New T & L Committee
Hello Teaching Forum visitors
NZ Bridge is pleased to announce the establishment of a new Teaching and Learning Committee. Members of the Committee are:
Douglas Russell (Chair)
Kate Terry
Anna Kalma
Pam Livingston
Babs-Merel de Visser
Shirley Newton
Phil Noye
The Committee was re-formed following the outcome of the Board’s review of Teaching and Learning in the context of the rise of on-line bridge. Many of the above were members of the Teaching and Learning Hub, whose recommendations to NZ Bridge were adopted almost in their entirety, and who therefore have a good understanding of the issues involved.
While a major focus of the Committee’s early work will be the impact of on-line bridge on Teaching, it will also take the opportunity to examine all aspects of this important component of NZ Bridge’s activities. This will include a thorough review of existing material, the support offered to clubs and regions, training or advice for teachers, and accommodating some of the unique features offered by on-line bridge sessions in a positive way within a coherent overall structure.
This is clearly a major task, and it will undoubtedly take some time. We are very keen to engage the playing and teaching community as widely as possible, and we shall therefore be liaising with clubs and their teachers, as well as posting regular updates of our progress both here and on the KiwiBridge facebook user group. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact Douglas directly on douglaskeithrussell@gmail.com.
Latest Posts on this Thread
- NICK WHITTEN20 May 2023 at 08:26AM
Thats great news
- DOUGLAS RUSSELL01 Jun 2023 at 07:38AM
New Zealand Bridge Teaching and Learning Committee
Newsletter 1 June 2023
The newly formed Teaching and Learning Committee has met four times, and is making good progress towards accommodating online platforms into our overall offerings. The major request that we have had from clubs is to put in place an online facility where learners can go and replay hands from the NZ Bridge lessons, either on their own or under supervision. This is our top priority. We have met with Shireen Mohandes from RealBridge with a view to setting this up. While the technology for this is already in place on RealBridge and some other platforms, we need to sort through matters of access, resourcing and protection of intellectual property. We have also made contact with the Education and Development section of the English Bridge Union, who are in the early stages of putting online facilities in place. It may be possible to enter into some kind of contractual arrangement with them.
A second task that we have undertaken is to review the existing NZ Bridge material. While this is a very extensive and invaluable resource for teachers, there are aspects that would benefit from a second look. To this end, we are circulating all clubs to get feedback on what their teachers and students think about this material. It is very clear from both our own experience and that of others that teaching bridge online presents very different challenges from the face-to-face environment. We may therefore need to provide additional resources for the latter.
Finally, we have touched on the issue of training and advice to teachers. One thing that is abundantly clear is that formal lessons are but one component of the development of new players. For this reason, we are exploring ways to assist clubs in developing an overall programme and strategy, from Beginners, Improvers and Intermediate lessons, through supervised/mentored play sessions, to induction into restricted and finally open club sessions, and then to competitive play. Again, units like the EBU already have such advice well established.
Douglas Russell
Chair, BNZ T&L Committee
- NICK WHITTEN02 Jul 2023 at 01:20PM
Thats more great news
May I suggest this committee also liaises with the Directing and Regulations arm of NZB
and come up with an arrangement where none of the methods taught to the beginners require an alert - STANLEY ABRAHAMS16 Jul 2023 at 04:21PM
I wonder if after 7 years you are going to teach count? That could be interesting.
- DOUGLAS RUSSELL18 Jul 2023 at 12:46PM
T&L update July 2023
The Teaching and Learning Committee is making slow but steady progress on a number of fronts. We have located the required PBN files of all the NZ Bridge Beginners hands together with commentary, and we have verified that they can be loaded onto the RealBridge site. We shall shortly put in place times that learners can go and replay these hands together with others, probably with supervision.
We have investigated what other bridge organisations are doing with online teaching, principally the English Bridge Union. While they have a lot of material, we feel that what we currently have is as comprehensive as anything anywhere else. However, they do have some very useful guides and advice for teachers. One outfit that has impressed the Committee is the NoFearBridge web site, and that looks like a good model for developments for us. In particular, they start with a few sessions using the MiniBridge approach – this involves playing contracts before starting on the complex journey of bidding.
We shall soon start on the detailed task of preparing a robust online teaching programme, as well as reviewing the current NZ Bridge material – the two tasks are best approached side by side. To this end, we shall be looking to appoint a paid contractor/consultant, who will operate under the direction of the Committee. We will be preparing a remit for this position, and will be inviting expressions of interest. Several individuals and clubs have already initiated online programmes, and we shall be trading on their experiences.
Finally, in the past NZ Bridge has held an annual Teachers Conference at various venues around the country. We are looking to revive this, probably in November.
- Ian McLaren24 Jan 2024 at 06:01PM
I fully support the direction and thinking of your committee as stated. I like your suggestions regarding the Nofear bridge website that I recently (today discovered by chance googling) and the MiniBridge approach (also discovered using google). The approach used by by Minibridge is exactly what I was looking for in trying to start teaching family members (a dangerous task) and their friends the joys of converting from "500" to Bridge.
I like the intent of sharing this Minibridge approach via this website. I hope that this particular teaching method will find traction with your other committe members. As well, the sharing of other websites found to be effective are to be encouraged.
I found the use of the NZ Bridge online lessons very good for myself as a returning player from decades ago, the fully explained example hands, in particular, being valuable. I also found purchasing an app for playing bridge useful so that I can use it offline when away from wirelesss broadband (as on holiday). The seamless deal of cards and replaying a hand again and again helped. I was guessing, though, when I chose which app.
- STANLEY ABRAHAMS29 Jul 2024 at 07:04PM
Well done, after 12 months you now need a Teaching and Learning Resource Coordinator. And for 12 months we have been paying you to work this out.
Why dont you just fix the lessons that are rubbish. You know which ones, you dont need me to tell you.
- Peter Wilson30 Jul 2024 at 03:08PM
When is NZB going to get of this outdated ACOL bidding system and get with what most people are playing at top level bridge?
- NICK WHITTEN31 Jul 2024 at 09:55AM
When teaching beginners bidding simplicity over-rides other considerations
- GILES HANCOCK02 Aug 2024 at 02:09PM
The lessons are fine, we're not trying to rush new people to play at high levels.
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