Background
By the end of 2004, teachers at Hillcrest High School in Hamilton, and Katikati College in the Bay of Plenty had developed a range of ICT/Technology programmes, which were assessed using both Computing Unit Standards and Technology Achievement Standards. While sound levels of achievement had been recorded, the teachers at both schools felt that further improvements needed to be made in programme content, focus, resources and implementation, assessment practices, and senior level student retention rates.
The HoD of Technology at Katikati, (Malcolm Howard) and the HoD of ICT at Hillcrest (Jenny Baker), had met during their fellowship year - both having been awarded New Zealand Science, Mathematics and Technology Teacher Fellowships in 2004 - and decided to build on this connection by applying to become a Beacon Practice cluster in 2005. They reasoned that by meeting regularly, ICT staff from both schools could share problems and work together to advance teaching learning and assessment in their ICT programmes. Karllie Clifton from Hillcrest and Steve Graham from Katikati, joined Jenny and Malcolm to form a four teacher cluster.
A valuable outside perspective was brought to the cluster by Beacon Practice Facilitators Cliff Harwood, from Massey University, and Hugh Derham, National Moderator in Computing.
Because the two schools each had different programmes and focusses, initial meetings concentrated on strategic approaches, rather than the detail of particular courses.
Three areas of strategic focus emerged from the meetings, to be applied across their teaching practice:
- Simplifying NCEA assessment
- Getting the balance right between ICT skills/knowledge and technological practice
- Making Technology programmes fun
