Barriers and Enablers

Are our learners engaging deeply with cluster-agreed transformative digital pedagogies:

learn, create, share?

As part of my own learning, I am focussing on helping school leaders in our learning cluster to consider this question.

It's nearly been a year since the journey as a cluster began. Trust is building and understanding around 'learn, create, share' is jelling for school leaders. It seemed a good time to use a tool to reflect on progress and look at next steps.

Image Credit: https://pixabay.com/en/cooperate-collaborate-teamwork-2924261/

Doing the Work

The next step in my Google project is to read and reflect on Chapter 5 in The Mentees Guide, entitled Doing the Work.

As part of the idea of keeping the focus on learning, I am looking at the objective of journaling.

Journaling

The concept of making journaling a specific 'to do' appeals to me. To record thoughts and be able to reflect on them. To see my thoughts perhaps in a new light as I come back to them again and again.

Journaling would also be a good way for me to develop those thoughts further as I know I can often go round and round with the same ideas, the pros and cons, the why and why nots and not actually make progress. Journaling is a good vehicle to help me move my project forward by writing to reveal what the next step is and then trying it out.

Could Journaling be Blogging?

Somehow I feel that journaling could be just a brain dump but perhaps by using the discipline of a regular blog as a journal it might mean that rather than a brain dump, it is a creative and disciplined act.  The discipline is both the hard part and the one that I think will generate the best outcomes.

One problem I can see is that I am so busy journaling that I am not doing the work of the project, just writing about it. Currently, I focus on my project once a week for an evening. This is not enough as it is. Journaling as well will mean I need to put more time in! Perhaps I just need to bite the bullet and do it. Just do it!

Some journaling tips from the book

1. As you write, keep in mind three words: head, heart, and action. Include factual material, reactions, feelings, goals, and tasks.
2. Write regularly, after each meeting and in between. Even if you are not a journal person by nature, write something down.
3. Schedule journaling writing time. If you don't schedule it, it will get lost on the back burner.
4. Review your entries regularly. Doing so will help you monitor your progress.

Template

A template to help me in journaling when thinking about a mentoring relationship:

1. The most important work we did today.
2. The most valuable lesson.
3. How will I apply what I've learned?
4. What are the biggest challenges ahead for me?
5. What questions still remain for me.

A regular, (weekly?) journal is a good aim. I can try this for three weeks and reassess if it is working in terms of time input and outcomes. Outcomes would be that I am seeing progress in my thinking and doing.

Learning Opportunities

Where can I get exposure to new learning? I can take opportunities that arise through #GEGNZ, ULearn and other informal learning opportunities. Also, I need to remember to play as I learn lots by just giving things a go.

Cybersmart Content

Are you Cybersmart?

Smart people are powerful people.

Cybersmart learning allows learners to be powerful. It needs to be in the timetable for every class.

Digital Content

Testing out what it is like as a learner using a chromebook.
We tried out Digital Dig on a chromebook when we were signed in a guest.

I found out that the bookmark bar and extensions do not show when on guest mode.

Explain Everything

We had a play with EE on ipads as learners.

Google Exam 

I am working towards the Trainer Certification. I am creating a video to showcase my training of teachers.

Teaching is a Public Activity

Visible Teaching

Teaching that is visible via class sites promotes 'equality vs equity'.  It enables opportunities for learners to access learning in multiple modes and to rewind the learning as needed.

It allows learners to know what is coming up, whānau (family) to see what their child is learning.

Google Keep

Not Just a Tool

Devices are Much More than Just a Tool

Dorothy getting 'almost teary' and passionate about our learners lives being changed by devices.

Technology can be Transformative

The team from OMG Tech came to show us how "Technology can be transformative"

For openers, our learners could create tech like this:

Why wouldn't we give them the tools and the learning to do this?

Focus on the Share

Learn, Create, Share | Kia Ako, Kia Hanga, Kia Tohatoha

Share

We were given a resource as a starting point and asked to create a site for an audience.

We were asked to make the site multimodal; using different modes to get the message across.
The aim of being multimodal is to increase:

• Engagement
• Personalised learning 
• Acceleration
• Empowerment

My audience is an NCEA level 1 or Year 11 Science class. 

I am focussed on empowering the learners to create digital learning objects to teach others. 

My aim is to encourage personalised learning by giving the resources and a wide enough brief with no restrictions on how the learning is presented. 

I have hands-on activities along with theoretical learning with content that I hope is engaging.

Acceleration is optional. I have added Can-Dos and Must-Dos.

Please test out my site and give me feedback as to how this might be improved.

(still working on it as this post is published)

Creating to Learn

Whether on YouTube, drawings, slides, we are all creative and can create.

Live Streaming 

Might be your class, a rugby game or cross country live-streamed on YouTube.
A camera, drone and streaming encoder along with live-streaming set up on YouTube channel.

Kent Somerville made it look simple and oh so effective. I think everyone in the room wanted to do it too!

YouTube Channel

Thanks for sharing all your expertise, Fiona Grant. 

The settings for the Channel and 'the why' for these settings was worthwhile for me especially the upload defaults.

Drawings - one tool to rule them all

Started a portrait using polyline in drawing. Bailed!!

I still think Drawing tool is the best.

Slides Animation Learning

More opportunity to practice and learn how Dorothy does it. 

Creating our Digital Pepeha

A good opportunity for me to update and include my Gisborne living arrangement!

Excited about Forms, Maps and Sheets

Yep, excited.

Forms are Fun

There are so many ways to use forms.  I have practised with a quiz and have learnt how to use response validation so that people taking the survey must answer with a certain number of responses.

Try out my quiz here.

Drive, Chrome, Extensions and more

Drive and Chrome

We have learnt the basics of Drive and Chrome. Great to see someone else presenting on this and what they do and use.

Chrome Extensions

Adding and managing and removing extensions. Some extensions that I hadn't used before.

• UBlock as an adblocker
• Sideplayer to play a video 

Learners new to schools

What do schools do to transition learners into a new school?

I am wanting to find out what intermediate and secondary schools are doing, how we might share good practices and how we might help one another improve these practices.

Please help me out by telling me what you do in your school using the form below.

Learning Stations in Secondary Schools

Okay, I thought learning stations was such a 'primary' idea that it could never work with older learners.

Turns out I was way wrong...

Progress on Transitioning Learners

I am slowly distilling my aims for my Google Education Innovation project. This is taking me a long time as I seem to be stuck on Learn, Create, Share and Cybersmart learning. A great pedagogy and curriculum respectively, however, I think they are only a part of what I need to think about rather than the whole. 

I want to see learners transition well from primary to secondary school and to help schools, teachers and learners to do this. 

In the year I am formally focussing on this project, what can I expect to achieve? 

As, Lenva, my patient and thoughtful mentor said:

"You may not do anything new in one year but you could open the door to new ideas"