, trial and error,  learning by doing, where the learner takes responsibility for their own work: an education is not something that one receives, it is something one acquires.
So that is that in a nutshell for the teaching-learning"ah ah" moments.

Here are some of my learning and some of the observations I have made while training teachers to use MyPortfolio:

- Always start by having the group talk about the "Why?" and work back to "How",  massaging in "supporting questions" if/when necessary.
- Have plenty of examples: teachers like to see what it looks like! But dont show them all at once, insert them when the need arises  (And throw in some whizzy tools!)
- Make sure there is a final product: teachers want to be able to have something to show for for their time involvement (in this case a first page, with a few artefacts and a journal entry shared to a friend or to a group for feedback)
- One size does not fit all! Skills, interests, purpose, pre knowledge, contexts, infrastructures are different everywhere! This was particularly a hard one to get around with the time constraint (90 min) the content (presenting the space as a reflective tool) the format (guided discovery) of the Taster Sessions. For half day workshops all of this was extended and the day workshops enabled a lot more conversation and exchange sometimes around the Why but mainly around the How! (This is the object of a concluding remark to follow)
eg: I went over time often, and no one ever rushed out ;-) ! That is my very own measure of the willingness to engage all the teachers I have worked with so far have effectively displayed!  I discovered that teachers did not always see the reflection as the primary buy in, so I weaved it in after presenting the group function (teachers primarily interested in seeing how they and their students communicate on this space for assessment purpose for instance). I saw with my own eyes there is a huge discrepancy in the level of skills required to perform a range of basic steps on a computer which at times hindered the guided discovery approach.  The least skilled the least likely to work within a small group thus the need for me to take time during the training to show one skill (eg: embed external media) to one person and this person teaches others during the session.
- emphasis is put on the importance to start with a small concrete step and build on it, to be strategic about it and start with the end (the why!) in mind. And if necessary to spend more time on the why. 
- Stepping into the eportfolio world ("What I can do" rather than "what I know") both students and teachers are learners need to own their criteria for success. Hence a departure from traditional practice and process for teachers and their students...

Following this immediately by a list of assumptions born from observations that I can not back with hard evidence but that are surely feeding my interrogations!  (Yet to support some of these generic observations you may want to cast an eye on Cathy Wylie's Secondary schools in 2012 Main findings from the NZCER national survey ).

- Use of ICTs is developing. Is it a part of a school strategy? Is there evidence of it effecting students' learning in any given school? Is there any supporting PD?
- How do teachers move from being internet consumers (the model students get) to content creators?
- Equipment and internet access vary a lot from one school to another one learner to another. What to do to lessen the divide?
- Words used to describe actions are not always accurate (eg: I am an early adopter= I have an eportfolio account, we are implementing = we have played around myportfolio at department level, our students create content = they have shown me their powerpoint made from the template I gave them, my principal wants us to use myportfolio across the school= my principal is justifying allowing the 1/2 day PD, I follow a teacher as inquiry cycle to inform my teaching=  my professional goal is to implement level 3 ncea etc.) How to ensure terminology use describes a reality?
- Strong focus on NCEA and assessments load: is this concealing at times the teaching and learning changes brought in by some of the AS (eg: .3 in the Learning Languages area)?
- The idea of collaborating across schools is welcome but effectively not done that much. How to move to from a "sharing resources" culture to "sharing experiences and big ideas"?
- Online discussion forums to ask questions are used tepidly (the groups started in myportfolio training are not used,  many myportfolio users contact me via direct message rather than post a question on a forum...) Which is a vastly different from the rich conversations and exchanges I witness on say Twitter (eg: #edchatnz) (totally voluntary) or through dedicated NZ educators forums (eg: VLN) where the conversations are either brought on or kept going by dedicated facilitators.
(Tom Whitby in this recent blogpost summed up eloquently and aptly what I merely sensed:
"There is now a new gap in education. In a system riddled with too many gaps, this is not good news. Technology and social media specifically have provided tools that enable educators to connect, communicate collaborate and create. That ability makes a difference in individuals. It enables reflection and relevance. It is also creating two groups of educators, the connected, and the unconnected. The discussions of the connected seem to be focused on the future and moving toward it. The discussions of the unconnected seem to be steeped in the past with little or very slow-moving forward movement." This is a different conversation and blogpost altogether but it still matters as an eportfolio/myportfolio use hinges on the same principles.
-  How to move from Professional Learning to be considered as something that ought to be provided/received to something to go and get? 

