Academic Writing - Online Game 

One of the Technology Department Goals for 2020 was based on Literacy, in alignment with the School Goal 2 for Literacy and Numeracy.  

The Technology Department Literacy Goal for 2020 is:

To develop ‘Explanation Writing’ classroom display resources for each specialist technology subject, based on SOLO taxonomy

After the department literacy session on understanding the Explanation Writing process, I developed an 'Explanation Writing' template for Digital Technologies. I shared this with Marc Milford, who provided feedback and changes as shown below.

Discussion Points about the Explanation Writing Digital Technologies poster

In order for teachers to assist learners with fluent writing, beyond the use of sentence starters, it is important to master three types of functional verbs used in writing.  These are:

• relational verbs (small auxiliary verbs that express tense)
• mental verbs (what you do in your head)
• action verbs

Final Writing Explanation Poster for Digital Technologies

Next Steps

The following is one of our Department Goals for 2020:

To develop ‘Explanation Writing’ classroom display resources for each specialist technology subject, based on SOLO taxonomy

Discussion Points about Literacy Issues

• Staff have been trialing a range of different Literacy Strategies with their learners within our different learning environments.  
• Students struggle with the physical act of writing.  Blogging is inconsistent, and time constraints is an issue.
• Students are struggling to read and understand instructions, including identifying and understanding key words.

And so, as a department we decided to prioritize this goal as a Dept Goal focus for 2020.

We are extremely fortunate that Karen has been working closely with Marc Milford to develop an Explanation Writing frame for her students in DVC. Karen lead us through the initial process that she has undertaken to break down a piece of text relating to our specialist subjects areas. The workshop was great, and everyone enjoyed the activities that Karen had organised for us.

The following is a general outline of the process that are following:

1. Each member of the Tech Dept developed our own Visual Board relevant to a piece of text specific to our subject area
2. Karen shared a digital template for each of us to digitise our 'Explanation Writing'. We will complete this by the next department meeting
3. We are going to share our digitised 'Explanation Writing' with Marc Milford for feedback
4. Our 'Explanation Writing' posters will be colour printed to display in our classrooms.
5. As a department, we will decide through the development of the Explanation Writing display poster, how the resource would and could be used to measure literacy progress for the students. 

I'm really looking forward to experimenting with this literacy strategy with an upcoming assessment I have with my DigiTech Level 2 students.

A huge thanks to Karen for leading this session with the Tech Team, and also for modelling the process that she has applying in her subject area.  Thanks Karen!

Describe how you will collect information about the implementation of your changed practices/intervention (so it is clear what you doing differently)

My target group of learners for my Inquiry 2020 will be my Year 11 NCEA Level 1 class. I intend inquiring into the process of using the LearnCoach online programs (content) and VTaL Visible Teaching and Learning (workflow) to accelerate student achievement for Tamaki College students undertaking courses in Digital Technologies NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3.

The following is a screenshot to show how I am collecting information about the implementation of my changed practice.  The screenshot shows student feedback in the [Current] DigiTech Level 1 Community.  The student feedback is a short comment "Very Helpful" that shows how the student feels about the video explanation to undertake the work.

Describe how you will collect information about the implementation of your changed practices/intervention (so it is clear what you doing differently)

My target group of learners for my Inquiry 2020 will be my Year 11 NCEA Level 1 class. I intend inquiring into the process of using the LearnCoach online programs (content) and VTaL Visible Teaching and Learning (workflow) to accelerate student achievement for Tamaki College students undertaking courses in Digital Technologies NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3.

Standard Criteria - 91611

The following is a snapshot of the standard criteria for AS91611.  The sections that apply to the highlighted work included 2 (bullet point 1) and 3; both sections making reference to the context that students need to consider when making the prototype.

Evidence Gathering Sheet

The following is section of the Evidence Gathering Sheet that includes links to the evidence of student work, and allows the student to see what aspects of the evidence are contributing to standard criteria being met.

As mentioned, I am not currently using this particular intervention with my target group of students.  I will aim to implement this strategy when both myself and my learners are back onsite from next week onwards.  

Describe how you will collect information about the implementation of your changed practices/intervention (so it is clear what you doing differently)

My target group of learners for my Inquiry 2020 will be my Year 11 NCEA Level 1 class. I intend inquiring into the process of using the LearnCoach online programs (content) and VTaL Visible Teaching and Learning (workflow) to accelerate student achievement for Tamaki College students undertaking courses in Digital Technologies NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3.

Two of my Year 13 students who are consistently logging into the Google Hangouts to complete work are both involved in YooBee Design courses.  However, their courses take place on different days; Character Design on Tuesdays and Game Development on Fridays.  This means that both students are not available at the same time for all of the ONLINE Lessons for Digital Technologies.

To overcome this problem, I am using the Google Meet Screen Recordings as rewindable learning resources.  The following screenshot demonstrates in the chat function in the Google Hangout, that one of the learners is accessing a screen recording from the lesson that they missed due to attending the YooBee course, to enable him to get up to speed with the work that we covered in class.

