Notes from the Classroom: how Kiwi teachers are engaging students with technology

Posted by Tony Keusgen, New Zealand Country Manager, Google

(Cross-posted from the Google New Zealand Blog)

As students and teachers go back to school in the northern hemisphere, educators and students in New Zealand are in the final term of their school year. From publishing reviews on the World Cup to collaborating on papers, technology is giving teachers and students new ways and platforms to create, share, and learn.

For example Stephanie Thompson, a teacher from Tawa Intermediate School in Wellington, has her students use Blogger to publish their work and views. As she explains, the ability to personalize the content they create is a great way to keep the students engaged. “My students are Year 7/8 so being able to personalize their blogs is an essential part of this process. For example my kids had the opportunity to take part in a ‘beautify my blog’ session. This is important for them to gain ownership over their blogs.”

By bringing in an element of competition with technology, Physical Education Teacher Tim Gander of Gisborne managed to ignite his PE students' appetite for literature. During the World Cup he had students submit article reviews using Google Forms. The public nature of Google Forms meant that his students were more conscious of the quality of their work. "The boys could see the quality of work which was required and knew that everyone was reading their responses- this led to a bit of competition, with each group trying to outdo each other!"

Last year we told you about Pt. England School and one of their leaders of Professional Development, Dorothy Burt. After learning more about the impact that the team there is making using Google Apps and Chromebooks to empower both students and the community, we visited to learn more. The video below gives you more insights into the passionate teachers and motivated learners and families who make up Pt. England.



We wish everyone the best with their final term and we look forward to hearing and sharing more stories from our teachers and schools. If you’d like to learn more about Google in Education tools you can complete the form on our website to talk to a member of our team.