DCL Notes

Week 16:  Mobile Learning and WYOD


The last week of the face to face sessions provides some opportunities to leverage the power of today's technology for teaching and learning
Mobile Learning
The mobility of today's devices, coupled with a range of features such as wireless connectivity, GPS and network based location finding and built in data capture tools and sensors opens up many opportunities for situated, contextual, collaborative learning. 
A short article on Mobile Learning can be found in the Encyclopedia of Mobile Computing and Commerce
Wear Your Own Device
The rise of wearables is very much a part of the the Internet Of Things, where every device is connected. The scope for wearables to be used for teaching and learning has been explored for many years by researchers, but is now becoming possible in the everyday classroom.
One of the best-known examples of using wearables for teaching is Vanessa Collela's work on simulating the spread of disease: Exploring Dynamic Systems through Real World Interactions. Note that some of her Thinking Tags work was done with Mitch Resnik (of Scratch fame.)

Introductory Quotes

These brief quotes introduce our three topics of activity for the session.
Mobile Learning: “Mobile learning describes any form of education or training that is delivered using some kind of mobile device...the special characteristics of mobile learning, including ubiquity, convenience, localization, and personalization, give it unique qualities that help it stand out from other forms of learning.”
Source: Parsons, D. (2007). Mobile Learning, in D. Taniar (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Mobile Computing and Commerce, IGI Global, 525-527.
Wearable Technology in Education: “The emergence of home computers brought us eLearning, and the proliferation of mobile and smartphones have brought us mobile learning. Both of these technological advances have fundamentally changed how we look at learning and performance programs. Another technological advance is coming - one that will once again change some of our definitions and how we address performance issues: wearable technology.”
Source: Kelly, D. (2015). Why Wearable Technology Will Change Learning Forever. Paper presented at Learning Technologies 2016, London , UK.
Brain Sensing in Education: “The combination of educational data mining and brain sensing techniques has the potential to facilitate the detection of critical cognitive and motivational states during use of an online learning environment”
Source: Keating, S., Walker, E., Motupali, A. & Solovey, E. (2016). Toward Real-time Brain Sensing for Learning Assessment: Building a Rich Dataset. Proceedings CHI ‘16.
ACTIVITIES
Group Activity: Mobile Learning 
Prepare for this week's session 'Mobile Learning Activity' by downloading an app
  • If you have an iOS device, download the free Aris app and create an account
    • Note that there is more than one app called Aris - look for this icon
  • If you have an Android device, download the Sense-it app
  • Regardless of device, see what sensor-based apps you can download
    • e.g. Can your device measure temperature directly?
    •  
Details of what to do during the mobile learning activity can be found in the activity guide
The shared spreadsheet for recording sensor data can be found at http://tinyurl.com/tmlmobile
Group Activity: Wearable Devices Activity
In your groups, look at the various resources provided and write a blog (or G+) post that critiques wearable devices in education. You might want to choose to look at different articles, so that different viewpoints get represented and referenced in your own article?
Individual Activity: Thought Wired 
(Later date in Rotorua)
Try out the Neurosky Brainwave Headset.
Dmitry's slides (from Thought Wired) are available on the portal: Brain-sensing technology: Rehabilitation, enablement and super-powers!
If you are interested in purchasing a device, you can take advantage of an exclusive Mind Lab discount on BrainLink Lite (headband version of Neurosky). Special price $194.95, save $55! Use code MINDLAB2016 at checkout


Week 15:  Games in Education

Play has been recognised as one of the most natural ways in which children (and adults) learn. Modern theories examine play from the perspective of how it impacts a child’s development. According to Dietze and Kashin, “The learner is no longer regarded as a passive receiver of knowledge, but as an active constructor of meaning”.This perspective is emphasized within the constructionist theory through experiential learning. Theorist John Dewey suggests that children learn best by both physical and intellectual activity; in other words, children need to take an active role in play.Contemporary theories focus on the relationship of play to diversity and social justice in daily living and knowledge. Children learn social and cultural contexts through their daily living experiences. The Zone of Proximal Development concept, developed by Lev Vygotsky, suggests that children require activities that support past learning and encourage new learning at a slightly-more-difficult level. Vygotsky believed that social engagement and collaboration with others are powerful forces which transform children's thinking. Urie Bronfenbrenner states that a child's development is influenced by both the person and the environment (which includes family, community, culture and the broader society).
Games, as more structured forms of play, can be categorized into three main groups which all connect with learning (Koskinen et al. 2014): (1) Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) games, (2) simulations, and (3) learning games. Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) games make excellent tools for addressing both content-based and higher-order learning outcomes (see Van Eck, 2009). Simulations are well used, too, for example in military training (see Vahtivuori-Hänninen, Lehtonen & Torkkeli, 2005). However, learning games are the most popular in schools.
Learning games have a long traditions in education especially in two game types: serious games – which are defined by their primary purpose other than pure entertainment – and instructive games – where you learn curricular content while you play games.
Games
What experience do we have with games in our classroom? What games do we like to play ourselves?
Are you are a killer, achiever, socialite or explorer?
Choosing Games with an Educational Aspect
Game For Change believe in the positive power of digital games. See: gamesforchange.org
The Nanocrafter game enables you to contribute to important scientific research. Another form of Crowdsourcing: nanocrafter.org
Plague - science knowledge is embedded in the game: Plague Inc.
Serious Games
Serious games have been used to gamify serious issues. For example the Sparx game to tackle depression from the University of Auckland, and then move through to the Quest2Teach viurtal world games for teacher training.
Good video games incorporate good learning principles, principles supported by current research in Cognitive Science. Why? If no one could learn these games, no one would buy them — and players will not accept easy, dumbed down, or short games. At a deeper level, however, challenge and learning are a large part of what makes good video games motivating and entertaining. Humans actually enjoy learning, though sometimes in school you wouldn’t know that.
Game design and development
Game narratives sometimes follow the model of standard linear fiction. You can adapt this when designing your own game like activities for the classroom.
One of the tools that could be used with students is the Dr Who Game Maker, also the Wellington -based Gamefroot is really popular.
Suggested readings and references:
Eichenbaum, A., Bavelier, D., & Green, C. S. (2014). Video games: Play that can do serious good.American Journal of Play,7(1), 50.
Kuhn, S., Gleich, T., Lorenz, R., Lindenberger, U., & Gallinat, J. (2014). Playing Super Mario induces structural brain plasticity: Gray matter changes resulting from training with a commercial video game. 19(2), 272.
Vahtivuori-Hänninen, S., Lehtonen, M. & Torkkeli, M. (2005). Group Investigation, Social Simulations, and Games as Support for Network-Based Education. In H. Ruokamo, P. Hyvönen, M. Lehtonen & S. Tella (Eds.), Teaching–Studying–Learning (TSL) Processes and Mobile Technologies—Multi-, Inter- and Transdisciplinary (MIT) Research Approaches (123–131). Proceedings of the 12th International Network-Based Education (NBE) conference (Former PEG) 2005. September 14–17, 2005, Rovaniemi, Finland. University of Lapland. Publications in Education 11.
Van Eck, R. (2009). A guide to integrating COTS games into your classroom. In R.E. Ferdig (Ed.), Handbook of research on effective electronic gaming in education. Hershey, PA: Information Science, 179–199.
Prepare for next week's 'Mobile Learning Activity' by downloading an app
  • If you have an iOS device, download the free Aris app and create an account
    • Note that there is more than one app called Aris - look for this icon and description
  • If you have an Android device, download the Sense-it app
  • Regardless of device, see what sensor-based apps you can download
    • e.g. Can your device measure temperature directly?
    •   







