Kia orāna kotou katoatoa
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.
'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.
Interesting questions you raise about the multitude of technology resources available and how do we keep up. I think in some ways we need to keep afoot of latest technology, but also there is so much out there that it's hard to stay on top of it all. Reading blogs and following other educational leaders in the field can help, and then only choosing one or two things at a time to incorporate into our teaching programme.
ReplyDeleteThis is part of the purpose of the DFI to help create networks between schools and teachers (which is why your digital bubble was probably not with just teachers from your own school).
Nga mihi
Stef
Kia ora Helen,
ReplyDeleteGreat to see your Gamefroot mihi. Glad you got there and embedded the creation. Well done.
I agree Sophia's existence is challenging as is the idea that she is learning!
I always think of the idea that where computers can replace teachers they should, however as people we bring so much more. Compassion, understanding...
Maria
Hi Helen
ReplyDeleteIt was really interesting to see your wonderings about how we keep up and do we need to? The pace of technology is so fast that it is hard to keep up. There are times in the class for the teacher to be the learner too and allow students with expertise to shine.