The Final Challenge
Thinking!To decide upon my final project I looked back at the work I have done throughout Coetail and thought about what ideas I would like to consolidate.
- Pupils being creators and not just consumers
- The power of images and multimedia
- Problem based learning
- Connections in and outside of school.
I then considered my roles within the school: Design Teacher, Home Room Teacher and a Technology Coach. These are all different roles, however I think personal development is at the core. I also thought about the sessions I have done with parents and their comments on the need for more specific digital world training. I thought and I thought - I imagine the process was much like watching pooh Bear! However I then had a breakthrough.At school we run a Well Being course, that each Homeroom teacher teaches for one hour every week. I will produce teaching materials that can be used by home room teachers to discuss life in the digital world, within these sessions. We have some material now, however it is not very interactive, in fact it is not interactive at all. I want to improve this and make it more pupil lead (however I will need to provide enough support to ensure that the staff feel confident) with discovery and creation at its heart. By ensuring that there is always an end product (from presentation, multimedia, blog post) the pupils can discuss and share their ideas internally and with outside audiences.I have discussed this with the grade level leaders and they all seemed enthusiastic, so now I need to outline possible topics and get their feedback on which topics would fit into their syllabuses. In fact I have worked with the Grade 10 Grade Level leader to produce a first attempt at a Digital Challenge the pupils responded well and are producing some good work, we now need to have a look at the end products. It is not perfect, but it's a start!Possible IdeasI have the where I now need to look at the what and how. This is the hardest part. I want to start small and keep building on these until we have a set of multimedia, online units that can be accessed by anyone. Eventually I would love the pupils to develop some of the units - but that is racing ahead of myself!First I need to decide upon the topics. This is the hardest element and I would love any feedback or ideas - especially from anyone reading this, who already does similar things! I am thinking:[googleapps domain="docs" dir="document/d/1dri8NXQNpzkTKig7Mve-sWEr2Yk-UvvNFhX2lreXHqA/pub" query="embedded=true" width="634" height="634" /]If you have any comments click here to add them.I have created a UbD:[googleapps domain="docs" dir="document/d/1ED2urnnDpwgM1XOXz2Xd-0h5HWgbzuYZcvlAJw0wTXo/pub" query="embedded=true" width="638" height="638" /]ProblemsThere are a multitude of areas where there could be potential problems. Firstly and most importantly, I will need to engage the pupils. At high school age this can be hard when the pupils see no direct rewards for this (they are very exam driven!) and it is important that they see how these topics connect to their everyday life and their life beyond school!Secondly I need to ensure that the material is well constructed and easy to use, so that I do not alienate the teaching staff who are delivering this. I would love it to be developed so that the staff and the pupils go on a voyage of discovery together. However, I would like the voyage to be on a well constructed and easily steered boat, so that everyone feels safe!I want this to be relevant and accessible online, I need to find ways to do this that are not just me talking on a video. This will be hardest part. How to deliver content and examples, without just talking at them? I also do not want this to be too prescriptive, part of this process must be pupils looking for themselves and developing their own understanding. This will be the hard part. I have had a go, but it always ends with me just "teaching".https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR4n5aQvuJs&feature=youtu.beSo I now have my main idea. I have ideas for different topics - these need developing. I have some ideas for activities. I now need to pull it all together.