Digital Fluency Intensive - Week 3 Reflection

Another great session today, filled with the usual ‘bits of gold’ that I’ve come to expect over the last 3 weeks. There was a bit of a different feel to the course today with half of the group joining in via Google Meet. I suppose this is an example of the wonders of modern technology on display, and great practice for us for if and when Covid-19 has affects our ability to meet as a group.

A particular area which I’ve been reflecting on over the course of this week, both during today’s session and also in a staff meeting which Gerhard facilitated at our school on Tuesday afternoon is the Create aspect of Learn - Create - Share. I think it is natural for us to focus our attention towards the Learn aspect of this pedagogy, whereas I have come to understand the importance of allowing students to put into practice the learning that they have been taught over the course of a session. A particular part of today's session which piqued my interest was the use of Google Drawings and Slides for the purpose of creating. Teaching Digital technologies, I can already imagine ways in which I could get my learners to put the theoretical skills they’re learning into practice in simple ways using the Google products.

I really enjoyed Dorothy’s presentation around the use of Slides for the purpose of presentations. Her process of using post-it notes for the purpose of planning each slide is a brilliant idea and it’s definitely something that I’m interested in doing with my own presentations in the future. Also, the idea that a person’s take away from your presentation being able to fit in a tweet is brilliant. I get my students to make slides presentations for different parts of their learning in class, and I think it’d be great to use some of the ideas from that presentation in order to help them improve the visual appeal and overall quality of their work.

As I said, I think the use of Google Drawings and Slides for the purpose of animations is definitely something I’m going to look at during my tech classes. We don’t have access to fancy animation software, but I think this is a great alternative to teach the basics of animation and for the kids to have a go at creating for themselves. On the topic of creating, I enjoyed the chance to have a go at creating my Digital Pepeha.

  

I think Google Drawing has definitely been a feature which has excited me over the course of the last 3 weeks. My artistic skills definitely leave a lot to be desired, and so i have never really felt very confident when it comes to creating or drawing. However, Drawing has taught me that there are plenty of ways to create, even for those like me who aren’t particularly skilled in the area. I am looking forward to continuing to play around with Drawing and see what I can create!

Looking forward to next week’s session, whether we are able to meet in person or if we’re all forced to meet via Google Meet. Excited, nonetheless!