Inquiry focus - T2

DFI: Week 9 Reflection

Computational Thinking introduced by OMGTech! Founder was Pam Fergusson paraplegic; a solo Mum of four boys who bought them a computer. From this a family tradition evolved of being a tech entrepreneur and then being able to bring it into the community. One son developed a charitable trust teaching children to innovate using technology (playing with robots, meeting other children, scaffolding and using new tools). Trailblazers: Match students a mentor from the technical industry such as e-Pou, IGD, Mana Tangata, Institute of Awesome, Voluntari.ly Tech and Environment can be fused together in the outdoors/nature. Identifying schools who can use the volunteers to come and implement these mini workshops with hands on practical learning.

10 years ago smartphones/technology was developed and is now used for "everything" in the 21st century. This generation of children (2019) who enter the workforce with digital technology totally embedded into what they do. Ref: 10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2019 (Bill Gates). New terms: Error detection (identifies the problem). De-bug (fixes the problem) Robot dexterity, New - wave nuclear power, Predicting premies, Gut probe in a pill, Custom cancer vaccines, The cow-free burger, Carbon dioxide catcher, An ECG on your wrist, Sanitation without sewers ,Smooth - talking AI assistants. Google assist - removing technology (always listening; best software voice recognition)which can be used in a home environment for temperature control, music/sound systems, electricity and more. When you use free apps you lose your privacy. Literacy awareness (use voice to text). Not marking on handwriting, but on language e.g. (story writing). Big dog robot teaching itself to walk on ice. Black Mirror - tv series. The world’s most realistic Sophia the robot (female human). Became the first robotic citizen (has rights, not able to be killed) in Saudi Arabia (The Jimmy Fallon show). She also watches YouTube video clips to learn facial reactions and body language. The ethics of our society are built in at source, this happens through technology SkinVision (1 in 5 people get skin cancer) it can now be detected from an App. Data researched by Melanoma results; low, medium or high risk. Keep training algorithms to continue. Autonomous flying cars - currently being tested in NZ. What you value about yourself and others? Compassion, Loyalty, Patient,Commitment etc...what do other humans look/pay for? Conformity, knowledge, expertise, time management. What does the future of work look like when we’re in a new paradigm? If money got taken out of the equation, what would you do with your time? We don’t have to have stuff made overseas, we can do it in NZ for example Hapara Teacher Dashboard. America (private insurance land). For example a driverless car in the city sponsored by Spark.

We were the first in the world to get Eftpos, (airspace - tested). Launch space rockets in NZ. RocketLab owned by America (satellites sent to outer space)? Finally, I have learnt to use Coding for programmes like Minecraft and Scratch Junior to use with young learners in my class to teach them Computational Thinking and also introduce them to new language. Now I can relate this directly to my planning and implementation into the NZ Curriculum.

DFI: Week 8 Reflection

Today we learnt about: Focus on Learner and Teachers (enable them to me more empowered). For example in regards to the PUM; striking against the government for better pay and conditions. Try to avoid the word “Agency” within the Tamaki community as it has different connotations for those involved with schools and agencies helping them. The reality of the situation is that some of our families only earn $19,000 p.a. The Tamaki housing development has existed for 15 - 20 years (state houses which are owned by NZ government)and now those properties are being demolished and new "warmer houses" are being developed. Whole communities have been dispersed and there has been some decline in local school rolls as a result. Manaiakalani is an educational organisation. Technology; adding to your workload and change your life to make things easier. Children arrive at school as five year olds with a mean age of 3 with limited language and low cognitive skills compared to their peers. High decile children have 32 million words (amounts to conversations with family and people who talk to them). Interact with meaningful language that holds learning opportunities for children to gain vocabulary. Teachers need to set up 5+ (blogging posts) including words commenting with each interaction. Oral and written combined. Young people to be empowered, visibility needs to be at the forefront. Empowered whole whanau (access to Wifi, learners taking home devices). Teaching whanau how to go online and use tools that can be accessed from home such as banking, school apps, local council; changing people lives within a community. Groups.google.com (Create group) red button. Invite not add people. Manage group (members). I had an opportunity to sit the Google Level 1 exam today and did not pass. Even though I passed the multiple choice section I was hindered on the theory based working out problems where I missed 3 questions at the end and ran out of time. Even though I feel disappointed I will attempt to sit the exam within a set timeframe as recommended by our course co-ordinators.

