DFI - Week 9 - accreditation

Accreditation opportunities

When I did PGCE Applied ICT & QTS teacher training in the UK I gained British Computing Society - ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) Level 2 

and Certiport's MOS (Microsoft Office Specialist) - Advanced Word, Excel, PowerPoint.

I paid the $10 fee myself at the start of this DFI course and have passed the Google Certified Educator Level 1, I am now looking at further accreditation. I found today's Opportunities slide deck interesting to see the other Educator certs available.

Deep Dive: External Recognition Opportunities

1. Google Exam: An opportunity to gain a globally recognised award for teachers.

2. Review content from the Google Training Centre Modules. 

3. Apple Teacher Exams Apple Learning Centre

4. Screencastify Master the Screencast

5. WeVideo Education Ambassadors

6. BookCreator Certified Author

7. Hāpara Champion

Google Certified Educator Level 1

Level 2 passed

I expected the $25 exam to have practical scenarios and to be harder. I think the multiple choice / drag& drop questions would be harder for ESOL students because it was more about reading comprehension and catching the red herrings.

Microsoft Minecraft Edu PD

I have started to experiment with the delivery of Computational Thinking with Minecraft Edu. I've had a discusion with the HoD Maths to swap ideas on how I can integrate our DTEC CT curriculm so that it chimes in with the Y9 (measurement and number) and Y10 (statistics) maths topics. So I was pleased to see Cyclone is doing more PD with teachers for using Minecraft Edu. Here is a MinecraftEdu with maths for next Wed. We have an open evening hui at that time for senior subject selection, so hopefully they will share links to a webinar video / resources.

My initial thoughts are to integrate with our Droneblocks.io coding of Tello Drones to measure and calculate perimeter, area and volume (for Y9) and to use drone racing results bivariant data (for Y10 statistics). But the MinecraftEdu will be ideal for Y7-8 students.

CS Unplugged @ Home

I'm always impressed by the mahi of UC Computer Science Education with Tim Bell, so I was pleased to see today's tip of CSUnplugged@home. I will share this with our feeder school HPS's DTEC co-ordinator.

DFI - week 8 - Useful Blogger Tip - post from email

Kia ora,

thanks to Phil for the Blogger Tip to enable posting from email. This is a test. 

It's good to know that the 'post as draft' allows you to edit it for more features / functions.

Reflections on Scratch. 

I liked the intro to Scratch using OMGTech's 'Waka Wero'. I will use this with my Hangarau Matihiko class. For new teachers, it's worth remembering to remind students to 'verify email' so that they can share work.

--

Ngā mihi  / Kind regards.

--

Matt Harrison

Leader of Digital Technologies & Curriculum Development

BA Hons, PGCE Applied ICT, Post Grad.Cert Applied Practice (Digital & Collaborative Learning)

PO Box 154, 140 Hampden Street, Hokitika 7842 

Phone: +64 3 755 6169 | 

DFI - Week 8 - Computational Thinking - Edem626 - UC

CT Things that came up today

I appreciated the Future of Tech in NZ slideshow. I was aware of many of the ideas but found it refreshing and there were some good new examples of NZ Companies with innovative tech that will be relatable to my rural students.\

1. Happy Cow Milk
2. Halter $29m cowgorithm

We have started to use Trimble SketchUp For Schools (formerly Google SketchUp).

So it was interesting to see the Trimble work in Port Otago.

I was already familiar with the DTEC curriculum but the slideshow also had good Te Reo translations for Hangarau Matihiko Progress Outcomes terminologies.

Bucky shared some good links for game creation / character design

1. Hiberworld which I thought was a nice 3D example of a template based game generator.
2. HeroForge - looked like an interesting 3D character creator app

I shared the work of #Dan Milward & Gerard McManus - :  Te HikoTāraro

Dan Milward (working with Game Praxis) has also produced a Game Jam Cards - a game concept development card pack which makes for a creative group exercise. Here is a quick random generator app: http://ygd.bafta.org/resources/game-idea-generator 

I shared links to Drone coding https://sites.google.com/westlandhigh.school.nz/technology/new-dtec/9-10-computing/drones which uses Tello drones with https://learn.droneblocks.io/ for teaching & learning coding. The license cost US$500 could be shared between upto 10 teachers from a collection of schools.

I had registered for the Cyclone "Build Better Worlds" Minecraft Edu competition. I shared my learning site's Minecraft page: https://sites.google.com/westlandhigh.school.nz/technology/new-dtec/9-10-computing/minecraft-edu

I shared the folder of resources from the Cyclone teachers webinar: https://cycloneenable-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/danny_bedingfield_cyclone_co_nz/ErRBKv0tVWxGn3tPiFchixAB569n3SkmictRYK2uzZcdDg?e=7sKvBQ

Teachers Pay Teachers

I found these two resources are useful for CT with Minecraft Edu

1. $5 Minecraft Pixel Art worksheets - Image Binary Representation -https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Minecraft-themed-BINARY-BUNDLE-Simple-Binary-Encoding-Worksheets-Project-6401524 
2. $10 Minecraft Edu posters and Lesson Plans https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Minecraft-Education-Introduction-Unit-6138907

ECE CT etc.

