Learning Media - Te Pou Taki Kõrero

This innovative CD-ROM supports Māori-medium students to write for a range of purposes. It won the TUANZ Business Internet Award for Education in 2007.

The brief

To develop a digital writing tool that will support Māori-medium students in years 5–8 to write for a range of purposes.

Our solution

Te Tuhi ā-Hiko (Digital Writing Tool) consists of a series of digital activities designed to motivate and support students to write in te reo Māori.

Clear and sequenced instructions scaffold students to learn about the form, features, and language of taki (recount), tautohe (persuasive), and tohutohu (procedural) texts. Each activity includes clear and sequenced instructions, based on the steps of the writing process.

Te Tuhi ā-Hiko includes visual and audio elements that make the learning experience more interesting. Checklist and evaluation tools support students to review their work and promote self and peer assessment.

The resource is targeted at teachers as well as students. It can build teachers’ understanding of the writing process. Comprehensive teachers’ notes in Māori and English explain how teachers can use the activities for their own learning, as well as model effective practice.

The activities support the te reo exemplars and, through the reuse of content published in the printed children’s series, complement existing materials in kura kaupapa.