Last but not least of my learning from being a MyPortfolio trainer and involved in the French Teachers' Community:

- Digital literacies play a more and more important role: digital competences and skills need some sort of recognition
- There is a need for a strategic approach to elearning in every school, developed from the Why? and the pedagogy it aims to support/enhance, with criteria for success bought it worked towards by all staff and
- Individual Professional elearning needs (How?) to be identified from professional learning goals which are in line with the school strategy
- Ongoing Professional development plans need to support the strategy.
- All of the above is necessary for the teachers to engage fully and meaningfully, in support of  personal and professional motivation,  into revisiting their pedagogy, their skills in a supportive environment.

Phew... yes I have learnt a lot.
With no community support budget for MyPortfolio as it stands, plenty of individual teachers wanting to know more but have no access to PD budget, heaps of colleagues who have started and wonder about the next step, what am I going to do with all this?

Which way back to the Drawing Board? - Part 1

Before I can move forward I need to take a good look where I have come from and establish where I am now. Yes that is about my journey with MyPortfolio so far. And it is about my lack of visibility into the future. Something tells me MyPortfolio is here to stay on the NZ Education landscape but as I write someone is still to decide for its funding post December 2013. I usually tend to take things one day at a time, as the journey I am about to retrace indicates. But with what I know now, it just doesn't cut it. I know I need to go back to the drawing board but don't quite know the way.

Where have I been?
- 2009 - New Languages NCEA Internal Standards, aligned to the NZC, require a "portfolio of evidence" "gathered over time" "selected through a student/teacher negocation process"
Immediate thought arising: how to manage this practically? (At this stage I am not thinking too much in terms of pedagogy and NZC!)
- Hear of Mahara an eportfolio software, developed from the needs of a consortium of NZ Universities to provide their students with an eportfolio space. Tiki tour at a local college that has an install. The word eportfolio enters my vocabulary. 
- Feb. 2010 - Attend Learning at School, discover amongst a plethora of tools that "support teaching and learning" (yep I do love the tools still) my first intros to  "Why"  using an eportfolio.
- Keep my ears to the ground in terms of ePortfolio with further investigations to deepen my understanding  The phrases learning journey and lifelong learning become familiar. It also becomes clearer to me that technology pointers are only going to help a little, that what we are looking at is to change the way we have been assessing and to give the students the responsibility to own his/her learning. Which prompts me to download again the NZC and to this time properly read it. Page 36 in particular retains my attention:
 

