Mindlab By Unitec: Maker Movement / Learning Spaces

Maker Movement (3D Printing and Modelling) 
(DCL Week 15 notes)
3D modelling is no longer the domain of visual effects artists and animators. Due to the increased availability and affordability of computers and laptops in the classroom and the abundance of free 3D creation software the opportunity to bring these technologies into the classroom has never been greater."

Uber revolution and 3D printing for all - what the future holds for technology

3D printing is a lot more than just a niche technology. Over the past few years 3D printers have started to appear within a broad range of industries from medicine, manufacturing, engineering, aerospace, retail, mechanical engineering, dentistry and food science.""As with the launch of social media 10 years ago, 3D printing is a rapid disruptor experiencing expediential uptake. By the time our students enter the workforce there is a high likelihood that 3D printers will be as commonplace as household ink printers. [Within a learning context,] using basic design skills 3D printing can be used to trigger new learning and acquiring new skills."

Workshop Activity: Tinkercad "a free, easy-to-learn online app anyone can use to create and print 3D models." Need to create an account, then go to where it says 'create a new design'. It is a very basic package, but it is a good entry level programme for beginners using 3D printers. Tinkercad allows you to save your design and access it anywhere. Recommend not deleting these files, as you will be able to see how your skills develop over time! Today's activity involves collaboratively making the seven seperate pieces of a Tangram - how will you organise yourselves to achieve this in the time provided?  

Learning Spaces and Models

(LDC Week 15 notes)

Workshop Activity
"Modern classrooms reflect new ways of teaching and learning and they remove the focus from a teacher led environment to a space where teachers and learners collaborate.

These learning environments are much more creative, flexible and supportive of technology and are ideally designed to facilitate a more creative approach to content, and news ways to deliver the curriculum that encourages connections in content, encourages excitement and makes learning a transformational experience.

Our classrooms should support new ways of accomplishing the desired outcome that is more active and enables students to retain knowledge and expand on concepts beyond what is taught in the classroom.

Modern learning spaces should be bold and encourage risk taking and original thought through breaking rules around what a classroom should look like."

21st Century living - A 2.5 min overview of the world we teach in (Source: You Tube)

Food for thought: "If Students Designed Their Own School" (You Tube video clip)

 

Flexible Learning Spaces (Source: You Tube)

Learning Spaces (a Blend Space Lesson with a huge range of embedded resources for educators)

 Recommended Reading: "3D Printers in Schools" (UK pdf article)

Mindlab by Unitec: Inquiry Led Learning & Teaching As Inquiry

Week 14 - DCL - Inquiry Led Learning

"This week we explored the integration of 'Inquiry' in the classroom to create independent motivated students who take responsibility for their learning.

What is Inquiry-Based Learning?

"This video explains the teaching methodology Inquiry-Based Learning. 

It was created for the Inspiring Science Education Project as part of a 

series of videos to promote the use of  Inquiry-Based Learning."

Pedagogical and technological innovations are redefining education and while there is great debate on the relevance of traditional education there is also increased support for the resurgence of traditional education ideals linked to higher order thinking and inquiry.

The demands of an evolving knowledge based society requires learners to be independent thinkers as well as interdependent collaborative learners who work together.

There is significant need for students to understand the processes of critical thinking that improves their ability to reason, evaluate, judge and assess. Critical or reflective thinking is integral to inquiry and to the process of forming an opinion or building knowledge."

nQuire - Young Citizen Inquiry

 

(video by Open University)

Inquiry Lead Teaching Report  (downloadable text version)

Inquiry Learning in an ICT Rich Environment (downloadable text - PDF version)

Week 14 - LDC - Teaching as Inquiry

"Teaching as Inquiry aims to achieve improved outcomes for all students. Equally, the teaching as inquiry cycle provides a framework that teachers can use to help them learn from their practice and build greater knowledge. It includes three inquiry aspects.

The Focusing Inquiry

In the focusing inquiry, teachers identify what they want their students to achieve. What do they need to learn next to reach these goals?

The Teaching Inquiry

In the teaching inquiry, teachers select appropriate teaching strategies, looking at best practice and research literature. They plan to gather evidence of success for their students.

The Learning Inquiry

The learning inquiry takes place both during and after teaching. Teachers monitor and reflect on their students’ progress. They use this information to feed back into their practice.

Collaboration

Although teachers can work  independently, it is better if they support each other, providing different perspectives and sharing ideas, knowledge, and experiences."

"Learning to be a New School - Building a Curriculum for new times" (online text version).

