Lecturer

University of Auckland, Faculty of Education

r.tuwhangai@auckland.ac.nz

Online teaching and learning: in pursuit of developing an effective ePedagogy

Conversation

This paper seeks to investigate effective online course delivery approaches and pedagogy for Māori learners, including the place of Māori culture, and ways in which online learning can enable Māori to experience success in tertiary study.      A major focus of this particular research study were the online experiences of five lecturers and twenty seven Māori  speaking teachers from both North and South Island New Zealand schools, including Kura Kaupapa Māori, Secondary Reo Māori, mainstream Māori language immersion teachers and Bachelor of Education (Māori medium pathway) students. Research participants were teachers, who were also students, studying toward the Graduate Diploma of Education (ICT / Te Reo Māori), Bachelor of Education (Māori medium pathway) and Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary). One of the key findings of this study identified 15 key effective pedagogical characteristics when working with cohorts of Māori learners in an online environment.

Rachael Tuwhangai is a lecturer at the University of Auckland\'s Faculty of Education. She coordinates the Graduate Diploma of Education (ICT/Te Reo Māori) and sits on the Faculty of Education Teacher Education Programmes ICT advisory group.  She delivers classes online to Māori teacher education students around the country and is involved in Māori Immersion ICT professional development initiatives, including working with Kura Kaupapa Māori and Wharekura teachers. She is currently working toward establishing a Māori medium student’s ICT conference, as a pilot for a possible national conference in 2007, and is a new trustee to COMET (Council of Manukau Education Trust). Her areas of interest lie in Māori education, Māori language teaching and learning, ICT and online teaching and learning.