Session 5 - Scratching My Head

Digital:

This began with a consideration of computational thinking and the new digital curriculum currently under review.  It was ironic that in an age where teachers are struggling to raise literacy and numeracy, that this is being added on top of this.  I can understand why it is being done but surely the scope of the New Zealand Curriculum document as it stands accounts for this.  It is a document very focused on programming and programming language.  It requires thinking in a very particular way.  This is nor necessarily a bad thing because broadening how young people think is important.

The TED talk that was given as a pre-class task was painful to watch.  It came across as someone who loves what she does and the processes she went through to get to that point and now suggests if it worked for her then is could work for others.

Finally this session involved the use of Scratch to do some basis coding.  Firstly we deconstructed a movement into "code" in that we had to generate a list of instructions for moving someone from one part of the room to another.  This made us think about how we get someone to do this when they follow instructions literally and do not read between the lines.  The Scratch project was a bit of fun, but somewhat infuriating when you do not have a quiet environment in which to concentrate on what you are doing.

Leadership:

This was a consideration of Growth and Fixed Mindsets.  It seems to be a real buzz-word and as such is open to misinterpretation and misappropriation.  The blog that identifies the place of factors outside of intelligence and how intelligence can be constructed and influenced was fascinating.

Talent = (genes + socio-cultural environment) *(hard work + persistence)

https://disidealist.wordpress.com/2014/12/05/242/

An adept summary.

Finally we used Pic Pac to make a stop motion animation of what we took out of those readings.  Ours was:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/113288977156658766630/posts/6p9A2dLejoZ

Linking Standards for the Teaching Profession

Learning-focused culture

Develop an environment where the diversity and uniqueness of all learners are accepted and valued.

Professional learning

Seek and respond to feedback from learners, colleagues and other education professionals, and engage in collaborative problem solving and learning focused collegial discussions.

Session 3 - Fun with VR

Digital Learning:

Tonight we considered the place of augmented or virtual reality in the classroom as a way of allowing access to places and ideas that are not possible for the majority of students.  It was interesting as a novelty, but the time that would need to be put into putting together such resources as well as accessing the technology would make it a daunting prospect for many teachers.

We also considered the use of apps such as Quiver, Anatomy 4D, Elements 4D and Aurasma.  They have interesting possibilities once the "newness" of the technology is sorted out and more resources become available.

Anatomy 4D has been put into Year 9 HPE Theory as an adjunct to learning the names of some muscles on the body.

Leadership:

We discussed the paper that looked at Ten things that need to be considered when implementing digital technologies.  While it was from 2002, the principles behind it are still the same.

Most interestingly was a consideration of resistance framed in the idea of "distance" between pedagogies that have worked for the classroom teacher in the past and those new pedagogies coming out based in technology.  That distance creates tension.

Further, as the pace of change increases and the evolution of technology integration into education accelerates, many are being left behind because they find it difficult to keep up with the pace of change.  As they become familiar with one process or technique, it evolves into something new.

Related Standards for the Teaching Profession

Teaching

Provide opportunities and support for learners to engage with, practise and apply learning to different contexts and make connections with prior learning.

Professional Learning

Engage in professional learning and adaptively apply this learning in practice.

Session 4 - Makey Makey & Scratch

Digital:

Here we looked at how collaboration, constructivism, and other learning theories can be applied to hands on learning through the use of makey-makey and scratch.  We ended up designing a scissor musical instrument (a pure curiosity).

Makey Makey and Scratch:

We feel that this task was best described as being collaborative in that there was:

• shared responsibility
• shared input of ideas
• interdependence
• we both had to produce sections of code physically rather than simply telling one person our ideas and they entered it

We felt it was possible to get to Level 5 in this task (if it was managed accordingly)

If we consider the ICT for Learning Rubric it fulfilled the following parts:

• ICT was required for construction
• a product was created but whether it was for authentic users is up for debate

Consequently it would be at Level 4

In terms of learning theory it was constructivist in that we were learners with no experience of both tools and required the services of the Knowledgeably Other to get things done. Once we were kick-started, we were able to progress largely unaided.

Constructionist was present as it demonstrated learning by making, rather than simply sitting and watching a demonstration.

Reference:

Top 10 Learning Theories for Digital and Collaborative Learning.  Retrieved from https://app.themindlab.com/media/19799/view on 8 August 2017.

ITL (2012)

This session also came with a consideration of a range of learning theories.  It was interesting to note that while many of these theories are quite old, they are still highly relevant and can be used to help explain why the integration of technology into the classroom can demonstrate these learning theories in action.  The theories are there because they work.  Technology and other learning skills simply "add on" to these theories.

