Data Day at DFI - Day 4.....

Data Day at DFI Day 4 Horowhenua F2F Cohort:

I have to admit, I was not keen on today's topic but thankfully found it more useful than I thought it might be for me as an English and Social Sciences teacher.  Lots of opportunities in Social Sciences to play with different data but less so in English.   

Manaiakalani Pedagogy:  "Share" Images and Key Take-aways.

1. Sharing - Overcoming sharing online because we are not wanting or used to having an audience... basic nerves.

 

This image is one that I may use with my classes to remind students that actually, people have always shared 

• 1:1 --> 
• in small groups -->  their friends and whanau
•  in front of larger audiences --> in an assembly, athletic or cultural performance
• and now online --> globally

The Why:

Sharing online helps remind us that any engagement with others will have a purpose and an audience. Even when we "hang with our friends" we will be connecting, learning and communicating all the time.  Perhaps this week I propose to students that we need to let go of the idea that our work online (or in class) needs to be "perfect" or "right." We, teachers, also need to open up to the idea and model making mistakes online and problem-solving, just as much as we do "in person" in our classes.  

How?  

1. Shifting from a "fearful/overly cautious" place to a more "mindful and purposeful" mindset.  Our language matters.

Instead of being fearful of sharing to a world wide audience through our blogging, we could change our language and our mindset.   Blogging and sharing our work is an opportunity to develop our skills to attract an audience.  Responses will help us figure out how to attract viewers and readers who want to share ideas. Sharing open, reflective and process-oriented work, along with our polished and published pieces can help everyone feel more human online.  

2.  "Learn - Create - Share" is not meant to be a linear process only. 

One of the aspects I have been grappling with in my classes is the reluctance of students, and myself (as I have mentioned previously) to think of the sharing process as a need to be completed and/or as "perfect" as I can get it before hitting publish or submit.  I think this is where my students feel the most reluctance too.  It was a great reminder that the Manaiakalani kaupapa of Learn - Create - Share is not meant to be a linear process only.  As a teacher, I am aware of this but had not thought of trying to engage the students with the idea that we can also Share to Learn and the process is more cyclical. 

We need to see the learning process as ongoing and 

fluid.  Learn - create - share

or  Create - share - learn from others

3. Google - My Maps

I need to have a bigger play around with this tool.  I wish I had learned more about it last year as I was trying to get my students to create and map the journey of the characters in the novel Refugee.  I will be trying to use this in a few weeks with my learners in Social Sciences 10 - watch this space for updates!

4.  Google Sheets:  whew! 

This session was the one I was most fearful of, as spreadsheets are not my strong suit.  I try and use them, but get frustrated when I can't figure out ways to use them efficiently.  Admittedly, it has been a long time since my own secondary learning in my '80s IDP class (Intro to Data Processing - year 12) and I have mainly used sheets as a table for record keeping having long since lost any memory or ability to figure out formulas for different calculations.  Thankfully Google Sheets, and the AI that learns with our use, has created some great shortcuts.  The AI and the Explore option for analysis was a great eye opener for me. New knowledge for me - the AI learns with my use of Google Sheets and suggests options for analysis and trends in the data.  

I found the session quite fast and furious but I am glad to have the resources to go back to when I want to remember some of the simple quick tips that save time. Eg.  Filling in a sequence like months, days or numbers and having the technology carry it through after the first 2 cells. 

I need to play and spend more time with sheets to make better use of them.  But hoping that will come in time as I start to use them more.  I especially like the Spark Line feature to show at glance progress over time.  Although - admittedly, I quickly became frustrated creating the simple chart and data collection below - thank you to Moahia @Otaki College - here is a snapshot of graph I made of her blog posts.  

Final Thoughts.... and advice please...

I have also been thinking of how I may be able to use Sheets to help with building student ownership and responsibility using sheets like tick box "to do" lists.  I am thinking I want students and whanau to be able to see their own progress and link their work, but without breaking their privacy and showing other students work progress at the same time.  I am not sure if this is possible and I will be exploring whether this can be done via assigning students their own sheets (pages) within 1 Google Sheet or if there may be another way.  This may not be possible - ideas and/or possible collaboration welcome!