- I dwelve some more as I am now aware of MyPortfolio a hosted instance of Mahara made available to NZ schools, funded by the MoE.  It is not until Ulearn10 that I find out more information and meet users. The practical in me sees a solution for students and teachers for the internal assessments. I have not got enough hindsight at that stage to gage the transformative "power" of this technology on teaching and learning.
- Feb. 2011 - First real intro to MyPortfolio at Kristina's workshop. I am sold! I also meet Ronja a Language teacher who shares my enthusiasm. She does have classes and students to try it with! (I am no longer teaching). I make my first pages, to discover the functions. The Learning Languages Group is created, I join the MyPortfolio Discussions Group. I effectively take my first steps in the MyPortfolio community. Till then my immediate community has been the French teachers of NZ, being an NZAFT exec  which reinforced the bond created by redeveloping and maintaining french.ac.nz and managing its Listserve.
- Paul (then in MoE team that has started MyPortfolio) was keen to see the MyPortfolio word spread and potential users found. Free 90min taster sessions were already made available on request to all primary and secondary schools in NZ. There were two trainers and the rapid growth of early enthusiasts contributed a contingent of local trainers. The idea is to grow interest and develop use from within the community of users. Thus a need for a critical mass of users for this to grow organically! 
- Paul asked me "how can I help you?"? 2011 was a NZALT Langsems year. Language teachers meet in the regions. I suggested I could hold MyPortfolio introductions and workshops at each of these Langsems, and that I could contact the then Regional Language Advisers and offer a day's training at Cluster levels. I surveyed Language teachers. I got on the road.  I kept my journal. I learned by doing.
- Jan. 2012 - There is still plenty of demands on the MyPortfolio taster session calendar, and with one trainer left I am offered the opportunity to take his place until the contract runs out end June 2012. 
- New format (90 min taster session is not a half day workshop that I have ran so far), new people (from 48 different schools many primary, a few big secondary, across Learning areas, people I don't know!), new surroundings (visiting schools not conference rooms!) new focus (in 90 min, the standard taster focus on the Reflection, whereas the focus had been on managing assessement and feedback with Language teachers), new geographical horizons (up and down the South Island, and some part of the lower North Island), new way of doing things (making contact at potential user's request, explaining who I was, reminding them of their interest,  connecting them regionally as a small group, facilitating the "finding time and place" that suits all! sending reminders, located the schools geographically, this is NZ after all!, writing invoices, keeping tab of expenses... ) new outlook on what the NZ education landscape looks like on the ground, across sectors, new awareness (no such thing as "one fits all model" rather "one fits one"), new reality (good infrastructure access innovation exist in pockets and are unevenly distributed). One very lasting picture is built from the numerous interactions: MyPortfolio is a shared online space which functionalities definitely "open up new and different ways of learning" (NZC p.36) and supports fully the Vision of the NZC for "young people who will be confident connected actively involved life long learners". These were a short . These six months went so fast.
- March 2012 - New opportunities arise. I am invited to work with GCSN schools as a consultant. That adds another layer to my understanding of the diversity and the complexity of the issues at play when introducing something new. More than ever it is the "Why" that must lead this. I see school grounds really affected by the earthquake   , whole neighborhoods deserted with houses destroyed and boarding up and places and other schools and neighborhoods which appear to look as they ever looked. What I quickly gather though is that everyone, teacher and student, that I spend time with has been affected deeply by the catastrophe. What I am amazed with is the demand for something new, at the interest generated by eportfolio and myportfolio, at the warmth of the welcome, at the openness of mind. I end up going back to work in Christchurch GCSN schools in November 2012 and again in March 2013. 
- Working with the Christchurch schools lead to work with schools from the Wellington Loop and with a cluster of teachers located in the Nelson region. I meet again teachers I have met before in other myportfolio workshops. Learning happens when it is revisited often, in different contexts, over a period of time.
- I enjoy contributing to the online MyPortfolio group forums where I can, I learn from the questions and I continue to develop my understanding of online communities and how they "work", how its contributors seem to move quite fast and focus on the future.
- I accompany the work of three language teachers in three different secondary schools and of  their students using myPortfolio remotely, we meet regularly online, take stock and map next steps.
- March 2013 - The MoE continues to support hosting and development of MyPortfolio till at least Dec 2013. Some schools continue to want to know more about MyPortfolio and get in direct contact with me. ePortfolio is now almost a household name now for many in New Zealand schools, it appears often in online conversations and generates conversations around the pedagogy which leads to its use, the reasons why, the type of tools to build one etc. It may have entered the vocabulary but not so widely the practice yet. All good things take time. Hence my multiple interrogations! (To be continued)

