Wednesday 30 April 2014

Hīkaia te ahi!

Rāapa 30 o Paengawhāwhā, 2014.
Me pēhea te tīmata i tēnei rā nei. He maha ngā momo whakaaro, ngā momo akoranga, ngā momo wheako i kitea, i rangona, i pāngia e mātou e te rā nei. He mutunga kore ngā mihi ki tēnā, ki tēnā, nā rātou tātou i arahi, i tiaki i te rā nei, kāore e kore, he urupounamu i puta, he rangiruatanga i puta, he whakaaro i puta. He kohinga whakaaro i raro nei e pā ana ki ngā akoranga o te rā nei.  E mihi ana tātou ki ō tātou whanaunga i kitea atu e mātou te rā nei, ā, he hongi, he awhi, he hononga whakapapa te herenga o te aho māori i tēnei rā, ā, tamariki mai, taiohi mai, pakeke mai, ko te rōpū katoa e mihi ana ki ngā kāwai whakapapa i whārikihia te rā nei.
"Hīkaia te ahi..."
Kura 1 - Warringa Park & Kura 2 - Manor Lakes College
He kohinga whakaaro nā Cribby
For me, today we were lucky enough to spend some time @ Warringa Park School. It was a kura where i had tingles up my spine, quivers through my neck and the feeling of ‘magic’ happening in all corners of the kura. We were lucky enough to see the ‘Accessibility’ functions on an iPad being maximised to it’s potential in all areas.
This is a dual mode school which caters for all children with an intellectual disability. Me kī pēnei, ‘he kura te mokopuna’, ahakoa te aha. A clear vision that was eminent within this kura was ensuring that the students are the centre of all learning, similar to Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, ‘Ko te ākonga te pūtake’. This kura has a 1:1 iPad program which enables students to have greater independence in their learning. From this kura some of the key learnings for me through a māori lense were;
  • irrelevant of the Application on an iPad, it’s about the pedagogy, the purpose, the expected outcome and the audience. IT’S NOT ABOUT THE APP!
  • technology has the ability to open up new ways to learn and engage with learning.
  • irrelevant of context or ability technology is a vehicle for all tamariki to learn and progress through any curriculum.
  • Learning through activity, play and passions ensure our tamariki are able to succeed and achieve within different curriculum areas.
  • Passionate, authentic, caring, driven, responsive leadership are some of the non-negotiables to ensure a successful foundation for e-learning in any setting.
  • A robust infrastructure is the backbone to a successful e-learning platform.
  • Learning within classrooms must relate to a purpose, expected outcome and align with a specific audience.
  • Ownership and personalisation within different settings allow tamariki to learn life skills
  • One of the CORE apps that is modifying and redefining learning for some of the tamariki is Proloquo2Go
Some key questions that have arisen for us and the contexts that we work in;
  • What are we doing as Māori Medium Settings to prepare our tamariki for their tomorrow’s?
  • Can we afford NOT to CONSIDER e-learning as an opportunity for our tamariki?
  • What are we doing to ‘push the boundaries of educational possibility’ for our tamariki?
We could write a book or create a movie based on the kura from today’s visits however, by using ‘The Myth of Average, TED talk by Todd Rose’, this will summarises all what today was about. Let’s not design for the average rather design to the edges, our tamariki deserve the best, they deserve the edges! If you haven’t already seen this video then i recommend that you watch it.
He kohinga whakaaro nā Regz
Today was an experience that i will cherish forever, Warringa park school has shown me that regardless of what challenges the mokopuna may face there is always a solution to suit their needs. The mokopuna in this kura had me emotionally, physically & spiritually captivated in the learning that was taking place.

He kohinga whakaaro nā Eleanor

Both Kura we visited today showed manaakitanga, whanaungatanga and tuhonotanga. Emotions ran high as we found our connections and joined in with their learning. Warringa was overwhelming, the resources they had were sensory based, incredibly effective and would suit our Kura in a heartbeat. Technology is allowing these students to achieve at levels that were never thought possible and again the vision and leadership of the tumuaki was felt throughout the whole school.  
Manor Lakes was Prep to Y12. Another forward thinking school using iPads to promote learning, collaboration and communication - again in our context this style of learning/teaching would benefit all our akonga. My thought for today ... No more excuses…
"Dare to dream, Dare to believe, Dare to inspire" ... "Imagine the possibilities"
He kohinga whakaaro nā Herena
School perspective
Integrate devices (IPADS) in class/kura ….to improve learning outcomes for our mokopuna to replace pen/paper
Pathway
  • Integrate 1 Application in the classroom for pāngarau and 1 Application for tuhituhi (WK 1)

  • think differently on how to connect and engage our mokopuna….the change starts with me….show the way
  • Build pedagogy
  • Weave korowai of Applications into classroom to personalise ako

1 comment:

  1. Cheerz peeps, dang right its not about the APP! Its about the learning.

    ReplyDelete