Last updated 15 April 2020

Kia tū, kia oho, kia matāra! Be upstanding, be vigilant, and be alert!

We hope that you are staying safe and well. 

This page summarises the activities we are undertaking to support educators as you transition to teaching and supporting your learners online and from a distance.

Resources

Here we have compiled some useful resources and tools to help educators support people who are learning online.

Online teaching and learning

• Some tips, tricks and strategies to assist neuro-diverse/dyslexic learners with online/remote learning – A document put together by Mike Styles.
• e-Learning in Tertiary Education – This report provides a synthesis of the outcomes from thirty eight Ako Aotearoa projects engaging with the diverse implications of technology for New Zealand tertiary education. 
• ePosts: Enhancing Tertiary Learning and Teaching through Technology – A resource for tertiary teachers new to their career or those new to e-learning, and for the staff developers who train and support them. 
• Help or hindrance: Blended approaches and student engagement – This project sought to identify effective strategies teachers can use within a blended learning environment to enhance learner engagement and achievement.
• Tuakana-teina e-Belonging – How Māori Distance Students can have a Sense of Belonging. The aim of this research was to develop a cyber-Whare and Kaupapa Māori peer mentoring initiative to meet student learning and cultural needs. 
• Guidelines for Using Video to Study Workshop or Workplace-Based Trades Learning – This guide is presented as a ‘how-to-do’ manual. It may be used in conjunction with a series of workshops and/or e-learning course, to learn how to use videos and the multimodal discourse analysis method to study how students learn.

Managing Change

• Curriculum Restructuring Overnight: Teaching Large First-Year Classess after a Major Earthquake – A project that describes the sudden curriculum and assessment overhaul that was needed to continue course implementation after a devastating magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck Christchurch.
• Recognising the impact on students of a crisis event in an educational setting – Developing response recommendations – A project that identified and explored the impact of the 22 February, 2011 Christchurch earthquake on a range of medical and nursing students
• Institutional Programme-Design Strategies Supporting Forced Change – A project that investigated the impact of forced change on CPIT and the decisions made with regards to programme design and the accompanying effect on students.
• Preparedness for Sudden Change: Lessons from Managing Large-Scale Disruption within a Bachelor of Nursing Community – This project aimed to explore the effects of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake on a tertiary learning community and enable positive contributions to future disaster prevention, mitigation, and preparedness.

Join our Facebook groups

• Online Together: NZ Tertiary – for everyone across the tertiary sector looking for peer support.
• ALNACC Community of Practice – primarily for those focused on foundation level learning, but also those who undertake literacy and numeracy teaching and support.

In these groups you will find tips and activities for distance and online teaching, resource updates and reviews. We really encourage everyone to add their own insights and ideas, and to participate in the discussions and online presentations.

Professional learning

We are continuing to deliver a wide range of professional learning courses online. Visit Professional Learning for the timetable and to register.

New online offerings are being developed to support teachers and trainers new to delivering their work via an online environment. Keep an eye out for these over coming weeks.

Strategic forums and events

In conjunction with our partners we are currently reviewing our events and forums. As decisions are made we will announce them here and through our communication channels. To keep up-to-date consider registering for our e-news, or following us across social media.

Stay up-to-date

Subscribe to our mailing list to receive our latest updates or follow us on social media - Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.

Contact us

Please don't hesitate to get in touch with us at info@ako.ac.nz if you have any queries.