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• NZ firm a finalist in global EdTech 2017 Awards

  "We're delighted," said Lift Education Publishing Manager Matt Comeskey. Lift Education is a division of South Pacific Press Limited.

  Matt described CSIPrivate Eye as "an online series of solve-as-you-read mysterious, interactive adventures". 

  

  Lift Education Publishing Manager Matt Comeskey

  "It is aimed at engaging students in years 4–9 in reading and writing, while boosting their literacy and critical thinking skills. Students travel back and forward in time, and use fun digital tools to navigate their way through each adventure," said Matt.

  Mysterious topics include a 'forgotten' moon landing, a disappearing pharaoh, an ancient terracotta army, a remarkable castaway tale and a New Zealand mystery – The Ship that Time Forgot. Each online experience contains science, history, geography, maths, and more.

  "In addition to learning about fascinating topics, students use their close-reading skills and strategies, vocabulary acquisition, and reading fluency to engage with the texts. They also write and record their observations and predictions online as they gather evidence."

  CSI Private Eye was made available to schools in early 2016. To date, about 25,000 student accounts have been allocated across seven countries, with approximately 400 schools/700 classes signed up to either a trial or a paid subscription. 

  So far, six interactive adventures have been developed, along with comprehensive writing lessons, teacher support, adventure walkthrough documents, and curriculum correlations for New Zealand, Australia, the US, UK and Hong Kong.

  Matt said feedback had been overwhelmingly positive, with one principal saying his students' engagement was "off the scale" particularly for boys.

  He put this down to several factors including the tool's story-telling approach, interactivity, high quality visual content, and the fact it was browser-based (no software downloads required).

  CSI Private Eye development was enabled with a $50,000 match funding grant from Education New Zealand via the IEGF fund. This allowed for the illustration and technical development of each adventure.

  Matt said his company planned many more adventures in the CSI Private Eye series.

  "We want to build a large library of stories from around the world, accessible in several languages and at various difficulty levels."

  Winners of the EdTech Digest Awards will be announced before end of March 2017.

  Video: https://tinyurl.com/zm8y2yr

  Demo and free trial (NZ) www.csi-literacy.nz/demo

  Demo and free trial (US) www.csi-privateeye.com

• Students flocking to Study in New Zealand website

  SiNZ is now the top-ranking site in Google results for people in the UK, US, India, Thailand and Viet Nam when they search ‘studying in New Zealand’. It also ranks highly for ‘cost of living New Zealand’ and ‘universities in New Zealand’.

  From December 2016 to January 2017, organic (unpaid) traffic to SiNZ increased by 24%, which means that the site is easier to find online. The SiNZ pages driving the most organic traffic include Scholarships, Study options and Work while you study.

  Lucia Alarcon, ENZ’s International Digital Project Manager, said SEO (search engine optimisation) is a long-term strategy that helps make the site increasingly easy to find online.

  "Having a SEO strategy helps to drive the right traffic to studyinnewzealand.govt.nz, growing value and conversion opportunities,” said Lucia.

  As a result of this work, the bounce rate (the percentage of visitors who leave the site after seeing only one page) dropped from 15% to 13% between December 2016 and January this year.

  Organic visits from mobile phones have increased 61% since July last year, corresponding with an impressive 70% increase in referral conversions from mobile phones. The site has also had a 44% increase in organic visits from tablet devices since last July.

  These results demonstrate the importance of the site in raising awareness of the benefits of studying in New Zealand and in increasing referrals to institutions.

  Other work contributing to these results includes better use of insights to create more engaging content, and tighter integration of social media channels with SEO, which ensures a more secure website that meets Google’s mobile-friendly criteria.

• Miriama Kamo returns to NZIEC
  

  Miriama Kamo

  “Miriama did such a great job emceeing last year’s conference that we’re delighted to have her return to NZIEC 2017,” says Sam Mackay, ENZ Strategic Projects Manager.

