title: Digitally-supported collaboration: An exploration of teachers' and students' understandings and practice.

authors: Mangino, Leesa

abstract: Education is evolving over time. The use of digital technology in our schools continues to grow and develop at a rapid pace, supported by the introduction of ultra-fast broadband and the availability of mobile technology.  There is change occurring in the teaching and learning environments in our schools, walls are coming down between classrooms and teachers are increasingly being expected to work in co-teaching situations.  An expectation is being set that educators need to equip students with the 21st century skills necessary to be successful in today’s world, one of the key skills being the ability to collaborate with others.

This study draws together the key ideas introduced above - that is, developing knowledge of collaborative, digitally-supported innovative learning environments (ILEs).  A collective case study approach was used to investigate the understandings teachers and students in three primary schools have about collaboration, and how this was reflected in practice.  This interpretive study also explored the nature of digitally mediated interactions occurring in these learning environments including teacher-to-teacher, teacher-to-student, and student-to-student, to gain a better understanding of any role digital technology might play in collaborative teaching and learning within these spaces.

Data was collected through observations, interviews, and the collecting of artifacts.  These data were then analysed thematically.  The findings suggest that building trusting relationships is essential to collaboration but can take time to establish.  Teachers and students need to have a shared understanding of what collaboration is and their role within this. Clarity of purpose is fundamental to effective digitally-supported collaboration, teachers and students need to know why they are collaborating, how digital technology could support their collaborative needs, and how they can best make use of their physical environment.

text: Digitally-supported collaboration: An exploration of teachers' and students' understandings and practice. Education is evolving over time. The use of digital technology in our schools continues to grow and develop at a rapid pace, supported by the introduction of ultra-fast broadband and the availability of mobile technology.  There is change occurring in the teaching and learning environments in our schools, walls are coming down between classrooms and teachers are increasingly being expected to work in co-teaching situations.  An expectation is being set that educators need to equip students with the 21st century skills necessary to be successful in today’s world, one of the key skills being the ability to collaborate with others.

This study draws together the key ideas introduced above - that is, developing knowledge of collaborative, digitally-supported innovative learning environments (ILEs).  A collective case study approach was used to investigate the understandings teachers and students in three primary schools have about collaboration, and how this was reflected in practice.  This interpretive study also explored the nature of digitally mediated interactions occurring in these learning environments including teacher-to-teacher, teacher-to-student, and student-to-student, to gain a better understanding of any role digital technology might play in collaborative teaching and learning within these spaces.

Data was collected through observations, interviews, and the collecting of artifacts.  These data were then analysed thematically.  The findings suggest that building trusting relationships is essential to collaboration but can take time to establish.  Teachers and students need to have a shared understanding of what collaboration is and their role within this. Clarity of purpose is fundamental to effective digitally-supported collaboration, teachers and students need to know why they are collaborating, how digital technology could support their collaborative needs, and how they can best make use of their physical environment.

year: 2018

title: Review: Marine natural products

authors: Blunt, John W.

subjects: green algae

abstract: A review (with 693 references) covering the literature published in 2004 for marine natural products referring to compounds isolated from marine microorganisms and phytoplankton, green, brown and red algae, sponges, coelenterates, bryozoans, molluscs, tunicates and echinoderms.

text: Review: Marine natural products A review (with 693 references) covering the literature published in 2004 for marine natural products referring to compounds isolated from marine microorganisms and phytoplankton, green, brown and red algae, sponges, coelenterates, bryozoans, molluscs, tunicates and echinoderms.

year: 2006

title: Just take a second to breathe: Empowering youth through mindfulness at Atawhai 2019

authors: McAllister, Suzanne Maree

subjects: Mindfulness

abstract: This research was an evaluation of The Kindness Institute’s 2019 Atawhai programme. It examined the effects that exposure to mindfulness-based skills, Māori cultural practices, mentoring, and the creative arts had on a cohort of marginalised youth. Specifically, the research aimed to determine (1) if learning mindfulness-based skills helped the youth to positively deal with challenges, (2) what effect learning mindfulness-based skills has on their positive and negative emotions and (3) were youth empowered to share the skills they learned within their homes, families and communities to enable a wider benefit from the mindfulness-based skills. Participants included 12 youth who attended the Atawhai programme during 2019. They all completed shortened versions of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Adolescent Self-Regulatory Inventory (ASRI), The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ), Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) and Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) at seven stages over a nine-month period from March 2019 to December 2019. Self-report debrief questionnaires and researcher observations were recorded during the October 2019 residential intensive of 5 days. Inferential statistics (repeated measures ANOVA and post-hoc paired t-tests) indicated a statistically significant increase in positive emotions (p<0.01) with a large effect 1.07 over the duration of the evaluation period from March 2019 to December 2019; the October 2019 intensive, p<0.01, d=1.37; and the April 2019 intensive, p<0.01, d=1.89. Statistically significant decreases in anxiety (p<0.01) with a large effect d=1.99 were indicated over the duration of the evaluation period from March 2019 to December 2019; the October 2019 intensive, p=0.07, d=0.57; and the April 2019 intensive, p≤0.01, d=1.19. Self-report measures indicated the youth; found the mindfulness-based skills beneficial, preferred a particular skill over others, and found their mentors supportive in helping them incorporate the skills into their daily lives. Youth reported they had continued their mindfulness-based practice outside Atawhai and were regularly sharing the skills within their homes, families and communities including their schools. These findings suggest the Atawhai programme has a profound and significant positive effect on the wellbeing of the young people it serves.

text: Just take a second to breathe: Empowering youth through mindfulness at Atawhai 2019 This research was an evaluation of The Kindness Institute’s 2019 Atawhai programme. It examined the effects that exposure to mindfulness-based skills, Māori cultural practices, mentoring, and the creative arts had on a cohort of marginalised youth. Specifically, the research aimed to determine (1) if learning mindfulness-based skills helped the youth to positively deal with challenges, (2) what effect learning mindfulness-based skills has on their positive and negative emotions and (3) were youth empowered to share the skills they learned within their homes, families and communities to enable a wider benefit from the mindfulness-based skills. Participants included 12 youth who attended the Atawhai programme during 2019. They all completed shortened versions of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Adolescent Self-Regulatory Inventory (ASRI), The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ), Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) and Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) at seven stages over a nine-month period from March 2019 to December 2019. Self-report debrief questionnaires and researcher observations were recorded during the October 2019 residential intensive of 5 days. Inferential statistics (repeated measures ANOVA and post-hoc paired t-tests) indicated a statistically significant increase in positive emotions (p<0.01) with a large effect 1.07 over the duration of the evaluation period from March 2019 to December 2019; the October 2019 intensive, p<0.01, d=1.37; and the April 2019 intensive, p<0.01, d=1.89. Statistically significant decreases in anxiety (p<0.01) with a large effect d=1.99 were indicated over the duration of the evaluation period from March 2019 to December 2019; the October 2019 intensive, p=0.07, d=0.57; and the April 2019 intensive, p≤0.01, d=1.19. Self-report measures indicated the youth; found the mindfulness-based skills beneficial, preferred a particular skill over others, and found their mentors supportive in helping them incorporate the skills into their daily lives. Youth reported they had continued their mindfulness-based practice outside Atawhai and were regularly sharing the skills within their homes, families and communities including their schools. These findings suggest the Atawhai programme has a profound and significant positive effect on the wellbeing of the young people it serves.

year: 2020