Activity 10: Reflective practice - Put it all together: Summarised Postgraduate Learning Journey and plan for the future

How did I do? What could I do better? ...

Reflecting on my personal 32 week learning journey, through the postgraduate programme at The Mind Lab:

I feel privileged to get the opportunity of Studying the Postgraduate Course ‘Digital and Collaborative Learning in Applied Practice’ at The Mind Lab. This learning journey of 32 weeks has been most interesting, productive and satisfying. As the learning in this course is focused on 21st Century education, teaching, learning, and technology, I feel it is the best form of professional development for ‘shifting the mind-set to 21st Century’ thinking, pedagogies and teaching approaches. Although it has been quite challenging commitment to study while teaching full time at Te Kura, I am so pleased and proud that I have completed this program, because to me, it is one of my life time achievements. The learning is enhancing and empowering my professional practice in all the areas. A tiny example of this is, now I can totally relate to the expression ‘Reflective practice is a professional development process that we believe is highly effective in achieving behavioural change’ by (Karen F. Osterman, Robert B. Kottkamp)
The learning from this PD is also improving and upgrading my digital technology skills that are crucial in Te Kura Online Teaching and Learning Environment which makes it most relevant to my professional practice.

The three criteria I have met well in my professional practice at Te Kura:

Criteria 1 Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of all ākonga:

Te Kura - The Correspondence School, Wellington, New Zealand is distance education providing school. Pastoral care of our akonga is a significant component of our professional practice. We contact and communicate with our students, their parents, guardians or care givers through telephone, e-mail, letter, Skype, Adobe Connect and Te Kura OTLE.
The learning experiences at The Mind Lab, are certainly helping me enhance my practice in all the areas including ‘pastoral care of our akonga’. For example I am more aware of cultural responsiveness to akonga, their parents, guardians or caregivers, whanau and to the learning community, in pastoral care and teaching and learning area of my professional practice. The learning also has improved my realisation of community informed practice. I can see this change in my contacts and conversations with the learning community.
Ideally in my conversations with them I first focus on developing friendly and pleasant professional relationship with the students and their parents, guardians or care givers. I do this by initiating discussions around students’ interests, their strength and achievements to present time. I acknowledge, value their achievements and praise them for these. Then I lead the conversation to inquiring about their personal, academic and career goals. Responding to these I work with them, developing their Individual Students Education Plans. Following these; I mentor them, supporting with their study, progress and achieving their goals, throughout their learning journey.

Criteria 4 Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of professional personal practice:

Ongoing professional development keeps teachers up-to-date on new research on how children learn, emerging technology tools for the classroom, new curriculum resources, and more. edutopia
During my ten and a half years of teaching at Te Kura I have hardly missed any professional development opportunity available which is relevant to my professional practice, as I believe learning is a lifelong process. I have significantly benefitted from many professional development programs, to name a few, NZ MOE initiative - three year ICTPD Program, How 2 of Web 2 Online program, Acting Senior teacher of Mathematics, Te Kura OTLE Championship and currently this Postgraduate Course ‘Digital and Collaborative Learning in Applied Practice’ at The Mind Lab. Participating in the sessions facilitated by highly skilled and inspiring facilitators and working collaboratively with like-minded professionals from primary to tertiary level, make studying this course most interesting and beneficial.
The learning and professional development focused on 21st century education, in the following areas are most relevant and applicable in contemporary teaching and learning.
• Digital and Collaborative Learning in Context
• Leadership in Digital and Collaborative Learning
• Research and Community Informed Practice
• Applied Practice in Context
The skills covered in this program are most applicable in Te Kura Online Teaching and Learning Environment and in all the areas of professional practice in general.
As covered in my previous assessments, these skills will continue enhancing my professional practice in all the four areas listed above, for many year to come.

Criteria 5 Show leadership that contributes to effective teaching and learning

The skills learned and professional development gained through the learning journey at The Mind Lab, will also continue enhancing my leadership role and practice of Te Kura OTLE Champion, in Te Kura Online Teaching and Learning Environment. Continued focus on developing current - new, relevant and interesting teaching, learning and assessment resources using a variety of digital technology lead to improved student engagement, school work completion, learning and achievement. Applying the learning covered and skills learned from various leadership theories and styles, in my leadership role/practice of Te Kura OTLE Champion, are helping me improve my colleagues’ confidence and capability in using Te Kura OTLE and other digital applications like GAFE and Adobe connect, which in turn lead to improved and more effective teaching and learning. For example, recently Te Kura has begun school wide implementation of Google Drive Application; the skills I learned from regular use of Google Drive, throughout this course enabled me to help my colleagues with creating their Te Kura Google account, setting up Google Drive Application and facilitating its use in Te Kura practice. Similarly the skills learned from regularly using Google Plus community throughout this course are useful in helping my colleagues with Te OTLE discussion forum in their subject areas.
My learning experiences in ‘Research and Community Informed Practice’ and ‘Reflective Practice’ are also helping me in developing teaching, learning and assessment resource, in my subject area – Mathematics and Statistics. When developing these resources I am more aware of the importance of gaining input from learning community and teacher colleagues, and also reflecting on the process of resource development, in order to evaluate and improve it, leading to more effective teaching and learning.

