Session 9: External Recognition

 Reflecting on the last 8 weeks of learning...

I thought the way the course was delivered was excellent. The opportunity to work online from wherever you needed meant access for all. Organisationally it had been well thought through and planned for, moving between whole group to small group and targeted group sessions. Because of this set up I never felt like I had an unanswered question or didn't have the support I required - which I had though may happen through not having a 'real life' tutor. I loved that there was always a practical part to each day where we had the chance to create something that could be of further use to us, this was so beneficial to be practising the use of various tools whilst at the same time working on something that would be of value after. The supporting background information surrounding Manaiakalani and their pedagogy was interesting and supported the 'why' behind the importance of understanding and using the digital tools.

The part I found most beneficial was the PD on tools I use on a regular basis - calendar, docs, slides. Improving my use of these tools has already enhanced my everyday practise and streamlining workflow. The other sessions around building sites and the relevance of content I also found useful. Through our deep dives of looking at other peoples sites and considering how well the site functioned and the information it shared gave a great insight into what should be shared on my own site. Then the learning of how to make the site was great and I found this very useful, for now and in the future.

Today was exam today and, wohoo, I passed! Great to have so many resources to pull from that had been shared with us.  I did find it interesting that when I went to Google a question, it popped up straight away, obviously it had been asked before!  Colleagues had told me how difficult the exam was, which they had scenario based questions also.  I feel that we got away a bit more lightly with only multichoice.

It has been a great opportunity to have the whole day for 9 weeks to focus on this learning of digital tools and how to implement this in the classroom.  It is a vital part of our future and it will be something I will need to continue upskilling myself in.

Session 8: Computational Thinking

 Manaiakalani - Empowered of Learners and Teachers.  Empowerment is choice.  Dorothy shared the lack of choice of many communities, they are just making it through on what they have and there is no choice beyond this.  In these lower decile schools (Tamaki) the 5 year olds arriving at school are academically the level of a 3 year old with vocab difference of 32 million words.  Decile 1 schools have a turn over of 1/3, because the choice of where you live is taken away so turnover increases.  Are we using tech tools to empower these whanau.  Manaikalini has created the programme to ensure there is empowerment and equality for all at a price that is affordable.

Digital Technology Curriculum - this is created so students aren't just consumers, but creators of solutions through the use of technology.  Not all about computers or digital, PO1 and PO2 are a non computerised task.  Don't be put off by jargon terms, in fact important for us to use so students understand.  Appreciated the time to explore TKI Technology Online space.  What was reassuring was the fact that we are already doing many things that fit the Technologies curriculum, it is just being aware of the AOs and links.  I like the idea in one video I watched of the integration across curriculum - planning for inquiries to incorporate AOs from different curriculum area.  To me this creates deeper learning with real life context.

We then moved on to using coding programmes.  I tried code.org to explore simple coding with the Minecraft game, as I haven't done a lot of coding, it seemed easy enough to follow so moved onto Scratch as couldn't do Scratch Jr, I found this pretty difficult to follow!  So I went back to code.org to try the Flappy Bird game, I found this page much easier to follow with the step by step instructions along the top.  I think the children would love exploring this!

We then had a play with Tinkercad, as another group member said it was harder than it looks! Thinking of children that love to design and build this is an awesome programme for them - with lots of Maths!  My whare I created is below.

All in all today was a bit harder for me, coding is not something I have spent a lot of time on.  So lots of learning and understanding for me to take on board today.

Looking forward to the external recognition next week, some revision to do before I think :)

Session 7: Devices

The thoughts behind the Manaiakalani term of 'ubiquitous' was unpacked, meaning anywhere, anytime, any pace and (from) anyone.  It allows for learning to happen outside the constraints of a school day and if gives learners choice.  It was researched and analysed through data the 'summer dip' where learning from the year dropped right off.  Through having ubiquitous learning and also the 'summer learning journey' this could meet the need and support students.  Technology enables the removal of barriers, adds to solutions and gives opportunity of a new way of learning.  It is not just a tool.   Considering my own readiness for ubiquitous learning during our lockdowns of Covid  I was proud that I could move with the different tools my 2 different schools used.  I didn't say "I can't" but learnt and tried to develop my skill set.  While this was something I was proud of, now that I have done DFI I regret that I didn't totally understand how sites work, rather I 'threw' things at my site.  With an increased understanding and building it more carefully I would have been still using sites more in my class today.  Since the covid lockdowns I must admit I haven't taken forward a large amount, more the superficial site that was created in August.

We then had a session on being 'cybersmart' - not safe but more positively what are our choices as users.  This is the roof of our whare, if we have holes the roof will leak and it will create problems and we want to keep learners safe from the outside elements.  There are 10 cybersmart categories with learning objectives within each.  It is important that is covered across the whole school and collaborative planning is done so that students encounter all aspects of the cyber safety curriculum.  The three most important areas being Smart Learners (learn), Footprint (create) and Relationships(share).  Crucially it is important that students are aware that when they create and share this is public and leaves their footprint for anyone to access, be careful in what this is!

Using a chromebook - I found it a bit fiddly and hard to move mouse around and use - Vicky suggested having a seperate mouse to help.  Many shortcuts were similar to normal PC, but some were even faster, eg a screenshot.  Great to take time to see it from the student view so you can help with trouble shooting.

