Digital Fluency Intensive - Cohort #2 2019 - Day Four

Unfortunately I was unable to attend Day 4 of DFI due to illness but I did enjoy going through the agenda items later in the week when I was feeling better.

I think that I am beginning to really understand and appreciate the 'SHARE' part of Manaiakalani. When the students share learning on their blogs, it creates an opportunity for whanau to make a connection with their child in their learning environment. The majority of our students arrive at school on the bus so their whanau very rarely come to school unless we have assemblies, sports days or student conferences. This could be only 5 times per year. The student blogs enable parents to be part of their child's learning, anywhere, anytime, any day! They are also a way to connect with whanau who can not be there everyday for eg. grandparents who live overseas. The 'Connected Learners SHARE' slides are an excellent resource for anyone who does not understand the reason why our students have blogs. 



It's always very informative reading others blogs. The following example of an introduction to a students blog is something that we could use at our school. We have a similiar introduction on our student blogs but going further to say that the work may include spelling mistakes etc will let whanau know what the learning process really looks like.

I have a class site up and operational thanks to Venessa however I have not created a site from scratch so the DFI Intro to Sites slide deck was very useful for my learning. I have made a few changes to my site with what I have learnt and am very pleased with the results. I think the students will find it an easier site to navigate.

The multi modal slide deck gave me lots to think about in terms of engagement for students. I have used the following literacy type activities for the past 6 years and feel that technology has certainly enhanced and engaged the learners. The students enjoy working through the activities as they have choice in what they do and when they do it but I know there are so many more options that I could include to 'provoke interest and expand thinking and wonderings'.



I really enjoyed using the different resources to create a google site about Science and Gardening. I realise just how easy it is and how interesting it is for the students to have such a selection of learning material. I like the activities being accessible directly from the site and can see myself adding more pages to my site as opposed to slide decks. 

Click to view my 'Science in the Garden' Site

I am definitely becoming more familiar with google and what it can offer my learners and I. I have been pleased to share my new knowledge with my own boys and they have already put this into practice in their own learning which has been great to see.