DFI Revision - Wiki Iwa

Exam day is upon us!  I was fortunate to be able to borrow the principals office for the three hour duration, and I certainly needed the quiet and lack of disruptions as recommended.  Time was very precious as I worked quickly but still did not finish the last task.  It was good to be put in the shoes of a learner and am very happy that it is over.

Dorothy spoke today about Ubiquitous Learning.  Yes it's a big word and when I first heard it I had to look it up.  Barriers are removed which is empowering for the student, easier for teachers to learn online and from a variety of sources.

Thanks for the confidence during all DFI sessions from Makaore, our Bubble leader.  He kept saying "Confidence is Contagious".  I can easily agree with this, as have noticed reluctant learners recently who lack confidence.  With teacher and fellow students support they are capable of learning a lot more, then will talk more with others which in turn reinforces learning.  Its about creating a "can-do" attitude and a growth mindset.

Our final session ended with a DFI Demo Slam where we were introduced to a whole lot more interesting applications and helpful tips to delve into. I liked the sound of the Freddie Meter, Body Synth, Semi-Conductor and Google Arts and Culture - these all have a music/art/movement twist.  The Kupu app is a great one for learning more te reo, it works by seeing a photo of an object and providing the Maori translation - Ka pai!  Google Trends is great for news that is trending, very interesting stuff on here.  I learnt about flying snakes, who would have thought?  Perfect examples of Ubiquitous learning! Kau mai neke - flying snake.

Thanks very much for the opportunity Manaiakalani to participate in the Digital Fluency Intensive.  It is an amazing programme and I will be recommending it to others.  I am looking forward to the rest of the year to be able to implement so much of what has been learnt and continue learning.  Happy holidays every one.
Ka kite.

DFI Computational Thinking - Wiki Waru

Kia ora koutou
Last session today before our 3 hour exam next week!  It has been a great journey learning lots of new digital skills and this will definitely continue.  As we head to our exam next week I am thinking that one of the biggest reflections for me has been around "being a learner" again.  I am constantly putting myself into the situation of our tamariki and wondering how learning looks and feels for them.  The pressure of a test situation certainly affects most people's stress levels, and this emphasises the importance of learning being aimed at the appropriate level of individuals.  We can do this by knowing how tamariki.

Back to today.  Dorothy talked about EMPOWERING Learners and Teachers.  I liked this quote from Pat Sneddon "The Manaiakalani Kaupapa of empowerment is about the advancing of Rangatiratanga; "taking back control of their own lives".  Money and housing can be disempowering for communities.

The Future of Tech and what it means for our tamariki.  Gerhard shared some interesting ideas round robotics, facial recognition and the moral dilemma around self-drive cars.

Kerry discussed Computational Thinking in the new Digital Technology Curriculum.  She showed us some examples of implementation by teachers.  We need to be equipping students with confidence to learn and re-learn as technology changes.  I have joined the Kia Takatū ā-Matihiko - Digital Readiness Programme. This looks very useful with toolkits and resources.

We had a bit of time to explore coding.  I chose SCRATCH and created a little one to share.  This was fun and I can see that there are lots of coding opportunities.  (this example is pretty basic)



studio.code looks like a great resource too.  What appealed to me was the Minecraft challenge and Dance Party.  Check it out.

One more week and our exam will be over and it's the holidays, yippee! Hoping for some sunshine.
Ka kite ano.

DFI Devices Agenda - Wiki whitu

Kia ora koutou
Today we learnt more about being CYBERSMART "at home in a digital world".  I liked the idea that we need to have a POSITIVE focus.  What also appealed to me that it is a Whole School and Cluster Focus, therefore there is consistent language and understanding through the years.
Continuing the cybersmart theme we were asked to get creative with a cybersmart concept.  My focus was on Smart Media.  I created a simple Screencastify that I could use in the class with Year 3s to teach the use of the Explore tool.



Hapara - Lots of handy tips here.  Hover over blog comments, bold gmails have not been opened, class info for student emails and to reset passwords, use activity viewer to see who is collaborating.

Dorothy discussed the Manaiakalani 1:1 journey.  Partnership -Te Tiriti o Waitangi (all students have equity).  Participation - every learner can participate.  Protection - happens behind the scenes.  It is always interesting to hear the background and pedagogy behind Manaiakalani.

On Chromebooks we delved into a Digital Dig.  I managed to dig up a few shortcuts and discover new skills as I worked through the slides.  This was the trickiest part of the day and one that I felt would have been easier if not being online.









Gerhard showed how to use Explain Everything on Ipads.
News to me that you can also use it on a
PC whiteboard.explaineverything.com
I managed the first EE task.  This is something that I definitely
need more practise with.
Lots to learn and spend time practising!  Ka kite ano.

DFI Enabling Access - Sites - Wiki Ono

Kia ora koutou
Today's session was all about Window Dressing, otherwise known as Enabling Access to our Sites.  As we learnt a bit about this last week we had time today to reflect on constructive criticism around our own sites and we had an opportunity to further develop our own sites.  It was very helpful seeing the sites of those in our bubble and links to others that Kerry had shared.  For many of us Window Dressing is a collaborative exercise that needs to be shared with our colleagues.  I have noticed areas that need improvement on our site so those are goals for me to follow up.