Week 14: Maker Movement

Maker Movement
There is a lot of interest in learning through making, focused on the social construction of artefacts. While this might appear to echo earlier formal apprenticeship models of learning, it is good to know that the emerging ‘maker culture’ especially emphasises  informal, networked, peer-led, and shared learning motivated by fun and self-fulfilment.
3D Modelling
3D modelling is no longer the domain of visual effects artists and animators. Due to the increased availability and affordability of computers and laptops in the classroom and the abundance of free 3D creation software the opportunity to bring these technologies into the classroom has never been greater.  
3D Printing
3D printing is a lot more than just a niche technology. Over the past few years 3D printers have started to appear within a broad range of industries from medicine, manufacturing, engineering, aerospace, retail, mechanical engineering, dentistry and food science.
As with the launch of social media 10 years ago, 3D printing is a rapid disruptor experiencing expediential uptake. By the time our students enter the workforce there is a high likelihood that 3D printers will be as commonplace as household ink printers. Using basic design skills 3D printing can be used to trigger new learning and acquiring new skills.
In this week's session Learning Stations 2, 4 and 6 are focusing on Digital and Collaborative Learning in Innovative Learning Spaces. 
You will find the detailed station tasks in the Class Notes tab.





STATION 1 - Reflect & Sketchup / LDC

Goal: Re-design your learner's environment with a future focus in mind.
Reflect: Read these two sources:
Reflect based on those on:
  • How could you as a leader make your main learning spaces (ie. classroom) better from a digital and/or collaborative aspect?
  • How could even slight changes in your environment maybe help you to upskill as a more distributive and collaborative leader?
  • What (even tiny) changes could make the biggest difference to the learning outcomes?
Sketchup: Model the changes you’d like to make either using a simple Floor planning tool or the more advanced SketchUp that you can do 3D-wonders with!
Before you leave this station: Once your model is ready, screenrecord it as a video or picture (print screen, screen castify or https://screencast-o-matic.com/and publish that to G+community with the hashtag #sketchup

STATION 2 - Discuss & Meme / DCL

Goal: Understand what innovative learning spaces are.
Discuss: Choose a provocation to discuss with the facilitator and your fellow students:
  • We already had open-plan classrooms in the 1970's and got rid of them. Is the current mania for 'modern' or 'innovative' learning environments any different?
  • Where's the research to support the idea that modern learning environments improve student achievement?
  • How do modern learning environments cater for ALL students?
  • How do we future proof the modern learning environment?
  • MLE: Chuck out some desks and add in some beanbags?
  • The learning space isn't what's important, it's the pedagogy?
  • Do you need glass walls (as in Hamilton’s new school) to have those models and flight time?
  • You may like to come up with your own provocation as well?
Meme: After you feel you have discussed enough about that topic for the day, it's time to crystallise your thoughts and learning. Think about a powerful sentence that would sum up your thoughts. Make it into a picture/thought/quote/poster that you can share online.
  • Remember to use your own or open sourced images from the app you use. You can always take one now?
  • Which tools to use? Some make these by using just Paint, but your phone might already have an app that helps you with this? You could also try to use for example https://buffer.com/pablo which is an add-on for Chrome, and http://piktochart.com/ has a poster option too.
Before you leave this station:Share that emerging thought or feeling about the conversations by posting it to a social media site (twitter, instagram, facebook, G+…) with the tags #ILS and #MindLabEd. Never know, you might have just created a meme!