Two main goals for my future Professional Development:

I am passionate about applying my learning experiences and skills with digital tools and internet technologies in the following:
• Online education in general (teaching, learning and assessment) at Te Kura
For example; strengthening my skills and gaining expertise with effective use of:
• Te Kura OTLE system – Online Teaching and Learning Environment
• GAFE – Google Applications For Education suit
• Applications of Adobe Connect package
• Mathematics and Statistics teaching, learning and assessment
For example:
• Further learning and using Mathematics and Statistics online programmes ‘Mathletics’ and ‘Maths Buddy’ which are supplementary online teaching and learning resources that are useful to enrich students learning and achievement.
• Strengthening my skills and gaining expertise with effective use of
Statistical Software iNZight and Graphing Software NZGrapher
• Learning and gaining expertise in using Algebraic Software Geogebra
Thus my goals for the remaining of this year are to focus on applying my learning experiences and skills to enhance my professional practice at Te Kura, in all the areas – including leadership, pastoral care, teaching, learning and assessment.
After achieving the goals above I will be keen to take up the opportunity of suitable position of responsibility at Te Kura, as I already have the experience.
I would like to end this post with one of the quotes that I believe in “Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.”- Albert Einstein

References:

Practising Teacher Criteria and e-learning
http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/Practising-Teacher-Criteria-and-e-learning
Reflective Practicefor Educators (Improving Schooling Through Professional Development - Karen F. Osterman, Robert B. Kottkamp)
https://app.themindlab.com/media/12847/view
Edutopia
http://www.edutopia.org/teacher-development-introduction
Free photo from Freeimages http://www.freeimages.com/photo/gorillas-at-apenhaul-1382596

Activity 9: Indigenous knowledge & cultural responsiveness (Evaluations of cultural responsiveness in practice)

My culture and ways of living

Indigenous knowledge and culturally responsive pedagogy:

In Aotearoa - New Zealand, Maori communities have an invaluable fund of indigenous knowledge about living amongst nature, ecology and sustaining the environment. They possess a wealth of experiences in all the aspects of life and environment. Therefor indigenous knowledge systems, their world views, values, and ways of relating to nature are of a great significance to current modern living.
Culturally responsive pedagogies and pathways for authentic learning must incorporate children’s and communities’ fund of knowledge into the curriculum. Culturally responsive pedagogies and teaching approaches in classrooms support diverse ways for children to develop, express (orally and in written form) and share deeper learning and their understanding of concepts. Teaching and learning in all the areas of curriculum will be enriched if teaching pedagogies and approaches create opportunities to incorporate children’s and communities’ lived experiences into the curriculum. Teaching approaches should create an inclusive classroom culture and learning environment that welcomes indigenous knowledge systems, their world views, values, and ways of relating to nature. When these pedagogies invite children’s and their whanau’s to share their lived experiences in to the classroom, the learning outcomes are culturally rich, authentic and meaningful, which in turn increases children engagement, motivation and improves attainment. Culturally responsive pedagogy is effective when it is ensured that students have multiple and diverse opportunities to learn, and receive feedback on their learning. Children learn and gain life experiences form their parents, grand-parents and the legends in the community, this learning should also be promoted in the classroom by creating opportunities where older students help and support younger ones. There also need to be culturally inclusive diverse ways for children to gain feedback on their growing knowledge, leading to further learning. The newer teaching approaches and initiatives like Project Based Learning, Authentic Learning, Big Picture Project, create  many opportunities for students, their parents, families and communities to be involved in children's education, this draws authenticity, cultural values, life experiences, and history in to learning, resulting in higher level of children's interest, motivation, engagement, learning and achievement. At high school level a projects on Maori Carving, Pacific Music are good examples of Project Based Learning.
The inclusion of mātauranga Māori enables all children to understand the significance of Māori as tangata whenua through the use of te reo Māori; Māori symbols; learning experiences that focus on the environment (taiao) through the lens of atua Māori (guardians of the forest, sky, earth, wind, rain, storms earthquakes and volcanoes); pūtaiao (science); and hangarau (technology). Mātauranga Māori communicates something fundamental about the Māori world, something distinctive and valuable. It encompasses both ancient and modern forms of knowing and enlightenment. The inclusion of Mātauranga Māori across the curriculum enhances the mana and wairua of Māori children. This validates their ways of knowing, being and doing. At the same time it provides all children with knowledge and information that extends their learning and understanding of the world they live in.(Education Review Office)

Cultural responsiveness in practice at Te Kura:

Te Kura vision, mission and core values (Te Kura vision and core values)

Our vision is ‘students achieve their educational and personal goals, enabling them to participate effectively as members of their communities’.

At Te Kura we demonstrate by our actions that we:

Put the success of our students at the forefront of everything we do

Respect each other, students, their whanau and our partner organisations

See strength in diversity

Celebrate innovation and success

Communicate openly and honestly.

The Bi-Cultural responsiveness in practice at Te Kura is quite strong. The leadership focus and pedagogies as well as pastoral care approaches are very much culturally responsive. Te Kura environment is rich with Maori staff, culture, language and regular activities like weekly waiata, cultural celebrations like Maori language week, matariki, and many other ongoing initiatives! Te Kura pedagogies and teaching approaches support focusing on motivation, engagement and raising achievement levels of Maori students.

At early childhood and primary level, teaching learning programs incorporate cultural responsiveness very well. Te teachers work with children, their parents, guardians or caregivers and whanu, to develop students’ individual learning programs based on the expectations of family, whanau and community environment; hence these programs are well engaging, and motivating. Students’ whanau and community interest are well woven in to the curriculum; this creates authentic and culturally rich learning experiences. 

However at secondary level teaching and learning programs, and the nature of assessment activities are mainly driven by academic expectations and New Zealand Qualification Authority’s policies and procedure, I feel this limits the opportunities of cultural responsiveness. NZQA Assessment specifications at NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 seem to guide the learning, and assessment, leaving minimal space for authentic learning, creativity and entrepreneurism. A good example of this could be; a student, who is passionate about fishing and is highly skilled, has a wealth of cultural knowledge about all the aspects of fishing from whanau, and community legend; struggled to gain his Numeracy and Literacy at NCEA Level 1.

