A word today about the Manaiakalani presenters. These folks are so knowledgeable and have clearly had experience in the classroom that informs their presentations for us. Their patience is unlimited and I love the way they stick to the time frame presented on the agenda.
Cyber safe and cyber smart is a whole new thought process. Brings immediately to my mind: how sophisticated are my students in terms of being safe, sharing and creating online?
I am observing myself moving from jaded skepticism to being smitten with elements of this and the potential for my students. The more I hear about the Maniakalani Kopapa, the more grumpy I become that our school had nothing about this presented to us in a comprehensive, professional way. One more example today was learning that the Chrome Books offered by Maniakalani are not the same as those offered at Noel Leeming (a frequent complaint that I heard from our parents), that they have more features, and that this is the reasoning behind offering this particular device at this price.
Hapara! The teachers of juniors at my school use workspace in dashboard for topics. Wow, I sure need to explore this one. I see HUGE potential for this with my seniors. An effective way to personalise learning and actually monitor their progress in an authentic and respectful way. Amazing potential for individual scaffolding for all students.
In the morning presentation we heard that"partnership through owning the device is powerful and often overlooked by schools." Why? What is the evidence for this? How are poor students' needs' addressed? Coming from a decile two school and having directly experienced the critical budget shortfall that our Chromebooks initiative caused, I am concerned about the impact that this kind of investment makes on a poor community. This is the future, is there not some way we as a nation can invest in these resources so that diverse socio-economic communities are not affected differently? I am seeing a bit of a chasm forming here between well-funded, well-resourced schools and schools in less affluent areas. Is this another example of privilege and the message we are sending?
And finally, it occurs to me that the time poor aspect of this technology shift in teaching and learning is a temporary situation. What I am noticing is that like most of teaching, careful front loading results in better outcomes for students and an easier path to managing your workload. I am beginning to understand now that in the long run this technology will not only enhance my students' learning (Castify!), it will also allow me to easily manipulate and customise resources to fit my programme year after year. Although I am still taking baby steps with these skills, I keep coming back to the realisation that it is worth it for my students. It boggles the mind, really.
