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. 

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.