What Works For You?

Hi All,

I've moved from England recently to work at a school down under (New Zealand), and the big bosses want to know what we do different up North than these down South...The kids and teachers have a lot of trust here - the basic filtering, if kids want to waste their time on facebook its sort of up to them, teachers aren't really monitored tooooo much - if they want to be local admins and the big boss approves then so be it, but it's out of my hands.

What I'd really like to know is what you feel actually helps the teaching staff in the classrooms, and the kids progressing through the use of technology. It's a really general question I know, so I'll give you a feel of the setup at the moment.

We use Windows 7, Server 2008 - all virtualised...got a few Mac suites and all the staff just got given iPads which we'll link to the board through apple tvs... We use sharepoint as the intranet and a custom written MIS and library software. Office 365 and Exchange email..

We also have fancy things like a couple of 3D printers and ultra short throw wireless projectors which have interactive functionality...

When I rolled up at the beginning of January it seemed like a dream school from the setup anyway, but still they're trying to push forward. I don't know exactly what to say to them to get them to explore what they already have more and integrate technology into their school life more closely...maybe any apps people can recommend, any particular software..or good practice you notice by the teaching staff?

Looking forward to any advice offered :cheer2:

Laura

Could look into something like Kodu - Microsoft Research if they don't do it already. What year level, sounds high schoolish to me. Perhaps a 3D scanner http://www.david-laserscanner.com/ to go with the 3D printer. You could also get a broadcast licence and do your own local radio station, one of my schools has one - not that it is well utilized but with more enthusiasm would be better.