 

David Perkins - "40 Years of Teaching Thinking: Revolution, Evolution, and What Next?"

Video blurb: "Today, national and international educational frameworks commonly include a range of thinking skills, often as part of 21st century skills or competencies. Although policy probably promises more than practice delivers, teaching thinking in some form has become a presence in many classrooms. All this began with revolutionary zeal in the thinking skills movement of the 1970s and 80s. Over the decades, skepticism about teaching thinking emerged from IQ advocates ('people can't get smarter'), the back-to-basics movement ('no time for frills like thinking'), and the notion of situated learning ('good thinking requires saturation in a discipline'). Meanwhile, both research and practical classroom experience have evolved our ideas about what thinking skills are, whether and how they can be taught, and what place they might take amidst competing educational agendas..."

From the Web: "What will the world of 2028 look like?"

"What will the world of 2028 look like? This is a question St Paul's School has been asking as it explores what a rapidly changing world will be like when it's youngest students reach their final year of education..."

  

"...Research revealed many trends, but two critical uncertainties which could significantly impact schooling as we know it today. These uncertainties were used to develop four scenarios, describing possible futures for our youngest students." (as quoted from Youtube)

ULearn'15 - My Official Attendance Badge

ULearn'15 - "Future-Focussed Learning Design..."

"Transforming our students’ experiences | Future-focused learning design" (ULearn'15 - Breakout 4)
Presenter: Karen Melhuish Spencer (CORE ULearn)

Abstract: "Recent years have seen exciting developments in what we know about effective learning - and increased calls for a more inclusive approach to learning than previous generations perhaps received. From competency-rich curriculum to inclusive learning enabled by digital technologies, the time is right to consider what, how and why your school might transform its approach to learning to benefit all your students.

This session will cut through the ‘buzz words’ to look at what we know to be sound, effective approaches for thinking about future-focused transformation. With the CORE Education ‘10 Trends’ as a backdrop, we will explore the big ideas, what we know works and the implications for your own school. Touchpoint ideas will include: Indicators of effective learning and practice from current research; Stories of how schools have approached transformation and future-focused learning; Suggested frameworks for thinking about transformation in your school. Come prepared to explore new possibilities for reimagining learning in ways that put your learners front and centre."

In order to bring about sustainable, tranformational and positive change, we need to think about change / transformation from a VALUES point of view...

Transformation / Future focus is a conversation around the whole person [holistic] = A mindset around PEOPLE'S WELLBEING.

We can create environments where everyone feels like they belong... More relevant when developing ILE's, the practical contexts can come in behind the Values once this has been developed.

Building relationships with those children, individualised learning, everyone acorss the school - from the principal to the students - know each other. Freedom in the way they learn using the modules the school has created (guidelines - modules relate to the NZC) Sitting behind these are the set of Values that the school has.

Transformational change will not happened at the strategy level - you must consider your values, what is important to you, what you believe is important to your learners... Ask yourself - What is really important to you/your learners?

The grab bag won't really change unless the values and beliefs are lined up with the wider community in which a school exists - then true transformation can begin to happen.

e.g.: all learners in my classroom should feel that they belong. This is the basis for a whole set of ideas that should underlie the learning... What would learning look like in order to line up with these values?

7 Principles of Learning (Dumont - "The Nature of Learning")
1. Learners at the centre
2. Learning is social
3. Emotions are integral
4. Recognise individual differences
5. Stretching all students
6. Assessment for learning
7. Building horizontal connections

Learner Orientation  - who's interests are being served?
Inclusive Design - removing barriers to increase opportunities and offer choice.
Networked organisations - distributed expertise, on demand. 

Future Oriented Pathway - must have coherence along the continuum - i.e.:
our learner > our values and beliefs > our principles > our practice.

ULearn '15 - "Middle Leadership in NZ Schools"

"Middle leadership in New Zealand secondary schools: A complex role with many challenges" 
Ulearn '15 - Research Taster 4C
Presenter: Martin Bassett Programme Leader Master of Educational Leadership at Unitec mbassett@unitec.ac.nz

Abstract: "The role of middle level leaders in New Zealand secondary schools is complex with many challenges. The role of educational leaders has expanded, and responsibilities previously the domain of senior leaders have been delegated to middle level leaders. This research set out to examine expectations of middle leaders in New Zealand secondary schools and the challenges they face.

