DFI Day 9 - Last Day!

 Well hello everyone,

Today was the last day of the Digital Fluency Intensive.  It's been quite a journey, but one that I have appreciated and enjoyed.  I feel I have learnt a rather lot of information and skills, that I am sure over time will begin to manifest themselves in my teaching and learning.  Some of which already have - just check out this blog, and my site!

So anyway, today we had our last Google Meet with Dorothy on Ubiquitous learning - or in layman's terms - learn anywhere, anytime, any pace - and from anyone.  This of course is referring to our digital technology platforms.  Big takeaway today - affordances to technology have allowed learning experiences that many students could not have had in the past.

And today of course was our final exam, yes that's right kids, even teachers have to sit exams!  I am in two minds around my performance.  The tasks I completed I am confident that I did a good job, however I did run out of time - classic Mel - a bit of a procrastinator and perfectionist.  Whatever the outcome or result I am grateful for completing the course and upskilling myself to benefit my teaching.

Things that I am proud of:  my updated site which looks way better and the kids like it, ideas using forms (pick a path stories) to take forward next term, and I finally got to do an animation.  What would I do better next time: probably take a photo of the random user name and log in that the exam people set up for me...  What am I going to take forward: a heck of a lot really! I especially enjoy sharing my learning with my colleagues and am far more confident to try things out digitally with my students.  Looking forward to planning in Term 4 for the Korimako students.

Thanks DFI, it's been a blast.  Melanie out.

DFI Day 8 - Computational Thinking

 Kia ora everyone,

Well we are coming down to the nitty gritty of the course.  Can't believe that our next session is ... the exam!  Today we got organised and registered ourselves, I am good to go!

Back to the beginning of the day - we had our regular meet with Dorothy.  Todays session was on 'Empowered Learners and Teachers'.  Digital technologies is not just a tool, but a powerful tool that when used properly can transform the way we teach, and the way our learners learn by being able to explore and experience new learning environments.  Big takeaway today - devices can provide equity and access to communities.

Todays explore session was on the new Digital Technologies Curriculum.  At Marshland we are currently delving into this, so todays session was quite affirming. Our Inquiry focus this term is based around the two new areas, nice to know we are heading in the right direction to help our learners be confident, empowered and active in an online world - not just passive consumers but creators.  The curriculum is for teachers to accelerate and turbocharge learning while making use of available resources.  To feel confident to use language and direct learning, develop a natural progression to teach students to develop their own learning, be cybersmart and work side by side digitally.

Another explore today was coding - rather frustrating if I do say so.  I did enjoy the wee Minecraft tutorials, so much easier with a mouse :-)  Once again - props to our learners who can spend many an hour designing and creating on Scratch, Gamefroot and Minecraft Education. On Scratch I managed to change the colour of my sprite, make it move a bit, say hello and meow - that's it.

DFI Day 7 - Devices

Kia ora everyone, happy first day of Spring!

Today we began with a Google Meet highlighting - Being Cybersmart in a Learn Create Share World with Fiona.  We learnt that the kaupapa comes from Manaiakalani goals to teach and empower our students to navigate as digital citizens.  As teachers we need to model positive language and behaviour in the digital world for our students to be smart and secure.

Do our students really know about the reality of being online?

Cybersmart should be a whole school focus, planned and deliberate teaching, relevant and real scenarios embedded into an existing educational programme, or in response to student needs.

The Kawa of Care document is highlighted - so important for our students to understand and follow to empower and harness their device for learning purposes.  We need to get students to commit to these themes - the Do's about being a good online citizen.

Also - Blogging! Sharing on Blogs elevates positive actions - content that they are sharing maintains a positive connection that is authentic helping to develop empathy and understanding. More importantly when learning is visible students need to make smart decisions (digital footprint). 

The big takeaway - elevate being positive on an everyday basis to be Cybersmart!

Chalk n Talk today:

The Manaiakalani Journey

Partnership

Ako is a whanau or community experience

Engagement is in the decision making process

Engagement through device ownership

Participation

Every learner can participate

Every teacher can be supported to become digitally fluent when all the devices are the same

Engagement through device ownership

Protection

This should happen behind the scenes

Manaiakalani partnered with Hapara

Partnership with filtering

Today we also got to have a wee play on a Chromebook - thanks Korimako Hub, and my iPad.  Was fun to work through the Digital Dig (which the Korimako kids have done earlier in the year).  Working through the short cuts were harder than I thought - I have a new found respect for my students who navigate their devices like demons.  Explain Everything was the app to explore today on the iPad.  Was a bit of a novelty to use - useful for the juniors, but perhaps something that I would not incorporate into my planning.  Check out my creation below.

See y'all next week.