DFI - Session Eight

Today we started with Pedagogy and Kaupapa around the word 'Empowered' and what this means within the Manaiakalani programme. Technology is not just a tool, it transforms the way we learn and offers learners new experiences and opportunities. Dorothy talked a little about her community cluster and how they ensured that the students were empowered and had equity to be able to learn with technology.

Computation thinking - what is it? Computation thinking means thinking or solving problems using technology. 'A digitally fluent person can decide when and why to use specific digital  technologies to achieve a specific task or solve problems' (MOE, 2018). The Manaiakalani programme helps teachers to become digitally fluent, to create digitally fluent students. This is a way forward for students to be successful 21st Century learners. I am still going to do more learning around computation thinking to ensure I have a sound understanding.

Coding - We were given the opportunity to give coding a go or to extend current knowledge this afternoon. Students in my hub that I have worked with seem to be interested in coding so I really enjoyed having the time to be able to explore and up skill myself with coding. Scratch Junior is a wonderful app and today I was also exposed to game.kodable.com. I am going to introduce this to my students through our challenge room. 

I was also exposed to gamefroot.com where I was creating with the Mihi maker. I found this really hard to use and navigate. I would like my students to be able to use this to present there MihiMihi so I am going to spend some more time figuring it out and create a video to help my students use it. 

I am off to study for the Google Exam! Do you have any advice for me? 

DFI - Session Four

Today was all about working with data. I was a little apprehensive when I heard the word data, but I learnt so much that I am looking forward to trying in my hub. 

First we explored SHARE with Dorothy. Sharing has been around since time began and it is a human instinct to share! In 2005 the world was introduced to social media, this is when the way we share changed and has continually changed over time. The biggest take away for me was that sharing has the potential for changing outcomes for my students. Manaiakalani strongly believes that sharing is about making connections with one another. The main sharing platform for our students in Blogger. This is not the latest sharing app but is a wonderful safe place for students to share their learning. Blogger is multi purposed and can be used by leaners and teachers. 

Hāpara is a programme that allows teachers to keep students safe and keep track of students' work. This is used in year 3-8 currently at my school. I have never used Hāpara but I like the idea of being able to monitor my students. I am going to explore more and see if this can be used with iPads. 

Google Forms is something I have used to fill out information but I had never made one myself. I created a form to get to know my students more and find out what they like/dislike about school. I am wondering if my students will be able to access and fill out Google Forms on the iPads? If so I will be creating Google Forms to support my teaching. 

My Maps are new to me. I can see how this can be used in the classroom for measurement, places around school, and creating connections with students Mihi. I am going to explore more with My Maps and see what else it has to offer. 

Google Sheets - My favourite takeaway was learning how to freeze columns so they don't move when you are scrolling around the sheet. I also learnt how to import data, sort data with filters, how to use formulas and functions. Auto fill is also life changing! One of our tasks was to analyse data from a blog. Here is the data from the Kākano blog. 

DFI - Session Two

After todays DFI session it is fair to say that my brain is fried. There was a-lot new learning today! 

Who knew that Google had so many useful apps to help manage workflow. 

First we explored Google Meet. I feel pretty confident with Google Meet as I have been using this to teach my students online with distance learning. One of the features I learnt was to share a video with sound. You need to share the tab not the entire screen. If you play the video through sharing your entire screen there will be no sound. Another thing I learnt was how to record a Google Meet. You can only record the meet if you are the organiser and it asks everyone for permission. Once the Google Meet was finished it uploaded to my drive and I was able to share it with others. Here is a screenshot of the video I made with Helena from my Digital Bubble Group. 

Google Keep is an online checklist that can be shared with other people. This is something I am going to explore more and see what it has to offer. I currently use the app Stickies. I like that with Google Keep I can also have the checklist on my phone and update in both places. You can also import tasks from Google Keep into your calendar! 




My Gmail has never looked so pretty or been so organised!
 I use Gmail everyday but I wasn't using it to its full potential. I learnt that on the right hand side you can quickly access your calendar and Google Keep. Snoozing emails, this is a life saver to ensuring you reply to all emails and don't forget about them. I also never knew all the different settings Gmail has like filters and schedule send for example. 

The only time I ever used Google Calendar was to check the school calendar. Since distance learning I have used Google Calendar to create Google Meets. This has been great to plan out my days and lessons. My biggest take away from learning about Google Calendar was the shortcuts. Who doesn't love shortcuts! 
All you do is simply push one letter to see your calendar in different views. 

• w = week view 
• t = view today
• m = month view
• c = create a new event or task

Mark finished the day off with reminding us on how to comment on blogs. 'Positive, Thoughtful, Helpful'. I have been using the prompts when I have been commenting on my hub blog. This is something I want to work more on with the students when we are commenting on a blog. 

I am very thankful for being able to take part in DFI. I know that all of these Google apps are really going to help organise my workflow in a positive way. 

Have you learnt something new from reading my blog?