Just wondering if K-12 is an appropriate abbreviation to have in the title of this forum considering that various countries abbreviate differently?
I can speak for the state of New South Wales in Australia.... where we call our primary & secondary education levels Kindergarten to Year 12 (K-12).... meaning 5 year olds to 18 year olds.
This includes non-compulsory (K, year 11, year 12) and compulsory (year 1-10) schooling.
Also, I'm only just learning now that in other states different terms are used for kindergarten:
Reception - South Australia
Transition - Northern Territory
Preparatory - Tasmania, Victoria
Pre-primary - Western Australia
Preschool - Queensland
Kindergarten - Australian Capital Territory & New South Wales
If our country is anything to go by confusion is sure to abound
What do you call K-12 education?
We call:
years 1-6 primary schools
years 7-11 secondary schools
and schools with sixth forms (12 - 13) are called ... ummm ... schools with sixth forms!
Just to confuse things more we have some (not many at all) middle schools which are years 7 - 9. They drift in and out of fashion. Also Primary schools can be divided to infant and junior sections.
As for pre-compulsory education, prior to year 1 we have a reception year. Prior to the reception year we call such buildings nurseries.
So I guess our equivalent (although it is never written) would be nursery to sixth form.
I can't see kids in nurseries making use of moodle as they tend not to be able to read.
Re: Is K-12 Schools an appropriate title for this forum?
I guess we need to define exactly why this forum is really required (ie what that other 10% is) and the name should come from that.
Re: Is K-12 Schools an appropriate title for this forum?
Re: Is K-12 Schools an appropriate title for this forum?
Discussion how moodle can support children with SEN
Discussion how moodle can address (lack of) motivation with under achieving students in subjects they don't like!
Discussion on how the change in teacher working practice can be addressed by establishments
Discussion on how moodle can be used to address up and coming requirements for statuary education
Discussion how moodle can address exam board requirements (such as DiDA and e-portfolios in the UK)
Discussion upon how schools can be made aware of the advantages of using moodle relative to their subjects.
Sharing moodle resources with schools running the same exams
Sharing moodle resources which cover statutory requirements with schools
Working with other schools to produce resources
Making links with schools in different nations to allow students to various collaboration educational projects
Discussion on how staff took/will take to a moodle install over traditional methods
Making links with schools who may want to sponsor moodle modules / blocks to address statutory / exam board / good practice requirements.
Sharing good and bad practice
There is obviously overlap with other forums but having all of this in one place would be a great knowledge base and an excellent opportunity for K12 teachers to fly with moodle.
Very comprehensive list there Darren.
- parent login future feature: suitability, control, teacher fears, teacher desires, child privacy issues, interface, daily management issues
- integrating Moodle with current school systems: admin databases, report writing, dynamic reporting, Oasis, Edumate & Denbigh (Australia), student intranets eg. EduWeb (Australia), staff intranets, school public marketing sites
- school specific pastoral care issues: bullying, leadership, character development, sharing resources, using & modifiying modules etc to suit, case studies, success stories, integrating with current programmes (eg. Adolescent Mental Health initiatives in various communities)
- Moodle use in school distance ed: for example, School of the Air in Australia, issues with social interactions, sharing distance ed projects, resources, pedagogy
- Moodle use in junior years of schooling: issues with younger children, spicing up interface to attract attention & maintain interest, adding more graphical appeal, different evaluation/reporting of student outcomes, assessing benefit to younger children when compared to other solutions, integrating/blending with existing software such as edutainment software (eg. Where in World in Carmen San Diego), multimedia (eg. KidPix)
- Links to threads in larger forums & documentation helpful to teachers: a teacher hotlist of hyperlinks that benefit from knowledge and ideas shared in wider Moodle community but present it in a more concise, refined manner to help teachers who feel overwhelmed
My two bobs worth
Excellent list Darren.
SEN will need considerable attention - lots of sound & images.
K-6 is quite different to 6-12; K-2 has it's own particular requirements.
There may need to be further propagation of forums as more teachers discover Moodle.
