DCTL: Assignment 2 Educational Innovation Plan

 Kia ora everyone, 

I am back sharing my final assessment in the DCTL course with you. This time we were tasked to create an Educational Innovation Plan. Our task is to create a digital artefact in which we explain how we would integrate digital and collaborative learning into educational practice, taking sustainability into account. 

Part 1: Describe the context and rationale for your plan of integrating digital and collaborative learning into your practice

One of my key takeaways from this course has been the importance of digital technologies within our classroom environments. This realisation for me began in Lesson 1 when we discussed Education 4.0 and the importance of teaching 21st century learning in order to prepare our akonga for the workforce they will be entering at the end of their educational careers. Something that I had not considered before was the cultural and environmental sustainability we also must uphold through the ever changing world of education. In Aotearoa, biculturalism is always at the forefront. 'What works for Māori, works for all' is a saying that I have heard time and again when prioritising and planning in a way which is culturally responsive to our priority learners, but what does this look like? This is where my thinking left off at the end of Assignment 1.

Focussing in on a plan, I have decided that I want to direct my attention to Sustainable Learning and Education, as discussed by Kellianne (academyEx, 2022). The idea of "learning that lasts" (Graham, Berman & Bellert, 2015) should be an ideal that every teacher strives for; meaningful, intentional, inclusive and providing an education that is current and viable to our culturally diverse learners. While I feel like I have had the best intentions for these ideals, sometimes I feel that we can get bogged down with going digital and forgetting that these best practices need to be noticeable in the online space of devices as well. 

I need to bridge the gap between sustainable learning and education, teaching in a culturally responsive way that will get the best outcomes for my 21st century learners who require skills in collaboration, communication, project based learning and skills that will make them employable young adults... all the while working with 11-12 year olds. How do I do it?

Part 2: Explain how you plan to develop and apply digital technology into your practice

Having spent the last 6 years of my teaching career in 1:1 digital environments, we never do anything online until I have worked through some tried and true lessons regarding digital responsibility and navigating the online space safely in regards to education and what learners may do outside the classroom. I find that students do not always know how to manage risks and that can be detrimental to creating strong, positive relationships in person. This has fallout effects within the social dynamics of the classroom when students are conduct risks, behaving in an unkind/hateful way online (academyEx, 2022). A way to combat the social fallout, is to create a supportive online environment facilitated by the teacher in class. Perhaps this can change students' thinking about the purpose of interacting in the online sphere? My hunch is that if we provide students with positive tools and opportunities to collaborate online, they may veer away from using online spaces in harmful or hurtful ways.

This relates to what we learned in Week 8 about Digital Technologies in the classroom. The Google for Education (n.d), report states that, "parents want schools to help students have healthy relationships with tehnologies." This means that were teachers to take time in their curriculum to add in lessons and opportunities for children to engage positively and collaboratively regardless of if the content is related directly to reading, writing or maths, the support is there if this benefits the children's ability to engage appropriately. I also think that a savvy teacher can easily use Digital Responsibility as an overarching unit topic and plan appropriate literacy and even inquiry lessons around it, thus not taking away from the curriculum, but providing an authentic learning contexts for akonga.

My plan to support the teaching I am already doing around digital citizenship is to use some of the online games and apps that were introduced to us in Lessons 7-8 and 13-14. A unit plan I am currently developing for Term 3 is around Debating which is part of our Literacy 'Oral Language' curriculum. I plan to use the tool Kialo-edu in a similar way as we were introduced in this course. I think that allowing student voices leans to authentic learning experiences and using an online tool to share opinions in a thoughtful and appropriate way is a lesson in itself. Students will see points of views or opinions they disagree with and with my support, they will need to debate or argue in a respectful way, taking into account the perspectives of others. This leads into where I plan to use collaboration within my Debating unit.

Part 3: Explain how you plan to develop and apply collaborative learning into your practice

Collaborating and working with others is something that many of my Year 7-8 students have struggled with over the years. I have done a debating unit in Year 9 and found that the engagement and collaboration was more suitable for their ability level. My current group of Year 8s are mostly working at or above curriculum level. They enjoy times where they can be vocal and share their opinions, therefore, I think that using Debating as a hook for next term will be successful for them with the appropriate scaffolding.

We have already completed a handful of digital citizenship lessons in Term 1 and have had a few others when required. I think that by getting them discussing topics which are relevant to them; social media usage, online spaces, is technology beneficial for students? etc. that we will be able to have some robust discussions. When reading through the tasks assigned in Week 8's unit, I found a lot of key words which stood out to me about debating; constructing knowledge from multiple perspectives, important skills, values, critical thinking, self regulation... many of these tied into what I see as a 21st century learner.

