Leigh Hynes is from Taupo, New Zealand. She has been employed by the University of Waikato as a Digital Fluency Facilitator since 2013, and her role is working in schools to build capability in using digital technologies. Her long background in secondary school teaching and leadership have led to a commitment to enhance learning using digital technologies.

 

Over the last few years, I have developed a special relationship with Leigh. First she had to make sure I pronounced where she lives correctly “Toe Paw” for Taupo. I had so much fun being able to get know Leigh where she lives, about her family, her team and New Zealand. I am excited to share her story or what is called a Mihi with you. Below are excerpts from the podcast.

 

Can you share with me about you, your family and your background in New Zealand?

In New Zealand, we have a ceremony that we call a “Mihi” where we introduce ourselves starting with our mountain on the North Island. My mountain is Ruapehu that I identify with and where I’ve been brought up. We then go to the Mangowhero River. We start with the biggest things and then go to the smallest significant things in our lives. It is a cultural discourse about your family and where you come from. It’s very important to share that with the Maori culture and New Zealand. New Zealand is a bi-cultural nation. When the Europeans came to the island, they had an agreement with the Maori people to acknowledge both cultures.

I have two beautiful daughters and a granddaughter who lives in Perth. I have a lovely husband, Dan, who is from Wisconsin. I was trained to be a microbiologist working in Wellington and then I ended up married to someone in the middle of nowhere where I asked the schools there if they needed a scientist to teach in their schools. That’s how I started teaching. From that strange entry point, I worked my way through the years to become deputy principal at Ruapehu College.

I’ve been in Senior Management for the last 12 years. In 2012, I was offered a job to work as a digital technology facilitator when I was at the college at that time. By the way, our secondary schools are called colleges. Ruapehu is an isolated school pretty much in the center of the north island where there are very few connections to other schools. I was very lucky to be part of the VPLD (Virtual Professional Learning Development). I had a mentor and learned a lot about digital technologies by setting my own goals with her and moving forward in that way. I realized the power of video and started having my students make videos which helped them understand the content of science.

 

I’ve known you for some time on social media and met you at ISTE. Share how that happened.

I got into Facebook and never really been a huge twitterer – not sure that’s a word. Eventually, I learned a lot through social media. When I started working for the University of Waikato, someone presented us with your Personalization vs Differentiation vs Individualization chart. That was so helpful in getting schools and teachers to understand the difference between the terms. When I saw your name at ISTE, I really was hoping to meet you in person and there you were sitting across from me in one of the first workshops I was in. I took a secret photograph of you and then put it up on Twitter about the famous Barbara Bray sitting right across from me. I was so excited. I was so privileged to meet so many people I know on social media actually in person. In fact, the first person I met was Daniel Rezac. Here are a few of the pictures I took at ISTE in Denver and I included the one with you, me and Anne Kenneally.

 

Tell about some of your projects at the University of Waikato

For the past 4 years, I have been working in schools across New Zealand to help build capacity for eLearning.