References

Understanding Indigenous worldviews, by Vicki Tauli-Corpuzy from Tebtebba, Phillipines https://app.themindlab.com/media/12843/view
A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations by Russell Bishop https://app.themindlab.com/media/12844/view
Mike Hogan Culturally responsive practice in mainstream school https://app.themindlab.com/media/12845/view
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and assessment Whakamana tamariki http://www.tlri.org.nz/sites/default/files/projects/9268_cowie-summaryreport.pdf
Support indigenous knowledge in New Zealand school libraries http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/blogs/libraries-and-learning/15-02/support-indigenous-knowledge-new-zealand-school-libraries
Te Kura Charter and Annual Plan 2016 http://www.tekura.school.nz/assets/Publications-non-curriculum/Te-Aho-o-Te-Kura-Pounamu-Charter-and-Annual-Plan-2016.pdf
Te Kura vision and values http://www.tekura.school.nz/about-us/vision-and-values/
Free photo from Freeimages http://www.freeimages.com/search/culture

Activity 8: Law & Ethics influence on professional practice (Legal contexts and digital identities)

Legal Context - Global Digital Citizenship

Responsible use of digital technology:

I teach at Te Kura - The Correspondence School, Wellington, New Zealand. Te Kura is distance education providing school which is implementing online learning delivery project. From the beginning of 2018 school year, Te Kura will deliver all the learning online (from junior level to NCEA Level 3) through Te Kura Online Teaching and Learning Environment (OTLE).
At present OTLE consists of discussion forum for interactions between students and teachers. Students submit their completed school work through OTLE Dropbox function and teachers provide feedback on their work through the same Dropbox. It also consists of other functions like e-mail and pager for student teacher interactions.
To manage its online learning delivery and potential challenges Te Kura has developed policies and procedures for its teaching and learning communities - Responsible use of ICT at Te Kura as well as Te Kura Cyber Safety Incident Handling Procedures. This information along with Te Kura Cyber Safety Incident Form are published on Te Kura Intranet, for staff. And the information for learning community is published on Te Kura Website Te Kura enrolment Terms and conditions along with the information about Learn Cyber safety which also includes links to NetSafe as well as Hectorsworld. Guide lines are also included in terms and conditions in Te Kura enrolment form. Te Kura OTLE information HUB also has a complete unit on responsible use of digital technology, cyber citizenship and cyber Safety, available for learning community. (Some of the information and documents can’t be linked to this post as they are stored in secured space – intranet and OTLE). These approaches are underpinned by the idea that cyber citizenship is a shared responsibility of the school, educators, students, families and whanau as well as wider learning community.
However the risk of an incident occurring exists, there for it is important that the school has developed and implemented an incident response plan.
Teachers certificated to practice in New Zealand are committed to the attainment of the highest standards of professional service in the promotion of learning by those they teach, mindful of the learner's ability, cultural background, gender, age or stage of development.
This complex professional task is undertaken in collaboration with colleagues, learners, parents/guardians and family/whānau, as well as with members of the wider community.
(Code of Ethics for NZ Certificated Teachers)

Potential ethical dilemma in my practice linked to digital or online access or activity

How the potential issue would be addressed if it occurred in my practice:
Te Kura Online Teaching and Learning Environment (OTLE) carries a risk of potential misconduct or an incident through its interactive functions: Discussion Forum, e-mail, Pager and Dropbox. Te Kura students submit their completed school work by uploading it onto OTLE Dropbox. A student can upload an inappropriate image onto Dropbox. If or when this incident occurs, the teacher involved, has to follow Te Kura cyber safety incident response plan. The focus is to respond in such a way so that:
• the situation is not escalated or made worse
• student and teacher safety is maintained
• student distress is minimised
Staff involved and dealing with the incident should focus more on the misconduct of the student and less on the digital tools and technology involved. It is also important that the integrity of the OTLE Dropbox function and the image file should be maintained for gathering the evidence.
The incident must be reported to relevant team leader, curriculum leader, OTLE manager and Te Kura Information Resource Group (IRG) manager, followed by completing and submitting Te Kura cyber safety incident form. The teacher involved must discuss the incident with the group of Te Kura staff listed above and depending on the nature and seriousness of the incidence, the group will follow Te Kura cyber safety incident handling policies and procedures to decide on the outcome and further actions. As Te Kura is a distance education provider, the regional manager involved will contact and deal with the student involved and their whanau. If necessary the incident will be reported to Police.

References:

Code of Ethics for Certificated Teachers:
http://www.educationcouncil.org.nz/content/code-of-ethics-certificated-teachers-0
Guidelines on Ethical Use of Social Media
http://www.teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/guidelines-ethical-use-social-media
Digital technology: Safe and responsible use in schools:
http://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/School/Managing-and-supporting-students/DigitalTechnologySafeAndResponsibleUseInSchs.pdf
NetSafe: https://www.netsafe.org.nz/the-netsafe-kit-for-schools/
Applied and Professional Ethics, GÖRAN COLLSTE, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden: http://web.usm.my/kajh/vol19_1_2012/KAJH19_1_2012_2.pdf
Teacher Ethics Videos:
https://app.themindlab.com/media/7318/view
Ethical and Professional Dilemmas for Educators:
https://app.themindlab.com/media/12731/view
Teacher commitment to Parents/Guardians and Family/Whānau
https://app.themindlab.com/media/12729/view
Te Kura Responsible ICT Use – Procedures for staff
Te Kura Cyber Safety Incident Form (both are stored in Te Kura internal secured space)
Free photo from Freeimages http://www.freeimages.com/search/law