ICOT Part 3: The Other Dimension

I wrote here that I went to ICOT2013 by myself.  It is only partly true as a number of factors have contributed to exchange ideas and share experience with many, to meet people and discover their background and their interests, and to work together for the common good.
This is enabled through the Twitter backchannel: the comments using #icot2013 to form a thread, the links to support what is been presented, the immediate reflections, pictures, times for informal meetings, light banter... All that contribute to a sense of community, for all tweeps are "in the same place", but also to broadcast and amplify what is taking place to whoever follows #icot2013 from afar. 
Managing tweets by added them to Favorites allows to keep them for further reading. I chose to collate tweets in a spreadsheet as I know I will refer back to them. I have failed so far to convince you Ruth of the time and place and usefulness of Tweeter. A conference like ICOT2013 is the type of event to experience its strength: my memory of the event and my understanding of it will be all the poorer without it. Many delegates are using Tweeter, more or less regularly, some give it a go for the first time and see it do its thing. 
You could have followed #ICOT2013 and possibly felt that somehow you were there if you could have read the tweets generated during Ewan McIntosh's opening Keynote, or Guy Claxton's breakout! Tweets are informative, questioning, meaningful and often lead to something else, equally or more interesting. If this is not good enough a case to make time for Twitter, then read on!
 
- This tweet leads to this GoogleDoc.   

Follow the link to read the Keynote notes many delegates have contributed to, as they happened. Started by one, "broadcasted" via Twitter, and all the sudden many hands make light work to keep a record of what is being presented. It is certainly of more value if you are or were of attendance, but the quality of the quotes and the ability some have at synthesizing as they take in never stops to amaze me.

And through Twitter, you also get to read what people think or how they make sense of it. They may share their thoughts/ experiences of their blogs and mention it on Twitter. We both agree knowing there is an audience is an incentive to consign reflections. Some might see this as a sort of a showy behaviour, and not all thoughts and reflections are bone equal (here is an example!!). But what best way to collect thoughts and ideas, to later select them for a particular purpose? Why keep your notes to yourself? Will you ever read them again if they are on a bit of pad?  How will you get feedback? What better way to make your learning visible to ... yourself or your boss! 

But no need to convince you of the value of blogs, this is one battle won. For now. Until you and I find or invite an audience, whoever it may be, we can be each other's audience! I could have written about ICOT2013 but it would not be the same should have had not read the following blogs, from various authors, educators with different backgrounds, at different stage of their careers. And I may never have been aware of them should they not had been tweeted about!

• @howen blogs in real time, as it happens. The Problem Finders are her note on Ewan McIntosh's Keynote and  Creative and Critical Thinking: Creating Space for Innovation is her notes on Ewan McIntosh's workshop she attended. By scrolling through the January 2013 blogposts, more ICOT2013 live commentaries are available. Hazel is a seasoned social media user who has great expertise in online communities facilitation.

• Steve, @geomouldey, is a geography secondary teacher and was involved in the NZCER project he reflects on in his is post about Key Competencies and Effective Pedagogy.

• Matt, a primary teacher in his second year of teaching, @hunch_box, wrote Playing Tag - Ewan McIntosh on Assessment very shortly after the end of the workshop.

• @dukelyer, an experienced primary teacher, moves Icot2013 into his long term memory in his post where he consigns what he will report back to colleagues who did not get the chance to attend.

• @mattynicoll, a secondary Science teacher, blogs about his attempts at improving the classroom experience for his students. He publishes his ICOT2013 reflections here 

I will be revisiting these teachers' blogs, amongst others, which I add to GoogleReader and read every so often, as a magazine.
So no, I can't say I know this people well, I can just say that there are commonalities and that all of us are animated by making sense of teaching and learning in our own terms, with the influence and the input of others. I don't know any regular blogger in our immediate community of practice, do you? Is the French teachers community still is my most immediate community I wonder?

