Change is the opportunity to do something amazing ... #IMMOOC Week 1.

It has taken me a bit to get my head around - this IMMOOC set up by George Couros that enables amazing conversations around innovative education on a global scale. It is somewhat daunting and soo connected that I am a little overwhelmed. However after spending time lurking and enjoying the conversations I have decided that my entry level will be to catch up with the blogging, face book and twitter conversations. Through my reading on week one of the IMMOOC I have discovered the wonderful 'inoreader', an organisational tool that has the potential to change my life! My bookmarks folders need not be overloaded any longer!

In my school context, change is here and now and we have the opportunity to do something amazing. We are a new school as of February 2016. Our school has come out of the closure of two schools post Christchurch 2011 Earthquake. We have beautiful new innovative learning spaces and a school culture to build from scratch. We are very excited by the opportunity that change can bring us. The biggest challenge right now is leading change in a way that enables our school community to come along with us without feeling overwhelmed by the change. We want our children and teachers to feel more connected to their learning. We want our students to have a voice, be creative, be inquisitive, be collaborative and be critical thinkers while developing citizenship and good character. We know that the world that our students are engaging with now and even more so will be experiencing as they leave school, requires a very different approach to learning than the one that we have traditionally had. When we introduce 1:1 computers next year, we want to be sure that our students are ready to be innovative and creative with the technology in ways that they could not be without it. We are at the crossroads now where we can choose to take the opportunity to do something amazing.

Mind Lab Week 31 My Interdisciplinary Connection Map.

My interdisciplinary map shows my commitment to the value of making connections, in and outside of the workplace.

The interdisciplinary concept is multifaceted. On my professional level it incorporates all of the different networks in my life. Looking at my map I can see how much value I place personally on making connections that will enable me to grow professionally as well as to enable others to grow. I can see that what has gone on in my past is what has enabled me to grow professionally and past involvements are what has enabled me to make the connections that I so strongly value.

On another professional level, the multidisciplinary connections between subjects resonated strongly with me as I explore the possibilities of project based learning further. Crossing interdisciplinary boundaries is how project based learning will work. As was stated on the video  “The road to success academy model” (Week 31 Mindlab) the pursuit of crossing interdisciplinary boundaries “ allows individuals to focus on the collaboration and participation in finding solutions to increasingly complex problems occurring in the world today.” (Lacoe Edu (2014, Oct 24).

As was stated on the video (Mind Lab Week 31), interdisciplinary crossover allows for a curriculum approach that consciously applies methodology and language from more than one discipline, in order to exam a central theme  (Lacoe Edu (2014, Oct 24). My Goal for the future in my school context is to explore further the cross curriculum interdisciplinary connections within the project based learning approach. I can see how the benefits of this approach would make learning so much more authentic as students access the discipline that they need (and the teacher who has those skills) in a much more natural and timely way as they work together to solve real life problems viewed through a social / emotional lens. In this way students will become better equipped to develop the necessary competencies that will sit alongside their knowledge acquisition. These competences are tools such as creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and citizenship. This is project based learning.

David Wiley in his TEd Talk ( Mind Lab Week 31) talks about crossing interdisciplinary boundaries in the sense of “enabling educational opportunities for all” In this way he presents the opportunities that free online sharing of knowledge enables for the student. He raises an appealing analogy about educational innovation comparing it to a musical remix or mashup of ideas - not necessarily new thinking but putting ideas together in a different way. In his Ted Talk, Wiley quoted Eric Raymond as saying “to solve an interesting problem, start by finding a problem that is interesting to you”. My Goal for our school is to work with the senior leadership team (of which I am a part) and the staff to enable educational opportunities for our students. Just as I am able to access the opportunities that being globally connected affords me, so too do I want to be able to make that possible and safe for our students. There are tensions associated with being globally connected when you are are a young person and these need to be addressed in a timely and safe manner.

The interdisciplinary environment that our students will have access to will enable them to have the benefits of free online material. They will have access to information and be influenced by people that may help shape their thinking and actions. This same environment can also have challenges in terms of unfiltered knowledge and influence. As teachers we share the responsibility with whanau to educate our students in the ability to filter information in a way such that they can process the information safely and connect globally with people in a positive way.  

References:

Videos:

Ted Talks:

David Wiley talked on interdisciplinary thinking that leads to innovation.Source: TEDx Talks (2001, April 6). TEDxBYU - David Wiley - An Interdisciplinary Path to Innovation. [video file].Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ytjMDongp4 (via Mindlab Week 3)

Lacoe Edu (2014, Oct 24) Interdisciplinary Learning [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA564RIlhM

(via Mindlab Week 31)