Activity 7: Social media in teaching and professional development

Key features of social media that are beneficial in education for teaching and learning:

Global connectedness empowering education

• Connectedness: In this modern information age, local and global connectedness through social media net-working tools and technology is so crucial for everyone, at all stages of life – while learning, working and living life in general. It plays a key role for everyone in learning and teaching in educational world by enriching learning environment.
• Collaboration has become increasingly important skills in classroom and online learning environment. Local and global collaboration possible through digital technology in education, industry and business, is helping significantly solve many highly complex problems worldwide.
• Access to global resources and learning has become much broader through digital connectedness via social media net-working tools and technology.
• For all aged people, to benefit from varied strength of world economies and trends, learning of global diverse cultures and communities, has become essential, this learning is now much easier through social media net-working tools and technology
• Global connectedness has also improved access to career opportunities worldwide, quite significantly. All children need to learn this, in order to benefit from those opportunities.
• Using social media net-working in the classrooms promotes broader learning of becoming global digital citizens.
• Global connectedness in the classrooms, through digital social media improves student engagement, motivation, creativity and innovative self-regulated learning.
• Through integration of digital, local and global connectedness in the classrooms, learning and teaching is flexible, mobile, personalised, authentic and thus more focused on 21st Century skills

Potential challenges that educators and teachers need to be aware of when integrating social networking platforms into teaching activities:

• Equitable access to digital devices and technology, for all the learners must be ensured in entire learning environment, in and outside classrooms.
• Safeguarding and maintaining privacy of all the learners must be a prime concern for educators and caregivers, at all times.
• Keeping safe online: Teaching, promoting and monitoring Cyber safety against (Cyber bullying, online harassment, Facebook depression, sexting, etc.) must be the top priority again all the time.
• Facilitation of greater awareness and learning of Global Digital Citizenship needs to be integrated, encouraged and promoted in all the teaching and learning online.
• The skills for ‘Maintained focus on learning’ need to be taught, to avoid distraction in order to be productive while learning and working online.
• Adequate technical support for learners needs to be available and facilitation of accessing help themselves; should be integrated in teaching and learning programmes.
• Suitable pedagogies and strategies for teaching and learning through social media net-working tools and technology; are crucial for effective learning outcomes.
• Parental awareness of learning through social media net-working tools and technology; parental guidance and/or supervision of children’s learning; are also essential part of schools teaching and learning programmes. This significantly helps children with managing themselves online and also promotes self-regulated learning.
• suitable strategies and systems for assessing and/or measuring effectiveness of student learning need to be in place
• Face to face real-life social-skills of children need to be maintained in all the teaching and learning programmes, as these skills are essential for real life.

The social media platforms that I feel best supports engagement with my professional development and why:

• Facebook is the most common social net-working platform in education, employment, industry and in business. Almost all the educators, professionals, institutions and organisations worldwide use Facebook. It is the most effective social net-working platform to maintain connectedness with educators and professionals locally and globally, and hence to maintain engagement with professional development.
• Twitter is another most commonly used social net-working platform in all the areas for short, quick, and frequent communications using mostly mobile digital devices
• Google Plus Community and Google Hangouts are also common professional social net-working platforms used by educators and professionals locally and globally, and hence they are useful for ongoing learning and professional development.
• Blogs and Wikis have proved almost essential for online learning, teaching as well as professional development, as learner, educator and professional communities worldwide get equal opportunities to learn from others resources and share and contribute to learning resources for others.
• LinkedIn is not as commonly used as the social media platforms as above, however it can also be used to build the network of educators and professionals for development. It is used very much for careers – by job seekers, recruitment and business.
• GAFE suit and YouTube – well! We all know how useful they are – all though they are not social medial platforms! What would we do without them? All the credit for a lot of the learning and professional development of all aged people, goes to these resource mines!
In my professional practice; for teaching, learning and professional development, I am an active user of Google Plus Community, Blogs and Wikis, LinkedIn, GAFE suit and YouTube; and I am gradually growing my Facebook and Tweeter professional networks and contacts.

References:

Claire Amos's Blog: http://www.teachingandelearning.com/
Global Digital Citizenship Foundation: (a non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating responsible, ethical, global citizens for a digital world): https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/blog
Social Media For Kids® The Social Media Education Experts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2rOekhi20E
Pearson: Social Media for Teaching and Learning
http://www.slideshare.net/tjoosten/social-media-for-teaching-and-learning-27456257?ref=http://professorjoosten.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/pearson-social-media-for-teaching-and.html
The Virtual Learning Network (VLN) provided by the Ministry of Education for all New Zealand educators: http://www.vln.school.nz/
Connected Educators: the importance of being "connected" in order to be an effective teachers and leaders
https://app.themindlab.com/media/12726/view
Engaging Prospective Students with Social Media:
http://www.edsocialmedia.com/2016/02/16001/
Pros and Cons of Social Media in the classrooms:
https://campustechnology.com/articles/2012/01/19/pros-and-cons-of-social-media-in-the-classroom.aspx
Free photo from Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=social%20media

Activity 6: Two contemporary issues or trends influencing New Zealand education:

A strategy for learning with digital technologies is critically important for New Zealand's future economic and social prosperity. Our young people need to be digitally competent, so they can participate successfully in a modern economy and society, support their families, and contribute to the wider community. (FutureFocusedLearning30May2014.pdf, page 2)

Two challenges that New Zealand education is facing:

Access to digital devices and technology is crucial

1. Providing equitable access to digital devices and technology, and ensuring Professional Development for educators and support for learners:

To prepare our young people to live and work in 21st Century environment, New Zealand education system needs to plan and implement initiatives and projects providing equitable access to digital devices and technology, for all our learners. Majority of the learners living in urban areas now have adequate level of access to digital devices and technology. The access to ultra-fast broad band Internet is also in progress in most urban areas. However the government needs to ensure that the same level of access to digital devices and technology is also available for all the learners in rural areas, as well.
Equitable access to digital devices and technology alone wouldn’t make a significant difference in learning, for our learners. New Zealand education system also needs to plan and implement quality professional development for all educators; so that all the educators become confident users of new digital devices and technology, and make the best use of those, to access, develop and use digital resources for teaching and learning. Professional development of all educators is also expected to shift the mind set towards future focused thinking, learning and teaching.
Although our young generation is digital natives, technical support and guidance to them, up to an extent is necessary, in order to facilitate effective 21st Century learning for them. Our learners’ whanau and the community around them also require good technical support, so that they too can be involved in their learners’ education, this can make a significant difference in our learners’ success and also helps transform the community thinking to more future focused learning environment.

2. Transforming New Zealand Curriculum, assessment and qualification systems, and adopting new teaching pedagogies:

Future focused New Zealand education

Every country on earth is reforming public education and there are two reasons for it, the first one is economical and the second is cultural. (Sir Ken Robinson's talk on RSA ANIMATE)
To meet the needs of changing world we need provide education which is accessible, affordable, effective, personal and completely scalable. (Global trends, Video Animation)
Contemporary teaching and learning in New Zealand is mainly driven by assessments and qualifications, as well as curriculum that is not entirely future focused, Current pedagogies, strategies and teaching approaches no longer suit 21st century teaching and learning. All these aspects of contemporary education don’t seem to leave much space for authentic learning, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurism in classroom learning. In modern societies, new and emerging technologies power the skills that drive knowledge creation: complex problem-solving, innovation, communication and collaboration. Twenty-first century skills go hand-in-hand with technological advances. (Future focused learning). An increasing number of school dropout young Kiwis becoming successful people in many areas, give evidence that New Zealand education must transform to more future focused education. There is a growing body of evidence that the thoughtful integration of digital technologies with effective teaching practices can significantly improve learning outcomes (Greaves et al., 2010). It is time to implement the ten strategic priorities and the 23 recommendations to the Government (suggested in the report by the 21st Century Learning Reference Group, May 2014) for 21st century skills and digital competencies.

References

Global trends (Video): “The world is changing faster than at any time in human history”
https://app.themindlab.com/media/9251/view
Future 2030 (Video): https://app.themindlab.com/media/6835/view
Sir Ken Robinson's talk on RSA ANIMATE: Changing Education Paradigms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
What are 21st century skills?
https://k12.thoughtfullearning.com/FAQ/what-are-21st-century-skills
The New Zealand Curriculum Update: file:///C:/Users/dinesh.govind/Downloads/NZC_Update_26_ONLINE.pdf
A report by the 21st Century Learning Reference Group, May 2014
“Future-focused learning in connected communities”
http://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Ministry/Initiatives/FutureFocusedLearning30May2014.pdf
Free photo from Freeimages http://www.freeimages.com/image/science-technology 
from Free photo from Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/

Activity 5: My Professional Connections Map

My Professional Connections:
My Professional connections can be divided in to four main areas:
School Community: Teachers, Senior Leadership Team, Akonga and Whahnau,
Local Community: NZAMT, MOE, Face to face Schools
Online Community: NZQA, TKI, Statistics NZ, Stats Learning Centre, Khan Academy
Professional Community: Core Ed, NZ Education Support Services (NZESS),
Evaluating impact of two professional connections on my practice and professional community:
Te Kura is distance education provider school, due to this aspect; our school is very different from all face to face school. In each curriculum area, for example in Mathematics, my connections with all colleague teachers are crucial for my everyday professional practice. We work very closely with each other in all the aspects of teaching and learning, i.e. developing student learning and assessment resources, assessment of student learning and moderation of assessments, as well as our own learning and professional development. We interact with each other individually, through face to face meetings, online meetings, telephone and e-mail communications, as and when needed in our daily routine. There really is sharing and caring culture within Te Kura teaching community. On top of our own professional responsibilities, we individually create and share teaching and learning, as well as assessment resources, on regular bases. Te Kura also has efficient electronic resource storage and sharing system called Electronic Document Resource Management and Storage – EDRMS.
We also, closely work with and benefit from New Zealand Qualifications Authority – NZQA and Te Kete Ipurangi - TKI. This covers all the aspects of curriculum, assessment resources and management of students’ qualifications, for example assessment standards specifications, clarifications, assessment tasks and schedules. We also benefit from the professional development offered in our curriculum area, by NZQA. Thus NZQA and TKI significantly impact our professional practice, learning and professional development, which helps make our practice NZ Curriculum informed. These organisations play crucial part and significantly impact our professional community!
References:
THE LOGIC OF INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES by SANDRA MATHISON AND MELISSA FREEMAN
http://www.albany.edu/cela/reports/mathisonlogic12004.pdf
TEDxBYU - David Wiley - An Interdisciplinary Path to Innovation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ytjMDongp4

