Day 9

 Over the last leg of the FDI course today 

Final exam , all over life get back to some sense of normality.

Although it has been really time consuming and upsetting to my usual routine .

It has been difficult to keep up with my regular tasks but unbeleivably , I have gotten trough this and look forward to putting the the skiolls and knowledge into further practice with my job at Bay Of Islands College.  

The exam was a  bit hard to follow, and some of the questions were entirely focused on teachers so not being an actual teacher i found them a little hard to do.  I really would like to pass but pass or fail, 

no matter I still know what i know and at least I gave it my very best shot.

DFI -Devices day.

Day 8 

Up at Apararore school again.

Not to much to say today but the message is clear.

Dorothy used a word  today that I don't ever recall hearing until  I started the DFI course 8 weeks ago.

Ubiquitous.  In terms of the DFI course it means being able to facilitate learning: 

Anytime, 

Anywhere , 

Any pace, 

Anyone.

When learning material is in digital formatt it definetly has its advantages,

This means learners can access material anytime of the day or night from anywhere there is internet.

They can do the learning  at their own pace , leaving time to reasearch and plan what and when they are going to complete their work. This can also be done by young and older learners, school students and non school students can partake in online learning. The word rewindable has also been used alot, where learners can go back again and again as many times as necessary. 

Their is a multitude of on line courses now so even people who work during the day can log in when they have the time. This was also made evident during the lockdown when schools were closed and Teachers and students could connect through google meets and Teachers could deliver the learning and students would have access to Hapara where they could keep there work, teachers could access it and mark and comment.

Using skills learnt on the Dfi course will help Teachers produce interesting material for learners, hopefully getting them interested in learning.and keeping them engaged in school and help them realsie that by using digital devises learning can be accessed realatively easily, well after they have left school.

We then moved onto using the devices namely i-pad and chromebooks. I didn;t realise there was so much you could do with these decvices and would like to do firther trainging as I mainly use a chroebook at home. Will have to google some training tutorials.  

DFI Week 7

An intriguing day at the DFI course. But also a little bit scary in a shake your head and what next  kind of way,  this time held at the Waitangi Treaty grounds. We saw, not for the first time, various examples of Digital Technologies, DT.   From driverless vehicles, a very life like robot and an amazing video of a giant 3 dimensional printer,  building a house in a very short space of time. Then there was a clip of a modern office building and a person  making their way through their  daily business wearing glasses that were an interactive digital monitor. We also looked at several different animation programmes, i.e scratch, robotics and a couple of others. 

Using these  programs was pretty cool.  creating animations  in  minutes and even seconds. I couldn't help but think of the painstaking methods used by Walt Disney and his team of artists and what they would have given to have such technology in their hands. 

We were able to try out some of these programmes and then later in the day we were given the option to choose one and try and create an animation. I took the option of choosing scratch because I thought it was the more difficult of the two programmes I tried.  I was right i did find it quite difficult but was starting to see how it worked toward the finish of the day, however more work required.  

Have to mention the nice lunch at the cafe and even bumped into a colleague from  Northcate who is now retired, great to see him again. 

 The  theme of the day was computational thinking. With the understanding of the principles of computer science that all digital technologies share,  learners (teachers and students) should gain competency in a variety of digital technologies and  make the shift from being just users of DT to the interesting and exciting fields of Research, Design, Create & Educate.

We don’t have to look far to see this happening in every sector of industry.  As I work in the field of careers, for years now I have heard how the more mundane tasks in occupations are becoming automated and that the need for unskilled workers decreases, and yet I continually hear  there is a skill shortage in nearly every sector of industry so the need to upskill has been described as “urgent.’  (I heard this dialogue first at a large conference, “Work in Progress”, back in 2002. 

 Nearly twenty years on  the cry out  is the same, there are still not enough skilled workers in most  industries.  I suppose this is a driver of evolving DT as the labour shortfall is taken up by industry . While this does perhaps cover the shortfall of workers it most assuredly will put people out of work, so again the need for these workers to upskill to meet the demand of these new technologies is evident. 

