Revision. DFI Week 9. Ubiquitous

The end of an incredible nine week journey. I was worried at the beginning that I would not be able to keep up and this was compounded by the decision to carry on with the course via distance; which felt like a bit of a leap at the time. As it turned out, I discovered the essence of rewindable learning. Knowing that I could come back to it later took the heat out of my concern. There were still moments when I felt swamped by how fast the Create parts were moving and I felt renewed understanding for our students about what it is to be a learner.

The organisation of the weekly sessions was a learning opportunity in itself. As we entered into distance learning, I was able to see how moving in and out of groups could work. It was an advantage to be part of this process as I helped  a few of our teachers learn about google meets, including setting meetings and sharing their screens.  Taking part in google meets myself meant that I picked up tips that I could share. The small group sessions in our course were a great way to develop the professional networks that we look for in courses. They were also a way to ask the questions that we wouldn't have done in the larger groups. The facilitators were wonderfully patient as they worked with their adult students!

One of my big gains was the knowledge that even though I may not have picked things up in the moment for a variety of reasons including computer issues or slow wifi, or just not 'clicking'. I developed the conviction that I would be able to 'get' it. It wasn't that I couldn't, I just hadn't, yet. I stopped doubting my ability and knew that I could. I developed grit. I read Carol Dweck's Positive Mindset  some years ago. As the weeks progressed I thought of her ' I can't do it ...yet but I will,' and as I was working with my little bubble of children at school, I found myself using that language.

This course embodies the whole Manaiakalani kaupapa word in its essence; "Ubiquitous". This course has been authentic ubiquitous learning for me, driving home the question; why wouldn't learning be ubiquitous  for our students?
Exciting times ahead as schools return to yet another new normal. Now is the time to seek out the successes of our distance learning and take the opportunity to move forward.
How will you move forward from here?

Computational Thinking. DFI Week 8. Empowered

Today at DFI,the topic was Computational thinking. I learned about micro:bit. www.makecode.microbit.org. This was a fun coding app that had quite a few different activities to experiment with. It has a makey makey type of device that you connect your computer to, which Gerhard demonstrated to us. There were excellent training videos to work through. Below is my heads or tails flip code. You click on the A button to get  a couple of random throws and then it settles on the image for a head or a tail.  I also made a dice and had my name in lights on a loop. I think that the students will love this. We also had fun playing Mindcraft. I haven't tried that for years.

 The Manaiakalani kaupapa word for this session was 'empowered'. We have delved quite deeply into this concept at school. Our school ethos aligns well with Manaiakalani's vision of connected, visible and empowered. After a huge amount of consultation with board, staff and community we arrived at our vision; Choosing to be an innovative, Catholic community that inspires and empowers learners to succeed. Each word was carefully selected to contribute to the explanation of our ethos.  We choose to be innovative - we want to be overt in our intention about this, unapologetically looking for new ways of thinking and of delivering the curriculum; striving to be research driven and always looking for self improvement. We are distinct in that our special character is Catholic - that is who we are at our core. We want to inspire and empower our learners to be the best learners and the best people that they can be. What drives your vision?                                                                                                                                                                 

Devices - DFI Week Seven.

One of the great things about this Digital Fluency Intensive (DFI) is the learning within the learning. I love the stretch that comes with not only the embedding of  the  Maniakalani pedagogy, but also the incidental (or perhaps not) learning along the way. This is the way technology should be used, as a tool, not a 'topic' We have come a long way from those days! Below is the screencastify that I made in order to present the information and task for a cybersmart lesson. This involved me: finding out about the lesson content, reminding myself about using screencastify in order to explain the content and task, applying that knowledge and then remembering (thanks Nicola) how to embed a slideshow on my blog! So much learning going on amid this desire to ensure the cyber 'smarts' of our students!

I think that the same can be said about most of the members of my staff, myself included, relating to the distance learning. We have all had to learn new skills and so quickly become 'experts' in areas that we weren't even aware of pre lockdown. I have never watched so many 'how to' youtube videos (feel like I have a really good grasp of imovie now to name just one!) and realise that in lots of instances we can find our own answers. - a new face on rewindable learning. Most of the staff are commenting on how much they have loved the new learning that distance learning has invoked.

The children have also learned new digital skills in a short space of time. Just today a teacher told me that she was having trouble in her google meet; she could see the students but they couldn't see her or her screen share. One of the students (year 5 - thanks Mila!) stepped up and shared her screen and helped direct the discussion on fraction sharing. The teacher was not only impressed but also grateful for the support! Go our children! What heartwarming situations have you had throughout this lockdown?