Educational reforms that began in the 1980s increased pressure on educational leaders, resulting in the delegation of responsibilities to other levels in the school hierarchy with an intensification of management work for middle level leaders. Middle leaders have become caught in a dichotomous role in which they are both teacher and leader. Consequently, the scope and volume of tasks middle leaders are now expected to carry out has led to an increasingly challenging role for these practitioners..."

Rationale

• Middle leader in 3 schools in 10 years
• Absence of leadership development
• Advice Informal

A new role

• Educational reforms intensified senior leadership role
• New responsibilities for middle leaders

Methodology
Qualitative questionnaire etc-

Findings - Expectation

• Curriculum Leadership - i.e.: developing programmes, enabling proogrammes, removing barriers, leading the learning; a strong focus on results or achievement.
• Developing Staff - ML felt that they were expected to develop staff, but weren't developed themselves (by BOT and Senior Managers)
• Administrative tasks - qulaity assurance (NCEA, secondary school study)

Challenges

• Lack of time - cuts into non-school time, interupts classroom routines; SL acknowledged this, but had no ideas on how to solve it.
• Lack of leadership development - the surprise response from the ML; they felt they hadn't had sufficient PLD, but the study found that when they reflected on their role, they actually had recieved some, but had still not felt it was adequate perhaps?
• Leading department within wider school context - dealing with their own departmental concerns.

Leadership Development (ref. VanBelser and Macauley)
Assesssment, Support, Challenge < a "Leadership Development Inquiry Cycle"
Quote (Bassett, 2012): "Qualification for the role of the classroom teacher is no longer adequate for middle leaders"

Conclusions
Middle leaders - pivotal, demanding role; often feel unprepared for the depth and breadth of the role.

ULearn'15 - "Professional Learning For Change"

"Teacher's perceptions of risk when engaging in professional learning for change" 
(ULearn'15 - Research Taster 3A)

Presenter: Tamara Jones 
(PhD student, UA Faculty of Education and Social Work)

Abstract: "Currently many positional leaders are investing in, and espousing a Modern Learning Practice (MLP) philosophy.  Yet ultimately the onus is on the classroom teacher to integrate learner-centric pedagogies and digital technologies in modern learning environments. This is likely to generate many reactions from teachers, including possible perceptions of risk.  This is worthy of attention because teacher perceptions of risk may be a fundamental barrier to changing teaching practice.

This presentation will first report on my recent study, which identified organisational factors that influenced teachers’ perceptions of risk and willingness to engage in professional learning for change.  Twenty-one primary teachers participated in this research. Data included a questionnaire to broadly situate perceptions of risk and was followed up with interviews.  Findings showed teachers perceived risk when they felt professional learning was lacking purpose or relevance, when it was mandated, or when it had vague implementation expectations.  However, teachers’ perceptions of risk could be mitigated with collaboration and consultation, and time and opportunities to engage in the new learning..."

Resistance vs. Risk
Education as we know it is changing - the environments, the way children learn, the way we teach. (Hargreaves, A. 1994; Hargreaves, A. 2005) The older / more experienced teachers get, the more resistant they become to change.

Current Understandings
(Robinson, 2011) Blaming teachers is counterproductive to developing a culuture of collaborative, sustainable improvement.
(Howard, 2013; Le Fevre, 2014) Teacher's perceptions of risk may be a fundamental barrier to change.

Defining Risk
Loss, which can e performance realted, social, psychological or status related... [etc-] (Ponticell, 2003) - refer to handout for references cited, can Email Tamara for more.

Research design

• Review literature
• Questionaire to situate perceptions of risk (21+ participants)
• Data analysis to idenitfy and neutral cases
• Semi-structured interviews (6 selected from the group that was modrate / on the fence)

Theories of risk taking

• Personal Practical Theory
• A teacher's age and career stage (Hargreaves)
• The individual teacher's risk attitude - most recent theory, which doesn't attribute risk aversity to anything other than individual preference...

The above theories all relate to individual - Tamara also looked at another contextual theory to explain broader patterns that she noted.
A domain-specific phenomenon = the school culture influences i.e.: Teachers can deteremine who takes risks and how. Organisational factors that affect engagement.

Findings
Collaboration and consultation with teachers allowed change implemeted more readily. Relevance in an authentic context; transparency etc
Provision of time and opportunitis to engage in the learning

Where to next
Change leading towards "Innovative Learning Environments" - research will be around the pedagogical core of these.

Call for Participants
Schools that are in the process of change - if they could get in touch with Tamara by Emailing her on tell005@auckland.uni.nz if they would be open to participating in this study.