I thought the Cubetto looked cool and maybe my wife's early learning centre could get them, however, they are quite expensive and out of stock in Aus : https://www.primotoys.com/

DFI - Week 7 - Ubik Devices - DDDO - 3D VR & AR

UBIK

In terms of ubiquitous apps for accessible and always on learning that is device agnostic, I have been using Aframe.io for students to code VR 3D spaces and 360 VR Tours. This can be used with any device that has internet access because it is an online IDE with links to Github called https://glitch.com/. It involves writing HTML with extra AFrame.io tags, such as <a-sphere>, which can be referenced from the documentation.

For differentiation I have introduced non-coders to CoSpaces.io/edu/ which is a proprietary block based visual IDE. To make /view the 3D work people can use a platform specific app for Android, iOS or on desktop/Chromebook they can login to the main website. 

3D for the Samsung - Solve for Tomorrow Competition

My 7-8 STEM class has been designing 'tiny houses' to solve the housing crisis using TinkerCAD.com. Some have asked about using FloorPlanner.com which is a great way to visualise the interiors. They can easily drag and drop / move and resize walls, windows and furniture.

My 9-10 Computing class also has been trying to use Design Thinking to enter the competition. They have been working on SketchUp for Schools. SketchUp also has available furniture through the 3D Warehouse marketplace.

My 1213DTHM class has used TinkerCAD and MagicaVoxel (not suitable for Chromebook). Today, whilst looking for a Chromebook app to do 3D modelling and animation I stumbled across Vectary.com. 

This looks promising but has an expensive license if you want AR. So much so that it makes CoSpaces licenses seem affordable by comparison.

Here is something I tested and tried to export with iframe embed. Vectary charge more money for publishing publicly which is another negative. In comparison, CoSpaces does allow you to archive student work and move the licenses to a new cohort of students for Tech option rotation classes.

Digital Dig: bit.ly/DFIdigitaldig

My Slides:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XtVmQqi0LtyHsQx3AVEXwjskwqRko4DdGjwWuDuLAXI/edit?usp=sharing

DFI - Week 6 - Google Learning Sites Accessibility

Accessibility Poster of DTEC Relevant Implications

Important info - Relevant Implications - Accessibility

This week has been about improving our Google Learning Sites. Apart from content and structure, Teachers, as part of UDL (Universal Design for Learning), need to understand web accessibility standards, for example having info / text inside images / banners without readable text / ALT tags. It is a NZ legal requirement for public buildings and webs sites to be accessible (e.g. ramps / lifts for wheelchair users in schools), however, we are blocking low vision users if text cannot be read aloud be screen readers. 

As a web designer, we stopped creating web buttons in Photoshop when we started using CSS 2.0. Apart from being less efficient, graphical text buttons hurt a website. This is due to the issue of SEO (search engine optimisation). Web spiders cannot crawl and parse text inside images. 

Teachers could be ignorant of the needs of low vision users perhaps thinking that they know their class students, however, we are trying to have visible learning for whanau - and so we need to accommodate the needs of elderly or vision impaired.

This is an NCEA requirement for Digital Technologies Levels 1-3. I've made a learning site page with Relevant Implications posters: https://sites.google.com/westlandhigh.school.nz/technology/new-dtec/12-13-dthm/implications

Two excellence Accessibility tips

• Clear Print Accessibility Guidelines
• github.com/UKHomeOffice/posters/raw/master/accessibility/dos-donts/posters_en-UK/accessibility-posters-set.pdf

Positives of Today

Lots of Good advice shared in the slideshow resources. Nice tip for teachers to use Google Drawing because I would have used Photoshop or Pixlr.com/e/ but using G. Drawing is more accessible for staff.

I was happy to share my site and resources because we all stand on the shoulders of others.

Today's Take Away

Personally thought it was a great tip to create Learning Site banners at W1000 x H 250 px. Learning Sites are responsive so the banner will sometimes crop when bigger. I tend to use them as a texture and then add text over the top. Setting them as 2000 x 500px produces a better non-pixelated result.

I also worked on improving the new topics. Since we are in lockdown I have had to change my plan from teaching Computational Thinking with Tello https://www.droneblocks.io to using Minecraft Edu on students Chromebooks.