STATION 3 - Analyse & Suggest / LDC

Goal: Consider the environment as the third teacher, from a learner's point of view.
Analyse:
Check that you have done both of your homework, if you haven’t start by doing those. Once you have filled in both of the surveys, look at the data.
Homework The 3rd Teacher Consider the '79 ways in which you can use design to transform teaching and learning'. Which three ways did you find most surprising? In each case explain why. Use the text boxes below to record your answer. Google Form to fill: in 79 ways and Google Form to fill in: Learning Spaces
View and analyse the data gathered from those forms Learning Spaces Responses and 79 Ways Responses and draw suggestions from it.
Add your analysis into this collaborative slide set, and put your name on the slide you are working so that others know that. Look at what others might have already done, and think what you would like to add.
You can for example
  • create a graphical analysis of interesting parts that could influence how we design a learning space
Suggest:Based on the analysis of the data, suggest on the same collaborative slide set for example:
  1. What are the perceptions of learning spaces from a learner's point of view?
  2. Was there anything in the data that stood out to you as interesting, why?
  3. How could we use this data to inform future decision making?
  4. How might we involve learners in the design of their learning spaces?
  5. What other questions could you include in the survey?
You can use as many slides as you like to present your data analysis (charts/graphs), as well as conclusions and recommendations - you do not need to use all of the data, only the parts that you think are relevant.
These readings may also help guide you and act as a reference:
Remember to claim your work, perhaps use a different colour background slide to distinguish it from the previous person? Also add your name.
Before you leave this station: Make sure you have named the slides you worked with. If you think of an interesting aspect some other student could work with, or how to continue your work, you could add a comment there?

STATION 4 - Design & 3D Model / DCL

Goal: Rehearse a universal design and prototyping mindset.
Design:
Familiarise yourself with the Universal Design Ideas and their guidelines. Then design an ideal classroom object you are missing (table, chair… ie.)
Model: 3D model the classroom object by using https://www.tinkercad.com/. We’ll print one of these 3D models out based on your votes on the G+Community at the end of this session.
Tinkercad is free, easy-to-learn online app anyone can use to create and print 3D models with. You need to sign In or Sign Up. For this we recommend you using a laptop (either your own or one provided by TMLBU).
If you haven't used Tinkercad before, remember to view these these videos first:
Alternatively you can watch these step by step guides made by Coco
Remember to save your 3D model often enough.
Before you leave this station:
When you have finished your design, save it as a (.stl file) and make it public. Then publish a picture of your model in our G+ Community and include the link to your model as a description or comment. Remember to also include a hashtag #tinkercad and one of these based on the session you are on (#tuewha #tueauck #wedwel #wedchch #wedgis #wedrot #thuauck #thuchch #thurot #satauck #satchch).
We need your model to be public to be able to access it (.stl file) for the possible 3D printing, and we'll need those hashtags for finding it from G+. Also sharing your models makes you part of the Maker Community!

STATION 5 - Read & Feedback / LDC

Goal: Witness maker culture and students as makerspace designers.
Read: Read first The 'Open University: Innovating Pedagogy report 2013' article about Maker Culture. Then read through the blog written by Justine Hughes’s students: http://thecreatoropssteam.blogspot.co.nz/. We suggest you start from the oldest post and work your way upwards. This project was part of Justine’s LDC assignment and it was mostly run by her students.
Feedback: You can give feedback for these amazing students by commenting on their blog! Maybe you might even post some questions for them? You can also post your ideas and thoughts to our own G+community by using the #makerspace or #makerculture.
Before you leave this station:
Consider whether you would be interested in starting a similar project? If so, this framework might be interesting to look at Question Driven Pedagogy-Space-Technology Framework for Developing Learning Space
Maybe your LDC2 assignments change initiative involves changes into the learning spaces? If so, Lee, Tan, and Tout (2011) identified approximately 100 articles, reports, presentations and books that focused on the design and evaluation of learning spaces. These comments they raise in their literature review and the ‘Evaluation Learning Spaces’ Baseline Development Model' they created‘ might help you to get started.

STATION 6 - View & Video / DCL

Goal: Plan your own future digital learning environments for the last 16 weeks.
View: View the video where Milla and Dave discuss the characteristics of the line learner. And then read the one-pager about Online learning Milla made for you after filming that video. Something a bit more academic to consider.
Then reflect on these:
  • Do you think you’ll need to set up a study group? How will you do that?
  • How do you make sure you have the grit and perseverance needed for online learning?
  • How do you manage your time and gain knowledge while online?
  • How do you create and maintain an online identity?
  • Now you’ve come to the class each week, how do you remember to go online?
  • What do you want your physical environment to be like? Even if you study online, you are in a physical space of your choice.
Video: Film a video (by yourself or with peers on the same station) to remind you what you need to keep in mind when you start to study fully online. Where, when and how do you plan to study?
You can film yourself talking, screen cast or make another kind of a presentation. Make it inspiring!
Before you leave this station:Please consider sharing the video in the G+community with the tag #DLE. Or at least save it somewhere where you can access iteasily, so that you can view it on the first week of the “Research Informed Practice

Week 13:  Inquiry Led Learning

This week we explore the integration of 'Inquiry' in the classroom, a process where students co-construct their learning in an authentic context.
Pedagogical and technological innovations are redefining education and while there is great debate on the relevance of traditional education there is also increased support for the resurgence of traditional education ideals linked to higher order thinking and inquiry.
The demands of an evolving knowledge based society requires learners to be independent thinkers as well as interdependent collaborative learners who work together.
There is significant need for students to understand the processes of critical thinking that improves their ability to reason, evaluate, judge and assess. Critical or reflective thinking is integral to inquiry and to the process of forming an opinion or building knowledge.
Teachers cannot be repositories of knowledge as they might have been in the past, and textbooks contain old news the moment they go to press. To facilitate access to the pool of unlimited information classrooms are increasingly becoming learning labs where teachers guide students and coach them to:
  • Observe
  • Wonder & Ponder
  • Investigate
  • Conclude
In this model, everyone practices research all the time. Teachers encourage students to observe, ask questions, find answers and report on their discoveries within an architecture of course goals.