The way the debate structure is allows students to work collaboratively in their small debating groups to come up with their ideas and share their opinions. It also allows for cross group collaborations as a debate is only as successful as the rebuttal. Students debating on both sides are required to stop, listen and reflect on what the other team is saying. Even though they individually want to 'win' the debate, they need to be working together in order for the debate to happen. We will also have those learners who are watching and listening to the debate.. they could then have a vote to help me decide which team made the best arguments. They can also be noticing skills and strategies to help them when it is their turn to debate on a different topic and offer verbal feedback to those who have just had their turn. I think that there is an extensive amount of collaboration and team work that goes into running a debate that will be beneficial for my learners. 

We can then follow up these discussions in our Community Circles; our classroom hui or weekly discussions. This transferable skill of listening to others and accepting differing points of view is one of those life lessons that students need and will hopefully, with practice, become one of the "learning that lasts" moments for us. Also, the ability to work in small groups, take on different roles and offer support is key to teaching in a culturally responsive environment. 

Part 4: Analyse how your plan would address relevant aspects of sustainability

Trying anything new requires one to analyse and ensure outcomes are being met. I enjoyed learning about The Spiral of Inquiry (Kaser and Halbert, 2017) and how this can be used when successfully implementing a new set of creative ideas or innovation. This will be important for me as I attempt to add more digital and sustainable elements to my practice beyond my immediate plan for the debating unit. 

In addressing relevant aspects of sustainability, my plan hits on a variety of topics that Ken Robinson discusses in his book Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That's Transforming Education (2017). He talks about continuous, proactive learning and I think that the way I have planned to scaffold and structure my unit to feed off of what we have already learning about digital citizenship and where I want to go after debating by linking some of the 'soft skills' we've learned into more constructive Community Circles is showing the links between subjects and topics. I am using the parameters of our Literacy curriculum and school wide PB4L expectations with our restorative circles to create learning opportunities that are relevant and engaging for my learners. There is a cycle to what opportunities I am providing them, and links to the 'real world stuff' they need to know - this is an example of purposeful pedagogy, democratic engagement and digital geographies which are part of the Disciplines for Sustainable Learning  (Hays and Reinders, 2020). 

My thinking does not end here, I have found huge amounts of valuable resources when looking at the ideas of Diffusion of Innovation Theory, where I realised I am part of the 'Early Adopters' phase. The idea of Agile Concepts allowed me to reflect on some of the feelings I had in my previous workplace and the idea of Scrum learning/planning and utilising Kanban boards releated to my 'learning sprints' mindset when I do my planning; I plan in 2-4 week chunks and reflect to see where we go next. Using task boards to allow student agency and choice has been long withstanding in my practice, but using a Kanban board could elevate our experience. 

In conclusion, I have learned so much through this course, that I cannot simply summarise my next steps in 1200-1600 words. I look forward to seeing how I will utilise a variety of resources next term, after having the time to digest my new learning and put it to practice. I am excited to see where I will be with my digital and collaborative teaching and planning after trialing out some of these resources in my Debating/Digital Citizenship unit and hope to see an increase in student engagement and experience. 

References: 

academyEX. (retrieved 2023). Sustainable education [video]. DCTL. https://app.academyex.com/courses/digital-and-collaborative-teaching-and-learning-micro-credential/dctl-feb-2023-sf/step/6.9

academyEX. (retrieved 2023). Sustainable education [video]. DCTL. https://app.academyex.com/courses/digital-and-collaborative-teaching-and-learning-micro-credential/dctl-feb-2023-sf/step/7.3

Google for Education. (n.d.). Future of the Classroom: Emerging Trends in K-12 Education Global Edition. https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/future_of_the_classroom_emerging_trends_in_k12_education.pdf

Graham, L., Berman, J. & Bellert. A (2015). Sustainable Learning: Inclusive Practices for 21st Century Classrooms. Cambridge University Press.

Hays, J. & Reinders, H. (2020). Sustainable learning and education: A curriculum for the future. International Review of Education, 66, 29–52. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322207875_Sustainable_Learning_and_Education_A_Curriculum_for_the_Future

Kaser, L. & Halbert, J. (2017). The Spiral Playbook: Leading with an inquiring mindset in school systems and schools. C21 Canada. http://c21canada.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Spiral-Playbook.pdf

Robinson, K., & Aronica, L. (2016). Creative schools: the grassroots revolution that's transforming education. New York, New York, Penguin Books.