DFI Fourth Blog Post

Kia ora koutou,

Today's learning was all about dealing with data including forms, spreadsheets and maps.

We began by going into our Digital Bubbles and discussed what did and didn't work well from what we had learnt in last week's session. No-one had any problems but the common theme was needing to spend more time practising things newly learnt. I reflected on how I'm becoming more confident using Slides and Draw.

Next we focused on the 'Share/Tohatoha' aspect of the Manaiakalani Pedagogy including how 

working with learners to establish an authentic audience for their learning outcomes is a key component of Manaiakalani's pedagogy. Obviously the concept of sharing is an age-old concept which continues today but the main difference with today's sharing is that it can be easily be done globally. 

Manaiakalani chose Blogger as its platform to share for several reasons, including that it provides the opportunity to share with an authentic audience as well as being an effective way to learn.

We then had a quick 'Hapara Hot Tips' session. During this I learnt how to use the search function, set up groups, list alphabetically and how to click and drag to put students' names in a different order. I can already use Hapara adequately but these tips are going to come in handy.

Next we focused on creating Google Forms. I actually had a play with this a couple of weeks ago and created my first form as a survey for my Homeroom class. There was much information in today's session, which moved at a fast pace, so I'm going to have to 're-wind' to learn more skills!

We then went to our 'bubbles' and completed a form, including uploading a photo. We also created a form with five different question types and shared this via a hyperlink.

We then had a 'deep dive' looking into using Google My Maps after which we moved back to our 'bubbles' to create our own map: as well as importing spreadsheet information to a map. I can see how this tool will be a fun learning tool in the classroom!

After this we imported information from a spreadsheet which looked like this:



I have used this fun tool in the classroom in the past but I can see how being more proficient at using it will add more depth for learning in the classroom.

Next we had a 'deep dive' looking at some features of sheets that are useful for school. This session contained much information and went at a rapid pace so I'm going to have to 're-wind' this session as well. I know a little about using sheets but learning a lot more is going to make the admin side of things much more efficient!

We then had a play with sheets including creating averages and graphs:
Class Test Data
This is going to be a valuable tool to use in evaluating student progress and areas of concern.

Our next focus session was on analysing data from a students' blogs. Under the 'Stats' section of Blogger there is all sorts of useful information pertaining to the blogs.

Next we went to our 'bubbles' to add data from a student blog to a sheet:


We finished off the day by looking at some blogging tips including how to add labels.

It's been another fun and informative day with a substantial amount of information to process. Thank goodness for rewindable learning!

Ka kite ano,

Sean.