Using PC4Me

Teachers at Paraparaumu College have been using PC4Me as a key tool for teaching and learning since 2014. Usage across departments is inconsistent. A fundamental principle of the implementation was that PC4Me would be a centralised tool with consistent use across classes - so that the experience for students 'at the coal face' was similar across the school.

One learning area where PC4Me is being used at a basic level is Media Studies. Course outlines, handouts, videos and other resources are linked to from PC4Me courses which are accessed by multiple classes. Resources are often hosted on Google Drive (we don't have to pay for Google Drive hosting) and linked to. The content is sometimes interactive at a basic level - eg. a shared doc will be linked to allowing students to collaborate. Occasionally 'lesson' activities will allow students to read resources, watch videos and answer questions with instant feedback on whether they're correct.

Advantages for teaching staff include that the resources created by members of the department are easy to find, can be organised in a learning sequence, and are there ready to go at the start of the following year. Advantages for students are that any missed work or need to access resources can come from a centralised place which is the same year to year (different courses but same site/structure). Limited use is being made of the more interactive elements of Moodle (the software which runs PC4Me).