Thursday night’s dinner after the first day of our hui brought together much of the whakapapa of networked learning in Aotearoa.
Old friends, Howard Baldwin, Eddie Reisch, Trevor Storr, Lynda Walsh-Pasco, Maurie Jackways, Peter Hills were all there, some of the VLN pioneers who laid the foundations we stand on today.
Over plates passed and stories shared, we honoured Ken Pullar’s contributions with a pounamu koha, marking decades of dedication. Liz Hannah sent Scottish treats from Aberdeen, with haggis always popular, even from 18,000 kilometres away.
We also acknowledged Marina Krijgsman’s contribution as teacher, eDean and former board member. Marina has an exciting new phase of her career with the Southern Health School. They are very lucky to have her.
You know how it goes when educators share a meal. The formal stuff fades away and real conversations bubble up between courses. Problems that seemed complex in the meeting room somehow get sorted over dessert.
The VLN veterans were swapping satellite dish stories while newcomers talked fibre speeds, but everyone was chasing the same thing: genuine connection. And that’s what makes networked learning work, really. Technology might connect our classrooms, but it’s these dinners, these conversations over kai, that connect our people. Thirty years on, we’re still gathering around the table.
