Modern Learning Environment - Change the pedagogy & change the space

A modern learning environment goes hand in hand with changing your pedagogy.

I learnt this on #ulearn13 when I went to Mark Osborne's presentation on MLEs.

I took  a lot of key ideas from his talk and then was able to consolidate them through the #edchatnz topic of modern learning environments last week. 

When I got back from conference I started a Google Doc and had my class collaborate on what they perceived a modern learning environment to be and what their dream classroom would look like. We then brainstormed what could we do with the space and furniture we have. We decided to downsize. We got rid of bulky cabinets, desk and went and found some funky chairs from various rooms around the school and borrowed some bean bags from another teacher who isn't using them.

We then designed our ideal classroom on Minecraft. Students created our current layout and trialed where the furniture would go before deciding on the final outcome. This was great because instead of physically moving it, not liking it and causing chaos, they were able to work together and have the trial and error period virtually. This created a safe space for students to share their ideas and justify why they believed it should be their layout that was chosen.

 P3 decided that they should be able to sit where they like as long as they are on task. I posed the question 'how will you ensure no one is going to be left out?'. They couldn't answer this right away but asked me if I would let them show me. Giving them this ownership has worked well so far and I am seeing more leadership qualities emerge in my students. They are becoming more independent and reflective learners and are beginning to use their initiative. 

I then ran this lesson with two other classes with my class as the tuakana-teina. The purpose was for the two other classes to begin to use Google Docs and Minecraft as an effective tool in their learning. I look forward to seeing the other two classes final products and how their rooms change based on their student's needs. 

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My dream spaces can be found on my Pinterest board - Modern Learning Space

Ulearn13: Notes, Tools & Tweets

How can it be over already?

It feels like it was over before it began!

My mind is blown and I don't even know where to start. I almost need another week to digest everything and be able to communicate what I have learnt. I am going to use this post to organize all the tweets (notes) I took and the tweets from others. I will further reflect and share on this as the term goes on but at the moment my head is swimming.

In a nutshell the conference for me was about connecting, collaborating, sharing, and inquiry. It has motivated me to continue to push the boundary and go after my passion of gamification (I will definitely be doing an in depth post on this later). I want to continue using Twitter as a platform for improving my pedagogy and challenging myself and students.

The Breakout Notes:

Breakout 1: Game-based Learning #Gamification

Breakout 2: E-Learning...10+ Magic Moments

Breakout 3: Why Writing is More Exciting in the Digital World

Breakout 4: Putting the 'E' in Assessment

Breakout 5: Ulearn Unconference Smackdown

Speed Geeking

This was an absolute blast! 

I presented (very briefly) on how I have used Minecraft in my class to engage students and enhance their learning. It was very cool to receive feedback and share my experience. I love seeing other teachers become passionate for what I am passionate about. I have now connected with various teachers on Twitter that I am going to work alongside with to create a Minecraft Curriculum and possible present at a conference in the future. 

Breakout 6: The Story of Mark Oliphant College: Apple Distinguished School in 18 months from opening

Breakout 7: Modern Learning Environments: Machines for Learning

Keynotes:

Keynote 1: Ken Shelton: Inspire and Motivate Through Transformational Teaching and Learning

Keynote 2: Mark Pesce: The Sharing Nexus: Connecting, Learning and the 21st Century Educational Environments

Keynote 3: Dame Anne Salmond: Knowledge is a Blessing on your mind

Learning & sharing that was occurring throughout the Conference: 

Tools and Apps I want try:

• Mystery Skype
• Dragons Box - App
• Coding an App
• Making a Game
• Continue to Quad-blog in NZ - expand to international
• Work alongside my students to create our own assessment and learning programme

The Power of Twitter

I connected with more people this Ulearn than I could have ever imagined possible through the power of Twitter. I felt like I was at more than one breakout at a time, because as I was engaged in my session, I was actively learning and participating in discussions about another. I was able to share and receive resources and notes and even make plans for future meet ups and learning.

I was pretty impressed with myself to be able to get myself on the top tweeters list - @kasseylee11
It is definitely going to force me to step my game up and keep a presence on social media.
We teach our kids not to consume but to create, this is my goal for Twitter and the VLN.

Watch this space for how I implement the ideas/tools I learnt into my classroom this term.

Now I need to begin writing some reports.