Learning During Lockdown (Day #4 for the DFI)

The fourth session of our DFI happened at the beginning of the second round of lockdown (Level 3 for Auckland). We started the day with sharing how things are going then focused on the third element of the Manaiakalani pedagogy: Share/Tohatoha.

Sharing is nothing new - people have been doing it forever (things like stories, food, laughter, possessions, ideas etc). The digital age has given us an unlimited format for sharing with social media platforms and the ability to share things worldwide instantly. One thing we need to be mindful of when sharing is: who is our audience? Sharing also leads us back to learning, completing the cycle of Learn/Create/Share.

Throughout the rest of the day we looked at Google Forms, Google Maps and Google Sheets. Some notes about how these could be used with my students: 

• Forms - useful for questionnaires and quizzes. You can look at results on graphs once these are completed and see individual responses. As a teacher I could use Forms to gather information or responses from my class and test their knowledge. My students could also use Forms to create quizzes on particular topics or areas of learning to test their peers (which could also help to consolidate their own learning)

• Maps - can be used to locate different places (locally, nationally and globally), to measure distances, to plot a journey (historical, imagined etc). These could be used in different subject areas linked to their learning. In the image below I have created a map to show locations I have stayed outside of New Zealand...

• Sheets - this is probably suited more for me as a teacher rather than for something for my students. These are helpful for inputting, organising and analysing data. One area that students might be able to use Sheets is statistics. They could collate information/results and create graphs to share or compare data. In the image below I have used Sheets to show the number of posts on my class blog since the beginning of 2018...

(Hmmm...not as many so far this year...I wonder why that could be...)

My learning curve has definitely been heading upward with the things I have been using from Google Docs. I think that, after having some time to have more of a play around with some of these apps, I'll be feeling more confident and capable.