The Tangent I have gone down... Printing and Learning

Tinker, tailor, solider, sailer...
This week for Mindlab we focused on two different areas; 3D modelling and printing, and Leadership.

What an eye opener for me about the 3D and 4D! modelling and printing. WOW. I've known about 3D modelling and printing for sometime now and can see many practical and exciting prospects for using this technology in the classroom.
At my school we don't have a 3D printer at our end of the school but I believe there are a couple at the senior end. Do we use them though? - no. Could we? - I am not sure...

Having a look at one of the videos from course material, the presenter from Kidesign.org  suggested that although schools have 3D printing technologies, many of the printers have ended up being dust collectors because teachers don't know how to use them. This comment struck a chord with me, as I think it is a real challenge for the average teacher when implementing most technology really. Change and innovation happens so quickly!
How do we allow both teachers and students to become confident and adept uses of these innovative technologies, so they don't become ornaments?
I think that the answer lies, in part, down to beliefs about learning and how learning happens. I personally can see quite a change in my thinking here and those constructivist and constructionist theories are starting to really take hold in my thought process. Although I didn't think I had subscribed to the idea that teachers should know 'everything' about x,y and z, the reality of what happens in the classroom (and in my classroom too) and the whole idea of being able to learn through learning activities and challenges, is actually quite hard for teachers to do. God forbid we look like we don't know the answer, have the solution or make everything tidy and neat at the conclusion of a lesson. What chaos could erupt from there?
I can think of many a lesson where technology has not worked smoothly (to be honest that's nearly every lesson) and how I feel when this occurs. Usually inwardly panicked and outwardly annoyed!  Thinking about what teaching and education is, and how these technologies get pushed aside because teachers don't feel confident in using them, is a real shame for our students. Making mistakes, not knowing the answers is such an important part of the learning process. Learning is not a smooth, flow chart type process at all. It's messy and has an array of tangents. Learning through the struggle, struggling together, now that's education.

So lesson to self: you don't (no, really you don't) have to have all the answers or the secret key that holds the 'truth'. 😇

I loved the 4D printing technologies I was exposed to in the 4D Printing: the Future of Design . This youtube clip was phenomenal. In case you are unsure of this, the video describes 4D printing as being a way of printing self re-configuring and programming material. Essentially an object that can change and adapt itself over time. Pretty amazing stuff. We were asked to reflect on how we could use this in the classroom and to be honest we couldn't necessarily think of any amazing answers. The future though, is an open book and what students may be able to do with this technology is yet to be discovered.
If you haven't seen Joseph DeSimone's Ted talk about 3D printing you should. It is awesome in the traditional sense of the word. 3D printing that isn't augmented 2D printing but in fact a multi composite, growing type printing that is up to 100 times faster than the 3D printing technologies we have now. MIND BLOWN! How cool and practical would that type of technology be in a school.

However, there another point of view about 3D printing and these technologies that I want to briefly mention. One person in class brought up how environmentally irresponsible it is to print off all these 'objects' etc and I have to agree with her. In my opinion we do live in a throw away society where value isn't always put on things that could be reused or recycled. I am so guilty of that myself. I think though (hopefully) that as the technology grows through its infancy stages that we should be able to adapt the materials we use, to be environmentally safe. Adding that component in is important to all technology uses and lessons I think.

The Aftermath... Reflections on Session One

So I suppose the realisation that I am going to have to organise my time very carefully has well and truly dawned on me. I went into school yesterday and as I finished up (after filing and moving Mt Paper from my desk... the sorting tray...the floor space behind my desk etc, to well appointed and appropriate homes) and wrote my 'to do' list on the board in prep for today, I knew I would have to get serious about organising myself if I wanted to be successful. Not my strong point. My thinking and time management is honestly pretty scattered. I can start on something and then find myself getting pretty distracted, very quickly. SQUIRREL! (We don't have squirrels in NZ so um... bird?)

So today I have been trying to catch up with all my tick off tasks loaded on the Mindlab portal. (Ohh sounds like another dimension). I LOVE to tick things off a list. So satisfying.
Anyway, my next issue and something I have to think about is how I will organise my notes and reflections etc. Right now, at this very moment, I am using:

• Blogger: (first time- teaching myself as I go) to record what I'm recording here
• Evernote: in class notes and some video note recordings, reflections to class tasks
• Google Keep: I like to watch videos and record my thoughts on this as I go.

Don't really like this and feel like this represents my scatteredness again. Holly (my partner in crime for this course) showed me her Blog on Tuesday night, and after I saw how awesome her work was, of course I just jumped on that band wagon too. Luckily our course advisor said we will be using blogging so that's super helpful. But I feel like I'm wasting time doing too many things or doubling up. Maybe I should just do what Cassie is doing and put everything on a doc- oh i don't know. Hopefully this will be combated as I get further down the track in this learning journey. (Which my 17 year old son, laughed at! 'Learning Journey' hahaha. Hmph to you kiddo!). 

Anyway on to the guts of this blog - apart from my panic, anxiety and neurosis. 