  Miriama is presenter of TVNZ1’s flagship current affairs programme, Sunday, co-presents current affairs programme Marae, is a regular 1NEWS newsreader and is the host on TVNZ1’s new lifestyle programme, Kiwi Living.

  “I learned so much from NZIEC 2016 that I’m coming back for more!” says Miriama.

  “I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again at this year's conference.”

  “Miriama will be joining us for the duration of conference and will bring her considerable interviewing talents to several breakout sessions,” says Sam.

  “I’m sure Miriama will keep our panel participants on their toes!”

  The 26th New Zealand International Education Conference and Expo will be held at the SkyCity Convention Centre in Auckland on 22 and 23 August 2017. Registrations will open in May.

  For more information, check out www.nziec.co.nz and keep an eye out for our e-News updates.

• ACG opens new International Welcome Centre

  The centre opened at ACG’s Pathway Campus on Queen Street just two months ago and has already attracted lots of interest.

  ACG Director of Marketing, International, Kim Harase, said the centre is open to anyone interested in exploring study opportunities at ACG.

  “One family arrived in the country from Malaysia last week and came straight from the airport to talk to us about the right educational pathway for their son,” said Kim.

  “We were there to provide personalised information to the family, organise campus tours of ACG vocational colleges, and enrol the young man into his chosen hospitality management course.”

  The centre is open every day, and is manned by staff who speak multiple languages.

  Kim said education is one of the largest investments and toughest decisions a parent will make, and they need to trust their chosen provider.

  “We have a friendly and knowledgeable team to talk to each visitor about their background and goals and can help tailor an educational pathway that matches their needs and expectations,” said Kim.

  “We want to provide the best possible experience to our customers – especially when their decision involves sending their child to New Zealand.”

  

• NZQA consults on publishing statutory action

  This is a move towards greater transparency and accountability.

  Publishing this information would provide domestic and international students and the wider public with more complete and accurate information on any regulatory decisions made by NZQA in relation to the activities of a non-university tertiary education organisation or a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 (the Code).

  Feedback from stakeholders will be analysed before NZQA provides a summary of findings and relevant decisions in June 2017.

  This consultation is open until Friday 5 May 2017. More information can be found on the NZQA website.

• New Zealand China Sister Schools Fund recipients announced

  The announcement was made during Mr Goldsmith's visit to China this week.  

  The recipients were:

  • Cambridge Primary School
  • Owairoa Primary School
  • Whanganui High School
  • Fairfield College
  • Onehunga High School
  • Blockhouse Bay Primary School
  • Glenfield Intermediate
  • Wakaaranga Primary School
  • Kirkwood Intermediate
  • Howick Primary School

  More information about the New Zealand China Sister Schools Fund can be found here.

• Solar-powered street lamp wins Unitec solar sustainability challenge

  Zheng’s winning design was a dual-facing street light which looks like a sturdy bamboo stalk.

  Originally from the Hebei Province in China, Zheng is currently in his second year of a NZ Diploma of Engineering at Unitec.

  Unitec lecturer Anthony Lai described Zheng’s design as being fascinating, with clean lines and great aesthetics.

  “I was very impressed, and in my own thinking, he was in for a chance,” he said.

  Zheng recently spent his summer break working for a solar-power company in China.

  After graduating from Unitec, he would like to work as either an engineer or a teacher.

  Zheng won $3000 towards his course costs.

  

  Zheng Sibo’s top prize-winning 3D design of a solar-powered street lamp.

• International students welcomed to Wellington

  Proceedings began with a rousing Kapa Haka performance from Whitirea performing arts students. This was followed by a warm welcome from Wellington Mayor, Justin Lester, who reflected fondly on his time as an international student in both Germany and Japan.

  After the formalities, there were lots of fun activities, including giant games, a national dress competition, poi making and the opportunity to take photos in booths or with a life-sized Gandalf.

  Local tertiary education providers and tertiary student ambassadors were on-hand to answer questions.

  Chinese International student, Raymond Chen, said he loved the event and was enjoying life as a Year 12 student at Scots College.

