Elaine Newton

As a former teacher of new entrant children Elaine is in the perfect position to appreciate the opportunities for ICTs in early childhood education. Elaine spent nine years teaching at Westmere School in Auckland before winning a Ministry of Education eFellowship award for 2006. Her research during this “sabbatical “ year investigated what children know about ICTs and whether new entrant teachers use that knowledge in their classroom programmes.

Elaine has enormous enthusiasm for finding ways to increase children’s engagement in learning, and giving them the opportunity to “show off” their expertise. She says, “ I am convinced that we need to find ways for learning to be fun and challenging”.

Elaine moved from Auckland to Nelson at the beginning of 2007 to take up the challenge of facilitating centres in Nelson and Canterbury for the ECE PL ICT Programme. She is relishing the chance to encourage others to explore and use new technologies in meaningful ways.

Inclined to take herself a tad too seriously, Elaine relies on her dog, Louis and her partner to keep her “real”. She is looking forward to discovering the wonders of Nelson, particularly via her “mental-health” activities, sea-kayaking and camping.