Activity 4: My professional community of practice

Defining my professional community of practice:
I am teaching Mathematics and Statistics at Te Kura - The Correspondence School, Wellington, New Zealand - a distance education providing school. My primary professional community of practice is Te Kura teaching community. The identity of this community is defined by shared focus on:
• Well-being and learning of all ākonga,
• Effective professional relationships with ākonga and whanau,
• Professional learning and development,
• Leadership to effective teaching and learning
• Working effectively within the bicultural context of Aotearoa NZ
• Responding effectively to the diverse and cultural experiences, and varied strengths, interests, and needs of all ākonga
Te Kura Teaching community, akonga and their Whanau, being the major stake holders of the community, it also includes NZAMT – New Zealand Association of Mathematics Teachers and NZ Education Support Services (NZESS)
1 The current issues and community’s efforts to address those:
The current issues:
Te Kura is implementing Online learning delivery, which impacts:
• Technically supporting akonga and their Whanau with learning on line and digital devices
• Preparation of digital resources (learning and assessment) and uploading these on to Te Kura Online Teaching and Learning Environment – OTLE
• Professional Development of Te Kura teaching community for Te Kura OTLE and Internet tools
Te Kura teaching community’s efforts to address the issues:
Te Kura OTLE team facilitates Professional Development of Te Kura teaching community in the form of:
• Online PD courses in OTLE: OTLEHUB and ONLINEPD
• PD and Training sessions online through Adobe Connect
• Face to face PD and training sessions
• One to one assistance in small teams, in daily routine
For Te Kura learning community:
• Technical assistance with learning is provided through Te Kura OTLEHUB,
• Face to face assistance is also provided through Te Kura advisories running in many locations throughout the country.
• We - teachers also provide one to one assistance over the phone and through e-mail communications.
Te Kura teaching community is developing new, relevant, and interactive digital resources (learning and assessment) at junior secondary level, to be delivered through Te Kura OTLE. The resources for senior levels are prepared by external agencies. However the refinement and fine tuning of these resources will gradually be done by teaching community.
2 The purpose and functions of my practice and the ways I cater for the community of your practice:
The purpose of my practice is to support my professional community with its focus on akonga’s wellbeing and learning, professional relationship with akonga and their whanau, …as described in the first section of this activity. My professional practice involves two major components: pastoral care and leaning of akonga.
For pastoral care of my akonga, I set goals to contact my akonga at least once every week by phoning, e-mailing or by writing letters to them. I also make it a top priority to respond to my akonga in the best timely manner when they contact me in any of the ways above. I focus on developing and maintaining professional relationship with akonga and their whanau.
To cater for the needs of my professional community I utilise my time, knowledge, skills and experiences in supporting my akonga’s learning. I create learning and assessment resources and take pride in sharing with my teaching community. For my community’s ongoing collective tasks, assignments and projects, I willingly work collaboratively with my colleagues and contribute to the best of my ability. I also voluntarily take responsibility to develop learning and assessment resources, for example develop units of learning, internal assessments, end of year examinations.
3 The core values that underpin my profession, and evaluation of my practice with regard to those core values:
At Te Kura (2016) our vision is ‘students achieve their educational and personal goals, enabling them to participate effectively as members of their communities’.
The core values that underpin our profession are:
Put the success of our students at the forefront of everything we do:
Our professional practice (teaching learning) is focused on the success of our students. We develop students’ individual and authentic education plan based on students’ interest and passion, their strength and career goals. My goal is to support my students achieve their goals!
Respect each other, students, their whanau and our partner organisations:
Our practice involves a high level of mutual respect amongst colleagues, and we treat our students, their Whanau, and our partner organisations and agencies respectfully. Pastoral care of our students is a top priority at Te Kura.
See strength in diversity:
Te Kura caters for a huge range of students – from early childhood to adult students from New Zealand and from overseas. Our learning community is very diverse, consisting of many different cultures and ethnicity. We recognise and nurture the strength of our students’ from all different cultural backgrounds.
Celebrate innovation and success:
We encourage, promote and support students’ creativity, innovation and entrepreneurism. We recognise, acknowledge and take pride in celebrating students’ achievements and success.
Communicate openly and honestly:
Te Kura is a distance education provider school, where communication with our akonga, their whanau and local community, is a key factor in students’ education. Our communications around students’ strength, weakness, abilities, learning and progress, are honest and transparent.
References:
Wenger-trayner.com. (2015). Introduction to communities of practice
http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/
Team BE. (2011 Dec 28, 2011). Communities versus networks? [ Web blog post].. Retrieved from
http://wenger-trayner.com/resources/communities-versus-networks/
OPENiPhotojournalism. (2009, Sep 15). Etienne Wenger talks about 'walking the landscape of practice'. Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjw0YoqpEq8&feature=youtu.be&list=PLb5Ty6fTaPkWE
Te Kura:
http://www.tekura.school.nz/about-us/vision-and-values/
Te Kete Ipurangi – TKI:
http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/Practising-Teacher-Criteria-and-e-learning

