DFI SESSION 8: Computational Thinking

 

Have you ever spent time chasing your tail (figuratively, of course!) and then discovered that your torso is getting shorter and shorter and there's no hope of even catching your tail let alone having it in your sights?

That has been my last fortnight, and particularly this past week. Two twelve hour plus days with parent conferences and all the preparation that comes with that, in the middle of Matariki Week, and a school wide Matariki Friday full of events that you have to prepare your class for, only you're not going to be there and you have to double prep everything for your reliever...

Add to that a PUMs half day, the first half of which you have your own class plus your buddy class while the Junior Teachers are at the morning session. I have discovered that a traditional prefab classroom can fit 40 student bodies in at a stretch. 

I'm exhausted already and it's only just past hump day. I think I have perfected the art of cat napping with my eyes open. But, and most important I think, I am still in love with my job! Exhausted, but still in love.

As I reflect on last weeks DFI session, the one thing that stands out for me is the idea of empowerment, in all it's different shades. 

Teaching has historically been an area where educators have chosen what information is fed out to learners, how much of it is fed out and who should benefit most from this information. This helped to keep the power and the benefits of education in the hands of educators and  small percentages of populations. 

The introduction of digital technology has taken this concept and turned everything on its head, because it takes away the walls of classrooms, the fences of schools and the borders of knowledge. If you have access to digital technology, there is no end to what you can access, manipulate or create, and you can do it from anywhere, anytime you want. 

Manaiakalani has been instrumental in providing lower decile school learners a more equitable access to and use of digital technologies, and empowering the teachers, students and school management  to take part in the digital race. 

If we think about becoming stronger and more confident and being able to control our lives and claim our rights, what could be more empowering than that? The unyoking of traditional power structures that have locked out certain sectors of society, and kept them out of key decision making, money earning and lifestyle plateaus, can only be welcomed and celebrated. 

We met a young man, a Year 8 student who was already coding and creating his own digital platforms in the gaming arena. Young. Pasifika. Full of excitement and vision. He was a pretty good model of empowerment, and as he moved through his presentation, a young student to a room full of educators, he was very much in control, very knowledgeable of his craft, strong and comfortable with his presentation.

This empowerment came from having access to digital technology that, quite possibly, without Manaiakalani, he might not have had. Not only was he using and consuming digital technology, he was also designing and creating, being innovative and being in control. He does not need anyone to authorise, sanction or permit him to do so; he is full to the brim of self-empowerment. Austen has discovered his treasure!

Another part of the session that was intriguing and extremely though provoking was around AI. The implications of it are stupendously mind-boggling, the imagination driving it endless, and the opportunities too numerous to count. On the flip side of that coin, is the morality issue. How do we utilise the opportunities for the good of all and of our planet, and not just for the benefit of the few, or for some people to make money hand over fist without giving thought to the implications of AI? I'm back in the world of tail chasing with this one.

The morality game was definitely a mind teaser and slightly uncomfortable. Having to put yourself in the shoes of those using AI to develop driverless cars and the decision making dilemna they must face was pretty confronting. Being in the middle of a dilemna is never a good place to be, and one feels for those whose jobs necessitate it. 

Hmmmmmmmm....

I am now empowering myself to head off to my warm, comfortable bed, and to give not one single thought to the 3 hour exam that we all have tomorrow, for which I have done not one moment of swot. Maybe a few Hail Mary's will cover me, but then again, I might have had too many moments of mischief this week, and the cup runneth dry. Sigh...