Recently, Sarah Parder (Learning Enhancement Teacher) and Nathan Walsh (Leader of e-Learning) attended the uLearn Conference in Rotorua.

uLearn is one of the largest educational conferences in New Zealand where teachers can learn about best practices for teaching and learning and the future focus of education in our country. This year’s conference themes were: Kirirarautanga/Citizenship, Whakatōhenehene/Disruption, and Auahatanga/Innovation.

On Day One, Keynote speaker Shay Wright spoke about the need for teachers to build community into their teaching practice, relating learning to other parts of students' lives and solving real world problems. On Day Two, Dominic Liechti spoke about the future of education and the skills needed for success. Dominic expects that at least 50% of current jobs will be significantly affected by automation in the future and that important skills for young people in 2025 will be: analytical thinking, creativity, design, complex problem solving, emotional intelligence and leadership and social skills. On Day Three, Sally-Ann Williams spoke about taking risks with innovation and encouraged both teachers and students to give things a shot. She focused on the three keys to innovation which were that: good ideas can come from anywhere, we should ‘launch and iterate’ and be brave to begin new learning journeys, and that ‘we’ is greater than ‘me’.

On the last day Nathan led a breakout session titled “Leading e-Learning – Action Points for Success at Your School” to a group of primary and secondary school teachers. The purpose of this session was to collaborate with and support teachers at other schools around New Zealand to effectively lead e-Learning in their own context.

Sarah attended workshops and panel discussions about collaborative teaching practice, student-led inquiry learning and creative curriculum design. The main takeaway was that for students to access learning, all stakeholders need a shared vision of the school's purpose, a clear understanding of the 'why' of education, and flexible and purposeful systems to support a student in their social and emotional development and wellbeing.

The conference was a particularly good learning experience for Nathan and Sarah and they will feed back what they have learned to their own departments and staff they work with.