Activity 3: Responses to Finlay’s (2008) Article

The points that I can relate to my reflective practice:
“Unless teachers develop the practice of critical reflection, they stay trapped in unexamined judgments, interpretations, assumptions, and expectations. Approaching teaching as a reflective practitioner involves fusing personal beliefs and values into a professional identity” (Larrivee, 2000, p.293).
Schon believed that as professionals become more expert in their practice, they developed the skill of being able to monitor and adapt their practice simultaneously, perhaps even intuitively. In contrast, novice practitioners, lacking knowing-in-action (tacit knowledge), tended to cling to rules and procedures, which they are inclined to apply mechanically. Schon argued that novices needed to step back and, from a distance, take time to think through situations. Whether expert or novice, all professionals should reflect on practice – both in general and with regard to specific situations.
For the first part of my teaching career I have taught at face to face to school, in classrooms for many years and then for more than last ten years I have been teaching at Te Kura - The Correspondence School, Wellington, New Zealand - a distance education providing school.
In both the teaching environment I have witnessed several teaching professionals in action. I can easily relate to the quote above, in (Larrivee, 2000, p.293).
I still remember the first half of my first year of teaching, as a novice, in front of senior secondary classes I used to be a little nervous and unconfident. In those situations I used to hold on to my own beliefs about teaching and learning in my classes, assumption about students, discipline and overall classroom environment, my own expectations of my teaching and I mostly followed the same routine/pattern of teaching rigidly, lesson by lesson. The breakthrough came in my practice in the second half of my first year – all the thanks to an expert teaching facilitator and mentor! I began to lookback and overview most of my lessons; which helped me address my weaknesses – (informally at that time), I began to be a reflective practitioner, this changed and improved my practice!
Reflection-on-action And Reflection-in-action:
One of Schon’s (1983) most important and enduring contributions was to identify two types of reflection: reflection-on-action (after-the-event thinking) and reflection-in-action (thinking while doing).
In 2007 – 2009 I participated in NZ MOE initiated ICT PD three year project. At present I also belong to Te Kura Online Teaching and Learning Environment (OTLE) team. In both these roles I have presented several staff training and professional development sessions.
During the planning and preparation for these presentations, intuitively I seem to go through reflection-in-action process several times, critically evaluating the aim, purpose, objective, content, application, relevance, summary and questions. During the presentation especially when the participants are practicing the activities I get a few moments to quickly review how the session has progressed so far, what and how I have presented, how the group has responded, what is next and how?
At the end of the session it is natural to lookback and think about overall performance (reflection-in-action process), what went and worked well? Did I manage to present the points in simple and meaningful way? Did the participants understand what I was presenting? How did they respond? Were they interested? Did they participate actively? How did I feel – relaxed, stressed, enjoyed it? What could have been better? What do I need to do to improve the presentation in future?
I find it interesting that after several presentations and reflection on those, my common weakness seem to be insufficient sense of humour and entertainment! I need to be more humorous and entertaining the participants. To address this issue I try hard to pick up relevant points from the presentations of educational presenters, however there is always room for improvement.
“Done well and effectively, reflective practice can be an enormously powerful tool to
examine and transform practice. Hobbs (2007) recommends that this self-development
process be encouraged in any field whose members work with people”.
The model of reflection that I tend to use, evaluations of its effectiveness, and room for improvement:
My teaching practice has been reflective around lessons, developing (teaching and assessment) resource, and presenting training and professional development sessions. However this is the first time I studied different reflective models in detail, and I feel, up to some extent, my reflective practice has been similar to Gibb’s Model for Reflection. As I have described in the section above, (under the heading ‘Reflection-on-action and Reflection-in-action’) in this activity 3, my reflective practice has been informal, simpler and shorter than Gibbs model. It also has been mostly with in me, I haven’t shared the practice with my colleagues. This practice has worked for me satisfactorily so far, however I now understand that reflective practice is the most effective when it is shared with other professionals.
After studying different models of reflection and watching reflective practice [video file] by Phillip Dawson, I have developed better understanding of the practice. I found the practice described by Phillip Dawson very realistic and practical. I can see myself using Gibbs model, combined with some practical ideas described by Phillip Dawson.
Both the types of reflection ‘Reflection-on-action and Reflection-in-action’ identified by Schon (1983) are useful in different contexts. I believe ‘Reflection-in-action’ is more suitable for longer tasks like presentations, training, professional development sessions etc. while ‘Reflection-on-action’ is suitable for short or long tasks. To improve my reflective practice I also need to make it structured and shared.
References:
Rolfe Model of reflection: Gary Rolfe and colleagues (2001)
Reflecting on ‘Reflective practice’ By: Linda Finlay
http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/files/opencetl/file/ecms/web-content/Finlay-%282008%29-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf
Reflective Practice [video file] by Phillip Dawson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1aYWbLj0U8
Schon’s (1983) Reflection-in-action and Reflection-on-action