DFI - Week 5 - UDL multi-modal

 Google Learning Site

I feel familiar with using Google Sites for sharing UDL content. I think that it makes sense to reuse content each year so that we are not re-inventing the wheel. My current school tech Department site is:

sites.google.com/westlandhigh.school.nz/technology

DFI - Week 4 - Dealing with Data

Google Forms

Here is a simple Google Form for students to sign-in to our online classes. The timestamp in the Responses Google Sheet will help show when they arrived. The form has a simple Yes/No option to upload work to be shared / reviewed. If they choose yes it progresses to the section with two ways of uploading, via G Drive or add a text share link. 

I cannot embed this form here because it has an upload option. 

The branching sections options based on the user's input (e.g. if they choose a particular radio button) has given me an idea to create a finite state automata like a choose your own adventure branching narrative. I have previously asked students to use Code.org App Lab to make these. But perhaps a Google Form could be easier. They could plan it with a LucidChart which could also to teach flow charts. I know this has been popular to do in Google Slides.

I found this video on Youtube: https://youtu.be/creCud8dbFk

Hapara Hot Tips -

I appreciate the slideshow still want to work through a range of Hapara Tutorials

MyMaps - Drones Airshare

Mymaps.google.com is very useful. Here is a drone flight map I made which has approximately the same info for safe drone flight, which I found using the AirShare app. I had to go through a process to allow the Mavic Air 2 drone to be able to fly within the school area (under Shielded Operation).

Drones & AI

I am currently using Droneblocks.io with a Tello Drone. This is useful because they have a simulator for students to practice and test out their coding first before they launch the missions on the real drones. My big hairy audacious ambitious project is to get senior NCEA students to code AI with OpenCV so the drones can use facial recognition. This Youtube video covers similar content to the paid DroneBlocks curriculum.

The YT algorithm then fowarded me to a cool open source project to 3D print an open source robot and use arduino and RaspberryPi to make an AI robot with the inMoov Project.

These would be cool applied Computational Thinking projects. My WHS STEM colleagues already do a cardboard robot hand and Aleta Chowfin at Grey High already has a focus of coding and making something like this. However, I still have a challenge of repairing / servicing our school's 3D printer.

Google Sheets

I thought the intro to sheets was quick and comprehensive. For my own analysis of student NCEA data I was given a good tip to try Google Data Studio. https://datastudio.google.com/

Super Spreadsheets 4 - share link

Blog Posts Analysis of Molly's Blogs from 2016-2021

based on Molly's blog http://pbsmelel.blogspot.com/2019/03/blog-post-data-analysis.html

Sheet data

Column Chart

Stacked Column

Blog Posts Comments - Feedback Tips

Positive, Thoughtful, Helpful - Constructive feedback to encourage discussion, 

Compliment Sandwich - 2 Likes and a wish.

Blogging - Writing quality blog comments - Kerry

Ngā tākupu papai - Quaility blog comments - te reo

Uses standard HTML hyperlink tag structure:

<a href="insert URL here">Insert display text here</a>

DFI - Week 3 -- Media

• What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?

The Hook 


I bought a copy of the SISIMO book by Saatchi & Saatchi about 8 years a ago. I do think we risk burn out if we try to compete with the eye candy of AAA game / $m budget Hollywood production standards. But I agree that good design is key and sight, sound, motion gather students' attention. The other maxim is K.I.S.S. keep it super simple.

        Thinking with Hands

I often say to students that I want them to listen with their eyes, because it focusses their attention and reinforces learning to have multi-modal, multi-sensory learning. In the last few Digital Technology Hangarau Matihiko classes I've been using digital tools of Trello.com to make project management KANBAN boards and Coggle.it to may shareable mind maps. However, a good supple of post-it notes, marker pens and big pieces of paper would be better for an immediate hands-on result. 

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional? 
  YouTube Playlists in Google Sites:
  As a workflow I pick specific videos and tutorials to add to my Google Learning Site and arrange them, e.g. 2 columns, 3 columns or grid of 4 videos. This can be time-consuming so using Youtube Playlists would be potentially quicker. However, I like making the sequence of videos explicitly clear. I see that you can sort the order of the playlist by date, popularity etc, but there doesn't seem to be a bespoke option. E.g. I may wish to change the order to support proximal learning of topics. 
  
  

• What did I learn that could be used with my learners?  
  2D & 3D Planning
  I think the basic shapes and drawing tools in Google Slides and Google Drawing will be useful for my Seniors who have to plan their 3D VR apps. This could be an easy way for them to pre-visual a bird's eye view of their 3D space.
  
  Smart marking
  

  
  
  I have also been thinking about easy ways to create drag and drop exercises and quizzes. I already know how to use Slides & PPT and self-marking Google Forms. However, when I sat the Google Educator exam I liked how they had drag and drop quiz items that also self-marked. So I will look into making some of these, perhaps for my Computational Thinking course.
  
