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

Gamification - What is the learning?

+Annemarie Hyde asks on almost a daily basis "What is the learning?"

This is a simple question. As teachers when we teach something we always have a learning intention/objective in mind, that we want our students to achieve. When teaching in a digital classroom, this is no different. Yet it seems that as a digital teacher we are having to justify our tools and learning more often. 



Ken Shelton in his Keynote at #Ulearn13 discussed the concept of 'Transformation'. He posed two questions:

1. What does it mean to transform?

1. What does it look like to transform?

The message that I took away from his talk was to embrace the opportunities that technology provides us, and the ways we can utilize these within our teaching practice and education. Transforming is about changing our practice and not about replicating things we already do by substituting our old ways. 

I loved his video he used on the 'Fun Theory'. I am firm believer that student's are going to learn more and be more engaged if we can make the learning fun. This is evident in the two videos below.

In my current teaching practice I am trying to prepare students for future learning by teaching students think for themselves. This to me means, not standing at the front of the room and delivering the curriculum but having students take an inquiry approach and think for themselves. In doing this students would be selecting the appropriate tools to research, collaborate, communicate and present their learning. This is something that would need to be facilitated by the teacher and set up as a classroom culture for learning. 

This leads me into Gamification. I am so passionate about this, that I get so frustrated with having to constantly justify its merits. I was very thankful and felt privileged to attend Stephen Knightly's talk on 'Game-Based Learning' and come back with concrete evidence of the relevance and learning that can be had through games within education. 

Stephen's messages that resonated with me:

"If you are teaching students mathematics then teaching kids to code would validate that mathematics like you wouldn't believe"

"If you want higher order thinking - make a game! Have your students create the content instead of just consuming"

"Games we deem invaluable like GTAV still have their merits. Games like this teach economics - I wont buy this gun, I will save up for the better quality more expensive one - delayed gratification" 

"GTAV is the most sophisticated city ever created in a game. It has more working parts than the space station. You could spend 200 hours exploring one small corner of the city before engaging in any illicit activities" 

"The video game cycle is a recipe for self motivated learners - Clear Goals --> Right Tools --> Challenge --> Feedback" 

"If students aren't engaged in a game, it isn't because its not sexy, it is because it is dull and boring"



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Games are good at creating behavioral and attitude change. Ecological, educational, mental health, political messages and challenges have been addressed with games.  There is a growing field of research into the psychological and social principles underpinning effective games.

Gaming in the classroom definitely has its merits. We can use Ken Shelton's idea of transformation to underpin our curriculum and values. I firmly believe in teaching the 'whole' learner and not just delivering a curriculum. 

Below are some Ted talks that a pro gamification:

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. 

Interface Awards - Best Teaching with ICT Finalist

Wahooo!

I filled out this lengthy application at some ungodly hour of the morning before school a few weeks ago, and completely forgot about it until this morning. I woke up to a text from my DP saying congratulations and then lots of tweets from my PLN celebrating my success.

It is very exciting and I feel very proud to be a beginning teacher and have my work recognized on a large scale. I look forward to hearing the results and pushing myself further and pushing the envelope with ICT in education.

Best Teaching with ICT finalists:

Stephen Baker (@PalmyTeacher) & Pascal Dresse (@PascalDresse) - KidsChatNZ on Twitter
Kassey Downard (@kasseylee11) - Minecraft
Tim Gander (@nzteachnology) - Improving social responsibility with Google Drive
Marion Kirby (@kirbyme) - Learning to Read
Gala Kirke (@GalaKTimaru) - Stand up to Cyberbullying

Don't Forget to Vote!