Bursts in Bubbles

Each year our Kāhui Ako Teachers model an exemplary Teaching as Inquiry cycle and share their progress publicly on their blog, at regular intervals throughout the year. 

In November we come together for our annual Bursts and Bubbles where their Inquiry is shared as Impact Bursts in a panel setting.  

As we were unable to meet kanohi ki te kanohi this year. Our teachers recorded their impact bursts which was broadcast at the scheduled time.

We recognise both the challenges and the efforts of all our teachers. Their impact bursts represent a three minute summary with more detail shared on their blogs. 

Blog Links Teachers' Inquiry 2021 

This slide deck which accompanies the streamed presentation includes links to teachers'  professional blogs where you are able to explore their Teaching as Inquiry in more detail and connect directly if you have questions or feedback. 

"I've Been Globalised"

@Mr_Lincheck edcampGlobal Badge

As a long time EducampNZ fan I was keen to participate and contribute to edcampGlobal this year. A 24 hour learning experience edcampGlobal took the traditional edcamp unconference experience to another level of ubiquitous learning and networking.
The programme over 24 hours included a host of sessions to select from via Google Hangouts on Air, Twitter chats and Periscope.

I posted an invite to our educampNZ community and was joined by awesome kiwi educators and educampNZ organisers +Philippa Nicoll Antipas +Juliet Revell +Barbara Reid +Annemarie Hyde +Anne Kenneally

Below are Google Slides we used to guide our conversation and share strategies and resources for organising an unconference event, plus a recording of the Hangout on Air.  Can't thank the team enough for stepping up at 11am NZT on a Sunday!

I also took a couple of minutes to share some of my thinking about the value of social networking and user generated professional learning. Starting at 5:52 in the Hangout, notes are below.  

If we were to use pop culture and the celebratory tweet to measure the value of social media for professional learning I suspect the majority of my online professional learning communities would be gathering dust by now. However social networks that enable educators to connect, collaborate and engage in conversations that matter to their learning are recognised by many educators as critical to improving professional practice.

The belief that great learning is social is a concept that continues to resonate for me (via Dr Claire Sinnema... "Because context matters... inquiry is important")

This is in reference to Teaching as in Inquiry in the NZC… "a framework that teachers can use to help them learn from their practice and in response to the needs of their learners."

The teacher uses evidence from research and from their own past practice and that of colleagues to plan teaching and learning opportunities aimed at achieving prioritised outcomes. 

While Teaching as in Inquiry is informed by research the value of a teacher's past practice and that of colleagues should not be overlooked. 

"What good are the approaches, principles and mechanisms in the research? Why inquire if we know what works? ... Because context matters. 

The framework provides us with a common understanding and language for inquiry into our practice, the context is what brings life to the inquiry and to the learning." Dr Claire Sinnema

I believe this is where the true value of connecting and building a professional learning network via social networking, informal and participant driven professional learning can add value. Individuals are able to connect with a far wider community of educational professionals, in their context, while using the lens of their Teaching as Inquiry focus to inform decision making for learning and changing practice.

"Create to Learn"

The Manaiakalani Digital Immersion PLG is designed to support teachers in their first year teaching in a digital learning environment where learners are 1:1 with a digital device. Teaching as Inquiry provides a framework for Manaiakalani Digital Immersion PLD and direction for the facilitators who are supporting these teachers.

Learn
During last Friday's Digital Immersion PLG we used the following hypothesis, in response to the ongoing evaluation of Manaiakalani by The Woolf Fisher Research Centre, to ground our thinking and dialogue.

'The learn-create-share cycle generates opportunities to learn from texts and across texts and to explain/reflect/demonstrate that learning, through creation' (via Rebecca Jesson)

We took time to explore current practice while referring to the ‘Create to Learn’ hypothesis to support our thinking in response to the following questions:

• How often are you including opportunities for students to create to learn?
• Where and how could you include increased opportunities to create to learn?
• Teaching as inquiry - identify possible teaching and learning opportunities aimed at achieving the outcomes you have prioritised for your inquiry.

Considerations for Teachers' Inquiry:

• What are the learning needs of your students? Effective pedagogy and the digital learning environment
• What are your learning needs? SAMR: scaffolding use of technology to support learning

Create
Explain your Teaching as Inquiry focus in the style of a CommonCraft or RSA Animate

This session included an opportunity for teachers to deepen their understanding of their Teaching as Inquiry focus and to consider the possibilities afforded as a result of creating to learn in the digital learning environment.

