Empowerment - Computational Growth

 

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Empowering! Empowered! Empowerment! The 3 Es.

What did I learn?

Technology is empowering.

It transforms the way we learn and offers us new and exciting opportunities in our learning space. To really take advantage of technology though, we need to be accepting, understanding, willing to put ourselves in, for me,  a very uncomfortable place. I certainly thought and said a few of the many descriptive words I have only 'heard' when I delved into Gamefroot.com to create my online game.

Have a look! I felt quite empowered once I published my game.

Gamefroot - Mihi

'Technology' as our New Zealand curriculum states....should assist the making of connections by enabling students to enter and explore new learning environments overcoming barriers of distance and time.

 

This happens with Tauira who have the knowledge, the opportunities, the equipment, the desires to learn and the beliefs that Akonga will gain from experiences like the Gamefroot one. We all know our computers are far more than just tools. We see them as a tool for empowerment - advancing our Rangatiratanga - at the base of this must always be opportunities to connect/ talk/ discuss/ question/ share/ debate.... what we see, hear and do with these tools.

The moral and ethical dilemma.

Interestingly the tech future of the 'Jetsons' is much closer than we thought and the many online resources available to us in schools is becoming quite daunting. How do we keep up? Do we need to?

The ethical and moral discussion we briefly touched on is one we carefully need to consider. The simple yet complex statement as to 'who is responsible if someone is injured or killed by a driverless car' is something we must consider carefully as technology moves at this incredibly fast pace. 

I really enjoyed the opportunity to unpack some of the resources available to us, playing some of the games, check out Scratch and Code.com, but sitting at the back of my mind is 'Sophia'- the robot (seems too simple a description) and the comment she made during her interview that perhaps she should 'front' the show. 

Mmmmmm.

Visibility

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A key element of the Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy is the term 'Visible'.   It is one of the four floor boards that strengthens the Manaiakalani Way.  'Visible' emphasises making Teaching and Learning Visible to all.  It takes away the 'guessing' factor where successful learners are those who could 'read' their teachers minds or provide the 'right' answer.  This 'colonial' capital model of the past is well and truly exposed.

Being successful in schools now, is about taking away the 'maze' effect and pushing the doors open wide for all to participate, grow and strengthen.  Visibility in learning for teachers, students and whānau is a means to do this.  Visibility must be part of the default system that provides learners and teachers with all the tools, information, assessments, outcomes, systems and processes for all to be successful.

Manaiakalani kaupapa energises this process by harnessing the power of technology, growing everyones knowledge, understanding, access and use of it.

What did I learn?

I was able to create a simple site for Tautai o le Moana- Navigators/Wayfinders of the Ocean.  On this site I wanted to share the learnings we have gained through this kaupapa in strengthening leadership capabilities to improve outcomes for Pasifika Learners and provide access to others to learn more about the journey in order to improve their own.

Google sites is definitely user- friendly and has helped me to give this kaupapa more visibility.

The key to this success for me was in the planning and organisation before hand.  Kerry's 'Deep Dive' was an excellent opportunity to see beneath the first layer and ensure the planning stage was well thought through.   In the planning stage the focus on the 'developer' understanding the purpose of the site, and the audience is crucial.  The pages that follow and what each would provide need to be thoughtful and purposeful.  It is during the planning stage these become more visible to the developer.

The site itself will change.  I have become more aware of the need to shift from behavioural engagement of the users - where they can log in have a look, gather some information and then leave the site; to engaging them cognitively to question their thinking and actions ultimately leading to them acting on their ideas for change.

Tautai o le Moana Site

I'll continue to develop my Sites with the aim of connecting them to the NZPPA Website for a public audience.

Tahotaho

 

Tohatoha - Share

'Humans are born with an innate need to share and in doing so 'connect'. Picture the centuries old drawings and designs on cave walls. Definitely 'sharing'.

The pace at which 'sharing' has moved, our access to others' sharing and how we can share is moving at the speed of light. This 'Sharing' can have a range of effects on us from positive to negative and all the steps between. Using the wide range of tools to grow and then share ideas, knowledge and new learning in meaningful and positive ways is something we as educators need to think and act carefully about.

In Education we want to share to learn, to finish learning, to demonstrate learning, to seek feedback on learning, to feed - forward on learning,  to start new learning and to connect to others. I'm sure there will be other purposes too.

This week's DFI learning focussed on creating and then sharing learning using sheets and blog posts. Sheets are well known in the Google Suite but have soooooo many more amazing features to deepen our 'sharing' than I had realised and the work in presenting and analysing data using the blog posts demonstrated the ease at which this can be set up and done.   

What did I learn?

Below is a screen shot of the things I managed to create in sheets in the half hour session.

Sheets has an in-depth set of features that I know I will use to support the work I am doing in collecting, collating, featuring, highlighting and using data. A really great tool that I have totally underused!

 

The later session allowed me time to collect, collate and analyse data.

The idea that we can then share our analyses with the slides to back up our thinking in such a simple way is fabulous. I found this part of the learning a real treasure and have already begun using this to help collate and analyse data for my work.

Tahotaho 

All of these wonderful tools require lots of practice. The magic will be seen when we normalise their use and make them a part of how we do things!

Being Creative

 

Well what a week!

I've realised my own 'need' to complete tasks - the destination; as opposed to 'learn'  through the tasks- the journey; is a bigger issue than I had thought.

I completed the task for this week and posted it on 24 February only to find my slides did not work. So being the 'precise' and 'task completion' person that I am I tried to FIX the problem. 

What did I learn?

That once you delete a post - it's gone and so too is the feedback and wonderings you place in it. Heartbreaking, considering I felt very pleased with myself for initially completing, sending and then receiving feedback.

So here I go again....

CREATE

 - a foundation goal of the Manaiakalani way, emphasises the belief that creativity empowers learners.  "Creativity is as natural and necessary for children as fresh air..." Kohl 2008. As educators it's important we recognise what this could look like in our classrooms. Creative skills help learners to become better problem solvers, communicators and collaborators. This can be strengthened in classrooms by teachers supporting learners in the process of forming original ideas through exploration. This 'exploration' needs to be within purposeful, rich, multi-modal, connected contexts that are meaningful to the learner with in time and on time teacher feedback. It needs to be deliberate.

New Learning

The new learning using google slides was amazing. I regularly use slides to create presentations for the work I do with Leaders, Teachers and Boards but have grown a real appreciation for slides as a teaching tool in this workshop. MY 'Safety near the water' slides were fun to create and hopefully work this time.🤞.

Giving learners time to play and explore the tools available to them is vital to their growth. The teacher's role is to be available to support when they are needed with clear and relevant feedback to support the learners growth 

H