Create day on DFI

We had an awesome day with our DFI cohort and exploring everything about Media.  This particular day focuses on being creative with technology to do things that we couldn't ordinarily do without it.  When we look at creative tasks, there's always something for everyone; even the experts amongst us come away with a new trick up their sleeve.  

I was looking for something a little different to do with Google Slides and came across a great idea from Ditch that textbook.  A colleague of mine was also looking for something that would hook and engage some year 9 boys who were struggling to get on board with their learning.  

Building on the idea of Parson's Problems, I created the slides but left some links broken and unfinished.  I first came across Parson's problems last year when I was studying Teaching Programming at Canterbury University.  I'm interested to see whether or not students engage with this approach.  I think the idea of designing their own app, which will run in the web browser and through their blog, will hook them in.  Potentially they could download it and add it to their phone with a shortcut that then plays in the browser.  This is a great task that will align with design and developing digital outcomes from the new digital technologies curriculum.  It's also a good introduction to computational thinking and programming in something like Scratch or Python.  

First day with our online cohort

Today was the first day of our online DFI cohort for term 3 and this is a photo of the wonderful people in my bubble.  Our group is made up of talented educators from right up north in Oruiti, near Kaitaia, down to Papakura, across to Gisborne and finishing up in Greymouth and Hokitika.  We had a fabulous day together getting to know each other and learning about some of the foundational kaupapa of Manaiakalani. 

Northland DFI cohort is underway

 It's wonderful to have our kanohi ki te kanohi Manaiakalani Digital Fluency Intensive in Northland this term.   We have a wonderful group of educators in this cohort from across the Te Hiku and Kaikohekohe Clusters.  As with all our DFI cohorts they represent primary and secondary teachers, deputy principals and principals. The collective expertise in the room sparks rich learning opportunities and diverse conversations.   

Over the next nine weeks, we'll come together to understand the Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy; the workings of Learn, Create, Share.  One of the real highlights of my job is supporting teachers through this process and seeing them grow.  Often our kaiako are nervous with anticipation of what's involved in the course however, it soon becomes apparent just how worthwhile and useful this professional development is.  Not only will teachers' workflow improve but they will have the pedagogy to support teachers' practice for working in 1:1 digital environments.   

Digital Fluency Intensive 2021

We're underway with the first online DFI cohort for 2021 and what a fantastic group of teachers, principals and deputy principals we have on board.  Sixty-eight educators from around the country will be meeting each Wednesday for the next 8 weeks to learn about the Manaiakalani pedagogy; Learn, Create, Share.  We'll also cover all the apps from the Google Education Suite supported by the pedagogy for why, how and when to use them.    I'd like to wish everyone in our cohort a very warm welcome, especially to the wonderful group in my digital bubble.  I'm looking forward to working alongside you over the coming weeks.  

The origins of the Manaiakalani programme started back in 2006 at Point England School.  Thirteen more schools in East Tamaki joined Point England School and formed the Manaiakalani cluster.  The success of this first cluster spearheaded the development of the Manaiakalani Outreach and five more clusters.  In 2021, the Manaiakalani programme is delivered in11 clusters worldwide, including one virtual cluster.  Over 100 schools are represented in the 11 clusters, including 23,000 learners in primary and secondary schools.  It's an exciting time to be involved.  

Core Business

Today was our first day of the Northland Digital Fluency Intensive Cohort#1 for 2020.  Our group is made up of 15 primary, secondary school teachers and principals, from as far north as Paparore School to Bay of Islands who kindly hosted us in one of their recently upgraded classrooms.
I do enjoy the DFI, it's a real highlight of my week and brings with it a great opportunity to network with teachers in the Manaiakalani Outreach schools from both the Te Hiku and Kaikohekohe cluster.

