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Latest News
The KiwiSchools blog, bringing you news, plus original and curated content on community engagement.
Perspectives on AI
Here’s a quick read about AI in the education system. John Naugton writes for The Guardian, and here the focus is on tertiary education. Some interesting thoughts on why we needn’t panic, but how we will have to change, especially in the assessment arena. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/24/ai-cheating-chat-gpt-openai-writing-essays-school-university Two quotes: “AI is a ‘cultural technology’, like writing, print, libraries, internet search… a tool for human augmentation, not replacement. “ “Reliably detecting the output of generative AI systems without an embedded watermark is beyond the current state of the art, which is unlikely to change in a projectable timeframe.” As is so often the
10/09/2024
Are educational apps any good?
The phrase “there’s an app for that” certainly applies in the education space – one estimate puts numbers available on the Apple and Google Play stores at nearly 400,000. But are they any good? https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018954270/with-so-many-education-apps-how-can-parents-know-which-ones-are-good
05/09/2024
How To: Google Drive File Sharing
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we have become very used to schools being closed and the replacement of in-class learning with online learning. However, not everyone is fully prepared to successfully access this type of learning. It is, therefore, important to understand some basic skills to support online learning activities – one of these is file sharing. With growing platforms such as Google Drive, file sharing is simpler than it has ever been, however new users are still struggling to use it and have to learn the basics on how to share with google drive. Sharing a file with google
18/10/2021
Why How Your Website Looks Matters
My website is functional – surely that’s all that matters? Ever wondered why notices go unread, why parents still call the office to report an absence and why Facebook gets more engagement from parents than your school website? A school website that is purely functional does not encourage parents to visit. For authentic engagement with your school site it needs to reflect the culture and values of the school and community. If whanau can see themselves and their tamariki reflected in the website they are far more likely to use this valuable resource. “The community engagement principle calls for schools
09/06/2021
Sustainability Project
When you provide website, newsletter & smartphone app for thousands of users around the country, it’s important that everything is super-secure and super-reliable! KiwiSchools has embarked on what we’re calling the “Sustainability Project” to ensure all our systems and infrastructure are as secure and reliable as possible. To this end, we now have new, high-spec servers, and a sophisticated monitoring and backup system provided by a third party. We have backups of backups of backups(!) just in case of unforeseen disaster.
18/03/2021
Back to school: supporting your students and community through the next wave of change.
Two months ago things changed dramatically and they changed fast. There was a lot of uncertainty and anxiety for school communities. The country went into lockdown. The dust settled. Families adapted to new norms – distance learning, daily walks and bike rides, the constant bubble and a lot of hand washing. There has been a lot of change, a lot of talk about viruses and germs, and essentially, a ‘new life’ that young children have had to quickly learn and adapt to. And now, more change. As we prepare to re-open schools on Monday, it is just as important to support children and families in transitioning back into a ‘modified’ normal. Undoubtedly, a mix of emotions will flood in. Excitement and relief may battle anxiety and caution. After an extended period of feeling safe in their bubbles, coming back to their pre-lockdown environments may leave some children feeling vulnerable …
14/05/2020
