Friday 1 May 2020

Computational Thinking: Agenda Day 8


DFI was started to empower teachers!  We are working with highly digital children, a 9 week intensive programme for teachers.  Our journey began with our learners, Manaiakalani is passionate about empowering our whanau.  The partnership of all of us working together is most powerful!

It's NOT just a tool.   It's empowerment.  Money is empowering.  Let's be real it is.
80% of our community here in Tamaki is state owned.  Right now homes are being replaced by new housing.  This is a mixture of state owned and privately owned.

Researchers have found that where discussions are able to travel back and forth at least 5 times between individuals this will improve language for our students.  We can create this opportunity to build on discussion via their blogs.  Focusing on not only leaving a comment but to reply to them and more.  Build in that threaded conversation.

Our children at home right now are empowered because learning has been made ubiquitous.  What else is empowering our students.  Are the sites and links we providing our students supporting this empowerment?

Future of Tech
Deep dive of the big picture of future of tech with Gerhard.  The Jetsons come to mind! :). Gerhard shared a video of Boston Dynamic's Big Dog as an example of advanced technology in action.  The opportunities this opens up is impressive and exciting.  With these projects we consider the 'Why' behind these inventions.  Hanson Robotic's Sophia...it was amazing!!  A lot of her intelligence is from scrolling through  youtube videos.  Check out Sophia the robot on the tonight show with Jimmy Fallon.  This has prompted a whole lot of discussions around artificial intelligence.  How does it benefit society?  So many thoughts and discussions happening around this.  Creativity seen as such a human trait and now artificial intelligence showing this creative ability too...wow!!
Facial recognition is part of this too.  Gerhard lead us into an online activity where you had to decide which way a programmed car should travel with hazards on road.   Here are some images to give you an from the 'Moral Machine' online activity.  Some very tough choices to be made, who do you save and who do you hurt eek!


Kerry: Chalk'n Talk with Kerry
Year 1 - 10 to be involved in digitally fluent for online learning.   Today it's not an option it's a necessity for learning!  DFI is focused on this to have teachers empowered to lead and support our learners.  Giving students the opportunity to not only be consumers...but creators of content! 
Here is an example of progress outcomes as provided by ministry with a learner's version on the right.  Kerry has found these useful with learners to help us unpack packs of the digital curriculum.

Kerry is currently working on going through our Manaiakalani Cyber Smart Curriculum and seeing where the progress outcomes for New Digital Technologies Curriculum is present.   Kerry made a really good suggestion to look at whatever we are doing and where possible see if there is one thing more we can add into this...computational thinking outcome(s).    The basis of Digital Curriculum links so well with what Dorothy shared this morning about technology being so much more than a tool and also the links with future tech shared by Gerhard.  Kia Takatū has been put together by the ministry, it's another good way to update yourself around Digital Curriculum, provides little toolkits for teachers.  Thankful for this session to be reassured that we have already included some of this in our teaching phew! This was followed by our own explore time of Kia Takatū.

Exploring Coding:
We had 40 minutes of exploring coding.  I tried out mind craft for a bit. Then tried compute it, this is where you read and follow the written code. There's a trick at times to focus on the written code rather than the coloured dots!   A lot of fun...can be addictive!  To now check which curriculum strands and areas this does link to.
 

Here's my very poor attempt at scratch - I think tired brain kicked in!  Thanks Kerry for being very patient with me :).  Will need to re-visit Kerry's notes to have another go especially when our children have this working really well in the years before they get to my team.

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