The chat shows me inquiring into the students learning, and asking if they need help.  Their response "yea miss, I'm just watching the recording that you sent".

In our department meeting last week, I asked the staff (myself included) to reflect on our learnings from the last lockdown in March-May this year.  

The idea was to take our learnings from last lockdown and adjust or adapt our approach to teaching for this lockdown period, that would benefit both the learners, and ourselves the teachers.  This includes teaching resources for learners for who whatever reason, are unable to log during the lockdown period.

In addition, I also wanted us to reflect on what we would be delivering online during lockdown, and what our plan would be going back into the classroom when we are all back onsite again.  For Technology, it is not as clear cut as transferring our existing programs from an onsite capacity to online, as our teaching and learning programs include a huge element of practical work in addition to theory.  This requires specialist tools, resources and environments in which to complete the practical work.  The same applies when we return to the classroom.  It is important that we consider what our program will look like when we're back onsite.  Will we resume exactly what we had started online?  Will we integrate the online learning into the teaching programs that we were doing pre-lockdown, and continue this onsite?

The following sections outline my approach to each of the year levels that I teach that I modelled to the department, including teaching and learning during lockdown, and teaching and learning when we return to the classroom.

Year 13 NCEA Level 3

Based on what I learnt from the previous lockdown, I learnt that three students regularly logged on during the lockdown period.  I anticipate that 2-3 will regularly log on again.  I will focus on offering a new standard 91611 worth 6 credits for my 2-3 Year 13 students during the next two weeks that they are able to complete online.  I will direct the rest of the Year 13s to complete the previous assessment 91901 worth 3 credits, that they can do from home.  When we are back onsite, I will focus on working on the standard we were completing in class for my learners and having discussions with all students individually. 

Adapting Programs of Learning for NCEA Level 3 Students during Lockdown Level 3

In addition to regular class work, the Year 13 students were given the opportunity to participate in Gateway or STAR courses offisite. Some of the students are attending Design courses at YooBee, which is continuing online throughout the lockdown period.

Year 12 NCEA Level 2

Based on what I learnt from the previous lockdown that none of my Year 12 students attended online lessons. I will focus on ensuring students have access to work via calendar invitations for my Year 12 students during the next two weeks to the previous assessment 91901 worth 6 credits, that they didn’t finish and can complete from home.  When we are back onsite, I will focus on working on the standard we were completing in class for my learners and having discussions with all students individually. 

In addition to regular class work, the Year 12 students were given the opportunity to participate in offsite courses through the Trades Academy. Some of the students are attending IT Courses at Techtorium, which is continuing online throughout the lockdown period.

Year 11 NCEA Level 1

Based on what I learnt from the previous lockdown that one student logged on to every lesson, and 2-3 other students logged on regularly. I will focus on continuing  to deliver the current assessment, 1.4 Create a Website worth 4 credits, for my Year 11 students during the next two weeks. The online program needs to be adapted as students don’t have access to the software in T2. When we are back onsite, I will focus on resuming our pre-lockdown program for my learners. 

Adapting Programs of Learning for NCEA Level 1 Students during Lockdown Level 3

In addition to regular class work, the Year 11 students were given the opportunity to participate in offsite courses through the Trades Academy. Some of the students are attending IT Courses at Techtorium, which is continuing online throughout the lockdown period.

Year 10

Based on what I learnt from the previous lockdown, very few Year 10 students logged on during lockdown.  I will focus on providing work for my Year 10 students during the next two weeks via calendar invitations that students can complete in their own time at home.  When we are back onsite, I will focus on resuming our pre-lockdown program for my learners around Game Development and assessing against Design Development and Computational Thinking in the Digital Technologies Curriculum. 

Year 9

Based on what I learnt from the previous lockdown, very few Year 9 students logged on during lockdown.  I will focus on providing work for my Year 10 students during the next two weeks via calendar invitations that students can complete in their own time at home.  When we are back onsite, I will focus on resuming our pre-lockdown program for my learners around Website Development and assessing against Design Development and Computational Thinking in the Digital Technologies Curriculum. 

The following is a description of the adaptations that I made to the current project for the NCEA Level 1 students to undertake during Lockdown Level 3 in August 2020. 

This group of learners are my Target Learners for my Inquiry 2020, so I was particularly keen, to come up with strategies that will enable the students to continue with their program of learning.  Having undertaken a similar process for my other senior students, I was fortunate in this instance, that I was able to return the same project and the same standard, but adapt the resources that the students would access, in order to continue with their work in a remote learning environment.

The project is to Develop a Website and includes the following standard:

AS91880 Develop a digital media outcome

This achievement standard involves developing a digital media outcome, in this particular instance, a Website.

Prior to Level 3 Lockdown, students were undertaking tasks in class to work towards completing the project.  This involved the use of Visual Studio Code; a free software download that is used for code editing.  Unfortunately, the application cannot be downloaded to and used on Netbooks or Chrome books, which are the common devices that students would use to learn from home, including during the lockdown period.

