DFI Day 4 Paparore School

Another busy day with the fantastic and super knowledgeable Manaiakilani team at the far north Paparore primary school.

Listening to Dorothy's opening comments about how human beings  have been sharing thoughts and knowledge with each other for  thousands of years , using the technologies of the time from painting on caves , to tablets, paper scrolls and now with the use of modern digital trechnology such as Bloggs.

I know we all know this but interestingly Dorothy mentioned how students should get intio the habit of finishing their  work including their blogs. By getting into the habit of completing work they will  become more profficient and eventually make better employees.  Working on the Gateway programme, helping students become work ready and eventually into employment is very close to my heart.  Ironically just the next day after hearing this korero I went to pick up a student from the tyre shop where he is doing his Gateway placement. The student wanted to leave but the employer insisted this student finish what he was doing, using the tyre machine to fit a new tyre to the rim  and then place the wheel back on the vehicle and make sure it was put on good and tight. Just the lesson Dorothy was talking about.

  Next we went over some really relevant material to mewhich I think will help me in my mahi,  such as forms which striaght away I could see a use for. That is putting the Mahi Mihi Oranga into a digital format which will make it much faster and hopefully more appealing to students to use. We then moved onto google maps which I thougjht was fascinating, great graphics and so many fun and exciting things can be done with these apps, not to mention saving time and energy. We then moved onto google sheets and this too was highly informative I learnt a huge  time saving technique, that is that you can import multiple students information striaght  from the School Management System  directly onto a spreadsheet. This used to take up quite a bit of time because I used to manually input data for each individual student now it takes just minutes and with practice should take just seconds.

Even though the DFI course is full on and there is still alot to learn, it really feels as though its opening up a whole new world of ways to become more proficient in my work, learn and express ideas and thoughts in so many ways. Absolutely fantastic. 

Having lunch break on the expansive and beautiful 90 mile beach with Kirsty Bryan, my DFI buddy from Bay Of Ilsands College on our first visit to  Paparore school in the far north.

Practicing using google sheets and graphs

Gateway 

Practicing with google maps, didn't turn out that great but kind of got the gist of how it works.

Lots of uses and potential plus. Love the graphics.

DFI Day 3 Media/Create,

Dfi course day 3 media /create

Google meet

Location : Bay Of Islands College

Another intensive day with DFI team and the awesome cohort of learners.

This was done by google meet session which was great but certainly came with its own set of challenges, but once again the manaiakilani team talked us through the processes involved with

the items on the agenda.

Started the day with another session about the manaiakilani pedagogy.

This week we heard the term sisomo, that is the use of sight sound and motion to 

enthrall learners with the use of interesting and colourful graphics,sound and animation.

Also heard that there are many ways to be creative which seems highly 

doable with the use of seemingly infinite images,videos and the tools that can be accessed through the internet and Google apps.

We also touched on hapara, which I have not had much to do with either.

Learnt how to set up and add to playlists on U Tube.

Adding a video to the blog

The Pale Blue Dot - A Compelling Speech by Carl Sagan

This is a favourite of mine, I watch it every now and again.

If you don't know, Carl Sagan worked for and consulted to NASA 

and was a mentor to Neil De Grasse Tyson, presenter of the fascinating 

Cosmos television  series.  To me, well worth the watch of about 3 1/2 minutes.

The name speaks for itself. " A Compelling Speech .........."

Practicing my animation techniques.

DFI day 2, work flow .

13/05/2021

DFI day 2 

Another great day of learning at the DFI course at Paparore school. Full on though, with lots of new material  to learn. Some totally new info and building on what I have been using to date, i.e  creating and using labels,  Bookmarks, Keep, Calendar, Google meets. Learnt how to pin the tabs at the top of screen.  which although a fairly small thing certainly tidies up the top of the screen .

Adding the Gateway logo to the end of my e-mails is also a great look .

 For the last several years Bay Of Islands Collge has iniated a shift from paper/ hard copies to the use electronic devices , primarily chromebooks .

This has had the advantage that as long as there is internet connection students can access learning material on line anytime & anywhere.This proved valuable during the lock down and if students happen to be absent  from school. (In the two sessions of the DFI course I have seen mention that  Google docs can be accessed while offline. I am interested  in learning how to do this.) 

    

 Until this year, 2020, Gateway has always sat to the side of the school curriculum and has been regarded as an extra currcular activity,  The means of delivering most learning has, as a rule been by hard copies or students attending short courses.  

   An integral part  of Gateway is accessing Gateway packages from various Training organisations i.e Private Training Enterpriises (PTE) Industry Training Organisations (ITO), polytechnics etc,  i.e Hairdressing Industry Training organisation (HITO), Building & Construction industry Training Organisation BCITO. These organisations provide the learning material both digitally and in hard copies. It is not difficult to understand the advanrages of digital learning which I am sure would be useful for completing  theory and practical components of units.  Google meet,  short courses and units can often  be completed online. Interestingly, thus far most students have chosen the hard copy option,

 This is possibly due to the nature of the Gatetway programme,  for the time being  I feel there should still be the hard copy option for educators and students. ( Perhaps this thought will change by the end of the DFI course).

I look forward to learning more on the DFI course as I do see the potential, it will help with the processing, preparation, recording, and reporting  of students Gateway placements more effectively and efficiently. Being digitally proficient has to be a  distinct advantage for stakeholders.  

Finally, and with some reserve, say that "already I feel just a little more comfortable and confident using google suite." Even had a look at Google Earth, very cool I think I could use that with students to do some research on the Business they will attending for a Gateway placement. 

DFI course 2021

 DFI course.

Day One

Ohaewai

  Digital Fluency Intensive (DFI)  course on Wednesday last week.  

Heard how Manaiakalani came into existence and how it has been put to use throughout many schools in NZ.

Course certainly lived up to its name, was intensive alright, but then it was  the first day and no matter what you do, in the beginning there is invariably always lots of new information to process.  Usually a matter of learning and becoming familiar with the basics, then hopefullythe rest will follow.  

Been doing a bit of recapping today and even though its early days I am starting to see that this is definitely a reflection of what is happening in the classroom and how students are learning, engaging with each other, school, the community and finding out about the world. What a fantastic creative way for people  to produce amazing slides and blogs to express themselves, put forth ideas and  I can see how it can increase student literacy. 

Looking forward to the learning and completing this course.

 can see how useful learning how to use  all the tools would be be to Teachers , students and staff at schools. We have gone over how to create groups. How to insert and save images, touched on Hapara .

Learnt how to remove background from pics.

I am looking forward to learning more over the next 9 weeks.