Te Taiao o Tamaki quad blogging this term has been a highlight for students across our cluster. We are delighted to see names from our school listed in those who were very active in the Te Taiao o Tamaki quadblogging go kids! In the lead up to this event Dorothy Burt led our staff meeting - focus was 'Ubiquitous Learning is Rewindable'. A good part of this had us focusing on the role our blogs have. It is here that students post about their learning which include artefacts of their collaboration with others and often their very own learning and creating processes. It is here that ubiquitous learning can be rewindable.
In the presentation embedded above by Dorothy Burt you will find from slides 14 onwards, examples of blog posts where students have not only explained their learning in text but have captured video and voice recordings as evidence of their learning.
I reflected on this as a teacher of year 7 and 8 students. My students are now in their 4th and 5th year of having their own blogs. These are some questions we need to keep checking in on as educators of Manaiakalani Tamariki.
- How do we as a team of teachers keep the students enthused and understanding their success when posting such artefacts of learning?
- What am I providing as a teacher to ensure this ubiquitous learning continues?
- Does my planning through to delivery provide opportunities for learning to be captured and rewindable?
- What feedback am I giving once this rewindable learning is posted by the students?
- Opportunities to go back and 'rewind' their learning - is this time of reflection included enough times to enhance and support the learning journey?
As the team of teachers for year 7 and 8 students we often reflect on the above points. In our collaboration when planning and delivering it is important to continually check over the components of learn, create and share. At the end of term 1 we can see clearly that learning that goes through all three - provide experiences and learning opportunities that are rewindable. The learning is embedded more effectively.
Our specific goal as a team is to continue building the create component of our learning along with ways to give timely feedback to our students further than the dialogue that happens in small group. Feedback is crucial in motivating our learners, the power of an active audience has been and still is valuable to our tamariki.
We've discussed that in the less public domain of google drive we can give critical feedback. On our blogs which are public we can give feedback with greater depth about understanding and messages projected through the posts. This will prompt a more evaluative response from both students and teachers.
Looking forward to our celebration at Te Oro where our tamariki will get to capture and blog about this experience that will be rewindable and reflected upon.
