Today we've had a deep dive into the Cyber Smart curriculum and have had a play on the different devices that our students use - Ipads & Chromebooks.
Delving into the Cyber Smart curriculum has been very useful & I can now see how this links to the Learn, Create, Share pedagogy. Also, as a principal who sometimes deals with hoha parents, I can better articulate what it means to be cyber smart & how this kaupapa, & way of being (behaving in online environments) underpins the use of devices in teaching and learning. Be Smart, Be Alert, Be Strong, Be Kind, Be Awesome!
Delving into the Cyber Smart curriculum has been very useful & I can now see how this links to the Learn, Create, Share pedagogy. Also, as a principal who sometimes deals with hoha parents, I can better articulate what it means to be cyber smart & how this kaupapa, & way of being (behaving in online environments) underpins the use of devices in teaching and learning. Be Smart, Be Alert, Be Strong, Be Kind, Be Awesome!
Sandpit Time on Devices
To be fair, a teacher TELA laptop is a hell of a lot nicer to use (drive) than a Chromebook but the Chromebooks are durable & well priced for our whanau. We 'DFIers' went through learning a range of short cuts for using on chrome books. I think that our student learners would very quickly learn to use these shortcuts to navigate themselves within the google suite environment.
After exploring & using chrome books, we had a play on ipads & tried out the Explain Everything app. This is an interactive app for creating presentations. It was fun having a play but as I'm no longer in the classroom teaching I'm unlikely to use this. There's a wee video attached of a helicopter I drew on Explain Everything. I then added some helicopter sound effects courtesy of youtube & then used the app to move the helicopter around. My example is very basic but was fun to play with. My colleague sitting beside me turned a PM reader into a finger puppet type show with audio. Kids would love this to learn, create themselves & share :)
Screen Castifying
This is a wee gem we learned how to use this arvo. Using some of the content from Manaiakalani's Cybersmart curriculum I read some of the content whilst my screen was also being presented. This could be a really useful tool for teaching - especially for students who are able to work independently. They could listen to their teacher's korero about a particular topic or this could be used for flipped or rewindable learning.
Our afternoon finished with having a Google Hangout chat with a teacher in Auckland who just sat the Google Educator Level 1 exam. It was great to hear about her experience. She didn't pass but the instant feedback showed her what she needed to go back and revise in readiness for a second attempt. I'll definitely need to work through the models ahead of the exam to prep myself.
That's about it for today.
Perky out :)
Kia ora Perky,
ReplyDeleteonce again a full-on day of learning. I loved your helicopter video done in Explain Everything. as you can see the app is versatile and is a one-stop shop for leanring and creating.
Screencastify is another versatile tool and has many applications in the class. One application of it us facilitators are pushing is for learners to record themselves read some text and self assess their fluency. Maria and I discovered the "comment" feature of Screencastify today so learners could also get someone else listen tot hem reading and give them feedback. What do you think of this way of using it?
Mā te wā
Cheryl
Loved the helicopter complete with sound!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your helicopter animation and audio Perky!! I couldn't get your screencastify to play...could be me pressing the wrong buttons AGAIN!
ReplyDeleteFeel very blessed having this opportunity to learn, I'm hoping to try out a few of those google sites that help you practice for the exam. You keen to find time to sit and go through some together?
Kia ora Helen.... was wondering who Helen was for a while. Perky, I love your innovation and your helicopter today was classic. Thank you for being the cheeky off task kid in the corner who keeps the teacher on their toes.
ReplyDeletePerky McGuigan, now that is a classic name. Not sure if you would have seen it but on the Eduwells site one of the key indicators for success in transforming a school to twenty first century learning is having a principal that is an equal participant in learning. Go Perky!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment about the Chromebooks - our laptops are way easier to use and all these shortcuts are useful to know!
ReplyDeleteKia ora Perky,
ReplyDeleteGreat reflections on the chromebooks. A lot of the shortcuts work on your laptop as well so you and the learners can teach each other.
Maria