Day 8

Always a nice start to the day getting to touch base with our Digital Bubble Group! It’s comforting to hear I am not the only one with no time to implement our learning and always a laugh with our group too, I will miss the weekly catch ups after this course!

Deep Dive

Always interesting to see views on our ‘future of technology’ and the short video on future workplaces did not disappoint. When we really think about the advances in technology it can be quite astounding at just how far we have come. A few of the breakthrough technologies covered piqued my interest. In class, one of my reading groups have just been looking at technologies to help disabled so the REX bionics company was fascinating. Really amazing to see how companies are advancing technology that will have a direct and tremendous impact on quality of life for some people.

I find the idea of algorithms in technology intriguing! Admittedly, I do not really comprehend how these can be created and utilised in technology and it was interesting to hear about some of the failed attempts – faulty algorithms showing bias based on gender, race, age etc.

Digital fluency

Knowing which tool to use and when to use it. I think this is key. For us as teachers, being able to utilise the digital tools we have to empower our students as learners. For me, this really aligns with my school’s vision: Nurturing confident, future-focused learners. That means having the knowledge and skills as the teacher to have a digitally literate class programme that allows students to access all of these platforms and utilise the tools that will help them in the future.

This DFI programme has been extremely helpful for me. It has covered all bases of Google tools that I can use and having the hands on Create sessions reaaly allows me to get a deeper understanding of tools and apps that would be beneficial in school. I have enjoyed being able to be the learner during our course and then teach the lessons to my Year 7 & 8 class.

Coding 

It was really fun exploring some of the different coding sites today! I easily got hooked into the creating mode and attempting the games. Toxicode was so simple but also so engaging! The word coding has always been a little daunting and had me worried about binary code and a whole lot of random numbers and letters that make no sense. Today really took some of the unnecessary concern out of coding for me and I can see how it would be such a game changer in class. My class would love creating using the sites we looked at today and I have a few that absolutely love Minecraft as well.

Code.org

Awesome Create session today looking at coding! I worked on code.org where we used block coding to create little dance videos. Such a fun task and I’m already thinking of how I will link this into a class lesson so the students can create the dance with coding and then copy the moves in groups as well.

Click on the image to check out the small snippet of what I created.

Now to prepare for the exam next week…

Let’s start this week’s post with a song.

This week’s DFI focused on Computational Thinking. We explored the recent Digital Technology Curriculum. So why have I shared Supertramp’s excellent The Logical Song? The song finishes with the lines Who I am, who I am, who I am…’Cause I was feeling so logical…Digital…Yeah, one, two, three, five. To me, this song speaks to how Technology has the power, for better or worse, to change both the individual and society.

As usual, Dorothy Burt started us off by sharing the Manaiakalani Kaupapa of Empowerment. A key message was that many of our students and whanau are born into circumstances that disenfranchise them. Their choices of housing, income and education have already been removed before they enter a learning environment. While money cannot buy happiness, it does give us security in our society. The impact on student education is that new entrant students are entering our schools hearing 32 million fewer words than their peers. 5-year-olds with a mean educational performance of 3-year-olds. And, as each year progresses, 1/3 of our students leave or move schools. I often look at our literacy data and go back to the “5000 books before 5” quote, which dramatically impacts our learner’s oral and written literacy.

So, how do we Empower our students within this system? Firstly, have the technology that supports learning available for all students. Get our students to create content for their blogs. Get our students to comment on blog posts and then sustain comment discussions. This is 5+ a day, but for blogging. This communication practice will start filling the 32 million lost words gap.

So the next piece of learning was reviewing the future of Technology. We were shared some cool pieces of tech but also presented with a few nightmare scenarios, like the one below:

This is presented from a very optimistic perspective. However, it does remind me (Mr Black Hat Thinker) of this:

I feel like we are living in a new Pandora’s Box. We are experiencing rapid changes in Technology and the nature of communication and information. This certainly seems scary. However, the problem solver in me looks at this future and recognises that as a teacher, we can help our students be the people who develop and fine-tune Technology as it appears. This is a moral obligation. We need to teach our students to recognise new Technology, how it can be used, and how it can be improved to benefit people.

A chance to explore the Digital Technologies Curriuculum, and resources to support teaching was helpful. The exemplars of lessons integrating maths and literacy with the DTC helped clarify expectations for teaching it. I am particularly interested in getting students to develop content that supports Te Reo and tikanga Maori. The following links will be helpful in future lessons:

• Decoded Jargon for students
• TKI Digital Technology Curriculum: Computational thinking
• TKI Digital Technology Curriculum: Designing and Developing

Finally, it was time to create. I worked on making a rather silly video game on Scratch. Working with Matt, he gave some helpful suggestions for using Scratch with students. Firstly, provide them with the challenge of working through a set task and then modify the final result. Avoid using Scratch as a free time activity. It should be centred around a deliberate act of teaching. Lastly, get the students to use headphones. If their games are as silly as mine, we will create a very annoying environment.

Check out my game below:

This morning got started to a good start with some of Dorothy’s Empowered korero. I could completely identify with all that Matt had to say in his blog article about trying to compete with Fortnite and TikTok. At the last school I attended, I was required to emphasise the significance of maintaining academically via the use of our technologies. But if pupils did not appreciate a lesson. They were able to turn off their camera despite my best efforts to stop them. I discovered that the most effective way to begin a class was with an energiser or a fun warm up. Then I realised that this was what kept them interested. As a result, I made certain to conclude with an entertaining follow-up in order to maintain the attendance despite the unique circumstances. A quote attributed to Claire Amos states that “the greatest satisfaction comes from empowering pupils to find the richness that exists inside them.”

A person who is fluent in digital technology is able to determine when and why various digital technologies should be used to accomplish a given job or address difficulties. A person who is proficient in digital technology is able to design their own digital technology solution. Hearing Vicki mention this prompted me to consider how competent I want to be with digital technology. It seems to me that I am at this very moment. However, there are several tiers to this. I want to keep pushing these levels and making progress since, in the long run, it won’t only help myself but also the pupils I teach as well. Discovering the many types of coding was unquestionably enlightening. Even though I was just at the novice level, it got my brain working. I really like the fact that our young people have access to them, which enables them to take a step in the correct path towards being technologically literate and competent.

Above is my attempt at making a game on Scratch

Having a little bit of fun with Scratch was a great experience. I can already imagine how much fun it would be for the pupils to participate in this coding. Simply being aware that kids may participate in a game by dragging and dropping items is a fantastic method to do so. After that, show them progressively the actual code that is behind each block. Then, if everything goes according to plan, we will get to see them write the codes as they make progress.

Thank you very much Matt and the A team! Love your work!