Share

Explainer videos have been shared on blogs, Google Drive in our Google+Community, with colleagues and students. They will contribute to the documented evidence of each teacher's inquiry and can ground further thinking and professional dialogue with facilitators and school leaders.

Videos shared on Vimeo

Learners leading learning

I valued the opportunity to collaborate with teachers in 2011 to develop and edit snapshots for the Software for Learning site with a focus on eportfolios and mlearning.

Image Source: Lenva Shearing

The process, especially the learning conversations, facilitated some great opportunities to explore how learners are utilising ICTs for learning.

While each snapshot is unique I believe common messages are evident throughout including the relevance of:

• context and responding to the needs of diverse learners
• teachers actively inquiring into their practice (Teaching as Inquiry)
• learning focused relationships (Assessment Online)
• elearning and pedagogy (NZC Online)

Snapshots of Learning are framed to reflect the Teaching as Inquiry cycle and reference links to other TKI community resources i.e. NZC Online, Assessment Online, Literacy Online, NZMaths. They can also be utilised by school leaders to plan and support professional learning for their staff and school community. 

This Google Doc identifies components of Software for Learning, including the snapshots and describes how they might be used by teachers and schools to build their e-learning capacity through sustaining a professional e-learning community and professional inquiry into e-learning.  

A key motivation for writing this post was to recognise and thank the inspiring teachers and students who shared their learning and their practice. I have linked directly to their individual snapshots below plus all snapshots are can be browsed from the Software for Learning website.

Google Apps, Teacher Dashboard and 1:1 Computing

How ePortfolios and student-owned mobile devices have been used to increase student ownership of their learning.

Contributed by Lenva Shearing, Bucklands Beach Intermediate School, Auckland

MyPortfolio and Ultranet

Developing an ePortfolio approach

Contributed by Erin Sawyer, Fairfield Intermediate School, Hamilton

Learning Journals 

Learning Journals enable students to become more active partners in the learning process. 
Contributed by Amanda Grimsey, Cornwall Park District School, Greenlane, Auckland

iPod Touches and iPads 

Implementing the use of mobile devices to support learning 
Contributed by Cameron Lockie, Kaipara Flats School, Kaipara Flats

MyPortfolio   

Establishing a learning environment to foster student collaboration and ownership of learning

Contributed by Fiona Burns, Mount Roskill Grammar School

MyPortfolio and Google Apps

Utilising an ePortfolio approach to increase opportunities to learn

Contributed by Jon Bowen, St Peter’s College, Palmerston North

mLearning Capability Project

How student owned mobile devices have been used to enhance the relevance of new learning and enable students to take greater ownership of the learning process.

Contributed by Nathan Kerr, Howick College, Auckland

"Where good ideas come from?"

The e-Learning Lead Team at Mt Roskill Grammar represent a number of learning areas and departments across the school.  Face-to-face time is one opportunity to connect and learn.

Today's agenda included many opportunities for conversations specifically targeted at sharing the impact of the team's teacher e-learning inquiries.

We kicked today off with this short clip by Steven Johnson, and shared some of the ideas that resonated with us on this collaborative Google doc.

"...we have so many new ways to connect, so many new ways to reach out and find other people...that's the real lesson of where good ideas come from, the chance favours the connected mind" 

(Steven Johnson)

"Because context matters...inquiry is important"

 I have been fortunate in the past couple of months to have had opportunities to collaborate with teachers and colleagues focusing on a variety of educational contexts including: curriculum, pedagogy, e-learning, leadership and assessment.  Our conversations and thinking often include reference to Teaching as Inquiry (NZC and TMoA).

As we have explored examples of Teaching as Inquiry I have been reminded of a statement from Claire Sinnema that I referenced in an earlier post on this blog "Inquire with a Travelling Mindset" ...

"because context matters... 

inquiry is important"

 The New Zealand Curriculum Online describes the Teaching as Inquiry cycle as "an organising framework that teachers can use to help them learn from their practice and build greater knowledge."

While the framework provides us with a common understanding and language for inquiry into our pracitice, the context is what brings life to the inquiry and to the learning.