  

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life? I will revisit using Screencastify and editing with weVideo. I have previous experience with non-linear video with my degree in Digital Media. I am familiar with iMovie and Adobe CC apps. I do suffer from procrastination / perfection bias as I only want to publish polished videos to a high standard. Also it seems daft to reinvent the wheel if a professional Youtuber has already spent hundreds of hours creating an animated After Effects video on a topic. This inertia means I haven't yet created my series of self-published re-windable video tutorials ( like a Coursera or Udemy course). I think this would be a personal goal to create some high level original content

DFI Week 2 - Meetup Recording Exercise & Reflection

Intro

Ray and I reviewed two students' blogs and recorded our Google Meetups to post here. This isn't polished and is unedited. 

Video 1

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RR75zh3sfEkT51eVVrigDGoKhLW_nzo4/view?usp=sharing

Video 2

Useful Links:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1H9Y8ougnegvrzQASuW3ij0v8yJ0kVl7M5Y_8FYeiDLE/edit?usp=sharing

Reflection Questions

Blogging - Embedding Video in Blogs: Makaore

Embedding a video in a blog (in te reo)

Time to reflect and share with colleagues

• What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy? I had previously read the slide deck on Manaiakalani's history and background and I enjoyed speaking with Dorothy when she visited my school.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional? Bookmarks / Tabs - nested folders to store them in folders when I have a class set of websites / portfolios - this would be handy rather than having to go back into Code.org dashboard to navigate between them. Also to group and catagorise.

• What did I learn that could be used with my learners?  Encouraged to use Hangouts to record rewindable learning content (rather than Screencastify / Loom) 

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life? On Wednesday morning I sat the Google Cert Ed Exam before school. I liked how the questions had interactive movable definition / answer and think I will try to make these as opposed to using Google Forms

CyberSafety

Don't Get Phished

I have prepared a Google Slideshow on basic steps to protect yourself and your whanau with Cybersecurity to prevent you accounts being hacked. Check this out and update your passwords and setup 2FA today!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17qLPgjkThCx1BWbw-yfk9bK7pTXWNTzaGhW96b5yQL0/edit?usp=sharing

Latest Security Updates

If you want an entertaining look at the latest scams and hacks, listen in to the CyberWire Podcast: https://thecyberwire.com/podcasts 

New developments in Digital Tech

The more it changes the more it stays the same

I've taught ICT, Computing, CS, DTEC and now DTHM (Digital Technology | Hangarau Matihiko).

Whilst the names change to reflect new developments, the one thing that stays the same is you need to be a life long learner with a growth mindset.

Former SBC Computing Learning Site

https://sites.google.com/site/sbcwebsitedesign/

My Google site from St Bernard's seems very dated. I seems like a lifetime ago since I trialled Moodle and setup SBC with Google Education Suite as the Admin. They say One Internet Year = 10 years IRL and this website is cringe now because it's the old style (non-responsive) Google Site.

This blog itself is looking shabby because it hasn't been updated in a while, not since I completed the Post Grad Cert in Applied Practice (Digital & Collaborative Learning) with The Mind Lab by Unitec. 

https://themindlab.com/digital-collaborative-learning/

I really enjoyed teaching & learning at The Mind Lab by Unitec with Matt & Malcom. It was a great experience learning about 3D printing, robotics and physical computing with Arduino. Since working for the Mind Lab I have been busy teaching at HVHS. Those five years were a wonderful experience. I learnt so much, both within my large department and with the pastoral teams. 

HVHS Technology Learning Site

https://sites.google.com/hvhs.school.nz/technology
This site is the product of many years work from the whole Technology Dept (with special kudos to my colleagues Bryan, John & Katie).

In moving to the West Coast recently, my challenge is to cherry pick the best bits and localise them to suit our community here. The aim is to grow a new Digital Technology Curriculum from the ground up. This brand new Technology Department Learning site is a work in progress.
https://sites.google.com/westlandhigh.school.nz/technology 

Future Focus

https://sites.google.com/westlandhigh.school.nz/technology

I am going to update the WHS Computing Room with new equipment and am planning to introduce more 3D modelling and game development with Unity and Blender. We are currently exploring creating VR / AR (virtual and augmented reality) and robotics / drones (Microbit / LEGO / Tello) to teach Computational Thinking.

Professional Development

I am appreciating the opportunity to be a life long learner. For example the awesome DFI (Digital Fluency Intensive) course from Manaiakalani & Toki Pounamu Trust has some excellent links and resources. For example:

DFI Chrome Add-Ons and Extensions
This has many examples of Google Chrome Extensions and add-ons which will be really useful for many staff and I will be keen to share the knowledge to support our community of learning.

Future PD Goals

• To complete EDEM626 with University of Canterbury Implementing Computational Thinking - with a focus on how I can best support our local Primary schools in the Community of Learning.
• To continue Drone pilot training and gain Part 101 and 102.
• To get accreditation for Google Certified Educator Level 1 & Level 2.
• To gain Unity Certified Educator.