  “We are like brothers at Scots College. And my homestay family in Miramar make me part of their family. We do all sorts of things like going to their friends’ house or camping. I really enjoy being with them.”

  Education New Zealand is one of a number of agencies the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency is working with on the multi-year Wellington International Student Growth Programme (WISGP). 

• Event season in Viet Nam

  Two alumni networking events had more than 200 registrations, as well as the participation of Immigration New Zealand (INZ) and New Zealand Aid, who answered queries from students and parents about studying in New Zealand.

  Several seminars were held alongside the fairs to discuss student visas, the New Zealand curriculum and NCEA, and the NZ ASEAN Scholar Awards. The seminars drew significant interest with the rooms full for most of the day.

  Ben Burrowes, ENZ’s Regional Communications & Strategic Relations Manager for South East Asia, said it was fantastic to see so much interest in the seminars.

  “It was clear that the students and parents had already conducted their own research and had come prepared with specific questions on programmes of study and life as a student in New Zealand.”

  The Hanoi agent seminar, held on 17 March, included student visa updates from INZ, followed by education agent training and “speed meetings” between local agents and New Zealand education providers.

  The events were accompanied by a comprehensive public relations programme that resulted in good coverage in Vietnamese media. Some 15 local media members attended a media briefing in Ho Chi Minh City, seizing the opportunity to interview two Vietnamese alumni and Ben.

  The ENZ team also conducted an online chat with vnexpress.net, a top online news website in Viet Nam with over one million views per month. During the two-hour live chat session, questions were put to panel members Ben, Chris Klaassen (Chair of SIEBA), Giang Nguyen (University of Waikato’s SEA Regional Manager), and Lucy Nguyen (SIT’s International Marketing Officer for Vietnam). They answered nearly 60 questions ranging from New Zealand’s quality of education, the transferability of qualifications, the high school system and NCEA. After the live chat, the answers remained on the news site and were syndicated by many other online sources.

  Ben said the number of questions put to the panel was a positive sign.

  “A number of questions asked for comparisons between New Zealand and some of our stronger competitors – a further testament to the growing market awareness of New Zealand,” he said.

  Air New Zealand was among the events’ partners, providing two sets of return tickets to New Zealand at the fairs. 

  

  Ben Burrowes (second from left), Tam Le (second from right) with Vietnamese alumni

  

  Speed meetings at the Hanoi Agent Seminar

• New Zealand builds presence in the Philippines

  More than 40 local education agents and 15 providers attended the agent seminar, held at the official residence of David Strachan, New Zealand’s Ambassador to the Philippines.

  Immigration New Zealand (INZ) provided local market updates and a student visa application training session to agents, while ENZ provided an overview of its 2017 activity.

  ENZ also used the event to launch an Agent Activity Fund, designed to maximise agents’ resources and activities in promoting New Zealand education in Manila and Cebu. ENZ has invested NZD 20,000 into the fund, and called for co-investment proposals from local agents.

  Ben Burrowes, ENZ’s Regional Communications & Strategic Relations Manager for Southeast Asia, said the Philippines has been one of New Zealand’s fastest growing student recruitment markets in recent years.

  “We saw a slowdown following the Rule 18 change but we’ve been greatly encouraged by the high-quality student visa applications coming in,” said Ben.

  “For the first two months of 2017, the numbers show a strong percentage increase compared to the same time last year.”

  ENZ also joined New Zealand providers at IDP’s Study in Australia and New Zealand Fair in Ortigas on 11 March, where ENZ and INZ used a seminar session to present to more than 500 prospective students and parents.

  The following day, ENZ and some 20 providers joined Golden Summit Immigration Consultancy (GSIC) for their Pure New Zealand Study Expo, which attracted more than 500 visitors.

  “ENZ will continue to promote New Zealand’s world-class education offering, and we look forward to working alongside our providers and agents to further build our profile in the Philippines,” said Ben.

  

  Immigration New Zealand provides training to local education agents in Manila