Last week I was mostly...........

Well, after a couple of days in Ohakune, where I did not get to see too much of the wonderful Mount Ruapehu, I made my way to Putaruru College to spend a couple of days with the good folk there. I managed to get in a wee bit of PD on the VC gear, went to a VC meeting with the Maths teachers from around our cluster and attended the ICT committee meeting. There were only three teachers at the Maths meeting, which was disappointing, but in spite of the small numbers, a very fruitful meeting I think. The ICT meetings are always full on with ideas flying everywhere. The school is currently involved in equipping its classrooms with data projectors and interactive whiteboards. There was a lot of discussion surrounding installation of DPU's and screens and also around having computers in classrooms. It was felt that in order for teachers to take advantage of the flexibility and variety offered by technology and the internet, DPU's and computers in the classroom were becoming mandatory. The aim is to also have at least four computers per classroom. The big question is whether teachers have the equipment, and then learn to use it, creating a period of no return on investment, or whether we tease teachers with the possibilities, give them the PD, and then provide the equipment in the knowledge they know how to use it in a pedagogically competent manner. While we could have the chicken and the egg arguement here, most of us learn by doing, so it seems logical to get a zero return on investment for a short while as opposed to having frustrated teachers who see no point in PD when they never get the chance to use it.