Slide Set Link for Classroom Activity
This link is for the shared Google Slides deck for use during the classroom session
Decide, as a class, what model you will adopt for this week’s activity:
  • Where does it come from?
  • How credible is it?
  • Make it visible in the room (hard or soft copy)

Effective questions and questioning
Here are some ideas from Harpaz (2005) on the 6 characteristics of 'fertile' questions that might be used in an inquiry:
  • Open - there are several different or competing answers
  • Undermining - makes the learner question their basic assumptions
  • Rich - cannot be answered without careful and lengthy research, often able to be broken into subsidiary questions
  • Connected - relevant to the learners
  • Charged - has an ethical dimension
  • Practical - is able to be researched given the available resources
Tools that can help manage inquiry projects
Some tools we have previously introduces that may be useful
Recommended Viewing
The Ministry of Education hosts some media on inquiry learning, for example Inquiry learning - from knowledge to understanding





Week 12:  Divergent Thinking in Education


 Divergent Thinking in Education
Sir Ken Robinson, chair of the UK Government's report on creativity, education and the economy, described research that showed that young people lost their ability to think in "divergent or non-linear ways", a key component of creativity. Of 1,600 children aged three to five who were tested, 98% showed they could think in divergent ways. By the time they were aged eight to 10, 32% could think divergently. When the same test was applied to 13 to 15-year-olds, only 10% could think in this way. And when the test was used with 200,000 25-year-olds, only 2% could think divergently. . . . Education is driven by the idea of one answer and this idea of divergent thinking becomes stifled.' He described creativity as the 'genetic code' of education and said it was essential for the new economic circumstances of the 21st century." signed: (TESS, 25 March 2005)


Divergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. Convergent thinking is focusing on a limited number of choices as possibilities. Then you choose the “right” answer or course of action from among those choices.
Design Thinking 
Design Thinking has been implemented across many industries since the 1950’s as companies increase their understanding of, and need for, more divergent thinking and greater employee contribution to ideas and problem solving.
The process of applying a design thinking approach within the classroom increases student engagement, enables deeper dives into new content and greater comprehension and provides a important framework for specific learning tasks and outcomes.  



Video:  Austin's Butterfly



Week 11:  Are We Agile Enough?



Agile methods
The Agile movement proposes alternatives to traditional project management. Agile approaches were designed for the software development to help businesses respond to unpredictability. Scrum is the most popular way of introducing Agility due to its simplicity and flexibility. Aspects of Lean production (from the Toyota Production System) are also increasingly utilised by agile practitioners, for example Kanban boards, where limiting the number of current work items elegant workflow. Kanban's 'pull' model makes the flow of work visible across the team. In software development, 'Scrumban' is a populate fusion of Scrum and Kanban.
Nowadays Agile and lean practices are used in industries outside of manufacturing and software development. Agile is recognized more generally now as simply a great way of getting things done in rapidly changing and highly unpredictable situations.
Agile Based Learning
In this week's classes we ponder what Agile and Lean methods can offer to the education sector. Even though Agile was developed within the software industry, the bridge is that it is fundamentally about learning, people, and change - three things we struggle with in education. Many are amazed at how easily Agile translates to education, and how perfectly-suited it is for example running schools.

Agile Schools
Steve Peha, a technologist and educator in the US, has worked extensively in applying the lessons of agile and lean to the classroom. His article on InfoQ, 'Agile Schools: How Technology Saves Education (Just Not the Way We Thought it Would), can be found at http://www.infoq.com/articles/agile-schools-education
The Agile Manifesto
The key ideas of agile are embodied in the 'Agile Manifesto' - http://agilemanifesto.org/
  • Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
  • Working software over comprehensive documentation
  • Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
  • Responding to change over following a plan
We will explore how these might be modified to apply to education
"Agile is fundamentally about learning, people, and change-three things we struggle with in education and handle poorly at the present time" (Peha, 2011).
Lean Production
“From...lean production, educators can learn the importance of empowering teachers by training them to problem-solve and then expecting them to be self-reflective and to continuously improve their practice.”
Barney, H. & Kirby, S.N. (2004). Toyota Production System/Lean Manufacturing. In B. Stecher and S.N. Kirby (Eds.), Organizational Improvement and Accountability Lessons for Education From Other Sectors (pp. 35-50). Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation.
Kanban
Kanban means 'visual card' in Japanese.
For an example of how Kanban boards can be used to help children plan, see Princess Kanban. This is on the agileschool blog, which you may find interesting. More recent materials are now on the Agile Classrooms site
Trello
Trello can be used to create Kanban style boards online. Try it out - set up a board. How might you use in your school / classroom?
















Week 10:  Real Life Problem-Solving

In today’s workplace, problem-solving tasks abound. Whether the need is to find new ways to reach global markets or to redesign a product to take advantage of new materials, successful workers must be adept at generating and testing creative ideas in order to solve a problem with a real set of requirements and constraints. This is a very different definition of “problem” than we often see in academic settings, where textbook “problems” are simply practice at executing specific learned procedures. 
Problem-solving tasks require students do some or all of the following
  • investigate the parameters of the problem to guide their approach
  • generate ideas and alternatives
  • devise their own approach, or explore several possible procedures that might be appropriate to the situation
  • design a coherent solution
  • test the solution and iterate on improvements to satisfy the requirements of the problem.
Real-world problems are authentic situations and needs that exist outside an academic context 
Real-world problems have all of the following characteristics:
  • Are experienced by real people. For example, if students are asked to diagnose an ecological imbalance in a rainforest in Costa Rica, they are working with a situation that affects the real people who live there.
  • Have solutions for a specific, plausible audience other than the educator as grader. For example, designing equipment to fit a small city playground could benefit the children of the community. 
  • Have specific, explicit contexts. For example, developing a plan for a community garden in a public park in their town has a specific context; learning which vegetables grow best in which parts of one’s country does not.
  • If students are using data to solve a problem, they use actual data (for example, real scientific records of earthquakes, results of their own experiments, or first-person accounts of an historical event), not data developed by an educator or publisher for a lesson
Crowdsourcing for Problem-solving
Crowdsourcing is the practice of engaging a ‘crowd’ or group for a common goal, such as innovation, problem solving or efficiency.
Can take place on many different levels and across various industries. Thanks to our growing connectivity, it is now easier than ever for individuals to collectively contribute, whether with ideas, time, expertise, or funds, to a project or cause.
If you want to learn when 'crowdsourcing' became a trend, maybe you'd like to look at a real data Google shares with us? You could also combine that with other search trends? https://www.google.co.nz/trends/explore#q=crowdsourcing  
Hackidemia
http://www.hackidemia.com/workshopsA mobile invention lab that enables future changemakers to access and create a hands-on STEAM education that will enable them to solve specific challenges by developing and testing creative solutions and physical artifacts.
Global workshops fostering collaboration between schools, tech companies and kids in the development of 3D-enabled curricula, tools, and learning environments for the 21st century learner.
Openideohttps://openideo.com/Uses the ideas of Design Thinking. Join a global community to solve big issues “How might we…” challenges for social good in different phases (Research, Ideas, Feedback, Refinement, Final feedback, Top ideas, Impact)

