DFI Day 8

Today we began the day with a Hangout chat with our Auckland DFI cohort.  It was so wonderful to connect with my buddy and chat about how he's finding the DFI.  I'm finding my confidence in using Hangouts is increasing quickly and I'm excited about how my next

Next, we spoke to Dorothy via Hangouts, who shared with us about empowerment.  We discussed the learners in their area and the challenges they're experiencing in the way they come to school, the social issues in their community and the huge lack of income, stability and language they have in their community.  Although I've heard about his before, and seen some of it with my own eyes when visiting the main Manaiakalani cluster in Auckland, but seeing a few more images about what these kids are living with daily.


5 plus a day - I love this idea

It was interesting to see this concept in a different realm.  Encouraging learners to have five different conversations back and forth.  Like a table tennis analogy.  Five different iterations a day.  One way that this can really be implemented is through their blogs.  That back and forth conversations of commenting.

Computational Thinking with The Mind Lab
Shanon and Emily and Mac

We began with an introduction to LimbForge which is software that helps


Next, we played a game of Kahoot, looking at computational thinking - this was a great way to explore some of the content.

Following this, we explored a chart about the capabilities within Digital Technologies.  It was exciting to see the learning that can take place within this space.  I foresee it being hugely engaging for our learners and I'm excited to see how this could change the way women see themselves in tech.  My Google Innovator advocacy project links to this.

Next, we moved onto computational thinking and this was where the fun really started.  We explored the notion of computational thinking without tech to start with, to understand it better.  To do this we played a game where we had to direct our partner through a game board without them hitting the 'dangerous (plastic) animals.  It was really fun and was a great way to glean some understanding about why coding needs to be so precise.

Later, we used this knowledge to begin to apply some of it to some online tools we used, including CoSpace.  This was great fun and we learned a lot through the creation of our spaces and the coding alongside it.  It's so fun to actually get to learn on the tools the way the kids do.  Computational thinking is definitely something that's accessible to everyone - all that's needed is the right tools to begin to develop an understanding.  It's rewarding to think of how much our young ladies could get out of using similar technology - feeling more comfortable navigating the tech space.  Of course, our boys would enjoy it too.

I'm a little sad that DFI will be finishing after our session next week, but am excited to see how many of our amazing teachers go through the Google Certified Education Level One exam and feel the achievement of completing that.  They are wonderful educators and our region are lucky to have them.

I've completed my Level 1 and 2 already, as well as recently returning from Google Innovator, so I'll be working towards my Google Trainer instead.  Reading up on it here, it looks really interesting to be moving forward into this space as well.  Exciting times!

• What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?

Today we learned more about the inception of Manaiakalani in terms of the learners the original trust set out to empower. These families have benefitted greatly from the opportunity to have greater opportunity to engage with learning - not just for their learners - but also for their families as well. It was heartening to see how much passion Dorothy and the team have for their communities.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?

Developing a greater understanding of Computational Thinking was fabulous! I really felt quite out of my depth with that, so I'm feeling like I have a much better understanding now. Exploring some of these charts was really wonderful too.

• What did I learn that could be used with my learners?  

Some of the programmes we used today were LightBot and CoSpaces - these were really useful for taking back to use in the classroom. Update: It's been exciting to see some of our teachers going back and using these in their classrooms as well.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?

As always, having a greater understanding of how Manaiakalani works is beneficial, because I am always asked to explain the programme and kaupapa to others - which is no small feat in a short conversation. We didn't really learn anything else that could enhance my personal life in this particular session, but regular learning has meant I've just improved my digital learning across all platforms.