Mar 28, 2016

Mindlab Session 3 - pre and post

Assignment 1 - Slowly stressing away about the first assignment - what to do what to do
Seems to be a large amount of confusion about what is expected here.

My initial thinking is it has to be math related as this is my weakest area and has been for many many years. Maths is generally uninteresting for me and the children - how can I shed my shoulder chip and make it interesting for my students. Am thinking project based is the way to go - this is the only bit of maths that ever interested me as a child - making it real. Thinking this should be my angle.

Set up my first google forms survey for the class/syndicate to complete - it's a practice really to see how the forms work and how easy it is to collate and see the results from 4 classes.
http://tinyurl.com/jdtlvfd
 

Aurasma - cool but what is the point? Is it educationally valid?

Seems to be that Aurasma is slightly different to QR codes in that it overlays in 3D rather than just a link to another website - so the theory is you can overlay flat instructions with something else more interesting to engage the students.
Augmented reality - I think it makes the learning richer if you can interact with the material being delivered rather than just shown something. Learning Shakespere as a youngster reading the plays it was extremely hard to understand - seeing a play made it easier, visiting where Shakespeare lived made it more 'real' being able to interact with the characters in augmented reality would make it memorable! Much like the guys who invented and created the Mindcraft view of Gallipoli - much more interactive and creates a higher user interest level.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tpa7zyIiuSo


[Tues] slowly gathering ideas for assignment - started a Mindomo after making mini notes in phone at 2.29am and 4.33am [the joy of stress]



Reflection:

Aurasma - can be very effective with overlays of work - still not completely convinced that QR codes work just as well just less aesthetically pleasing. I am pretty sure QR codes will open a word doc that you can then work on. Must test this theory.
Would have liked them to show how Google Cardboard can be educationally useful rather than just a cool tool to play with.
At least the session gave much more clarity on the assignment...I think

Some great ideas using the SAMR model - loved viewing and commenting on them. Struggling over this assignment still





Mar 20, 2016

Mindlab Session 2 - pre work & post thinking/problem solving

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZEZTyxSl3g    Grant Lichtman
Change is hard...it can be done but it is difficult in some schools, uncomfortable and challenging.
Schools and classes need chances to make mistakes, innovate and create [Class Dojo Mindset]. Great learning comes from experiences not changing from maths brain to science brain to writing brain.
Dams - school managers and Ministry directives - content rather than context.
Look at possibilities outside the classroom, outside the school...
Teach into the unknown - we don't know what the future holds.
Not 21st century skills but TIME LESS skills. Self-evolving learners. We need to be self-evolving institutions
Prepare students for THEIR future not our past.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=075aWDdZUlM  Differences between tools for entertaining and tools for engaging. How do we engage children in the class to collaborate, create and design.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=212&v=zTbuFN8_D_s
An animated video to show creativity for children - stepping out of the box and collaborating. Going above and beyond.

There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is WINGS. 
Hodding Carter Jr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=107&v=W7LfmCol9Dw
Innovative teaching and learning methods
ITL surveys  and research by Microsoft

John Hatties 8 Mindframes for teachers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=205&v=6xpcXobZF1k


Redited video from in-class action - demonstrating a 21st Century Skill related short film.
We had limited time to plan and film our project in class. About 10 minutes was wasted playing with iMovie on an iPhone and trying to work out how to make the trailer aspect work - we found that whatever we did it cut off the tops of all our videos. Therefore we went to using straight iMovie but ran out of time for the subtitles and titles to fully show our film/ideas - so I reedited and added them.

In post thinking about this task - I think I have come up with a solution to this filming issue we had ......we needed to film it on the phone using landscape instead of portrait and then iMovie will be able to handle the footage....well that's my thinking anyway, lets see next time.


Mar 18, 2016

Mindlab - Session 1 reflection on What is Knowledge & self as a Leader

Mindlab - Session 1 - Reflection & How I was a leader in the collaborative task [18/3/16 5am]

 An interesting session meeting the new people from the Mindlab course.

What is knowledge?
A great question to get some serious discussion on.
Our group decided knowledge was a combination of a number of things:
new learning from information, from experiences, from culture, from growing up, from making mistakes etc

We discussed the neurons in the brain growing as our knowledge grows. As we learn new things through different experiences in life new neurons can be made and make connections with old neurons. Sometimes the neurons become stronger with the new knowledge. Sometimes the neurons fade and dwindle due to the new knowledge [see note below] - our knowledge is always growing and developing as we experience new things and meet new people.

I suggested that Neurons and pathways can be redefined due to our focus in life e.g. we can teach our neurons to fade..to create new pathways as our knowledge changes. For example - a smoker can learn through new knowledge that it is not as beneficial as they once thought. They may have convinced themselves that smoking is good and necessary but through advice from family, friends, doctors, health issues, books etc we can learn that smoking is of no benefit - it takes will power and strength to create new pathways and knowledge to learn that smoking isn't ok...new neurons are created to make a new knowledge pathway that redefines our behaviour towards smoking in order to create a new knowledge/learning of being a non-smoker.

Our group had to SHOW knowledge using playdoh...Ana created a knowledge tree with new leaves and branches growing every time. Kusum and I created the right and left brain with different neurons coming off it and making connections and then making new pathways.

Colleen filmed our groups representation of knowledge. She was relearning how to edit and film our 1 minute movie using an app on her iPad. I decided to take a step back on filming as I have done some of this in the past with children and for myself. This part turned into a supportive role when Colleen needed help finding solutions to problems with editing on the iPad. During the filming I stepped up quickly to the speaking role on camera. I am a born show off when it comes to filming and often the assertive Goat in me takes over instantly. This part I need to be more reflective [and sheep like] on and allow others to step forward first...and I need to encourage others to step forward rather than being my assertive self and springing up to the plate before others get a chance to get a look in. https://youtu.be/zfJng34eqW0

It'll be interesting to ask children the question....What is knowledge? and What is the purpose off Education? Worth considering with my class after camp.

Having just made this into a PAGE on blogger...I have now discovered the difference between PAGES and POSTS - Mindlab stuff needs to be posts but for the purpose of submitting for assessment if necessary I will copy and paste to a page so that all the posts can be saved, printed etc together.

How is the purpose of education view able in my class? The purpose of education is develop new pathways and knowledge. It's about learning new skills and improving your knowledge in different ways and styles. A variety of styles is employed in my room in the hope that different children begin to learn and retain information in different ways and are encouraged to learn new knowledge and skills. New opportunities and experiences are given in a variety of ways. Children are encouraged to share experiences, but I need to focus on encouraging the less assertive class members to share learning, ideas and experiences. We use a variety of learning tools including computers, iPads and occasionally iPhones or iPods. We have experimented with Google Glass - not sure how this improves learning yet.

With a view to the first assignment...I need to attempt to spice up my maths programme with more technology based learning - it's the area of the curriculum that is the least spicy and least interesting due to my own lack of confidence in it.