Cognition

Cognition Education has been awarded the contract to manage the English, ESOL and Literacy Online websites (http://englishonline.tki.org.nz/) for the Ministry of Education. This three year contract will entail Cognition’s management of a variety of online communities for teachers, production and publication of resources to support teachers as well as quality assurance of teacher submitted resources across all three sites.

Project director, Dr Phil Coogan says that much of the initial focus will be on supporting teachers to implement the national curriculum as well as the national standards for literacy.

“We are excited about the potential of these sites to re-engage teachers in professional discussion and collaboration and to explore ways we can encourage students’ literacy skills and English development through the raft of opportunities offered in the online world,” says Phil.

Maria Lute will be the project manager for the contract. Maria has extensive experience in website management through her role as Professional Manager, TKI, and she sees her direct involvement with the two contracts as a further opportunity to make connections with the end users of the site - New Zealand teachers.

“Teachers are increasingly more collaborative in their practice with a wealth of new technologies at their disposal – the English, ESOL and Literacy communities can provide a much needed avenue for this professional discussion and sharing to take place- and it is very exciting to see the potential synergy that working across these sites will allow,” she says.

The sites are structured around a teacher inquiry model in which teachers are encouraged to ascertain their students’ learning needs, access any professional support or resources they need to meet those needs and then evaluate the impact of the teaching.

Phil says that “our challenge is to retain this sound approach to teaching and learning at the same time we ensure that the web sites are simply and intuitively navigated by teachers”.

From 1998 to 2007, Phil directed the English Online and ESOL Online websites firstly for Unitec NZ then for Cognition. During that time these sites were among the most popular of their kind in the world with vibrant professional communities and up to 250 000 visitors per month. Phil says that an initial challenge will involve re-engaging teachers in their professional communities, as “ the ongoing success of these websites depends on ensuring sound pedagogical messages and models of learning and teaching reach their intended audiences”.