DFI Session 4 (Group 2)

DFI - Session 4 of the second group of teachers from the Tairawhiti Cluster.

Some reflections to share:

Teachers in this group showing they are "brave knights and are heroically courageous" in the digital world:

Gisborne Boys High x's 3

St Mary's Catholic School's x's 4 (including the Principal)

Cobham School

Awapuni School x's 2

Riverdale School x's 1

Tutors: Maria Krause & Cheryl Torrie

Great group of educators with capable tutors makes the day most worthwhile.

• What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy? Even though I participated in the first round of DFI I have picked up many more trick and been even more informed about the Manaiakalani programme. We covered Cybersmart, Chromebooks and Ipad, revisited Hangouts and Screencastify. All very good stuff. Felt more confident this time. Cybersmart resources were awesome. Would love to be a classroom teacher again.
• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional? I still need to fully utilise the opportunities screencastify affords. Will reflect on this. For example I could use it to good effect on my professional new sites.
• What did I learn that could be used with my learners?  If my learners are the Principals then I could improve my Google Site to be a source of information and a place for interaction.
• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life? Since being forced onto a vegan diet to reverse the onset of heart disease I would like to create a site with appropriate recipes and a run down on the effectiveness of diet on heart health and sharing of cardiac research.

DFI Session 8

DFI Session 8 - EMPOWERMENT 10 May 2019

A Manaiakalani expression for "Student Agency"

Why use digital technologies in the school?

Not merely a "tool."  Otherwise much cheaper to use a pencil and exercise book.  Digital devices open up a world that can significantly make a difference to people with low incomes who battle against all the problems of making ends meet from an educational, health, diet, educational challenges of being successful in society.

Today's Reflections:

• What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?

Dorothy's presentation was awesome. Clearly outlines the Why Manaiakalani? "Empowering" learners from low socio-economic backgrounds through the connectedness, visibility and ubiquity of the digital world. Manaiakalani supports whanau getting through the barriers through cost restraints.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?

Need to spend about 20 minutes per day practicing the new learning. Take the plunge with doing Google Level 1.

• What did I learn that could be used with my learners?

As I am not in a classroom teaching role I am more able to articulate the key principles around Manaiakalani with local school leaders and teachers.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?

With a Down Syndrome grandson I would like to utilise Co-Spaces to create social stories for him to learn how to cope with challenges he faces. For example what to do when he finds himself getting anxious during a school assembly with lots of noise and people going here and there in order to avoid him lashing out at others around him.

OVERALL today at MindLab was excellent. Loved learning how to use coding with Co-Spaces.

Also great introduction to the Technology Curriculum.

  

DFI Digital Fluency Intensive 7

Digital Fluency Intensive Session 7

What have I learnt today?

NUMBER ONE:  
Excellent Hangout with Dorothy around "connected."  Excellent set of slides.  Particularly like the last slide with the x's 4 puzzle pieces linking

                         

 "Connected," "Visible," "Ubiquitous," "empowered."

NUMBER TWO: Google Sites

Explored a number of Google Sites from around the wider Manaiakalani Clusters and had face-to- face chats with the group to evaluate them.  We then evaluated our own.  Most of us are beginners but the classroom teachers seemed well down the track. Learnt how to insert various useful items such as the calendar. Great help from the leaders.

The evaluation questions were based on :

Digital Fluency Intensive 5

Here we are again with the fifth DFI session.  

Have learnt about screen-casting which is incredibly valuable.

Other learnings:

🗹 "Explain Everything" on the Ipad.

🗹  Going over "Digital Dig."

🗹  Going over "Cybersmart Curriculum.

NOTE:  I can see huge value in using much of the Manaiakalani resources for school Digital Strategic Planning.

Day 4 of Digital Fluency Intensive

What did I learn that could be used with my learners? 

🗹  Google Sheets:  Using "natural language" to ask questions around the data.  Creating more meaningful charts to suit my questions.

🗹  The group dialogue around SHARE and the importance of relating to an "audience."

What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?

🗹  Using Google Sheets charts is most relevant to my work.  For example: I can create a chart and make a "live link" to the number of blog posts for each student and the chart will be updated automatically over time without me having to go and update data manually.

DAY 3 - Digital Fluency Intensive

My Learning Today:

🗹  Setting up Youtube channel.

🗹  How to livestream.

🗹 Reviewed Slides

🗹 Made a gadget for my blog.

What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?

Creativity Empowers Learners

To quote Hornby Secondary school Principal - "We are pushing hard to develop the use of digital tools in our students' learning. Digital tools are acknowledged as an accelerator of learning, as long as they are used with new pedagogies. Using new technology to do what we have always done is, as Alan November would say, simply creating a $1000 pencil.

The evidence being accumulated by the Woolf Fisher Research Centre out of Auckland University supports the belief that the technology, combined with the Learn Create Share pedagogy, is an accelerator. Actually it's more than that, it's a game changer for our learners.”

What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?

I am learning to switch more confidently between Google apps which will indeed improve my workflow.

What did I learn that could be used with my learners?

My learners are not children but adults involved in education. I would like to encourage my colleagues to invest in more time 

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?

My confidence is growing daily as I use the tools and tricks of the trade in my usual workflow.

DFI Day 2

These are some of my learnings from the Digital Fluency Intensive today. Friday 7 March.

• Organising my emails.
• Google Keep
• Practiced Google Hangout.  Very successful.
• Toby
• Organising my calendar better.
• Linking my google stuff to my phone.
• Installed LOOM on my computer and learnt how to record and present my screen with speech to a Hangout group.  (Thanks Herman for your help)

A thought:  At our Manaiakalani PLG yesterday we discussed the importance of our Cluster having a "roadmap."  A sample framework for creating a Roadmap has been sent out to Principals but much work by each school is needed to complete it so as to reflect the particular school's unique character.

The LEARN, CREATE, SHARE pedagogy is a great place to start.

The above "LEARN" set of slides prepared by Dorothy is an excellent place to start the thinking.

How Herman helped me learn to embed a recording.

My Reflections on todays Learning at the Digital Learning Intensive.  (i.e. my first try at embedding a recording)