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?

Workflow. DFI Week Two

Today's session has been timely as our school prepares for the possibility of students staying home and accessing learning in a different way.

We have been planning for self isolation and school closure over the past couple of weeks; timetables, what teaching and learning will look like across the teams and how we will connect with our tamariki have been the questions that the staff has been focusing on.

We had already decided to use Google Meet in a variety of ways: scheduled workshops, giving feedback on work that students have shared, and generally checking in.

At today's DFI session, along with some useful tips such as tab control and gmail maintenance (!) we practised using Google Meet, which now includes a record function.  This practise was timely and the use of the record button will reduce some steps and will make it easier for our teachers to be able to provide rewind sessions for our students.  Knowing how to use the technology confidently will reduce a lot of stress for our teachers as they prepare to provide home learning for our students. I know that I feel a lot better about supporting our teachers to use Google Meet after today. Inviting, sharing, presenting between screens and leading and contributing to discussions will be necessary skills.

Some aspects of today's 'Learn' focus resonated with me:
How do we know what effective practice looks like?
Would we be able to recognise it? This does not mean throw out the old for the new, but know what effective practice looks like. If we accept that the whole point of the digital world is to be able to do things in a way that we could not do before - what does effective practise look like in a digital world? How can we use digital technologies to accelerate learning for our students?

These are the questions that we ask ourselves constantly in our Senior Leadership Team:
Do you know what Learn looks like in your school?
How do you know?
Do you have a model or shared understandings about Learn in your school?
What is happening in your school in terms of your local context?

Core Business DFI Week One

Today has been a great introduction to the digital fluency world. The history of Manaiakalani was a great insight into how this movement was born and I marvel at the far reaching effects of this dream.

Something that resonated with me was the statement that our computers are a pencil not a book. This spoke to me of the kaupapa around digital technologies in schools being about opening up possibilities for ubiquitous learning, access to information, creating and sharing; not as an alternative to a textbook or worksheet.

I use google docs every day in my professional and personal life. Today I learned some excellent shortcuts and tips that will make working with docs more efficient. eg I had not known that explore at the bottom right of the doc allows me to search for free images without having to use the free images filter on google images.

Some of the 'Create' features within google docs are going to be useful when creating docs.
I was able to explore some of these features. This image is my work in progress.

Other highlights have been having the opportunity to give DFI my full attention, ask for and receive help, and to connect with another professional learning group.