Collaborate and communicate if you want change is the message that Danish visiting e-learning expert, Peter Looms, delivered to an audience of e-Learning specialists at the second annual Regional e-Learning Symposium held at NorthTec in Whangarei on Wednesday (subs 29 September).

Mr Looms is spending two weeks in New Zealand speaking at e-Learning symposia around the country sponsored by Wellington Loop, NorthTec, Wintec and Victoria University sharing his extensive experience as a teacher and as a strategic planner for projects involving new media in a number of European countries.

"My connection with New Zealand goes back 20 years and I see many similarities in outlook between Kiwis and Danes," he said. "Neither Kiwis nor Danes like to accept formal authority. We are informal and sometimes irritatingly independent. However we are able to work towards a consensus through open discussion."

This transparency can be a good thing in terms of being prepared try new ideas and being able to learn from our mistakes. "In many countries status is everything and the fear of failure is the guiding principle. In New Zealand and Denmark a lot of things can happen because we can learn from our mistakes."

Mr Looms' long association with New Zealand means that he has been able to observe how the country has developed, especially in relation to its use of technology.

"When I came here in 1996 I dialled up to the internet and could hear the pings from electric fences. Things have improved since then. There are still infrastructure challenges - rural communities will always be a challenge in terms of technology infrastructure."

One way that challenges can be overcome is to work together. "We can embrace change but it's important to do it with other people. We need to look at how change happens and think about how to create and share a vision and address challenges. We then need to find like-minded individuals and work together. Most educators have a lot of these qualities but not all of them."

Communication plays a huge part to the ongoing success of technology projects, said Mr Looms. "It's important that changes are seen to happen by stakeholders such as parents, management or government. We need to be able the question of 'what's in it for me?' and demonstrate tangible results. It's also important to think about what constitutes success from different perspectives."

Mr Looms advocates continuous and regular evaluation of projects. "This allows you to demonstrate what we are able to do now that we couldn't do before in a shorter timeframe."

Mr Looms said that there has been a tendency to oversell and under-deliver when it comes to technology. "It can't be all marketing and no substance. It's not the Emperor's new clothes. It needs to be something that's of value to somebody."

By nature New Zealanders are well placed to weed out solutions with a lack of substance. "New Zealand has a lot going for it because it's an honest place.

"It's important for us all to communicate what we do to a broader range of constituents. An important part of change management within any organisation is constituent management, especially in the current economic climate where there is less money in the public purse.

"We have to be better at arguing the case for what we want to do, presenting the reasons why and talking about what happens if we don't do it. We need to communicate why we need to use information and communication technologies and tell people who is going to teach them and provide pastoral support while they learn how use new technology. Fundamentally we have to continue to deliver technology solutions in an appropriate and meaningful way in the 21st century."

When it comes to rural communities that might mean thinking about technologies that are already in people's homes or on their person such as the mobile phone and build on skills that people already have.

We also need to look at what's going on outside educational establishments. "Young people are skilled at using social media. The education sector has to play a significant role along with parents to provide guidance on appropriate use and the rules of engagement with these technologies. This will help ensure they're used constructively and get around the very serious problem of 'electronic mobbing' that has had such tragic consequences for some young people in Denmark and in other parts of the world."