Student Portal

Welcome to the student portal for new NetNZ students. This is your online hub and resource centre. Begin your year here, work through the links and refer back when you want to find anything

Timetable

Access the video conference timetable

Programmes

Browse our programmes

Student Handbook

Access some basic guidance in print form

Student Profile

If you are new to NetNZ please ensure you complete your profile
Student Induction

Complete a quick induction by working through the tabs below

What is NetNZ?

NetNZ is an organisation of 60 secondary and area schools from the Canterbury, Otago, Southland and West Coast regions that engage in online learning to better meet the needs of students and teachers.  

How does it work?

Each of our schools offers a course, a teacher and an eDean that then allows them to enrol students in courses offered by schools across NetNZ and the Virtual Learning Network (NZ).

Generally a course consists of 8-18 students who are taught by a teacher (who will be from a participating school) using an approach that blends face to face style video conference tutorials with a mix of online and paper based learning.  You would typically find a course consists of students from 5-8 different schools throughout the country. Much of the learning will be accessed through an online space where students can receive work, download assignments, and interact with the teacher and other students.  

The role of the eDean in a school is to support the students and provide an important line of communication between teacher and students.  This means students are not just left on their own to cope if they are having difficulties

The NetNZ commitment

  • All courses will be aligned with the New Zealand curriculum and NZQA requirements
  • All schools will provide an onsite support person (eDean) for students
  • All courses will be taught by a qualified and registered teacher from a school in NZ
  • All courses will provide engaging, flexible and personalised learning using digital tools and resources blended with video conference tutorials
  • Look for an email from your teacher with instructions to get underway. Part of this will include instruction on how to get onto the class site / community. This will act as the online hub for your course by centralising all communication, information and sharing. Get involved. Introduce yourself to your peers and start some conversations. Online is much more fun when you interact with others and make an effort.
  • You will receive a calendar invite to your weekly video conference session. This is usually Google Meet. Test the link early to ensure it works.
  • If you have any technical issues with internet please tell your eDean immediately [if problem persists contact a member of the net NZ Leadership Team (as indicated on your calendar invite).
  • Support: Ensure you spend time with your eDean. They should take you some technical training, but also provide guidance on what to expect. They are your go to person in school when you need help or guidance.
  • The course you are about to embark on has four timetabled periods for you to be working on that subject. In most cases only one of them is when you will be ‘in class’ with your teacher and other students. The Calendar of class times all start on the hour. This means you could have clashes in other subjects, which will require some negotiation with your other teachers [remember your eDean can help you – but ultimately you are responsible for sorting this out].
  • If you do not have a school diary you can use Google calendar for the year.
  • If you are already in contact with your teacher ask if they can give you important assignment and assessment dates [Mark these in your calendar]. If you know already of days that you will not be able to attend a video conference session [because of sports, arts, cultural or other planned events at your school] mark these in and let your eTeacher know.

Learning online often requires a change in thinking from students who are used to a structured lesson by lesson day. You will need to be willing to learn how to manage your own time effectively and to direct your learning more than in a traditional classroom. With this comes a lot more flexibility, especially if you are taking more than one online course (some students have up to three), but also more responsibility for your learning. Students need to be able to take the initiative and ask the teacher, the eDean and other students for help when they need it. Learning online does not mean the absence of the teacher. In fact, because of the small number of students in a course, eTeachers can often provide more feedback than in a traditional classroom, but this feedback is usually not instant.

  • Manage yourself well. Develop good routines early in the year by completing work in the timetabled time you have for your course. When you have these routines established you can then start using the flexibility online learning gives you. Ensure you try and take the initiative as much as possible. Don’t won’t for things to happen.
  • Communicate – If you are having problems ask your teacher or other students in your course for help. You will also have an on-site support teacher (eDean) who is there to give you guidance. Talk to them if you are having difficulty. Don’t sit and fester on any problems – do something about it.
  • Be patient – you often won’t get instant help when you want it. Move on to something else and come back to it when you do get help. Most questions will be answered within 24 hours.
  • Get involved – You will enjoy the course far more if you get involved in activities and interact with your teacher and other students. Participation is highly important in an online course. Connect with your fellow students and get to know them.
  • Prioritise your video conference (Google+ Hangout) – This is the only face to face type time you have. Make the most of it and ensure you don’t push it aside for other school activities that crop up. At times there will be things you have to attend (like a field trip for example), but most times you should go to your hangout. If you can’t make it, let your teacher know before the session
  • Keep persevering when things are getting tough. Work through these stages, but don’t do it by yourself.

Both these videos provide some insight into how to be effective online. One is from Dr Scott McLeod and while it is a tertiary context, the advice is still very relevant. The second is specific to NetNZ and features students from Ashburton College

Because you only have one face-to-face class per week, the video conference (mainly google meet) session takes priority over all other school activities. If it is impossible for you to attend the class for any very good reason, you must inform your Teacher prior to the lesson and ensure that you find out from your teacher or other students what work was covered and organise to catch up the work.

Behaviour in a video conference is much like that required for a normal class, i.e. you do your work, behave politely etc, but the environment has a far more personal feel than a normal secondary school classroom. You will be asked to contribute more as an individual and any distractions are amplified. For this reason really focussing in a session is paramount.

Arriving on time is important, as you will disturb the lesson flow by being late. However, it is important that you turn up to the lesson even if you are late.

When things go wrong see your eDean!

 

How to access your Google Meet

Every class has at least one hour session scheduled a week. These have been calendared and shared with your school email account which means there are a few ways to access your session.

  1. Email: Every week you will receive an invite that will appear in your email. Just click on the link and you will be taken to the session.
  2. Google Calendar: Your session will appear in your calendar every week. Just click on the event and then on the link that says “join meeting” next to “Video Call” (this the preferred method of accessing)
  3. You will find the video conference timetable on the NetNZ website under “courses”. Click on your course link in that document
  4. Your teacher may place the link on their online community / space for the course. Clicking this will take you to the session as well

Getting Support

If you have any problems either get your eDean or ring one of the following numbers. – 0272171121 or 0274468532