DAY 3 MEDIA - Animation

The animation below is my first foray into the world of Disney, Pixar and Studio Ghibli and has given me added respect for my former students who now work at Wetaworks Studios as digital animators. They have informed me that they enjoy their mahi, they find it satisfies their creative urges and even greater satisfaction when a project is completed - although I am sure that what they haven't told me is that they frequently suffer from repetitive strain injury, as I certainly do after creating such a basic animation.

Today's session on Google Slides took me back in time - I remember being sent by my school in Hong Kong for "special" training in the nineties to learn the arcane mysteries of Microsoft Word, Excel and Slideshow. The Ministry of Education in Hong Kong were convinced that computing would be the way of the future and were very quickly mobilising teachers to represent their schools for training so that they could rush back and coach their colleagues on the few devices which were available in most schools. I was impressed before the course had even started - the building was air-conditioned, a rare treat for teachers as the only schools which had air-conditioning installed were those schools which had fundraised for the huge sums of money involved. Outside it was 35 degrees and ninety per cent humidity, so the air-conditioned environment was very welcome. When i remarked upon this to one of the technicians, he looked at me as if I was crazy and informed me "No, no, no - the air-conditioning is for the protection of the computers, not for the benefit of the teachers!" every time I saw him during that day, he looked at me as if he begrudged me sharing the same environment as his precious hardware - and every computer technician I have ever met has always put the hardware first, we mere humans play only a minor role in the cyber scheme of things.

WORKFLOW

 The video below is the culmination of today's major joint enterprise. My minor role was simply to present and record on Google Meet, my colleague Susan had a more dynamic role to play, leaping from laptop to ipad to phone in a multitasking marathon as she compensated for the internet disruptions created by the major upgrade being installed in her neighbour's home. Through a combination of our efforts we succeeded in recording the discussion we conducted on Google Meet and that is presented below for your perusal.

It was both difficult and enlightening attempting to discern the learning intention of a task based upon the product presented by a student. Both Susan and myself were very impressed with the quality of the work produced by the 9-year-old student and by the scaffolding that the teacher had put in place for the student to produce such a creative finished item.

today was very productive, with a wealth of information being provided, but ending with a feeling of satisfaction at being able to complete something new.

TERM 4 DFI Day 1 CORE BUSINESS

 It was four degrees outside and not much warmer inside, but the sun was shining as it has invariably done in Taranaki this year, so no problem with getting up and ready for the early start online.

As is typical of education courses, a very disparate collection of individuals had gathered together with the sole intent of learning more to assist with smoothing the road to success for the students in their care. I was thankful that I was not required to speak to my introductory slide to the entire group, but only to the seven members of the breakout group to which I have been attached for the next nine weekly sessions. A gentle introduction is always appreciated, especially on the last day of the school holidays.

 That gentle introduction lasted for exactly one hour and then it was time to hit the ground running, with immersion sessions on both the familiar and the unfamiliar. I found it very helpful to learn how useful google groups can be - and surprising to discover that I have been a member of 62 such groups in the past three years and that I am currently a member of 15 groups, about 10 more than I was aware of.

On a professional level, I had always dismissed the value of voice typing since I last made use of it four or five years ago, but on renewing my acquaintance with this tool I was delighted to discover that the efficacy has been drastically improved. The transcription hardly missed a beat with recreating in print what my Scottish accented English had been dictating - with the exception of "whanau" being represented as "fun hour", which does have a lovely ring to it. This tool with be of invaluable assistance to the reluctant writers in my classes, particularly those who are often dispirited by proofreading their own work and discovering a host of spelling errors.

On a personal level, it was a pleasant experience to be collaborating with teachers drawn from the length and breadth of Aotearoa, it does get a little isolated here in our corner of Taranaki. Let's see where we go from here.