I was pleased to learn that Manaiakalani is a lot more intentional as a programme than we have been with it at our school. Our school was quite frankly dropped into the deep end with the Chrome Books initiative and staff were expected to integrate them into their teaching immediately with training that was only provided with volunteer teacher time. We were not consulted at all and therefore did not (and still do not) understand the scope of the work nor the theoretical underpinnings for this kaupapa. Learning today that the implementation of this initiative should reflect the special character of the school was a comfort, as thus far it feels completely random and desperate at our school.
For this to be authentically beneficial to our students, we as a staff need to agree on some fundamental elements that make up the character of our school. I am interested to know if we all have the same understanding about what is meant by “learning?” I also note that there is currently no evidence of “two tracks” being laid down in our school:
1. An intentional, focused, evidence-based programme (the Manaiakalani Programme) that will support your community of learning move from the analogue world to the digital world while
2. Increasing teacher effectiveness and accelerating learning outcomes in this digital environment.
The PLD that our school has participated in thus far does not reflect our experience in our school as secondary teachers nor does it carry us forward from where we began. Perhaps this is because we as a staff have not had an opportunity to share where we are in the “analogue world” so that we can authentically move forward.
What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?
The pace of this course is breathless, and I am only just keeping up! In saying this, however, I see SO much potential for smarter work here. One example is some of the strategies we learned today around organising Gmail and the calendar. I can see the excellent potential here to streamline the hundreds of bits that come into my mailbox and I am committed to exploring this.
The tabs work went entirely too fast for me, with far too much information presented to me at once. I know this is my age and the fact that technology is my second language, not my native language. I do know my learning style, however (forest first, then trees), so I am confident that I will be able to integrate this learning in a helpful way eventually.
What did I learn that could be used with my learners?
At the redefinition level of the SAMR model, the concern I have is the learning methodology is rapidly moving away from the traditional external essay style assessment process. When will there be a seamless system that allows digitally fluent students to learn most effectively for themselves and be able to efficiently convey that learning in the form of a final, external assessment? Are we currently setting kids up and are we at this point having to choose engagement for students over assessment?
The key outcome of this second session for me is the question I must continue to ask myself as I work to integrate technology into my own pedagogy: What is working already in my classroom and how can I bring technology in to enhance this?
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