Today it seems that it's not just the mundane low skilled occupations that are becoming automated, even  highly skilled tasks such as operations can be done by robots, albeit with a surgeon  sitting in another country. If not already happening, how long before even a surgeon is no longer necessary as advanced technology replaces the possibility of human error and the shaky hand of a surgeon. 

Is it just me or is it that  DT are advancing at an  alarming rate and the more advanced they become, Researchers, Designers, Creators use of technology leads to further and even more rapid  Research, Design and Creation of more powerful and intelligent DT and AI than the previous generation.

History shows that  change and advanced technologies are inevitable and are  non-stoppable,   It is the rapidity  of change that is concerning. When today's  technologies become  obsolete, then what was once futuristic science fiction becomes the science fact of today.    Does this mean the continual need to upskill, or will even this be sped up and done for us, will humans become so integrated with DT and AI,  will upskilling simply mean uploading an overnight “update”? I hope that  prediction is an exaggeration and never comes.

Once again, thanks to Kerry and her awesome team of expertr educators from Manaiakilani, so so patient! See you  Wednesday in the far North. Week 8,  nearly done, 1 more week after that.

DFI day 6 Enabling Access Sites

 Another great day on the DFI course, once again at the coolest school in the far north,  Aparore primary.

Focus of the day was on class sites .

There was the customary Karakia/waiata then first up another presentation from Dorothy Burt. It seems I may have been a bit ahead of myself, almost a bit of deja vu for me as she spoke about making connections and  empowerment of learners through the use of digital technology.  This is something I wrote about on my ptrvious weeks blog, so it was kind of gratifying to have what I was thinking verified this week by her korero, but it doesn't leave me a whole lot to write about because I think I said it alot about this last week.

 Dorothy spoke about connecting with learners and forging  relationships, she mentioned this empowerment has enabled connections to the world and that the possibilities are endless.

Dorothy spoke about meetung people face to face and how it can sometimes be a bit awkward ,  I commented how I use  the phrase "where are you from" which I beleive is an absolutely well proven icebreaker and method to become engaged in conversation and  finding something in common. Several years ago, by saying this to someone at a gathering I was able to recently reconnect my Father with someone he hadn't seen in 60 years. It is a question I have used quite often  and can lead to a very postive rapport with students. Dorothy said  she liked the idea and said she might  try it the next time the opportunity arises. Intersting to see if she does and how it works out for her.  (Learnt this from Maori, as this is very often a question I hear asked).

Not surprisingly by now, a continous theme for this course is that the kaupapa of create, learn, share and visibility are keystone to the ideolgy of Manaiakilani and completing, and implementing  this kaupapa has led to a sense of belonging to its members, starting to feel a bit that way myself , as though  I am part of a grand plan perhaps.  Does that sound far fetched? It really does  feel  like I am coming out of the dark ages.

As previously stated the focus of the day was producing a web site and Vickys chalk n talk was on the button. No pum inrended.

There was some great tips about setting up a site, again using create, learn, share, visibilty, framework.to facilitae effective teaching practice. Slide deck will have to be revisited I think. 

We were able to look at some class sites , ranging from primary to secondary schools. then we went on to have some more practice producing our own site. While I am still not that happy with some of the graphics I used. Can't seem to find something that leaps out at me and says "yes I am the one." I do however have more understanding how to go about setting up a site, i'e adding images, pages, subpages, carousel and buttons, though I want to go over how to customise a button which I thought was quite cool. I think this could be one of the many things that would make a site more visibly appealing. As kerry says "treat it like a shop window",  enticing the the viewer to enter and venture further. 

We had a shared morning tea/lunch, Alisons seafood chowder was superbly delicous and Lee-Anne's (my wife) corzini fritters were well appreciated.  Also like to mention what a great cohort of learners from the other schools, every week we get to know one another a bit better, you are all fanastic and I like sharing the learning journey with you all. The drive home with my workmates Kirsty and Dj was great fun too with some stimulating  conversation and best of all plenty of laughs. 

Ahhh once again surprsed myself, it seems I did have a bit to ramble about.

Looking forward to week 7, learning, creating, sharing and visibility with everyone at The Waitangi Treaty grounds. 