Innocentivehttp://www.innocentive.com/Provide ideas and solutions to important business, social, policy, scientific, and technical challenges

Idea Springboardhttps://www.googlesciencefair.com/springboard/en/IDEA Springboard - GOOGLE Science fair -
Use this search tool to help you come up with a project that you'll love working on

Thingfulhttps://thingful.netThingful® is a search engine for the Internet of Things, providing a unique geographical index of connected objects around the world, including energy, radiation, weather, and air quality devices as well as seismographs, iBeacons, ships, aircraft and even animal trackers

Instagrokhttps://www.instagrok.comOur mission is to help everyone discover the joy of learning and empower them to be lifelong learners. So we are dedicated to building innovative technology to enable engaging, safe and personalized learning.

Zooinversehttps://www.zooniverse.org/projectsThe world’s largest and most popular platform for people-powered research. Research is made possible by volunteers—hundreds of thousands of people around the world who come together to assist professional researchers. Our goal is to enable research that would not be possible, or practical, otherwise. Zooniverse research results in new discoveries, datasets useful to the wider research.

New Zealand Garden Bird Survey and NatureWatch
You can help to discover and learn more about NZ garden birds by participating in this citizen science project or you can record what you see in nature, meet other nature watchers, and learn about the natural world at the http://naturewatch.org.nz/.
























Week 9:  Less Assessment, More Engagement?

*Notes from class for this week
Assessment in the 21st Century

Beyond curricular issues, classrooms today typically lack 21st century learning and teaching in part because high-stakes tests do not assess these competencies. Assessments and tests focus on measuring students’ fluency in various abstract, routine skills, but typically do not assess their strategies for expert decision making when no standard approach seems applicable. Essays emphasize simple presentation rather than sophisticated forms of rhetorical interaction. Students’ abilities to transfer their understandings to real world situations are not assessed, nor are capabilities related to various aspects of teamwork. The use of technological applications and representations is generally banned from testing, rather than measuring students’ capacities to use tools, applications, and media effectively. Abilities to effectively utilize various forms of mediated interaction are typically not assessed. As discussed later, valid, reliable, practical assessments of 21st century skills are needed to improve this situation.
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) suggests Authentic 21st century assessments are the essential foundation of a 21st century education. Assessments must measure all five results that matter; core subjects, 21st century content, learning and thinking skills, ICT literacy, and life skills. Assessment of 21st century skills should be integrated with assessments of core subjects. Separate assessments would defeat the purpose of infusing 21st century skills into core subjects. To be effective, sustainable and affordable, assessments must use modern technologies to increase efficiency and timeliness. Standardized tests alone can only measure some of the important skills and knowledge students should learn. A balance of assessments, including high-quality standardized testing along with effective classroom assessments, offers students and teachers a powerful tool to master the content and skills central to success.
Formative Assessment
Formative assessment supports the constructivist theory of learning and connectivism. In a constructivist manner, learners are accountable for their learning and the creation of knowledge, through open-ended questioning, cooperative situations, discussions, meaningful context and quizzes. Connectivism alos applies since collaborations through technology promote human contact, and at the same time provide human content.
Choosing an Online Tool for Formative Assessment
Several online tools can help with assessment by collecting and storing data on student knowledge, offering easy access later. 
Poll Everywhere
Students can submit answers via computer or mobile device to a question (which can be multiple choice, free response, or even an image poll) that the teacher displays by downloading a PowerPoint slide or through the website. The advantage of Poll Everywhere (www.polleverywhere.com) is the instant tally that appears, allowing the teacher to quickly assess the collective knowledge of the group. The disadvantage is that you cannot review individual student answers.
Kahoot 
Kahoot (https://getkahoot.com/ to create a session or www. kahoot.it/join for students to participate) is a game-based polling activity. The teacher designs the questions and receives a code. Students who enter the code can participate in the quiz, earning points for correct answers and speedy responses. Top scores (using student created nicknames, allowing them to retain anonymity) are displayed, often increasing student enthusiasm. 
Icard (2014) suggested that students should be enticed by the competitive nature of the game if it is going to be a valuable learning experience for the students. According to Icard (2014) students benefit from using digital games in the classroom by learning how to handle success and failure as well as how to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Thus, Kahoot! is a digital game that can be used in classrooms to engage students in content in a fun way. Kahoot! not only fosters a fun learning environment, but also challenges students in the learning process. (http://itdl.org/Journal/Mar_14/Mar14.pdf#page=41)
Socrative
A more robust question-and-answer experience is found at Socrative (www.socrative.com), a web- or phone-based product that allows teachers to create quizzes with multiple choice, true/false, graded-short-answer or open-response questions. Teachers can even share quizzes they have made with other users. Socrative gives instant results but also has reports available on the back end that allow for analysis at the student or class level. When using Socrative, the teacher can allow students to go through at their own pace (with or without receiving immediate feedback) or as led by the teacher.
NearPod
NearPod (www.nearpod.com) offers interactive question slides that can contain polls, quizzes, and open-ended questions. Teachers can add videos, images, Twitter feeds, and web pages. Each student needs his or her own internet-connected device to interact with the presentation. NearPod can be used in either a synchronized or self-paced manner. In synchronized lessons, students log in with a code, and the teacher controls the pace of the lesson. Each slide is pushed out to the devices, keeping students on task with their teacher. Self-paced lessons, in contrast, allow students to progress through the slides on their own. In either case, the teacher can access student responses via reports.
Plickers
The above tools require that students have their own computing devices. Other similar tools do not. For example, Plickers (www.plickers.com) uses a smartphone to collect student data, but only the teacher needs a device. To begin, the teacher downloads and prints the Plickers cards, unique to each student, which can be mounted on card stock and laminated. The student, upon hearing a question, holds a card upright to indicate his or her answer from a set of multiple choices. The teacher uses the free Plicker app on a smartphone to scan student responses. The app aggregates the answers on the phone screen and also allows the teacher to review students' individual responses on the website.
Some other tools that might be used for assessment purposes include TodaysMeet (Collaboration), Padlet (Collaborative canvas), Xmind (Mindmapping),ForAllRubrics (Rubric creation), PollDaddy, Formative (Real-time FA), MovieMaker (video assessments), ThinkBinder (Collaboration) and Google Docs(Collaboration) 
Which One(s) to Choose? - Evaluating Educational Apps
One of the challenges is wading through the huge number apps available. Effectively evaluating formative assessment data is an essential skill for all teachers. Most of the tools suggested above provide the data teachers need to monitor and adjust their teaching according to current student knowledge. While the amount of preparation increases with the complexity of the tools, the benefits of receiving individual and whole-class data also increase and can be invaluable in evaluating lessons and student progress.
Harry Walker is the Principal of Sandy Plains Elementary School in Baltimore County, Maryland. He has crafted a rubric to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of an app in terms of how it may impact on student achievement. His criteria include curriculum connection, authenticity, feedback, differentiation, user friendliness, and student motivation. 
RISE model for Meaningful Feedback
Emily Wray's RISE model encourages teachers to provide feedback that is not simply informative, but moves students toward improvement.
Engagement and Flow
Shernoff defines engagement as a heightened, simultaneous experience of concentration, interest, and enjoyment in the task at hand. His definition includes no presumptions about how students should think, feel, behave, or relate to school. You might notice that his definition includes no mention of school whatsoever, so that engagement in academic contexts can be viewed as on par and comparable to that experienced in other less formal contexts. That definition is based completely in the experiences of students, so that engagement may be considered as a learning experience, one to be valued in its own right. This definition is rooted in Csikszentmihalyi’s (1990) conceptualisation of 'flow experience.' Flow is an optimal state of cognitive and emotional engagement, so absorbing that one may lose track of time and awareness of the self. Although the nature of schoolwork can vary, the ideal state of engagement could maybe be an active attentiveness and problem solving or the fashioning of products that promotes learning and the development of new skills, an ideal that flow experiences encapsulate.
Research tends to converge on the observation that meaningful engagement is composed of two independent processes; academic intensity and a positive emotional response. Optimal learning environments provide academic intensity through environmental challenge characterized by clear goals and high expectations for performance with complex tasks found to be relevant to students’ lives and the community at large. They also support students to succeed through motivational support, positive relationships, feedback, and opportunities for action and collaboration.
Flow and engagement can be contagious, having the potential to cross over from teacher to student, student to teacher, and permeate an entire group participating in a shared activity. New immersive technologies also show promising signs of enhancing student engagement to learn in the future. Indeed, there are many routes to engaging youth; creating meaningful engagement requires attention to a variety of contextual, instructional, developmental, and interpersonal factors beyond the preoccupation with narrowly defined educational “outcomes.”
Research has shown that the positive development of youth occurs through a constellation of resources that provide physical safety and security, developmentally appropriate structure and expectations for behavior, emotional and moral support, and opportunities to make a contribution to one’s community (Eccles and Gootman 2002). 










