Congratulations to Opoutere School teacher and Kopu Project participant teacher, Jan-Marie Kellow, who has been awarded a 2006 E-Learning Fellowship.
Her proposal entitled Inquiry Learning in a Rich ICT Environment will see Jan-Marie take a year off from primary teaching to research ways in which inquiry learning can be incorporated into an ICT environment. Jan-Marie will also collect and develop resources that encourage teachers to implement inquiry learning using ICT tools.
Passionate about ICT, Jan-Marie has been closely involved with the Kopu project from its inception. Her temporary departure will leave a gap in the project, however, Jan-Marie says being still based at the school will enable her to lend a hand when time allows.
“I envisage I will still be able to do a lot of the co-facilitator role for DigiOps while doing the fellowship; it will just take some careful timetabling,” says Jan-Marie.
School principal, Vaughan van Rensburg, supported Jan-Marie’s nomination for the fellowship and is delighted she was accepted for the award.
“Jan-Marie has been totally dedicated to digital learning for a number of years and I could not think of a more deserving recipient,” says Vaughan.
Starting in February, the fellowship will see Jan-Marie spend two weeks per term in Christchurch with the education research company and fellowship sponsors, CORE Education.
Once her research is complete, Jan-Marie will present her findings at ICT conferences and hopes the research can go towards her Masters thesis she is completing at Waikato University.
“I feel excited and I can’t wait for it to start. It’s a brilliant opportunity to do some in-depth work in an area that is a passion for me,” says Jan-Marie.
