Wordle and the New Zealand Curriculum

I am really enjoying playing with Wordle. It gives a different view on things, looking at a text as a word cloud. I thought I would put in the text from the New Zealand Curriculum document. So here goes...

Vision
ValuesPrinciples
Key CompetenciesI have even made a word cloud of the latest assignment I have written, which really highlighted what I was giving emphasis to in my writing.

Digital school stories (Playing with Google maps)

I have been playing with Google Maps to make a map pointing to all the digital story content we have on the New Zealand Curriculum Online website. I thought I would embed it here as I am playing with building the content.


View Larger Map

Ulearn 2008

Ulearn 2008 is fast approaching, this year it is being held in Christchurch from 8th to 10th October. This is a quality conference, I have attended ULearn for the last 4 years and have found it a dynamic experience each year. The Keynote speakers this year are Will Richardson and Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach from the USA, Steve Carden and our very own Derek Wenmoth, Director of eLearning at CORE Education.

I am presenting three workshops so far :

The first presented with Jane Carroll, speech and language therapist:

How does "oral language" fit into the ICT world?
In this highly interactive workshop we will examine oral language development and how and where oral language fits in the New Zealand Curriculum and other new resources coming out of the Ministry of Education. We will demonstrate how ICT can develop oral language skills, critical thinking and reflection in your classroom.

The second and third presented with Christina Ward and Jenny Keeton, CORE Education:

We are suggesting a pedagogy where the participants in the learning interaction become involved in the process of collaboration, in the process of mutual storytelling and re-storying, so that a relationship can emerge in which both stories are heard, or indeed a process where a new story is created by all the participants. (Bishop and Glynn, 1999)

The New Zealand Curriculum Online is an environment designed for schools to share their developing knowledge, challenge thinking and effect change. In this hands-on session we will explore ways you can use the rich resources available on NZC Online to help you collaborate within your own school community, and to connect with the wider education community as you implement the NZC.

If you want to build a boat, do not instruct the people to saw wood, stitch sails, prepare tools, and organise the work... but rather, make them long for setting sail and traveling to distant lands. (Antoine De Saint-Exupery)

What's online that can help you with curriculum implementation? This lively, hands-on workshop is designed for those who haven't yet had time to explore the rich resources available and opportunities to share and discuss online.

There are also a selection of 13 pre-conference workshops offered on 7th October. I'll be supporting Mel Stopford of CORE Education in the workshop "You can lead a horse to water..."

As you can see there is plenty in this conference for everyone. You can find all the details on the website at http://ulearn.org.nz.

And of course... I look forward to seeing you all at the blogger's cafe... However, for this conference I'm proposing a "Twits" cafe, I have many more Twits I would like to meet face to face.

See you at ULearn.