Applied Practice in Context - Activity 10

Summarising My Postgraduate Learning Journey

I began this journey in July 2015.  Initially I was drawn to the digital content and opportunities to explore other ways that I could include technology within my own practice.   Little did I know how the following 32 weeks would stretch me in multiples ways as I uncovered how I lead, teach and reflect.

Having been left with more than a plate of 'food for thought' at the end of this road, I will need to carefully pick the next route in my learning journey.

Practising Teacher Criteria in eLearning

How does my current practice in eLearning relate to the 12 criteria as illustrated on the Ministry of Education's enabling eLearning website?  The following are three examples of where I feel I have best met the criteria:

1.  Professional relationships and professional values

• Criteria 2:  Demonstrate commitment to promoting the well-being of ākonga.

How do I use eLearning effectively to actively promote the well-being of all ākonga/learners for who I am responsible?   

Creating positive digital citizens was a learning objective that I undertook with my Year 5&6 learners in 2015.  One of the ways that I did this in an authentic learning environment, was to sign my class up to KidsedchatNZ. This weekly 'chat' on Twitter provided my students with opportunities to read and write online, in a safe environment.  They learned how to respond to questions in an appropriate manner (and with only 140 characters), as well as how to protect their identity by not using full names or including any personal information, e.g. address.

KidsedchatNZ is a fantastic way to build an understanding around digital citizenship.  My students not only established some online relationships, but they also began to understand the power of online communication and how it's so important to think and reread before pushing the 'tweet' button.

2.  Professional relationships and professional values

• Criteria 4:  Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of professional personal practice.

Prior to enrolling with Mind Lab's Postgraduate certificate, I was a member of several groups on the Virtual Learning Network (VLN) and regularly posted and joined in with discussions on Twitter. These were important online arenas for learning from, contributing to and supporting others with regards to not only eLearning, but education in general.   I began to form online relationships with other educators who had similar needs and together we gathered answers to our questions.  

This online professional learning and development increased once my Postgraduate journey began.  I have joined more online communities through Google+ and also added several new blogs to my 'reading' list - some global and others belong to fellow Postgraduate educators.   In addition to these sources, I have also been made aware of online learning areas, e.g. Blendspace, which can be a 'go to' if I require ideas to support my learners.

In addition to these online spaces, I feel that I have demonstrate commitment to my own professional development and learning by independently enrolling and continuing my personal growth through The Mind Lab Postgraduate programme.

3.  Professional knowledge in practice

• Criteria 8:  Demonstrate in practice their knowledge and understanding of how ākonga learn.

During the process of completing my DCL1 assignment, I gained answers as to why some of my students were not feeling very positive about writing.   By gathering student voice and having them complete a survey, I had a better understanding as to how my ākonga/students learn - and how they would like to learn.

After completing this assignment, I made changes to my practice so that these students could take more ownership for their learning.   They were able to have a greater choice about what they were writing, so long as they were demonstrating an understanding of the learning intention, e.g. language features and genre.   Some of the boys wanted video coverage for writing motivation, so we shared videos of interest, talked about what we saw and heard.  This lead to a brainstorm of vocabulary and excitement about writing that had not previously existed within these students.  

This change in practice proved to be very powerful.  Getting student voice enabled me to understand how they learn.  It is definitely something that I will continue to do with all ākonga.

Areas of Improvement

The following are two examples of where I feel that I need to improve on:

1.  Professional relationships and professional values

• Criteria 1:  Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of all ākonga.

The guiding question here is - how do I embrace eLearning to establish and develop working relationships with my ākonga, their whānau, and my colleagues to support the learning of those I teach?

I am currently in a Year 1&2 learning environment where technology is limited, but steadily growing - and so too is the capability of these young learners.   While they are not using digital tools in the same way as my previous Year 5&6 learners had been, they are able to take photos, record voice and video. These are used widely to capture learning which is then uploaded to their individual blogs.   

So, while evidence of learning is currently included in our day-to-day practice, I feel that there is a lot of room for improvement in relationships with the Learners' whānau.   Many of the Learners come from homes where English is not their first language.  This leads me to question whether the current methods of communication, e.g. email and SignMe, are appropriate.  Can the parents/caregivers access these messages that are in English?   

Also, evidence suggests that the Learners' blogs are not being viewed by their parents/caregivers. Each time a Narrative Assessment is posted to their blog (a minimum of 12 times per year), an email is sent home with notification and a link attached.  Yet the blog's page views indicate that the blogs are not being viewed.   This is something that I would like to get rectified.   The question is... how?

2.   Professional knowledge in practice

• Criteria 6:  Conceptualise, plan, and implement an appropriate learning programme.

My fellow colleagues and I have identified that our planned learning is not meeting the needs of all 87 Learners in our learning habitat.   Reasons for this are due to limited understanding of English, varied cultural backgrounds and possibly also due to an unreadiness for learning.  

An area that I would like to explore in the immediate future is how eLearning can support and extend what I am trying to achieve when planning programmes of work for groups and individuals.

What eLearning tools are they currently using?  What are their needs and what are they capable of using independently or collaboratively?     

I am considering using QR codes and teaching videos to support independent learning.  In addition to this, I am interested in finding out more about 'design' learning and how this could be incorporated with 'play-based' learning to support our young Learners who have limited english vocabulary and to also ease the transition from the New Entrants learning habitat which predominantly follows that play-based learning model.

There are many questions to be answered and research to be explored before we can implement an appropriate learning programme, but I am excited about being an agent of change.  21st century learning is quite different to that which I experienced as a student and I'm delighted to be a part of it.