We made it! - DFI Session 9

9 weeks of DFI have now come to an end. This truely has been an amazing learning opportunity. Connecting with others, learning online via google Meet and sharing a lot of laughs along the way.


Our final session with Dorothy about the Manaiakalani journey highlighted ubiquitous learning - anytime, anywhere, any pace and from anyone - such an important aspect of the Manaiakalani kaupapa! Ubiquitous learning significantly amplifies the opportunities for learning. 

Over the last 4 weeks ubiquitous learning has been possible for our all our learners, and many of them have engaged with their learning through their class sites and attending google Meets. I've made more screencastify videos in the last few weeks than I did in the whole of last year, providing opportunities for my students to learn on their own (or their family's) schedule.

Lockdown has challenged me to consider how I deliver content to my learners. How are the students in my class choosing to learn? It will be worth asking my students how they think the lockdown has impacted on their learning. I've seen a child who often struggles to focus for long periods really engage in our google Meet sessions. Another who has become far more confident with sharing his ideas and what he has created with his peers in an online space. I've even seen my learners grow with their patience and tolerance when things don't always go to plan.

Rewindable learning allows for the school day to be flexible and extended - so important to have this option for our families as our students attempt to learn at home. I know that there are some families who have tried to maintain routine with learning at home from 9 til 3 with breaks, while others attend our google Meets in the morning, spend time with their families in the afternoon, then jump back online to engage with their learning after dinner. Some students are even working on tasks in their weekends!

Having devices in homes has allowed for so many barriers to be removed. The digital divide across the nation has been significantly highlighted during our time in lockdown. Fortunately for our learners, our school communities were in a space that we could not only provide distance learning, but also have the digital capabilities to maintain relationships with our learners online.

When I reflect back on the teaching and learning space that we've been currently working in some of things that I'm most proud of are:
- the fact that I am part of a Manaiakalani Outreach School and that we were in such a good space to deliver distance learning
- the resilience and determination that teachers and staff have displayed when dealing with this pandemic, putting wellbeing first but also ensuring that learning could still happen
- that I chose to continue DFI. It has been such great learning opportunity doing it online, but it also means that once we move back to alert level 2 that I will have Fridays face to face with my class.

I regret not getting my Year 4 learners up to speed with how to use their chromebooks and gsuite. Many of them have struggled to do online tasks because they need more practise at navigating the class site, creating a new doc, filing it or making a copy. It has made sharing their learning on their blogs even more of a challenge! (I have given all my learners the option to do tasks with pen and paper then upload photos/ videos).

Moving forward into the ‘new era' of schooling I will definitely be making more rewindable learning opportunities, ensuring that my instructions are clear, and collecting more student voice on how students learnt best at home during the lockdown.


A large chunk of our session today also involved completing the Google Certified Educator Level 1 Exam. I'm pleased to say I passed (after some last minute dramas with registering!) Having used google drive daily for a number of years I found the practical tasks relatively easy (tip: if you don't use google classroom, have a quick explore prior to the exam!) The multi-choice questions were a bit tricker - like everyone said, it really is a reading comprehension test!

Thanks to all the Manaiakalani Facilitators, particularly the Auckland ones - Gerhard and Dorothy, and the latest addition - Phil! Your enthusiasm and support made the course even more engaging. I'm leaving this course feeling empowered and connected, and of course I've already revisited content that we've covered over the last 9 weeks (ubiquitous learning in action!)


Regardless of where you are at on your digital fluency journey, the Digital Fluency Intensive caters for all!

Computational Thinking & The Future of Tech - DFI Session 8

Today's DFI session explored computational thinking (part of the revised technology curriculum) which is timely as all schools are expected to be integrating this new aspect as of 2020. Being part of the Manaiakalani Outreach Programme means that our school is already teaching some of this really well. Our next step is to move forward and look at where we can go next.

Part of my role as the digital team leader will involve me mapping out what our teachers are currently doing across the year levels in relation to the progress outcomes and then how we can amplify this and do even more. As I currently have a bit more flexibility with my teaching schedule this will be something that I prioritise and start to work on next week.

So why are we teaching computational thinking? 

Because behind programming and coding is PEOPLE. We want to empower, equip and give our learners opportunities to develop technology in the future. It's not just about being consumers of tech, but also creators and innovators.

Slide taken from DFI New Digital Technology Curriculum - Computational thinking 

This also means that our teachers need to be fluent with digital technology so that they can empower and turbocharge teaching and learning. Empowering teachers initially will have huge flow on effects with helping to empower our learners and their whānau. The digital fluency intensive has been a great way to upskill teachers. Over the last 8 weeks I have learnt a lot enhancing my own digital fluency, and I certainly feel more empowered! I'm looking forward to being back in the classroom face-to-face with my learners.


This slide from Dorothy's empowered session really resonated with me - the device is not just a tool. It transforms the way we learn!

A great example of this is completing our DFI sessions online. The learning that we have been able to do in our own homes over the last few weeks with our devices has opened up a world of possibilities and removed a lot of barriers!


There are a lot of great resources online to support teachers with the revised curriculum. I've seen a couple of them but haven't really had the time to sit down and look through them, particularly the exemplars on TKI. One of my favourites was this one from the Raranga Matihiko site which breaks down the progress outcomes into student speak. I think sharing these with teachers will also help them to develop their understanding of what each progress outcome entails.

It was also great to spend a bit of time playing around on scratch. I have a long way to go with developing my digital fluency with this tool, but I need to to persevere and keep working on it. Thanks to Kerry for letting my remix her animation! I managed to add a second sprite and programme some text to appear. Still a work in progress but a lot of fun mixed with lots of learning!

Definitely keen to give this another go with my students, however I think I'll wait til I'm back in the classroom with my learners to teach this!

And finally, a question that stuck out for me today was "How are we empowering kids with remote learning?" I have a lot of optional tasks on my class site for students to complete and have tried to vary the create aspect. Every single child in my class now has a device and the internet at home so they can all access their learning online. Yet at the end of week 3 only half of my class have engaged with their online learning... Perhaps I'm not giving them enough agency? I know there are some other factors out of my control, but this is something for me to consider as I prepare next week's online learning tasks.