In the next session we worked on the ipads and using Explain Everything.  I have tried this out a little at school so had a basic understanding.  Unfortunately we had trouble opening the files that had been created and shared with us.  I find it quite an easy tool to use to make things on, however more difficult directing students to open projects I have made.  I can see how Explain Everything is a great tool, but I have struggled getting my students to become competent users of it.  We are not 1-1 which adds to the challenge.  I managed to create a lesson for the students on one of the Cybersmart lessons, I focused on the tools of Explain Everything as I thought this would be very handy to have as rewindable learning on a class site.  It also helped me in understanding and using tools.  There is a video below of my work.

Session 6: Enabling Access - Sites

 The Manaiakalani pedagogy today was focus on the joist of being 'connected'.  Working across NZ schools together, has allowed for some professional learning that have been very beneficial.  Essentially everyone has the shared language of 'Learn, Create, Share' and the kaupapa behind this, allowing us to connect.  The continuing connection is given through multiple levels of principals across school through to admin PD.  Twitter used to push out children's Blog posts so everyone can stay connected with learning.  Within the 'share' aspect, connections have to be made both ways.  Being connected only works with the three other aspects.

Leading learning through sites

Important to consider the visual appeal, functionality of navigation and access.  We had a chance to explore teachers sites, a good way to see what does/doesn't work and to give ideas for clear visuals and functionality.

We then begun working on our own sites, this gave me a chance to start a site for next year.  The link to my site can be found here.  For now there isn't a lot of information, it will need to be a work in progress as I get a little more info about the role in the coming weeks.  Good to have some basics set up ready to go though.

Vicki also gave me a tip on calendar with adding 'appointment slots' this will be helpful for next years scheduling.

As my next learning step it will be to use the draw tool more often, I have never used it before so didn't know how easy is worked, particularly with adding to the site.  I probably will need to go back and reread the notes from that session.

Session 5: Collaborate

Today for the Manaiakalani Pedagogy session we focused on the 'floor board' of being 'Visible'. Manaiakalani focuses on the idea of content being specific and intentional with delivery of this through the use of technology.  Another key idea was that the whole process of teaching and learning should be visible - planning, process of students, outcome, reflection and assessment so that there is no mystery behind what is being taught, and needing to achieve. The ability to use Google Sites has repurposed the modelling book/board, making this teaching always accessible for students. When developing this visible learning two perspectives should be considered- learner (sites) and teachers (hapara).

We then moved on to consider multi modal learning and the use of sites.  It was great to learn a bit more about sites, I have my own class site which someone gave me the template for earlier in the year. Through today I learnt how to actually create my own, which made a lot more sense for adding work for students, I had been taking some long roads to do some very simple tasks. The key takeaway for multi modal learning was that it increases student engagement, you are activating student interest through multiple mediums.

For our Create session coincidently Vicky had chosen the topic of 'Celebrations' which has been our focus this term at school. The link to the site I created is here.

Today it has been most helpful to have so many shared planning and resource docs. I don't know if I have ever attended a PD where you got such a large bank of useful work in one day! Manaiakalani has really set up to support it's teachers in an ongoing way.

I look forward to being able to update my site/create a site for next year.  The idea of mapping it out before beginning is important and having a clearer understanding of how to use the tool will help with this thought process.

Session 4: Dealing with data

The focus of the Manaiakalani segment was around Share, with the key idea being that the conccept of 'sharing' has been important in many different formats all through time.  Manaiakalani saw the opportunity to engage students when a whole new way of sharing began in 2005.  The hook for students was the excitement of engaging digitally in sharing, they wanted to share and using blogger provided an educational means of this.  The audience gives the purpose and reason to share.  The digital opportunity to share gives a much wider audience base.  Blogger is the 'learner drive' opportunity to share in a safer manner while learning the appropriate skills.

Forms

I haven't used Forms before so was great to have a rundown.  So many format options which creates many options.  I can see plenty of uses for myself to gather information.

The session on My Maps I felt I didn't grasp as well, a little bit of a whirlwind and I was struggling to think of application in my current classroom situation (although I know there will be, just understanding and thinking all at once was a little challenging).

Sheets

I have used Excel a bit so was nice to compare this to Sheets, I found it was more user friendly and easier to navigate.  I created the below chart from inputting data about a students blog post.  I can see lots of benefits to analysing children's assessment information within sheets, the sparkline was a great quick visual.

As one of my Bubble Group members mentioned this morning the format of the day really helps learning - going through the 'how to' and then following this in a smaller group giving it a go helps to immerse in the learning.

Session 3: Media

Unfortunately I missed the session on the Manaiakalani Kaupapa - Create due to a power cut! I managed to catch up on creating an 'About Me' for my blog and tips about Google Slides - this shows the opportunity of rewindable learning!

I joined back in for the Youtube session which was very handy - I now have my own channel where I can create playlists and save and share these - I use youtube a lot in the classroom so this will be handy for organising myself.

Carrying on after lunch Maria shared how to 'drag and drop' in slides - a key message I picked up was rather than spending a lot of time creating these ourselves have our learners create too - that way they increase their understanding of content but also their digital skills all at once.  Below are the two activities I created to practise skip counting and Te Reo.

What I have noticed is how quickly you forget - while in the sessions it seems like logical steps to follow, but try to repeat that again later and I have forgotten simple things.  Shows me I need to keep using the skills to ensure I retain them