Activity 2: Metacognitive reflection on my learning and practice

In a short period of time, innovative technologies and tools have significantly change the way we live and work, and are continuing to do so rapidly. And for some time, this change has been challenging the old and traditional educational systems, teaching, learning and resources. Now all educational institutions have an obligation to prepare their learners to live and work in 21st century.
Much of educational literature I have read implies that at an online school, teaching and learning material/resources should be digital, latest/current, relevant, interesting and interactive. Online Teaching and Learning Environment should form of a virtual school. Except for genuine difficulties, student should be able to complete work and learn on line and their learning should be assessed accordingly.
In the last ten years of my teaching career at Te Kura I have spent significant amount of time on learning and professional development in the area of e-learning, on line learning and Information Communication Technologies. However I always have felt that due to several constraints I have been unable to apply the new learning and skills to teaching practice, at an expected level. I feel we are far away from 21st century teaching.
After getting to know about this Postgraduate Certificate Course in Applied Practice (Digital Collaborative Learning), reading and finding out about exciting learning and professional development opportunity, including the encouragement and financial support in the form of ‘Next Generation of teachers scholarship’ I couldn't resist deciding to enrol in this course. I felt this course is perfect for 21st century learning, professional development and to upgrade teaching practice.
Further development of key competencies and Key changes in my practice:
Thinking:
Although it has been very hard to study while teaching full time I am extremely pleased that I embarked on this learning journey. Now I strongly feel that the best thing about this learning is that it has shifted my mind set to 21st century education, learning and teaching. Progressing through the learning, (in the form of listening to ‘modern learning minded’ lecturers and international speakers, watching innovative videos, reading literature on educational research and finding, working on tasks with other enthusiastic professionals using new technologies), that incorporates New Zealand Curriculum Key Competencies and Practising Teacher Criteria, and provides skills for 21st century teaching, is a privilege! A little example of this feeling is ‘watching the 3D printer in action building solid objects’ – its so fascinating! This is evolving technology and this task may be a part of our learners work routine in future.
As my learning progressed covering interesting topics like Digital Collaborative Learning in Context, Leadership in Digital Collaborative Learning, Research and Community informed Practice and Applied Practice in Context, without much realisation my thinking and approach to learning and teaching has been shifting more and more towards 21st Century world.
In my practice I am a lot more inclined to incorporate suitable digital tools and resources available in the area of Mathematics and Statistics, for example offering tutorials using Adobe Connect software, using iNZight software for teaching and learning Statistics, using NZ Grapher and Geogebra software for Algebra, use of Google Applications, iMovie, windows movie maker, Graphic calculators etc.
Participating and contributing:
At the beginning of this course I was so pleased to see the emphasis on working collaboratively and surprised to find out that group work is acceptable even for the assessments! After working collaboratively for some weeks I realised the importance of participating and contributing in this modern world and in future, even more! In my teaching practice I have been participative and contributive professional as I take pride in sharing my new learning, teaching, learning and assessment resources, volunteering for developing educational resources school wide, etc. This competency is growing stronger, recently Te Kura has bought Google GAFE suit, and I already have informally expressed my interest to be one of the leading teachers facilitating professional development and staff training for GAFE suit.
Using language, symbols, and texts:
Although it has been very challenging to cover all the reading, listening to speakers, watching educational videos, reviewing literature, writing essays, reviews etc, all this has significantly improved my reading and writing skills which directly helps with developing teaching, learning and assessment resources (school wide) which are NZC learning and assessment objective, informed.
References:
Practising Teacher Criteria and e-learning
http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/Practising-Teacher-Criteria-and-e-learning
NZC: Key Competencies
Capabilities for living and lifelong learning
http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Key-competencies

Activity 1: Welcome and Introduction:

Kia Ora, welcome to my Blog!
My name is Dinesh, I am currently teaching Mathematics and Statistics at secondary level at Te Kura - The Correspondence School, Wellington, New Zealand. Te Kura is distance education providing school which is implementing online learning delivery project. From the beginning of 2018 school year, Te Kura will deliver all the learning online (from junior level to NCEA Level 3). As I am passionate about distant online teaching and learning, I am enjoying my job! I also belong to Te Kura Online Teaching and Learning Environment (OTLE) team. I like learning and being innovative in teaching as well as in life. I love sharing my learning with people and take pride in it! Sometimes I do dream of presenting my new learning in education, at international level!
In 2007 – 2009 I participated in NZ MOE initiated ICT PD three year project, I enjoyed the learning and professional development, as well as sharing it with my teaching and learning communities. In general I thrive to apply what I learn! Following this ICT PD project, In 2010 I also completed ‘How2ofWb2’ online one year programme offered by Australian educational institution which I thoroughly enjoyed, despite the challenge of studying while teaching full time!
Since July 2015 I have been studying; Postgraduate Certificate Course in Applied Practice ‘Digital and Collaborative Learning’ offered by Unitec – Institute of Technology, Auckland New Zealand, through The Mind Lab. - I believe life is all about learning.
At Te Kura my focus has been on teaching and learning Mathematics and Statistics mostly at NCEA Level 1, 2, and 3. I spend a lot of my time on developing assessment resources, learning to apply digital tools and technology to Mathematics and Statistics at this level.
Te Kura learning community is very different from most learners at face to face schools. Our learners are not in front of us (teachers), we support them from a distance, by correspondence (using Internet technology and digital tools, e-mails, phones and written communications). And a lot of our learners are in very challenging situations (physical as well as psychological). They are categorised as ‘High Needs Low Support’. Focusing on pastoral care of my students is vital, this includes contacting them regularly, communicating with them and their whanau and being well informed of their situation as well as physical and psychological wellbeing and nurturing them.
My priorities are to develop pleasant professional relationship with our learners, motivate, encourage and help them engage in learning, acknowledge and praise their (even the smallest) learning and achievement! I follow the quote ‘I must be a good teacher of my students rather than my subject’. Once good relationship is established I share my subject knowledge, skills and experience with learners and work with them, supporting their interest and learning goals. My goal is to help my students achieve their goals!
My educational learning in the last few years has convinced me that I am no longer a teacher, I am a facilitator! I believe in the following two quotes:
“We have to see ourselves less as transmitters of expert knowledge and more as facilitators of critical learning and perspective transformation.
As Boud et al. (1993, p.9) state, ‘while we commonly assume that teaching leads to learning, it is the experiences which teaching helps create that prompt learning, not primarily the acts of the teacher’.” (Redmond, 2006, p.226)
After learning about 21st Century learning skills I feel frustrated about many obstacles in the path of promoting and facilitating relevant learning, for example curriculum and assessment constraints, qualification driven teaching and learning, ill-preparedness for (or lack in) shifting the mind set towards 21st Century learning.
References:
How should I blog?
http://howshouldiblog.blogspot.co.nz/2016/01/how-to-write-good-blog-post.html
Susan Gunelius’ views on the secrets behind successful Blog Posts
http://weblogs.about.com/od/writingablog/qt/The-Secrets-Of-Blog-Post-Length.htm
Legal issues bloggers should understand
http://weblogs.about.com/od/bloggingethics/tp/Legal-Issues-Bloggers-Must-Understand.htm
Three top blogging rules
http://weblogs.about.com/od/bloggingethics/tp/Top3BloggingRules.htm
Seth Godin, one of the most known bloggers in the world
http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead?language=en