Connected Learning: Real-World Engagement


Week 8:  School Transformation

*Notes from class for this week

Successful school transformation requires establishing a clear educational vision and a shared institutional mission, knowing how well the school is accomplishing that mission, identifying areas for improvement, developing plans to change educational activities and programs, and implementing those plans or new programs effectively.
Educators also need to consider equity issues and confirmation that the introduction of new activities or systems are accessible to all and offer the ability to improve access to higher-order learning tasks and enhanced education outcomes for all students.
The target of true 21st century education should be the advanced knowledge processes that scientists, scholars, and employees of highly innovative companies engage in daily. These processes must be built into the social fabric of communities, and into the technologies that support their work, so that creative knowledge work is as integral to schooling as it is to our most high-powered knowledge-creating organizations. Compared to the rapidly changing face of information technology, the rate of change in schools appears several orders of magnitude slower. This evident gap has caused anxiety among school people and impatience in the surrounding society. The result has been great pressure to wire the schools, train the teachers, and raise standards. But what is taking shape today as a result of the "get wired" and the "raise test scores" movements, is not education addressing the needs of the 21st century. It is 20th century, industrial age education supercharged by high-stakes testing and high-tech tools.
Marlene Scardamalia, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto (Canada)
For educators to prepare for progress and change in the 21st century requires attention to building wide support for collaborative learning approaches. This includes community understanding and appreciation for a range of learning approaches that may be unfamiliar.
According to Jenkins (2006) the group of core literacies needed to be achieved by a 21st century graduate include:
  • Play – the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem-solving
  • Performance – the ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and discovery
  • Simulation – the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real world processes
  • Appropriation – the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content
  • Multitasking – the ability to scan one’s environment and shift focus as needed to salient details
  • Distributed Cognition – the ability to interact meaningfully with tools that expand mental capacities
  • Collective Intelligence – the ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with others toward a common goal
  • Judgement – the ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different sources
  • Transmedia Navigation – the ability to follow the flow of stories and information across multiple modalities
  • Networking – the ability to search for, synthesise and disseminate information
  • Negotiation – the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms
Development of these new competencies should be factored into the development of personal leadership approaches to ensure we reflect the practices and skills we wish to develop in our students.
Education leaders or teachers leading through change should encourage and support the development of a highly collaborative and open school culture with clear educational missions and processes, structures, and resources that allow educational change to flourish.
Links to Transformation Theory readings