So today I watched the full Being at Home in the World- Gert Biesta video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUXSxGD8WmE  Ummm mind blown. 

I feel like all the drivel I wrote in my reflection (on Evernote) is just that- drivel! We only watched a little section in class of this video before making our playdough creations. I messaged Holly, indignant- Why didn't we look at the whole thing? My playdough representation is nothing compared to what Mr Biesta was talking about. Well, she replied, maybe they want us to discover that for ourselves. It seems too important for us to just discover by ourselves but maybe they do. 

So what did I find so exciting, interesting and thought provoking?

Through all my education education (haha) I have been exposed to the idea that the child as an individual should be at the center of educational experiences and that each child's uniqueness, talents, ability and culture should be at the heart of all teaching and learning activities. The bigger picture, my philosophy of teaching, the why am I doing this, what is the purpose of education? was to help students to realise their individual talents, aptitudes etc so that they could be contributing and helpful citizens of our world. Biesta's suggests we may need to temper this idea and places student centered education at one end of an educational paradigm with a controlled, ranking, testing system of education at the other. From what I understand, of what he is saying, is that current education system is very 'ego-logical' putting individuals and their wishes and desires at the heart of education- which looking at the bigger picture of society,  fuels consumerism, selfishness, domination and difference over others. He went on to say when we focus on individuality and difference in education it can have the undesired effect of isolating and forcing comparison on to our students. This builds up walls and that sometimes, this focus on individuals and identity, can in fact build barriers to learning and lessen our connectedness with each other. 

His ideas of grownup'ness, I scoffed on Tuesday. Haha I don't want to be a grown up! 

The purpose of education, Biesta proposes is to: Fuel the desire for students to want to live in the world in a grown up way. Grown up, meaning a sustaining, connected member of our world. Where the person isn't the center of the universe but the world is. World Centered education. How we manage to live in the world.

He poses a serious question: Is what I desire, desirable? This disruptive and powerful question has far reaching consequences for education and society. 'Education stretches above learning.'

There's heaps more I can write about this but that's not really the point. I know I have just skimmed the surface of this idea and I have so much more to wrap my head around before I understand this fully. The point is, I can see a shift in my thinking already; the bigger picture, the purpose of education... how is this going to have an effect on my teaching? 

Day ONE!! It's here

Okay, so today was the first day of my Mind Lab journey. I was really excited and a whole lot nervous about this step up and out for my teaching practice. How am I going to possibly fit everything in and do what I love to do well? I don't know but I am sure the world won't stop turning and everything will get done (or not) as it always does.

So after a few furious moments of setting up and getting the bikkies organised we were on our way.

WHY did I want to undertake this course?
Hmmmm... write question in pretty lettering, on sticky notes- (oh I love sticky notes!).
1. To challenge myself- I want to push my learning, to be made uncomfortable, to be able to make positive change.
2. This course is so relevant- to myself, my students, what's happening in education, the future etc etc
3.  I can't remember

First challenge: put a recognisable picture of yourself onto the Google+ community. Are you kidding me?!! Okay... so, not so much of a big deal for others. But for me- eek. I do not like this! I think it has something to do with remaining as anonymous as possible online. I hear something about 'digital presence'. Oh no, I'm going to have to bite the bullet. Crunchy- very crunchy. I think I just lost a filling. After much pain, my new and hastily taken picture has been posted. Oh it's terrible (truly) but I did it and hopefully this is the new start of my new positive digital presence. On the upside, a new online tool- Webcam toy. Very cool- web based, bring it into the classroom straight away.

Haha- its me. After all that fuss about taking a photo! https://webcamtoy.com 

Right, into the nitty gritty.
Epistomology, Ontology, Axiology... oh my.


Memories of my SOC101 course back in '99 come flooding back- the cave, the non existent perfect circle- oh no.I'm going to have to watch the accompanying video a few times to get these bad boys locked away in the old grey matter.
Knowledge, truth/reality and values. All of these huge concepts shape and drive our educational system. Who's ideas of KTRV? What is important to know?  This brings us to the whole idea of what is knowledge and what is the purpose of education. Bring on the playdough!

So my partner (Cassie) and I, buddy up after being asked to explore the purpose of education. Showing this in our outstandingly good playdough representation, we recorded and then posted our work online. Unfortunately due to the unforeseen troubles, it wasn't quite what we really wanted but was okay for a first go.

So looking at our model, according to Gert Biesta's ideas about the purpose of education we came up pretty close. After some reflection and change we put in more focus to the subjectification aspects of his ideas; as we initially had more focus in the qualification and socialisation aspects.
So what does our model show. We show that education occurs through all life stages, infancy through to adulthood (all people different sizes).  Education should aim to encourage and grow each persons skills, attributes, dispositions and aspirations -rays of aspiration :) . We show the links that occur between people as they learn, highlighting that education is entwined, collaborative and communicative. Each person holds their own key- the things that make them unique and ready to unlock something special to contribute to our world. In the center is the combination of all those things leading to the future - the unknown. Education- enabling preparedness for the future so people can contribute as fully functioning, global citizens.

Okay, so that's all for now :)
We did heaps more but it's time to stop.