Digital Fluency Intensive - Week 6 Reflection

Another great session this week, and I definitely come away feeling empowered to improve the quality of my class learning site.

Dorothy’s session on the ‘Connected’ aspect of the Manaiakalani kaupapa was really beneficial in terms of bettering my understanding of the principles which the organisation was established upon. The idea that our learners are able to not only connect with others in different parts of the city, but also the country and even other parts of the world is amazing. It makes every task that much more purposeful and incentivised. Having said that, the key to 'Connected' is ensuring that our children are able to share their work. As Dorothy said, without sharing it is impossible for someone to be connected.

I was looking forward to this session as soon as I found out that it was going to be focusing on working on our class learning sites. My site has been getting increasingly better in quality week on week since the start of the year, largely due to the learning I have been engaging with during DFI. If I think back to last year and the first Google Site that I ever created, I can definitely say that I have come a long way. The school I was teaching at wasn’t as immersed in online learning as those within Manaiakalani, and there was no mandate to have a class learning site. My site consisted of a text box with headings and url links to the learning sites and apps that we used at the time. I did this for the convenience of my Yr 3&4 kids whose level of digital literacy wasn’t very high. If I compare that to where I am now, I can say confidently that I have come a long way, and will continue to progress.

I was quite encouraged by those who were willing to share their learning sites with the group. It’s quite a daunting experience, opening yourself up for critique from peers and colleagues, and it’s not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’. I know, for me, I found it a little confronting reading some of the feedback that had been left by people in my group who looked at my site. Some of the feedback was quite harsh, but I suppose that’s what can happen when people are afforded anonymity when leaving feedback. That aside, the process of having Gerhard open my site on his device was helpful for the purpose of checking to see if my content is visible to all. As it happened, there were a few files which had the wrong permissions and needed updating. So for that process I am grateful.

Looking forward to the next session. 

Link to my class site: https://sites.google.com/wesleyintermediate.school.nz/room-8s-learning-site/home