Week 7:  Flipped Classrooms and Blended Learning

*Notes from class for this week

Four Pillars of Flipped Learning
Flipped learning requires
  • Flexible environments
  • a shift in Learning culture
  • Intentional content
  • Professional educators
Tips for a better flipped classroom (see http://tinyurl.com/tml9tipsflip)
  1. Devise a flipped strategy
  2. Start small
  3. Get student buy-in
  4. Teach parents, too
  5. Teach students how to watch videos (Really!)
  6. Encourage (don't punish) students
  7. Don't use videos as the only engagement tool
  8. Make videos short and interactive
  9. Find fellow flippers
In-Class Flipping (See http://tinyurl.com/tmlflip)
Besides the fact that it avoids the home-related problems of a traditional flip, the In-Class Flip has other advantages as well:
  • The teacher can observe whether students are really watching. 
  • The initial exposure to the video content has a better chance to sink in.
  • Hardware is (presumably) safer. 
In-Class Flipping is not without its own challenges:
  • It doesn't make for tidy one-period lesson plans. 
  • More preparation is required at the beginning. .
  • Technically, you don’t "gain" more class time.
Blended Models (see http://tinyurl.com/tmlblended)
These blended learning models come from the Clayton Christensen Institute
  • Rotation model 
    • Station Rotation 
    • Lab Rotation
    • Flipped Classroom
  • Flex model 
  • A La Carte model 
  • Enriched Virtual model






Week 6:  Connected Learning and Connectivism

I've viewed the videos for this week and even though I did like the other videos re: connected learning, this one resonated with me in terms of thinking of different aspects of why connected learning and over-hauling the education system to fit our students today is a necessity.  The idea of traditional job opportunities not being available in our students future is worrisome.  The thought of teaching our students in new ways which encapsulates creativity, resilience, learning to learn, thinking outside the square, adaptive, flexible, learning anytime and anywhere seems exciting and such as huge task, especially since this modern outlook on learning and teaching are entering new waters so to speak.  Many schools have already begun re-evaluating their curriculum and teaching policies to cater for new learning but there is still a great number of schools who are yet to make the big step.


In today's world, students are making learning connections all the time and they are doing this with ease.  As a teacher, we make connections often and we try to use these connections well but I still find myself relying upon myself instead of putting ideas and requests for help 'out there', out in the social world where people I don't even know may offer to suggest information or where to find what I need.  I'm learning to become more collaborative (funny, this is a natural part of teaching/learning, encouraging others to work by 'doing' with a buddy or in a small group activity), especially through the Mindlab course.  At times I don't mind while other times, I am still having to get over the 'my ideas or input might not be good enough'.  By myself, I only have myself to let down but in a group situation, if I'm not completing my role adequately, then I'll let the team down.
 








Week 5:  Collaborative, Constructionist, Constructivist!

Questions for reflection
What strategies and activities help you develop student groups? In what ways has collaboration driven deeper learning in your classroom?
I teach in a Y0-Y1 class and when I need to know what my students know, I let them 'tease' out their ideas via buddy-buddy discussions first before presenting their ideas to the class discussion.  Small group discussion comes later as students begin to understand and learn the 'etiquette' of the following:
  • listening to the speaker with respect
  • sharing a specific idea in a clear and appropriate sentence
  • turn taking
  • being patient
The same can be said for working with a buddy and then small group activities where everyone has a role to play, that all ideas are important and we can decide together to 'have-a-go' at an idea we all agree upon.  

Collaborating groups hopefully develops and strengthens the following skills:
  • sharing an appropriate idea or strategy
  • discuss - talk about the idea and how it can be used
  • working together - talk, respect each other's input with 'I Care', have-a-go, try again, what did we learn? Don't give up, share with other groups or the teacher
Here, students are collaborating by sharing ideas via a 'hands-on' activity or 'constructionism' task where they are learning through 'play' and 'doing'.  The collaborating part are the students discussing what they can do next while they are learning new information and knowledge about what these machines can do, and they try out new actions.


In this video, students are exploring with their buddies what the machine can do.  They shared their ideas with their buddies first before sharing with the rest of the class.

Constructionism

Another activity I like my students to do is to 'figure something out' by themselves (and sometimes, I may give a few hints).  Well, this next example is a little like that but our students have been working with the Bee-Bot coding activity app on the ipad for a few weeks before, one day I showed them a couple of Bee-Bot robots.  Students were paired and given 10 minutes to find out what they could do with the Bee-Bot robots, plan a little show (including an obstacle course if the students wanted) before presenting in the afternoon after all pairs had had a chance to use the Bee-Bots.  Students who hadn't mastered the first 5-6 levels on the ipad were also allowed some physical time with the robots to see what they could do but these students were paired with an experienced student.











Week 4:  Theory, theory, theory!

Class Notes:
Learning Theories 
A learning theory is about changes in observable behaviour. It addresses: how such changes become relatively permanent, whether the change is immediate or potential, what role experience plays, and what aspects of reinforcement are present.
Olsen, M. & Hergenhahn, B. (2013). An Introduction to Theories of Learning (9th ed.) Boston, Mass: Pearson. 
Ten learning theories that are relevant to digital and collaborative learning (see the Mind Lab YouTube video on these theories)
  • Conditioning
  • Connectionism and the Law of Effect
  • Progressive Education
  • Constructivism: Social Development Theory
  • Constructivism: Equilibration
  • Social Cognitive Theory
  • Situated Learning / Cognition
  • Community of Practice
  • Constructionism
  • Connectivism
Our group assigned learning theory was Vygotsky's social 'Constructivism' theory where students acquire and build new knowledge through social interaction.

