Today takes the cake as far as learning and clarification of how the digital world can work for our kids. I feel a bit like I had a bit of an "ahah" moment.
We started as usual with the www and then had a focus on the third part of the Manaiakalani programme of "Share"-Tohatoha. Some take outs for me from today's session included that fact that sharing is not something new- we have been born to share. Some people don’t like to share and others do. Human instinct is to share and throughout our life journey we tend to share to some degree or another bth the good and the bad.
2005 was a special year in story of humanity. Not so much the year 2000 as we might have expected. 2005 was the year it changed and many of us missed it ; youtube, facebook, bebo etc became mainstream in 2005. Each one of these platforms talked about sharing. Through the use of these platforms, among others, the digital world has turbo charged sharing.
In the past we used some different and more simple ways to share our learning. Some of these may have included taking your book to the principal for a sticker, newsletters, assembly etc. While many of these ways of sharing our learning still have merit- the fact remains that all of them are constrained by time, place and people etc. the digital world eliminated these constraints when it comes to sharing our learning.
GOOGLE SITES
The other day, Mark set up a google sight for our Hub - and I was in awe of how amazing it was that someone could so quickly create something that we will potentially use to guide our planning, teaching and assessing and a place where all of this learn, create, share will take place. I was so impressed, until today, when I realised how easy it is to get started. I have created two google sites today and I actually enjoyed doing them. This is a must do for the weekend- to have a play. By the way- thanks mark- I do appreciate you setting up our site still.
Google sites are a great place to keep everything for the children- all their learning can be accessed in the one place and all our planning can be there too. Multi modal sites are a great way of ensuring the learner is hooked into engaging activities.
A couple of tips for me to remember are that you need to be careful with the header- keep it the same- you don't want the children having to scroll down as we need to pack a punch on the landing page so you put all the engaging bits in the first view.
If you follow your nose and use the drop downs to with a logical mindset- google sites seems to be pretty accessible to all and it looks like it my be my new favourite. here is one I had a go at today.
Garden with Science
Kia ora Louise,
ReplyDeleteI am really glad you are starting to find your feet with Google Sites. Always remembering that the site is there to ensure visibility for all our students. It also allows whānau to interact with the learning going on in the hub.
The year of 2005 was a game changer both for visibility and for the ability to share to any audience and it has got easier and easier over the last few years.
I look forward to seeing your site and supporting you as you work through the use of the site.
Nga mihi,
Mark
Really excited to hear that you had an 'aha' moment in regard to the learning in a digital world Louise. The PD you are participating in is amazing and we are seeing the benefits already. It has been great to be able to have a sneak preview of the site you built (through Makaila's blog). It was good to read your thoughts on sharing and that you cna see how the digital world removes constraints of time and place. Really looking forward to seeing all you will create and share over time. Thanks for sharing.
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