Collaborate Sites Agenda Day 5 Northland F2F Cohort, 2021

Dfi day 5 Collaborate sites

The day started with a  Karakia, then on to to listen to the presentation from the   Manaiakilani Mama,

non-other than the The Digital Dowager herself, Dorothy.  ( I hope she has a sense of humour.

I think she does. trying to get on to her wavelength ) . 

Dorothy summed up her presentation in just a couple of sentences.

 If it can’t be seen, it can’t be done, (maybe not her exact words  but words to that effect ) 

Learning materials should be made visible to students , learning resources should have relevance,

be vibrant and impact that will spark  the learners curiosity and entice them to  further investigate

the resources on offer.      The learning should be visible and understandable,  students fail because

the system is like a maze, they get lost.   “Where do I go from here?”

Bit of irony here, as this  is how I and some of the others feel on the DFI course.I guess this is how students sometimes feel? Doesn't stop me from wanting to learn more though.

Is this the correct pathway that will best serve my needs? 

To help stop the confusion the learning journey should be laid out for learners.

Dorothy also mentioned there should be no surprises, I suppose this could add to the  learners 

anxiety and in turn hinder the learning process.

TDDD commented;  Getting to know the teacher and how they think, however you would put it,

say it as you wiould , tune into the teachers wavelength, gauge the system or the teachers mind,

connecting can have positive results, successes and eventual positive outcomes. 

This is a challenging notion though,  because possibly more on a subconscious level I have thought

that it is up to the teacher to go to the learners level rather than the other way around. I would say 

it goes both ways. My thoughts are  what Dorothy means by this is, positive interaction between learner

and teacher, understanding another's personality and traits can have bearing on what is understood by

the learner.  Thus if a piece of information is missing or not quite understood then the learner can

deduce by saying,  I know this teacher this is what they will be trying to say or this is the information

they will be asking for. Or better still I know where to find it. I think anyway, please correct me if I am wrong? 

   

Another plus for digital learning is that through techkids students can learn at their own pace.

It doesn't matter that some students learn at a different rate, the work is still there and can be accessed

anywhere anytime as long as there is wifi.  This proved highly valuable during the lockdown for teachers

and students. I also like the accessibility that digital technology can give to parents, even to the point

of them looking into a classroom online.

Thought for the day.

I think, before students have a digital device they face challenges.

I am sure no one would argue the fact that there is  a percentage of learners who, for an abundance

of reasons do not see the relevance of what they are learning, at school.  I believe  somewhat tied

into this is an attitude or perception about the material they is taught at school, that is the knowledge

on offer” will be no good to me”,  or even see it as it being for that person or those people,  whereas I say

it's not about it being his or hers or theirs or ours, surely the knowledge of the world  belongs to 

no one but  should be available to everyone. 

 This  brings me to my point, that digital pedagogy can bring this directly to the learner in an exciting

and dynamic format, remember SiSoMo. Hopefully this direct impact can hold the learner, give them a

thirst for knowledge and a hunger to achieve. I would like to see students realise their hopes and dreams,

goals and ambitions. Heck I want students to have  hopes and dreams, to have obtainable goals and

ambitions. Perhaps digital technology will help this to happen.

This morning I hadn’t thought I was going to be able to write much about DFI day 5 because from

Thursday I have been away and out of wifi range for several days  

However after reading Jessi’s blog  (thanks Jessie)  and reflecting back to my notes about the day,

and thanks to the expert  DFI team for their patience, and to Dorothy for her inspiring words of wisdom.

I have managed to express my view and come up with a paragraph or two.

I  still  have a fair way to go with the DFI course but I am  enjoying the learning and starting to see

how the adoption of creating, sharing, learning and visibility may help to  inform and empower 

the modern learner.

Google sites

The DFI class then moved onto Google sites, learning how to produce a website.

Bit of fun but requires lots of concentration. I didn;t do the paper site design plan so will try using this

method on Wednesday day 6.

I watched the tutorial yesterday and spent nearly all day playing with various ideas and themes. 

I am still having some problems but should be easily solved.

 There was mention of putting labels on posts, might need to get some more info on this one. 

Rock on DFI day 6 , At the beautiful little Aparore primary school, at Waipapakauri, love it up at that school.

Pratice web sites.

Here is a link to my site that I made today.