Supporting Connections, Learning and Whanaungatanga

Our Manaiakalani Cybersmart Learning includes supporting our young people to critically examine information online and we are enthusiastic to be piloting a media literacy programme Newshounds this term.

The programme includes a series of podcasts created and presented by Amanda Bower and Bryce Corbett. After five sessions we were excited, this week, to join Amanda online in a scheduled Google Meet. Learners shared feedback and also had the opportunity to ask questions, hearing directly from Amanda about her experiences creating the weekday news podcast, Squiz Kids Today. 

In this context it was important for Amanda to see the learners and hear what was being said in the room. All learners joined the Meet on their chromebooks and Amanda could see and hear learners as they spoke.

Being Cybersmart has empowered our young people to connect online, confidently making the transition to online learning over the past two years (see The Josh Smoothie a Technology lesson during lockdown 2020). 

This week's opportunity was also about thinking beyond video conferencing as a tool only for learning in lockdown. Using Google Meet to connect with Amanda, was an opportunity for our learners to experience how we can harness the technology to tap into the knowledge and experience of an expert. This exemplifies The Manaiakalani Programme's Learn | Ako pedagogy. Harnessing  the affordances of technologies to offer new experiences and opportunities not accessible prior to digital technology.

We often see our schools utilising local experts, parents, professionals and community members to help further learning in the classroom. How are we continuing to harness the connectivity digital technologies enable to connect with this expertise and knowledge at a distance? 

Ako

The Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy recognises effective practice in any learning environment AND the digital learning environment.  Why is this important?

The last two years have highlighted how critical this has been for learning and effective practice in any context.

We know for learning to accelerate, our learners need to be able to access learning beyond a physical location and time (McNaughton 2018). This has meant new tools for learning and a new pedagogy to support learning outside of school.

In Term 1 this year we were challenged again with schools open and learners either onsite or learning from home.  Listening to a podcast earlier this year, and the following from Derek Wenmoth resonated for me...

"All schools are now being challenged to consider -  “What happens when we need to think about learners/teachers and the learning/teaching independent of the location/place? How do we make participation in learning accessible when not determined by physical location”  

For our schools the Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy (Learn, Create Share) is how this happens. 

For teaching and learning beyond the physical classroom and traditional school day, including harnessing tools for ubiquitous learning e.g.  Sites, Hāpara Workspace, Blogs, Being Cybersmart.

We have over many years harnessed our kaupapa to understand and explore how to harness the affordances of technology.  Our Learn pedagogy prioritises recognising effective practice in any learning environment PLUS the digital learning environment to amplify and turbo charge learning.

Our Learn pedagogy prioritises recognising effective practice 

Existing practices enabled us to move to distance learning and during this time our focus on Limit the Links - Kia iti ngā kuputoro has served us well. 

 

Decision making and actions were guided by our existing practices as a learning community. This includes, pedagogy, workflow and our understanding of how we design learning that is visible, accessible and rewindable.

If you can search for your school website … one link to rule them all!

Our kaupapa and pedagogy continues to provide a common understanding for learning design. There is value in thinking about this strategically -  as a school and a learning community. This enables coherence and consistency for learners and whānau to navigate and access learning.  For teachers it offers opportunities to transform the way our young people learn.

I valued the opportunity to share with Jemma today in our online DFI. We used Google Meet to create a screen recording of our conversation about a learner blog post and how the technology has been harnessed to both amplify and turbo charge learning. 

Google Meet - Enabling Screen Capture Mode

With 6,000,000+ users Google Meet Grid View has certainly become the must have extension for those of us using Google Meet to support distance learning.

Significantly the extension has been developed by a New Orleans teacher for his school and generously shared. To see this extension continued to be refined over the past few weeks is greatly appreciated.

Last week an update to Google Meet Grid View  included Enable Screen Capture Mode.

I recognise this as a smart feature. When active this presents your Meet Grid View at its best for capturing the screen. For example, if you are wanting a screen grab to share publicly.

Significantly this feature disables the names of all Meet participants. Why is this smart?

Consider the huge number of individual Meet Grid View screen grabs shared in both digital and print media in the past few weeks. Many of these screen grabs include groups of students with their full names on display, shared extensively on multiple platforms from Twitter to one of our our national newspapers!

When hosting a Google Meet, especially with large numbers, having names displayed during your Meet is very helpful and a must have feature.

However if you plan to take a screen grab (either still or video) for reuse, especially if your Meet participants are students, select Enable Screen Capture Mode first.  Not only does this disable names it also forces the Grid View to best display for capture.

Whenever and wherever we share online it's personal, visible and amplified. It is personal because we are sharing information about ourselves.  Creating a positive digital footprint means learning to make smart decisions about what personal information we share and what personal information we keep private.  Manaiakalani Smart Footprint

A shout out to Angela Moala who posted this on her blog prior to Enable Screen Capture Mode being added to Meet Grid View. Awesome example of being Cybersmart... thank you Angela! angelamoala.blogspot.com - Distance Learning: Friday Spelling Test

Enable Screen Capture Mode activated - thank you Tamaki Primary whānau for demonstrating.