Educational systems worldwide promote the use of collaborative networks to foster teacher learning and improve practice in the pursuit of educational change to address longstanding equity and achievement issues. New Zealand is no exception, with its Communities of Learning/Kahui Ako policy mandating collaboration spanning across schools--a mandate…

Purpose: Driven by the need to deepen understanding of the mechanisms driving teacher collaboration for enhancing teacher learning and practices, this study aims to investigate the influence of collaborative organizational conditions, network intentionality and efficacy for leading curriculum learning on teachers' professional growth within the…

Networked approaches to professional learning have been shown to offer broad influence and unique benefits to teachers' continuing development. However, despite decades of research into the professional learning community (PLC) approach within single schools, there is a paucity of research about network PLCs and a lack of models for effective…

This article takes up an ANTian sensibility to explore the enactment of a policy for educational collaboration in one region in the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand (New Zealand). The case offers potential for considering the benefits of a sociology of associations (Latour 2005/2007): a Treaty-based bicultural nation, school atomisation…

Inclusive education is vital for the rights of all children to education to be met and teacher aides are key players in inclusive education efforts. But inclusive education policy aspirations, like other policies, often fail to be fully realised. In this article we focus on the inclusion of teacher aides in educational networks and the extent to…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine mobile technology as being a key apparatus and interface for collaborative innovation, which allows organisations to develop their information ecology. Design/methodology/approach: The qualitative research was performed by in-depth interviews, observations and field notes. The eight main interviews…

This paper examines online collaboration between small rural primary schools in New Zealand, focusing on principals' perspectives. Through semi-structured interviews with eight principals involved in the Virtual Learning Network (VLN) Primary, the study explores the benefits, challenges, and key factors for successful collaboration. The findings…

In this article, we present the development of a framework for supporting and facilitating collaborative networks of reflective practice using mobile social media. Developed throughout a two-year collaborative mobile learning project #NPF14LMD, the framework has subsequently been used to support two wider international networks of mobile learning…

Whilst increasingly widespread, teaching online can be a solo endeavour. In this paper, we consider how peer exchange between online tutors from different institutions may offer a solution to this professional isolation. We report on a cross-institutional peer observation and mentoring programme between the Universities of York (UK) and Waikato…

Networked learning environments that embed the essence of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework utilise pedagogies that encourage dialogic practices. This can be of significance for classroom teaching across all curriculum areas. In science education, networked environments are thought to support student investigations of scientific problems,…

By investigating how educational practitioners participate in activities around open educational practices (OEP), this paper aims at contributing to an understanding of open practices and how these practitioners learn to use OEP. Our research is guided by the following hypothesis: Different social configurations support a variety of social…

In Pacific Rim countries parents of children with developmental disabilities have organized peer support organizations. One form of peer support is Parent to Parent based on one to one connections between two parents. The movements to create and sustain peer support in the U.S., New Zealand, China, and Korea are described. Qualitative evidence…

This paper explores an overview of an evolving framework to enable creative pedagogies as applied to three different higher education contexts. Based upon our experiences, we propose a critical framework for supporting and implementing mobile social media for pedagogical change within higher education. Our framework maps the SAMR educational…

The Learning and Change Network Strategy (LCN) was developed to raise students' achievement by appreciating, extending and enriching their learning environments. Throughout New Zealand there are 53 voluntary, networked communities of practice. They involve the active participation of students, teachers, parents, school leaders and community…

Moving innovation in teaching and learning beyond isolated short-term projects is one of the holy grails of educational technology research, which is littered with the debris of a constant stream of comparative studies demonstrating no significant difference between innovative technologies and traditional pedagogical approaches. Meanwhile, the…