Manaiakalani Cluster: Create session

DFI: Week 7 Reflection

Today I really enjoyed using "Google Hangouts" at the beginning of our session as we teamed up with another Manaiakalani cluster from Gisborne. I met a lovely teacher called Sheryl and we had a professional and personal discussion about our teaching and learning experiences over the past week. We also found out that we have a family/friend/colleague contact who we both know well. This just proves that it is such a small world and you can bump into people you know online from all around this beautiful country! The Manaiakalani pedagogy continues with a focus on teaching students to be Cybersmart and use the technology to be "at home in a digital world". Digital devices have been used since 2011 within Manaiakalani. 1:1 learning with iPads for Years 1-3 and then Chromebooks for Years 4-8 in a primary school. This means that by the time a student starts college they have had 8 years of being digital natives using technology in all areas of their learning. Values based learning continues in the digital world. A students' digital citizenship skills begin with learning "Kawa of Care" with their device in regards to Smart Footprints, Relationships, Accessing Class sites. All these skills and more are learnt through the implementation of a robust program which is lead by the classroom teacher. Within a school year the following areas are covered; Term 1 (Learn), Term 2 (Create), Term 3 (Share) and in Term 4 a culmination of a student's learning is brought together. By the end of the year teachers are able to identify progress achieved in student confidence levels and their ability to use the tools effectively. Children also learn that learning is global and by no means limited to the classroom. Whanau involvement is also an integral part of their child's education and it is important to help family feel empowered about their child's learning. Giving and receiving positive feedback from a range of family members encourages student's learning through participation and also motivates them. So keeping this in mind I aim to focus on the "Create" part of this kaupapa during this term and encourage my Year 2 students to be able to complete Explain Everything activities on their iPads. Then after they have put them into the correct folders into their Drive, they can upload their mahi (work) onto their blogs. Teachers can then access this on Hapara Teacher Dashboard which shows their whole classes learning within curriculum areas; Reading, Writing, Maths and Inquiry.

DFI: Week 6 Reflection

• There is a strong focus on being Connected through the Manaiakalani pedagogy.
• History of being visible (founders included a few primary schools in Tamaki, Auckland) who formed a connected network. Geographically close location and diverse groups of learning. For e.g. special school, Kura, colleges, intermediate combined with primary. Teachers are able to connect with colleagues in regards to doing, teaching and thinking.

Outreach clusters began in 2015 within Manaiakalani network (there are now 11).

Bi-lingual communities with Te Reo immersion have an advantage of Tikanga practice in their
own environment - for example Otaki 50% of townspeople speak Te Reo Maori.

Implementation of Manaiakalani pedagogy throughout the school year. Term 1: Learn, Term 2: Create, Term 3: Share,
Term 4: Bring all of them together (Innovate & Accelerate).

Students able to use the technology and relate to each other using blog posts/comments.

Some teachers create a Twitter feed for adults to access their child’s learning.
Harness the power of this technology to make connections about student learning.

Tuhi Mai Tuhi Atu - communicate with other primary schools connect via class/individual blogs using safe
connections.

The four elements of the kaupapa/pedagogy have to be used together in order for them to be effective: connected,
ubiquitous,
empowered, visible. This is part of the evolving cycle that exists within the Manaiakalani philopsophy.

• Exploring examples of class sites:

Usable sites: 3 clicks or less. How are students going to get there and use it efficiently?

Think about the visual appeal, what is working or not working? Refer to teacher
feedback/critique on Google sites used for student learning in schools. Finally I also participated
in a Google survey on analysing Class sites and giving feedback to my cohort colleagues.

My feed forward is that I will be more mindful in the future about linking my class sites to make
them clearly visible and user friendly for my students. This is usually done during the school holidays in preparation for the following school term.