I am indebted to educators who like @ewanmcintosh, and many others, blog and share what they do openly. I need to immerse myself more deeply there before I can see better: a case of going deeper in the dark hoping to see some light! Blogging invites questions and comments and conversations. And that is through a comment that I was introduced to @charte' blog. Chris's is highly likely to help me break down how design thinking, formative assessment maybe applied in a language acquisition environment: he was a language teacher in the UK who did a lot of very cool (and well documented) things when they got the New Curriculum there. He is now in Melbourne, has developed a love for SOLO taxonomy and I can't wait to dive in his blog either! 

A gem of a perfect ICOT2013 summary that was just so bang on for me was @virtuallykaren's Big Ideas emerging through the Week. GO read it if you read only one from that list! Spoiler alert: Karen highlights thinking processes and heuristics, necessity to have real meaning and purpose for students to get stuck in, and focus on making thinking process visible. 

ICOT2013 was definitely an opportunity to meet people, and if not face to face then, it happens virtually over time.

ICOT Part 1: Getting There.

Foreword: writing this "preamble" prior to a more definite account as it is still not clear in my head how/what to report on ICOT2013. Bear with me! What follows is likely to help the process.

I went to ICOT2013 (International Conference on Thinking)  The 5 day, big ticket speakers, breakout loaded event was indeed something to remember.  The outstanding line up  E.  De Bono, G. Claxton, E. McIntosh, Mai Chen, amongst other education and thinking luminaries, was promising: when else would there be the chance to hear all these people in New Zealand, at the same event? The waves of enthusiastic expectation crushing in my twitter timeline were convincing. The opportunity to spend time face to face with people I usually interact through social media was compelling.
I registered early November with the feeling I ought to go and I ought to be prepared to be very much outside my comfort zone. I was going with minimum prior knowledge of what was going to be presented, I was going on my own, with no agenda and no one expecting to hear back from my experience. I justified the expense of the fees, travel and accommodation to Peter by telling him I was going on a geeky city break. He had not asked any justification… I was curious, I just had to go and see.

Then came the dilemma of selecting breakouts. I rationalized my choices by drawing on the following questions:

- What does "thinking" look like in the classroom?
- Can we have critical thinking without an inquiry process?
- How can a teacher help their students make sense of their dispositions for learning?
- Can ICTs effectively support thinking and life long learning?
- How to have a common approach to thinking, learning to learn, in a secondary school with its specialist subject areas and all other silos?
- How to make assessment for learning understandable, visible and "rewindable" for all parties involved?
- And what shape and form does all this take when the focus is second language acquisition?

It has been the best part of three weeks since ICOT2013 finished. I have not answered any of the questions above. I have many more. I can not do it by myself. I can not do it fast.  That is a lot of "not" statements but I will use them as cues to keep my optimism up: here is to a lot more conversations and head scratching ahead, and you Ruth, and Lesley and Kheya and… will be up for it!

Going to ICOT2013 has helped me crystallize bits of knowledge and understanding about teaching and learning gathered over time. What has become more definite is that some primary schools are doing extremely well at fostering students as masters of their learning destiny, within eye-catching, agile learning environments, supported by a range of tools used purposefully, and staffed with reflecting practitioners who share their practice, engage in conversation across the sector, take risks and have strong,supported, opinions. What has taken shape more clearly is that there is a need for a common language about thinking and learning, spanning across subjects, used by both teachers and students. It has shed light on the urgent need to stop doing what we have always done if we are not getting the results we want, sheltering behind NCEA as a shield against changing practice effectively. It has elucidated the problems there may be about using ICTs: if it is merely the substitution of something that can be done with a pen and a pad, then it won't redefine the nature of the tasks learners could otherwise come up with themselves and fail to transform current practice. It has brought to the fore that without inquiring deeply, meaningfully, systematically and collaboratively into teaching and learning,  chances change happens and is significant to impact on students'  confidence and ability to learn independently is close to nil.

These are my ICOT2013 take aways. Until I substantiate. 

David Koutsoukis  The Seven Selfs of Self Leadership