Considering my Y0-Y1 students, I can't think of one activity (even a worksheet requires some interaction with others) where students are not interacting with someone or some people, at some level at some time.  We have buddy and small group discussion groups (even when not run successfully, we are learning over time what a good discussion group will behave like and produce).  Students are helping each other in small and big ways, discussing set tasks, maybe still looking for equipment, but a typical day sees student-student, student-teacher interaction.

Here is an example of specific student-student interaction with two students working on a 'Rich Math' problem, where they are working together to find a solution.  The social interaction displays pre-knowledge that one of the students brings to the task while the other student (orange Tee) is learning by questioning, watching and discussing with the first student (grey Tee - who also gets a little confused by the actions of the other student!):



Our task for this theory can be found in the DCL Tasks tab, but here are a few photos of what our group did:





Week 3: Augmented and Virtual Realities:

Class Notes:
Sir Richard Branson has a A-B-C-D mantra that runs through the DNA of his companies - Always Be Connecting the Dots. And even Steve Jobs talked about those in his famous commencement speech:
You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something--your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality (AR) allows people to add digital content to printed material, geographic locations and to physical objects. Then using a smart phone or tablet, viewers can scan an object and an overlay of digital content will appear. The digital artifact displayed can range from an interactive 3D model, a video, an image or a message eg. a phone number.
AR not only changes the environment around children, it also allows students to construct their own exciting learning worlds as small as the atom or as big as the cosmos.
In our session we are going to look at different education related Augmented Reality applications. 
Virtual Reality
VR is the computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by a person using special electronic equipment, such as a helmet with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors. Examples include Second Life and Minecraft. We will explore the world of Minecraft and discuss the value of and possible dangers of virtual worlds for educators
Many of us have seen how cool an augmented reality seen through a mobile device can look like and teachers can create new realities for their students (eg students have tasks embedded into objects and go looking for them)
Augmented Reality - Pinterest
Imagine how exciting learning and creating knowledge could be in a junior classroom?  Students looking for the 'unseen' and knowing that a message or surprise awaits for them through the lens of an ipad!  Not only could learning in a classroom holding 'knowledge/learning secrets' be exciting, what if students as young as Y0-Y1 could start learning how to create their own augmented realities?  For each other?  For the teacher?  For their Whanau on 'Goal Setting' night?
Robotics/Augmented Reality - Twitter.com

Week 2: 

This week allows us to look into the purpose of education, does education form society, or does society dictate what education should look like? On a more detailed scale we ask what skills do our learners need in this ‘Knowledge Age’/time of hyperchange and examine the Key Competencies - discussing their relevance in the 21st Century with particular reference to the Innovative Teaching and Learning (ITL) research. Below are key elements of the ITL research rubrics (attached media below)
  • Knowledge construction
  • Self-regulation
  • The Use of ICT for learning
  • Skilled Communication
  • (Real-world problem-solving and innovation - although this one we'll leave for next week)
The key findings in the ITL Research were that innovative teaching supports students’ development of the skills that will help them thrive in future life and work. However, students’ opportunities to develop these skills are typically scarce and uneven, both within and across the sample of schools in the study.

Click the following link to download 21st Century Learning Design - Activity Rubrics”

Our reflective question for this week, among others, "How 20th Century and 21st Century skills differ?  Do we need both?

As Karen Sewell described in her presentation "Why do competencies matter?", she outlines some of the skills our children will need such as for starters, the Key Competencies and learning to learn in order to cope with the rapid changes in technology today.  Learning to learn and to continue learning which will become self-regulated and directed.  For students to find solutions to their needs and issues, to problem solve in creative ways.

The New Zealand Curriculum outlines, the key competencies, values as well as a section on elearning and why these aspects in education can enable schools to create an innovative and creative curriculum to help our students take their place in society, therefore the world.  Recently in another course I was involved in, a fellow student said the NZC should be our school's bible as it outlines what we need to include in our school policies or curriculum to meet student and teaching needs but it also gave school's the option of working out their 'how' - the method which best suited their school therefore their community.  Perusing through the case study reading by Freeth on leadership and the NZC, it mentions this very aspect and how schools were given the option of trialing their proposed curriculum policies and structures...but how many schools did this?  How many schools were excited by this opportunity or were slightly fazed (and for good reason, changing one's mindset on how education can be flipped from traditionalist to constructivist/co-constructivist does not come lightly after years of teaching the same way)?

One teacher described by Freeth, prescribed how schools needed to review their curriculum regularly.  I agree with this and reviewing regularly tracks how well a school, staff and students are faring, what to do next if it's not or where to next if these are being met and how to develop further?  To not monitor one's progress will not provide the necessary evidence to direct future goal setting and pathways.

Reining myself in back to the original question re: 20th Century and 21st Century skills...as Sewell pointed out, there are benefits for keeping skills from the prior as well as stomping on forwards with a new set of skills which will give students a helping hand in the knowledge society.

We are living in a world where technology has closed the gap in terms of access to learning, anytime and anywhere but the future is uncertain and so are the skills-set needed for jobs which don't exist yet.  Education is moving through un-chartered terrain where we can't really predict a future for our students but we know we must educate our students in different ways and with different skills.

Gongos blog

Week 1: The purpose of education

On this week's session we are challenging you to think what is the purpose of education. Why do you do what you do? And why is there suddenly such a huge focus on education transformation? What is driving the evolution?
Developing Essential Digital and Innovation Skills for 21st Century Education Delivery
Education is being challenged by the impact of new technologies and unlimited online access to user driven content.Today’s student is increasingly in conflict with the traditional analogue education system and education delivery practices.
While the adoption of technological practice is core to the unprecedented transformation that is taking place, the shift has been further compounded by the need to prepare our students for careers that don’t yet exist. Educators have found themselves in needing new skills and knowledge that blends digital connectivity and collaboration with the converging world of learning innovation, digital pedagogy, online education and global networks. 
‘The fact is that given the challenges we face, education doesn’t need to be reformed- it needs to be transformed. The key to this transformation is not to standardise education, but to personalize it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions” (Robinson, 2009)


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