Context matters 

Snapshots of Learning

A focus of the Digi Advisor roll this year has been the further development of the snapshots for the Software for Learning website. While the snapshots are intended as a taster to the software and digital content – an indication of how one teacher has recognised the potential to support learning, we also wanted to make explicit the links to e-learning and effective pedagogy and explore how the snapshots might be utilised by leaders to support professional learning.

Initially we reviewed the format of the snapshot to align with the teaching as inquiry cycle. While this provided us with consistency in both the format and framework for publication, the intention was to improve their potential as a catalyst for thinking and dialogue within our professional learning communities.  We considered the qualities of professional communities that promote teacher and student learning (Teacher Professional Learning and Development:BES. p.203) and have increasingly integrated the new snapshots into our online support and face-to-face facilitation to reinforce these.

As an e-learning facilitator I have also used the snapshots with our e-learning cluster to explore how teachers in other schools are integrating e-learning and the implications for teaching and learning. Additionally the links to the teaching as inquiry cycle  provide a useful framework for teachers to inquire into their practice. The cycle provides common points of reference in relation to effective pedagogy and teacher actions. This can be useful to support dialogue as teachers in a professional community also have diverse learners and consequently may have identified different professional learning outcomes from those of their colleagues.

"Because context matters...inquiry is important"
(Claire Sinnema)

Snapshots in the new format are continuing to be edited for the website and we would like to acknowledge and thank the teachers who have shared their teaching and their students' learning. Their collaboration on this project is both valued and appreciated. While the snapshots are accessible from the Software for Learning home page, links to the new snapshots have been saved as a group in the Software for Learning Delicious. Browse each of the snapshots using the arrow on the top right of the Delicious navigation bar. Teachers are invited to share their snapshots of learning, visit the wiki for details.

Click to enlarge

"Inquire with a travelling mindset..."

"Inquire with a travelling mindset"...an analogy used by Claire Sinnema while exploring teaching as inquiry with facilitators recently. Useful and timely messages from Claire in light of some of the confusion between teaching as inquiry and inquiry learning, that we have experienced as schools move towards implementing the New Zealand Curriculum (2007).

Image Attribution: 'je dois apprendre aux curieux'

More from Claire...

The NZC(2007) describes some ways of thinking about teaching and learning using evidence based approaches, "the kinds of teaching approaches that consistently have a positive impact on student learning" (p.34) and also thinking about teaching as inquiry, a way of 'being' or the underlying attitudes that influence our practice.

Focusing inquiry is about:

• Prioritising what is most important: "Every 10 minutes matters"... image the impact on student learning if those 10 minutes every day of every week are added up over the years a student is at school.
• Learner diversity
• National and community curriculum aspirations
• Information and data
• Individual group needs

The above can be informed by research however the value of a teacher's past practice should not be overlooked. What good are the approaches, principles and mechanisms in the research? Why inquire if we know what works?  

"Because context matters... inquiry is important"

Effective Pedagogy in Social Sciences: Tikanga ā Iwi: BES, Aitken and Sinnema (2008).

"Approach Teaching as Inquiry as we would approach travelling to new places..."

Claire left us with the following message inspired by Alain de Botton's, The Art of Travel...
"To inquire with a travelling mindset!" 

From the book...

“What, then, is a traveling mind-set? Receptivity might be said to be its chief characteristic. Receptive, we approach new places with humility. We carry with us no rigid ideas about what is or is not interesting. We irritate locals because we stand in traffic islands and narrow streets and admire what they take to be unremarkable small details. We risk getting run over because we are intrigued by the roof of a government building or an inscription on a wall. We find a supermarket or a hairdresser’s shop unusually fascinating. We dwell at length on the layout of a menu or the clothes of the presenters on the evening news. We are alive to the layers of history beneath the present and take notes and photographs. Home, by contrast, finds us more settled in our expectations. We feel assured that we have discovered everything interesting about our neighborhood, primarily by virtue of our having lived there a long time. It seems inconceivable that there could be anything new to find in a place where we have been living for a decade or more. We have become habituated and therefore blind to it.”
–Alain de Botton, The Art of Travel (2002)

Image Attribution:'Atlas, it's time for your bath'

"Teaching as Inquiry"

In my last post I explored the relevance of teachers developing the confidence to approach new technologies with an inquiring, open mind and learning about the technology within a context that is connected to their current classroom practice.

Also for those who are considering how twitter might be useful in an educational setting...