Fortunately, I was able to adapt the course materials to use a different application for Remote Learning during lockdown.  This is the Codepen Online Code Editor which I dropped a link to, into the Project Workspace as shown below.

I explained to the learners what they would have to do with their existing work, in order to use the Codepen Online Code Editor, to see what their feedback was.  It would essentially mean that the students would have to re-do some of their existing tasks, to ensure that the Codepen application included all of the work that they had completed up until lockdown, in order for the learners to progress forward with their tasks.  As much as this meant that time would be consumed doing so, the learners seemed to be happy and grateful about a way of them progressing forward with their work.

Signing up to Codepen - Alternative to Visual Studio Code for Remote Learning

Click on the image below to view a short clip of me demonstrating to learners the signup process for Codepen.

Setup of HTML pages in Codepen

The following screenshot is me demonstrating to students how to setup their HTML pages eg. Pens, in Codepen.

Saving Codes to Google Docs

Working in Codepen is just a temporary measure for during Level 3 Lockdown.  When we return onsite and back to the classroom, we will also return to using the original software, Visual Studio Code, that is accessible on the desktop Mac computers.

In order to have a backup of the work that students are completing every lesson online using Codepen, I had the students set up folders and documents into their Google Drive, as shown in the screenshots below.  

Animation Example

The following is an example of the Animation that has been used in the Create an Animation in Scratch to Share your Learning workshop.

Briefly restate the specific change you want to bring about in student learning and the evidence used to select that focus

My target group of learners for my Inquiry 2020 will be my Year 11 NCEA Level 1 class. I intend inquiring into the process of using the LearnCoach online programs (content) and VTaL Visible Teaching and Learning (workflow) to accelerate student achievement for Tamaki College students undertaking courses in Digital Technologies NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3.

• that learners did not necessarily understand the formative feedback that I was providing them with in order to progress forward in their learning; or, 
• that they didn't understand why I was asking them to share their work, and through the sharing process, reflecting on the task, would give them a greater understanding of the work.

Therefore the specific change that I want to bring about in student learning is 'Student Understanding'.  The way that I intend focussing on Student Understanding, is by inquiring into learning interventions to support the following:

1. Comprehension - levels of support required for task completion of assessment tasks
2. Meeting Assessment Criteria - outcome or impact of pace of task completion for Technical Skills Tasks, and levels of support required to complete assessment tasks, and how these combine to maintain engagement in meeting assessment deadlines 

Plan and conduct detailed inquiry into specific aspects of your current teaching that are relevant to the hypotheses you identified in the literature.

My target group of learners for my Inquiry 2020 will be my Year 11 NCEA Level 1 class. I intend inquiring into the process of using the LearnCoach online programs (content) and VTaL Visible Teaching and Learning (workflow) to accelerate student achievement for Tamaki College students undertaking courses in Digital Technologies NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3.

Although this particular reading focussed around collaborative strategies for teaching reading comprehension, I can see the benefit of some of these strategies to assist learners with developing a better understanding of assessment tasks and assessment requirements.  This can be achieved with having clear, concise 'Checklists', as outlined in the first section highlighted in yellow "Checklists, rating scales, and rubrics, developed with colleagues and in some cases with students in advance of instruction or early in the lesson, establish the criteria for post lesson assessment".

Aspects of this particular reading align with strategies that I am implementing with the students in terms of the use of the Year Level Google+ Community.  More specifically, the last section highlighted in pink that reads "Online asynchronous discussions also provide learners with opportunities to prepare, reflect, think, and search for additional information before participating in a discussion".  The strategies are not in exact alignment, in that students are not necessarily searching for additional information before participating in a discussion.  

I feel happy

The blog comment that one of the learners included in the blog post, BP4,  suggests that the learner feels happy, and proud by the following sentences in his comment "I like sharing my work into the Year 11 DigiTEch Google+ Community because I like to help other students out with what they're confused about." and "I share my work into the Year 11 DigiTEch Google+ Community not only because it makes me feel proud but because it's helping other students as well."

I can think and learn

The blog comment that one of the learners included in the blog post, BP4,  indicates that the work that the learner shares into the Year 11 DigiTech Google+ Community, including the title and description of the work, gives him a greater understanding of the work "It gives me a greater understanding of the work that I have completed and shared because you need to know what is the heading of the work, what's about and where you find it."

I feel part of the school community

The response that students provided to Question 1 and Question 5 in the blog post, BP4, suggests that the students feel a part of the "Class" or "Subject" community, by all responding YES to the use of the Year 11 DigiTech Google community to share their tasks.

Whilst the data that was collected, was in the form of a questionnaire conducted via the chat function in a Google Hangout, and didn't follow any of the examples of data collection in the reading, the data still gave an indication of various aspects of student wellbeing by students using the digital tool of a Google+ Community to support their learning.  Although it is just a snapshot of student wellbeing, there is enough positive feedback to see how the use of the Google+ Community supports student learning.