Dorothy Burt, the Manaiakalani Education Programme Lead was with us and started the day with the origins of Manaiakalani since its inception. Although I've heard Dorothy present this a few times now there is always something for me to take away. 
Today it was Dorothy's innovative pedagogy with her student created podcasts which she started back in 2006.   Getting students to create their own podcasts was an engaging activity which helped to  improve students reading. 
Reflecting back on my own teaching practice back then, I was reminded of a dream I had to create a student radio station that could be broadcast throughout the school and to the wider community.  Back then of course, it was involved a fairly extensive process that involved procuring an unused FM frequency along with the sourcing of some expensive equipment to enable a big enough broadcast reach.

Now of course, technology has shifted so far that many of these barriers are removed.  There are plenty of podcast sites that provide an integrated platform for uploading and sharing self-made audio sound bites.  A quick search brought up How to Start a Podcast and while this site is aimed more at the adult reader, it's got some good references that I may well come back to. 
Talking some more with Dorothy today about this, got me thinking about how I could engage students reading by the creation of their own podcasts.  The possibilities are endless really.  For example, at high school level, students could be tasked with creating a podcast series as a class on a given topic, they could interview each other or better still record interviews with outside experts or members of their own community.  That's taking it off in another direction altogether of course.  A learning opportunity not only for content of a given topic but also students will need to write a script, think about what order they will present ideas, add audio effects and so on to make it an entertaining listen. 
Plenty of ideas bubbling around for me to investigate further and which may fit quite nicely for my assignment for Teaching Computing Programming. 

Digital Fluency Intensive cohort#3

Our third DFI cohort got underway yesterday at Bay of Islands College.  We were welcomed to the school in the school's marae with a whakatau and some beautiful waiata.  Hearing Manaiakalani's waiata (composed by Jasmine Maunsell and her whanau) being sung by the students was wonderful. Their harmonies filled my heart with emotion and brought tears to my eyes.

We are so blessed to have such diversity in our DFI cohort and there is something to be said for the wealth of experience that everyone brings to the group.  We have new entrant teachers right through to year 13 students, along with a couple of deputy principals and one principal.  Aside from their teaching professions we have a firefighter, many who love to travel, dance, surf, paint and sailors.

We were lucky to be hosted in one of the classrooms in the marae which has recently been refurbished.  The WIFI held up for our Google Hangout with Dorothy and all in all it was a very positive day.  I'm looking forward to working with everyone over the coming weeks. 

Cybersmart at School

Today we have been learning how to be Cybersmart, what's ok to share online and what's not ok.  It's part of our Smart Footprint. 

Manaiakalani DFI - cohort 1 - day 1

Our first Digital Fluency Intensive for 2019 is underway and we have a fabulous group of 20 participants including principals, primary, intermediate and secondary school teachers.  As you can imagine there is a lot of experience in the room and it makes for some very interesting discussions and sharing of ideas. 

Everyone brings with them a unique set of skills and in this collaborative environment there will be plenty of opportunities to learn from one another.  It's great to be in the company of open minded individuals who are all focused on offering their students the best teaching practice in keeping with learning in a 21st environment.  

Connecting Secondary Schools

Connecting secondary schools across Manaiakalani is something that I'm really interested in developing.  There is a real need for an online hub that teachers can refer to quickly to see what is happening in other schools.  Ideas that I would like to explore;

Create a website with department pages and generic resources that could encompass moderation templates, NCEA summary report set ups,

Digital Fluency Intensive Cohort 2 - 2108

Our second Manaiakalani Digital Fluency Intensive course is underway in Northland. The cohort of 19 teachers range from first year teachers to those who have made a lifetime profession in education.  They represent 11 schools from the Kaikohekohe Education Network Cluster and 8 schools from the newly formed cluster of schools Te Hiku, in the Far North.  

During the nine week course, teachers learn about the Manaiakalani pedagogy and kaupapa and how it can significantly impact effective teaching and learning in a digital learning environment.  Teachers will learn key skills to enable them to develop the necessary digital fluencies required for effective teaching, planning, assessment and professional learning appropriate to learning in a 21st century classroom.