Howick and pakuranga times sept 1 2016

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Educators lose their cool with Minister By FARIDA MASTER

M

any school leaders have expressed outrage after Education Minister Hekia Parata introduced the Community of Online Learning (COOL) last week. Local principals are dismayed by the radical change in what they describe as trivialising education with the introduction of a new legislation that allows any student of schooling age to enrol in COOL – meaning students can enrol with

an accredited online learning provider instead of attending school. While giving the students a wide choice through initiatives like partnership schools is seen as a giant stride in digital learning, the move has got teachers up in arms especially since the new privatised education model allows any registered school/tertiary provider to apply to be a COOL provider. A strongly worded press release from the New Zealand Post Primary Teachers’ Association

(PPTA) quotes junior vice-president Jack Boyle saying: “New Zealanders care about quality education for our tamariki, and we expect education policy to be well-considered and based on sound evidence. When our Minister of Education starts flapping around, changing the approach to legislation at whim, we all have cause for concern.” The issue is a very complicated one, says Allan Vester, chair of the NZ Secondary Principal’s Council and principal of Edgewa-

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ter College. He said the COOL is already in operation in the USA. “It sits alongside the Charter school movement. Feedback on those schools and COOL show there is considerable doubt about the effectiveness of either. “If they are set up as a supplement to what our schools offer, they are likely to be supported. On the other hand, if they are set up to replace traditional schools for significant numbers of students, there will be serious concerns. ➤ Turn to Page 3

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Vol 45, No 34

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INSIDE Howick Village ............... P7 What’s On .......................P13 Entertainment ...............P15 Our Homes Today ...P16,17 Classified ..................P18-22 Sport ..........................P23,24 Join us on facebook TimesOnlineNZ Keep up to date with news on TimesLive at www.times.co.nz

THE FUTURE: Pakuranga College computer studies student Cameron Irwin using the school’s brand new state-of-theart virtual reality headset and hand controllers. Times photo Wayne Martin

At 3.30pm on a Thursday afternoon, you don’t really expect to find high school students still hanging around in a classroom. But when the Times visited Pakuranga College last week that is exactly what it found. Digital technology teacher Tyne Crow had his hands full – his classroom buzzing with eager teenage students tapping away on HP computers. Mr Crow explained that they had recently received a state-of-the-art, high definition virtual reality (VR) headset and pair of hand controllers. The students are not just playing around with the new technology, he said, they are programming original content for it. “They are just really, really enthusiastic and want to get into it. “We’ve already got students studying programming and web development, but with this we’ve...

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