Leadership:

This looked at the importance of Research Informed Teaching and how to be critical consumers of knowledge.  This was a way to introduce access to the University Library and tools for referencing, aggregating information etc.

Related Standards for the Teaching Profession

Design for learning

Select teaching approaches, resources, and learning and assessment activities based on a thorough knowledge of curriculum content, pedagogy, progressions in learning and the learners.

Learning-focused culture

Develop learning-focused relationships with learners, enabling them to be active participants in the process of learning, sharing ownership and responsibility for learning.

Session 2: Game of Thumbs

This session considered the 21 Century Skills that students are now expected to cover.  It let to interesting debate around the fact that many of those skills are still embedded in 20th Century skills.  We agreed that 21st Century skills do not stand alone, rather they maintain a foundation in 20th Century skills.

It is somewhat ironic that students are still coming to terms with 20th Century skills let alone developing 21st Century ones.

Below are key elements of the ITL research rubrics:

• Collaboration

• Knowledge construction

• Self-regulation

• The Use of ICT for learning

• Skilled Communication

• Real-world problem-solving and innovation

We were then required to take one of these skills and present a short video clip on how the rubric associated with it could be implemented.  A lot of fun ensued as a result.

From here we considered how the key competencies:

• Thinking

• Using language, symbols & texts

• Managing self

• Relating to others

• Participating and contributing

- can be applied to leadership by selecting one of them in small groups and explaining how we see it being implemented in both positive and negative ways.  For us we selected "Relating to Others" and talked about how, often, as people move up the leadership chain, they are perceived as becoming increasingly distant from the classroom and classroom practice.  As a result, they are often tagged with statements such as, "you don't know what it is like", when trying to implement some form of change.  It extends further into how we role model these positions of leadership.  Do we role model our positions as attractive?  Are they something to aspire to?  Do we make it seem manageable (work/life balance)?

It was a fast and frantic session.

Post session we had to produce a short video that shows how we implement to 21st Century Learning Skills into our teaching/leadership (with a focus on one skill using the ITL rubric).

Teacher Criteria:

Teaching:

Teach in ways that enable learners to learn from one another, to collaborate, to self-regulate and to develop agency over their learning.

Leadership Criteria:

Professional Relationships:

Actively contribute, and work in a collegial manner, in the pursuit of improving my own and organisational practice, showing leadership, particularly in areas of responsibility.

Session 1 - Fun with Playdoh

How to Conceptualise the NZ Curriculum

Part 1:  The Purpose of Education:

The course has started and almost immediately, it was refreshing to note the following:

1.  Pedagogy comes first and this is the focus of the course.  
2.  Technology is a tool/means for delivering that pedagogy.
3.  You do not not have to be up with all the latest apps and software to engage.
4.  The course is highly reflective.

It started out with a consideration of knowledge and what the purpose of education happens to be.

Our initial playdoh construction had us considering knowledge as being an infinite loop of information.  Some of which we pick up along out journey and some we do not.  The 'divergent tree' represented that knowledge taking us in different directions.

However, it soon became apparent after considering what knowledge is that information requires us to interact with it and filter it in various ways in order to become "knowledge".  Knowledge requires a degree of understanding.  As a result, we changed our concept of knowledge to a more scientific view.  In the case of the conceptualization below, the purple blobs represent information that is filtered through the funnel.  The filter s are our values, schools, peers, social media, education, culture etc.  Out the other end, comes knowledge.

The other group considered the purpose of education.  Their conceptualization involved education as developing a toolkit to prepare young people to be well rounded members of wider society - explained in the video below.

Biesta's assertion that the purpose of education is concerned with preparing young people to be able to engage with the adult world was succinct and honest.  The question now becomes, "what is our role in this"?  This prompted some interesting discussion around how Primary and Senior Secondary differ in this respect.  Senior Secondary is very qualification driven and has less of the qualitative values of education in it compared to Primary.  It is very content and outcome driven.

 Part 2:  Leadership:

A consideration of the basics of leadership and followship.  We are leaders but we also need to be followers at some stage so we can see things from the perspective of others and give others the opportunity to lead.  We can be more dynamic in that case.

PTC Integration:

Teaching:

Use an increasing repertoire of teaching strategies, approaches, learning activities, technologies and assessment for learning strategies and modify these in response to the needs of individuals and groups of learners.

Professional learning:

Engage in professional learning and adaptively apply this learning in practice.