Gifted & Talented, K-6 is where I'm focusing at the moment. Not that I can yet moodle with any fluency or coherency.
minh
Not that I can yet moodle with any fluency or coherency
You assume the rest of us can Use Marin as your role model and you wont go far wrong
I'd be interested in hearing about your G&T projects as this is an area at 11 - 16 yo which i will be exploring in more depth. I am even trying to work out how I can get kids 'out of lessons' so they can manage / teach their own extra-curricula courses about either a topic they have an interest in or one where I ask them to research the content.
Hi Darren, I know this discussion appears to have lapsed but I would like to add to your comment about sharing good practice. I agree that a very valuable function of this forum could be in sharing case studies, exemplars and successful lessons. My own field of work is in professional development of teachers in using ICT and online technologies. One of the key elements in technology diffusion is being able to get the technological laggards to get past the rhetoric and understand the vision.
Re: Is K-12 Schools an appropriate title for this forum?
How about Schools?
cheers
Mandy
Re: Is K-12 Schools an appropriate title for this forum?
Re: Is K-12 Schools an appropriate title for this forum?
I thought of/ wrote about that, but then my post got a bit long so I cut it. I believe that people who teach or learn at further and higher education institutions with "School (of)" in the name do know that they are not at school (oops expecting a virtual knockabout ).
K12 seems just a wee bit US centric (or is it K12 in Australia as well?) And this excludes our primary school colleagues which seems a little mean (to me) seeing as many of their issues are/will be similar to ours (in terms of time/users/structure/organisation etc).
xx
Mandy
Re: Is K-12 Schools an appropriate title for this forum?
Mandy,
It is Australian too.
The K-12 terminology isn't used here in Blighty. And 12 is wrong as far as we are concerned 'cos we have a Year 13. But I guess we'd never find any name that was perfect for all.
Re: Is K-12 Schools an appropriate title for this forum?
In other words, I think we're referring to the same thing, but I'll agree that the terminology is confusing.
Typically we have the same interests -- working with adolescents (and pre-adolescents) who we also see daily in the traditional classroom.
Don Simmons
Missouri City, Texas
It's all semantics Don You're going to love me repsonse. In the UK PREPARATORY schools are SPECIFICALLY those for pupils under the age of 11 - in the PRIVATE SECTOR. A 'Prep' school teaches up to age 11.
Two nations (or more) separted by one langauge - that's us.
You're quite right of course that our aims are the same. But nomenclature is important to know what we're talking about.
I did know that our private schools are your public schools (it's still that way, isn't it?). Preparatory or prep school is typically what the private sector likes to call a high school -- to differentiate from the hoi polloi (me and my ilk).
Maybe we just have to create a name that has no previous meaning to any of us.
Don - I was quoting George Bernard Shaw
Have you read Bill Bryson's "Mother Tongue"? It's a fascinating insight into the differences between UK English and American English.
"Preparatory or prep school is typically what the private sector likes to call a high school -- to differentiate from the hoi polloi (me and my ilk)." a) don't put yourself down like that and b) just goes to show the differnece between prep in the USA and prep in the UK - TOTALLY different age groups never mind the clientelle!
Re point a) above - I've just looked at your profile, thence to your Moodle - it is FANTASTIC. Your kids are REALLY lucky to have you teach them maths. What a GREAT resource you have created. REALLY.
Can I ask, what is 'contest math'? (of course what you call 'math' we in the UK call 'maths'!).
Re: Is K-12 Schools an appropriate title for this forum?
Very interesting discussion points regarding the two versions of English. I agree, 'K-12 schools' is probably not too well understood - I'm thinking about all the non-native speakers participating in the forum (I only know the term because I happen to know a lot of American teachers). What about 'School Teachers' Corner'? Would that make sense?
Don, I agree with Drew - you site is great. I'm not a math/maths teacher but I'll passs it on to my colleagues.
Ulrike
Re: Is K-12 Schools an appropriate title for this forum?
Yes, English is an interesting language. It has evolved from so many sources that perhaps the only thing consistent about it is that it is not consistent. I don't envy anyone having to learn it for a second language with all the exceptions to rules, strange spellings, and multiple pronunciations and meanings.
