title: Online social networking and its impact on  New Zealand educators’ professional learning

authors: Melhuish, Karen Anne Vickery

subjects: social network sites

abstract: The trend towards collaborative social software and technology in education appears to be exponential. The notion of ‘Web 2.0’ seems almost traditional in the face of aggregation tools and multi-platform spaces, intertwined by a proliferation of social networking tools. With the roll-out of ultrafast broadband and the imminent development of the Network for Learning in New Zealand, it is timely to consider the extent to which online social networks present both challenge and opportunity for educators’ professional learning. This study explores the experiences of educators using the VLN Groups network (www.vln.school.nz) to determine how far this user-generated mode of professional learning might extend professional practices in school. The study considers the ways and the extent to which the affordances of the VLN Groups social network site combine to affect educators' abilities to engage in effective professional learning. 

This interpretive study positions the findings within activity theory in order to characterise the actions of educators in the social network and to draw out tensions and opportunities for development.  A literature review offers an overview of the field of online social networking in the context of educators' professional learning and outlines the challenges for integrating such informal, user-driven learning into meaningful student-focused professional development. A survey of members of the VLN Groups social network was conducted followed by interviews with four participants of the network.  Findings highlight how the typical usage patterns of participants within the social network site reflect a growing familiarity with online ways of working, as well as opportunities to exploit this mode of professional learning more effectively.  

This study suggests that the VLN Groups can provide a thriving participatory system that enables educators to engage in an informal kind of professional learning focused on immediate concerns and contexts in their own teaching and leadership situations. It also raises questions related to what 'counts' as professional learning and how self-driven learning can be integrated into a cycle of active inquiry into practice. The study concludes by outlining recommendations for teachers, schools and policy makers related to connecting and coordinating professional learning in ways that maximise opportunities in the digital age.

text: Online social networking and its impact on  New Zealand educators’ professional learning The trend towards collaborative social software and technology in education appears to be exponential. The notion of ‘Web 2.0’ seems almost traditional in the face of aggregation tools and multi-platform spaces, intertwined by a proliferation of social networking tools. With the roll-out of ultrafast broadband and the imminent development of the Network for Learning in New Zealand, it is timely to consider the extent to which online social networks present both challenge and opportunity for educators’ professional learning. This study explores the experiences of educators using the VLN Groups network (www.vln.school.nz) to determine how far this user-generated mode of professional learning might extend professional practices in school. The study considers the ways and the extent to which the affordances of the VLN Groups social network site combine to affect educators' abilities to engage in effective professional learning. 

This interpretive study positions the findings within activity theory in order to characterise the actions of educators in the social network and to draw out tensions and opportunities for development.  A literature review offers an overview of the field of online social networking in the context of educators' professional learning and outlines the challenges for integrating such informal, user-driven learning into meaningful student-focused professional development. A survey of members of the VLN Groups social network was conducted followed by interviews with four participants of the network.  Findings highlight how the typical usage patterns of participants within the social network site reflect a growing familiarity with online ways of working, as well as opportunities to exploit this mode of professional learning more effectively.  

This study suggests that the VLN Groups can provide a thriving participatory system that enables educators to engage in an informal kind of professional learning focused on immediate concerns and contexts in their own teaching and leadership situations. It also raises questions related to what 'counts' as professional learning and how self-driven learning can be integrated into a cycle of active inquiry into practice. The study concludes by outlining recommendations for teachers, schools and policy makers related to connecting and coordinating professional learning in ways that maximise opportunities in the digital age.

year: 2013

title: Medios compositivos y nuevas formas de experiencia perceptiva en la poesía experimental española actual

authors: Lopez-Fernandez, Laura

abstract: La naturaleza híbrida y heterogénea de los modos poéticos experimentales —poéticas no versificadas y no declamatorias— constituye un rasgo distintivo de este macrogénero, el cual requiere para un mejor entendimiento un marco teórico apropiado y una revisión de las nociones convencionales de lírica, representación y discursividad. En este estudio se revisan estas nociones dentro del contexto poético español del siglo XXI y se presenta un nuevo modo de acercamiento a estas textualidades alteradas donde se subraya la no linealidad, los lenguajes no verbales y la tecnología como herramientas integrales en el proceso de creación y descodificación de estos múltiples modos compositivos.

text: Medios compositivos y nuevas formas de experiencia perceptiva en la poesía experimental española actual La naturaleza híbrida y heterogénea de los modos poéticos experimentales —poéticas no versificadas y no declamatorias— constituye un rasgo distintivo de este macrogénero, el cual requiere para un mejor entendimiento un marco teórico apropiado y una revisión de las nociones convencionales de lírica, representación y discursividad. En este estudio se revisan estas nociones dentro del contexto poético español del siglo XXI y se presenta un nuevo modo de acercamiento a estas textualidades alteradas donde se subraya la no linealidad, los lenguajes no verbales y la tecnología como herramientas integrales en el proceso de creación y descodificación de estos múltiples modos compositivos.

year: 2014

title: What’s in a name? The sense of reference, the rigidity of designators and the history of causes when determining the names of the two main islands of Aotearoa/New Zealand

authors: Parker, Martin

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: The New Zealand Geographic Board recently revealed that the two main islands of Aotearoa/New Zealand have never been officially named. The revelation made both national and international news and led to a large number of publicly aired comments on the matter, suggesting that something so fundamental and seemingly innocuous as naming is in fact likely to generate a good deal of controversy, no more so than in a bicultural/bilingual context. This paper will examine the phenomenon of naming from a number of angles. After discussing a layperson’s idea of what is meant by the meaning of names, we shall attempt to apply a number of theoretical models from the field of Language Philosophy to the case of the main islands of Aotearoa/New Zealand: the Descriptivist approach of Frege and Russell, Kripke’s Rigid Designators, and Causal Grounding theory. We shall conclude that, in the case of applying the first two of these, there is a question mark over whether any of the current names for the two islands, both Māori and Pākehā, are in fact names at all; in terms of applying the theory of Causal Grounding, we are drawn to the conclusion that in history lies the key to the future.

text: What’s in a name? The sense of reference, the rigidity of designators and the history of causes when determining the names of the two main islands of Aotearoa/New Zealand The New Zealand Geographic Board recently revealed that the two main islands of Aotearoa/New Zealand have never been officially named. The revelation made both national and international news and led to a large number of publicly aired comments on the matter, suggesting that something so fundamental and seemingly innocuous as naming is in fact likely to generate a good deal of controversy, no more so than in a bicultural/bilingual context. This paper will examine the phenomenon of naming from a number of angles. After discussing a layperson’s idea of what is meant by the meaning of names, we shall attempt to apply a number of theoretical models from the field of Language Philosophy to the case of the main islands of Aotearoa/New Zealand: the Descriptivist approach of Frege and Russell, Kripke’s Rigid Designators, and Causal Grounding theory. We shall conclude that, in the case of applying the first two of these, there is a question mark over whether any of the current names for the two islands, both Māori and Pākehā, are in fact names at all; in terms of applying the theory of Causal Grounding, we are drawn to the conclusion that in history lies the key to the future.

year: 2010-02