Gerhard shared the importance of Visual Appeal and Functionality.  From this I liked the ideas of using complimentary colours, a simple layout and only two fonts.  Navigation needs to be thought out and easy to follow. 

Empowering Learners - we had an interesting discussion in our bubble around this, what information needs to be kept private around individual student achievement?

Dorothy spoke of the importance of face to face connections, even if they are online (like during Lockdown).  She shared with us a very clever Youtube clip made by Shirley Serban who is also the Principal at Lake Brunner School.  Zoom Together - A modern take

To make a connection both parties need to share.

Hāpara Hot Tip - use the Sharing Tab to locate missing file/documents. Encourage students to be organised.

Blogging Hot Tip - in layout use right sidebar to add and reorganise gadgets (possibly other blogs)

Today's session has been useful to evaluate and reflect on our class site.  It has been insightful to go out on the street and look back in through the window.

DFI Collaborate Sites - Wiki Rima

Kia ora koutou
Today's session was all about being VISIBLE/ariari.  Technology has helped make our journey of learning, planning, sharing and creating all visible.  Our learning sites and our blogs allow colleagues, learners, whanau and friends to follow and engage easily.
No Surprises! - Learning can be accessible, available and seen in advance.
Hāpara works in the classroom as a solution to challenges around visibility.  Interestingly it also has a Parent Portal allowing parents to login to child's work.

Barriers need to be removed, less passwords, make it easy to see for everyone, parents, teachers and learners.  3 clicks - this is a good rule to remember.

Multi modal - communicating with ALL learners by reaching a diverse range of learning styles.  Engage the hook, make learning empowering to help develop life long learners.
Homepages reflect the culture of the class - like a shop window.  There are some amazing shop windows out there!!

We had time and support creating our own Google Site.  We then added a Multimodal page using the T-shaped Literacy model.  This is a work in progress.  I enjoyed working with the group as we all had different ideas as to how to design learning around a School Journal Story.
I can see why we all use Google Sites as they are truly visible and provide ease of access.
Ka kite ano.

DFI Dealing with Data, Wiki wha

Kia ora koutou
Our session today began with the Manaiakalani Pedagogy around Share/Tohatoha.  Sharing has been around forever with Adam and Eve, and cultural narratives so it is only natural that it continues. Posting finished work on Blogger is an incentive for learners to complete work and share.  Sharing the learning processes is also valuable.
Manaiakalani chose Blogger as it suits Google, has a good check system, provides the largest audience through Google.  Cybersmart lessons are practical as they have an authentic context.
Sharing can be powerful when it is the starting point.

Hapara Hot Tips - setting up groups, recorder tiles so students can appear at top/bottom and won't impact on others' class view

Google Forms - we created one with different answer options, multiple choice, short answer, lots of options for customising it. 

Google Sheets - this was most interesting, lots of helpful hints that I will be using when collecting and using data.  Best thing was freezing columns, so this stays with you as you move across the page, awesome!  Also autofill, filter and formatting. 
Our task was to create a graph using Blog Data.

Blogging - we looked at the nitty gritties, blog stats, audience, traffic and the importance of using clear labels, just like a filing system.

As we are always collecting, analysing and using data I am looking forward to consolidating the skills we covered today.  I like the idea of using Google Sheets more for classroom planning round group work, where we can create new sheets for different needs.
Ka kite ano.

DFI media, Wiki toru

Kia ora koutou
Today's third online session began with Dorothy talking about Create/Hanga as part of Connecting with Manaiakalani.
What I found most valuable was that in the Learn, Create, Share model it does not need to be in this order. Creative skills help students become better problem solvers, communicators and collaborators.  Through creating we all learn. 

Youtube - this was interesting as I learnt how to create playlists and then share, very useful :)
Also mentioned was being able to subscribe to others' playlists, so this is something I will look into.


Livestreaming Youtube - Wow, this was cool! loved the example of livestreaming the school cross country or a rugby match.  Also can see the value in the rewindable-ness when playing back with learners.
 
Google Drawing - This is where I spent a fair bit of my day and I have to say it is not easy drawing! Now I really appreciate the drawing work I have seen with our learners, they are super skilled.  Aside from actual drawing, Google Draw has lots of features that I enjoyed learning about and upskilling in.  Things like mask shapes, guides, formatting, background and file page setup.

Google Slides - a group of slides is called a deck.  Embrace blank slides, use consistent formatting with colour and fonts.  Visual imagery is important but should not distract from the core focus.  Insert images as JPEG.  Speed for animations using slides is set in Embed code when blog posting.

Best thing for me to take away from todays session is to give learners time when they learn new skills on devices.  In class I noticed how difficult it was for children to highlight a section of text and then today I could totally understand where they were coming from as I tried to use the line tools on Google Draw.  "Keep trying" said Gerhard as he watched my expressions on the Meet.  Sorry I am not sharing my drawing today as I am still trying.  Ka kite ano.