Don Simmons
Re: Is K-12 Schools an appropriate title for this forum?
I too like School ...... Corner - the only problem I have is that not all of us who are concerned with pre-further education are teachers . Thinking caps back on please
cheers
Mandy
Re: Is K-12 Schools an appropriate title for this forum?
Sorry , I didn't realize this. The only people running around in our schools are teachers - we don't have ICT specialists like you nor librarians or guidance counselors (maybe that's why our schools are in trouble). My thinking caps are back on. Let's find a term which includes all these people.
Ulrike
Re: Is K-12 Schools an appropriate title for this forum?
Personally I don't think anyone at university level will get the shakes if they see a forum named schools. I am sure when they drive to work they don't get offended by all of the schools they pass on the way!
How about:
- Moodle in schools and colleges
- Moodle practice in in compulsory education
- Moodle in compulsory education and colleges
I like moodle in schools and colleges. Does that translate into the other Englishes?
So by colleges you don't mean the last few Colleges of Higher Education, nor Oxbridge Colleges, nor bodies like the RCN and the RCVS.
</pedantic>
Whilst it's interesting to note the different meanings of words, I still don't understand why this forum is necessary.
Surely we should be focussing on what we can learn from and share with all Moodle users, rather than highlighting our differences in a new forum?
As for sharing then anyone can come in here. I don't really understand this. We are not highlighting differences - merely plugging a significant gap. This forum is very techy based and big! People (teachers) in schools need a place to live where they can discuss using moodle in direct relation to their job without getting the posts mixed up with MySQL discussions and the like. I do see this forum becoming redundant when the community aspects of moodle which martin referred to at the UK moot are released as they both do pretty much exactly the same thing but IIRC that is not until moodle 2.0
If the discussions were only k-6 focused, Primary Pedagogy would be nicely alliterative & apt.
Despite its origin in slavery I rather like the word pedagogy.
Pedagogy 6-18 ?? Pertinent Pedagogy -ooops no, sorry thatz going too far,
What's in a name?
Give a dog a name.
A rose by any other name........
Naming rights.
Call me -
minh
I think it would have to be pedegogy 5-18 to cover our (uk) school system (?)
PS Miles, please could you explain the meaning of "pan-phase moodle community"?
Merely that we have people here from almost all phases of education - primary, secondary, FE, HE, academic research, corporate training, life-long learning etc.
(Any pre-primary people here?)
This is one of the things which, for me at least, makes moodle.org so special, and I think has helped make Moodle itself what it is today.
Miles said: "This is one of the things which, for me at least, makes moodle.org so special, and I think has helped make Moodle itself what it is today."
Absolutely spot on Miles. No doubt for me that Moodle.org is one of THE strongest forums I have ever seen or been a member of.
Re: Is K-12 Schools an appropriate title for this forum?
Well, it is going to be extremely difficult to find a name that will be compatible with, inclusive of, and non-offensive to everyone in all 193 countries of the world with who knows how many different ways to label their education systems.
It seems to me, the concern should be whether or not the name is descriptive of the thrust of the forum. I think that "School Teachers' Corner" accomplishes that.
I think that we are all teachers and the term is inclusive. Librarians, IT's, administrators, etc. are really sub-sets of teachers. I know that my wife, an elementary school (that's kindergarten through 5th grade or ages 5 through 11 in the U.S.), definitely considers herself a teacher first and foremost. I don't think her sensibilities would be offended, nor do I think she would feel the forum wasn't a place for her.
Thanks for the nice words about the site. It is very embryonic right now. My previous site was not interactive except for quizzes. We'll see how this grows over the year.
Contest Math is really a misnomer for my class, but that is the official school disrict title. I would rather the term Math Explorations, because that is what we do. It is an elective, and I try to expose them to all the neat things about math beyond the fundamentals covered in the state-mandated curriculum. We look at such things as problem-solving techniques, golden ratios, Fibonacci sequences, tessellations, and magic tricks. We even mess around with Turtle Logo, a computer language that is much out of vogue these days. All in all, it is math as fun.
Don Simmons
Don Simmons