The New Zealand Post Primary Teachers' Association / Te Wehengarua (PPTA) professional issues update provides links and ideas for secondary school teachers.
eDscapes professional conference, April 18-20
eDscapes’ themes are leadership, engagement and professional activism. Join us in Wellington, 18-20 April, to hear keynotes from Ben Levin, Judyth Sachs and Christine Richmond; after-dinner speaker is Stuart Middleton; plus, we have a raft of great workshops and interest groups.
www.eenz.com/ppta11
We had intended to offer a pre-conference taster in this issue, but events in Christchurch mean that this issue of the professional issues update has a split purpose. We’d love you to join us at our conference in Wellington but, even if you can’t, there are past and future issues with conference links and related material. You can also find @edscapes on twitter, along with @PPTAWeb. This issue also offers some support for our colleagues in Canterbury.
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@edscapes |
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Te Kura (Correspondence School) resources online
Te Kura has made its resources available online, particularly for Christchurch students and teachers.
They are sorted by year level.
Wicked! Help for Christchurch
This site has a heap of links for secondary students looking for online resources and study support.
Help for Christchurch parents and students
What is MyPortfolio?
MyPortfolio is a nationally available ePortfolio cloud service that runs on the open source ePortfolio software, Mahara. MyPortfolio is the Ministry supported ePortfolio system for NZ schools and has application also for schools that currently operate a Learning Management System (LMS). Register your interest for a taster session
What’s that squiggly box thing on the right? It’s a QR code… 
You can download apps for your smart phone so you can photograph QR codes to access web-based information on the spot. The one on the right helps you find out more about Edscapes.
| Geek speak: Wikipedia - A QR Code is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data. Wikipedia - QR code |
Get lost!
Integrating GPS technologies into your teaching and learning programmes
Gerard MacManus will lead workshops at eDscapes looking at uses of GPS technologies in high school learning programmes. In the meantime here is a useful site: Snapshot of learning for geocaching (TKI website)
The Science Learning Hub
http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/ is a NZ website targeting learners from years 5-10. It has a spotlight on earthquakes at present, including using GPS as a tool for learning. Student activity - using GPS
Royal Society fellowships
Some of our workshop presenters have had Royal Society teacher fellowships and will be reporting back on their amazing sabbatical projects.
The Royal Society of New Zealand Teacher Fellowships
PPTA PLD toolkit
The toolkit is designed to help branches ensure that members get the best value out of professional development planning and provision. You’ll find an audit process, checklist, templates and background advice about PLD, appraisal, professional learning groups, student voice, and more. We can also arrange visits to branches and regions to support the roll-out of our latest resource.
Contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Professional learning and development toolkit (draft)
Getting the most out of education agencies
Wondering about the new Registered Teacher Criteria? Not sure about school self-review or what’s really on ERO’s mind these days? Find out at eDscapes. Workshops from Teachers Council, MOE and ERO, focusing on helping teachers and school leaders make sense of the various tools and measures sent to help (or try) us… Check out the full programme: www.eenz.com/ppta11
Meanwhile, there’s always “beautiful, lovely data” – yeah right!
Actually, this TED talk shows how we can visualise data and turn it into “landscapes you can explore with your eyes” – or information maps – a very appropriate metaphor given our conference focus on “mapping teachers’ professional lives”.
David McCandless: The beauty of data visualization
Stuart Middleton – eDscapes after-dinner speaker
Be informed and entertained by Stuart when he joins us at eDscapes. Meanwhile, catch up with his latest views on trends and issues in education at his website.
Professional activism
Sign up for the eDscapes conference and join the conversation.
Most PPTA regions and some branches and have funding available to support your attendance. Apply now… www.eenz.com/ppta11
