We started the day looking at the Manaiakalani programme focussing on Learn (Ako). Dorothy talked about the RATE acronym that is used. I really liked this because I felt it had links with what has been done in the past and how using digital technology can enhance that learning. The message I received was not that learning prior to digital technologies was not effective but that we can now go further and add to these ideas to assist the learning to become more powerful. I liked the example that was given around Te Tiriti o Waitangi where there were links to texts for children to read (Recognise), links for teachers to go and get some ideas (Amplify), and then links to activities and learning that the children would not have been able to complete before (Turbocharge). After speaking with many of the teachers that I work with at my school the discussion has been around how online learning suits a lot of learners as it is rewindable and the children are able to go back and watch again if they have not understood. In today's session with Dorothy, she pointed this out by stating that turbocharging = rewindable. This lead me to think of the special needs children that I work with and that they often have slow processing and need to hear things repeatedly to assist with their understanding, often something that is learned today may not be retained tomorrow. I have worked with our staff on the use of visuals to assist the children but today's session made me realise that Turbocharging learning is a digital way to do this. By having something digitally the children do not need to worry about looking stupid, or frustrating anyone with their repeated questions or lack of understanding.
As a professional, I think that the assistance today about how best to organise my emails is something that I will use. I did have some knowledge of how to do this already but had not followed up so a good clean out of my Inbox was needed. I am not so sure how I will use the Chrome Extensions to organise my tabs. Except during this course, I do not often have many tabs open and tend to use bookmarks for any sites that I want to keep. I will have a play with this over the next week. It was also good to reinforce my knowledge around setting up a Google Meet and having a look at the features within this. Google Meet was something that I learned in a hurry over lockdown and so was good to check that I was using this in the most efficient manner.
With the children that I work with, I will begin to Turbocharge some of their learning rather than using static visuals as this may increase their engagement and also is a tool that can provide much more information. I also learned today how to embed a video which is something that I can see myself using with the children when they are working independently. It is also something that the children can use to demonstrate their learning.
Personally, I am going to try and make more use of calendars to plan out my time. I use Calendars professionally, but just need to give up the 'old school' paper diary that I am attached to for my social outings and personal appointments.
Another big day full of really useful information to make our jobs easier and more effective. I am looking forward to trying out some of my new learning next week when I am back at work.
