Manaiakalani Digital Intensive Fluency Horowhenua F2F Cohort Term 3 2022 (Day 1)

 What a day!  Welcome to my first, (belated post), and take-aways from today's Digital Fluency Intensive Course (DFI) Day 1 of PD supported by the Manaiakalani group of schools. 

As a first day, the structure of the days to come and how the DFI program works, was useful to know what to expect as a matter of comfort following a set pattern each session, similar to the "Shape of the Day" for Professional Leaning Days (TOD) and a daily planner/calendar or routine for our students. Prior to this, I had only had a peak into the program through my English HOD, Jess Torley, who was participated in DFI last year.  She sometimes shared some tips, tricks and tools with us. I also knew to expect to be overwhelmed by the pace at times, but I am eager to enjoy the learning and collaborative opportunities this will open up as an educator.

Manaiakalani Origins, Kaupapa and Tikanga: 

(please forgive me if I use the Māori words incorrectly - I am learning and welcome corrective supportive feedback in the comments.) 

Each session - will begin with learning more about the Manaiakalani kaupapa.  Today, was the Manaiakalani Origin and early evolution: 

(All Slides from Dorothy Burt - Manaiakalani Origins Story) 

I am always keen to unpack some of the "why" behind the "how and what" we do as educators as it usually helps me to teach better.  I found this very helpful and encouraging to understand better how the Manaiakalani kaupapa all started with noticing and acknowledging the needs of a small group of schools in a generally low- socioeconomic area in Auckland surrounded by the more "flash" private schools.  These schools sought to enable and empower students through the use of technology, and "level the playing field"  by providing equitable learning experiences to communities that may not have access without the support of Manaiakalani.  This resonated with me as an educator and reminds me of Simon Sinek's talk about finding your "why": 

I was impressed the Manaiakalani program began with noticing community needs, gathering input and data, from learners, educators and the wider community.  This process included whanau who were engaged in setting up the microfinancing required provide the infrastructure and tools (devices, bandwidth, and PLD for staff and students) that would were needed to begin.  This "ground up" approach and the data it provides from schools helps the Manaiakalani program develop and improve faster than other approaches I have experienced.  I am hopeful to further my own skills and abilities to engage better with the facilitators and supports offered, to enhance the learning of my akonga (learning and teaching community).  

The above slides, also from Dorothy Burt's  slides, are ones I will likely use a lot. They are visual reminders that while we are learning in our varied subject specific disciplines, our devices are only the tools that can help us with the learning, creating and sharing of our ideas. About 10 years ago, as the world was becoming more digitally fluent and reliant, I often received questions, and occasionally resistance, from students, families and educators about using too much technology or "having to learn to teach technology" rather than the content or skills of the course.  Specifiacally, the slides above with the analogy of the devices taking the place of basic tools to create and store our learning, will likely be useful in these conversations.  (They will also be useful in conversations with students trying to "opt-out" of learning when their "device is dead." My usual response is to ask the student, "what can you or do you need do to solve this problem?  Eg.  Use alternative tools, like "old school books or paper and pen",  or seek to borrow charge cords or department devices, to carry on). 

Much more was discussed in the overview and timeline of the Manaiakalani origins story, and will be extended each week as we delve deeper into the kaupapa, educational practices.  However,  this part was important for me to marry my own "Why" as an educator with that of the philosophy and tikanga (common values/practices) of my school, learners and the wider community. 

The rest of day 1 at DFI Horowhenua F2F Cohort, was a fast-paced blur:  

I followed along, often taking notes in a notebook,  and lots of screenshots as we skimmed quickly through the rest of the day's program emphasis on "core business." These turned out to be tools we likely use to some degree, but may still learn some tips and tricks to become more efficient - through organising / saving time and also opening up our minds to different ways to use the tools we already "know."

Tools, Tricks and things to think about when we use:

And yes... it was a fast and furious day!  

So far I have already begun to:

• organise my Drive and actively think about teaching this with the students
• clean up Gmail - again teach students too
• use tab pins
• use some extensions more often, eliminate some extensions with similar uses to things like tab pinning (read write for my students with dyslexia and / or ADD) 
• use Chrome more efficiently
• dip into understanding Google Groups - more work needed on this for me. 
• different features in Docs I never understood.  Things like headings, subheadings, etc. and why I have had trouble with some resources (ones with hidden invisible tables used as formatting template).  I always thought I was just inept at figuring out format issues.  This will save me a lot of frustration and time!

Signing off Day 1 DFI:

Today was a whirlwind mix of blending my current knowledge and use of tools in the Google suite with new tips, tricks and possibilities, as well as connecting my own "eduteahing/r-e-learning" journey with the Manaiakalani Kaupapa and my own "Why" as a lead learner in the classroom.  I am excited about learning more and embedding into my practices in the classroom with students.