MIT 2020 - Building a Prototype (Part 2)

prototype: the first design of something from which other forms are copied or developed (Oxford Dictionary)

Newly enthused from our MIT meeting on Monday and lock down looming,  I was focussed on getting a website prototype up and running pretty quickly. Without the luxury of 'user' testing with a group of my target students, here's how things unfolded:

Tracking Student Participation/Building Connections
One gremlin was to find a way to track and give visibility to students as they completed the challenges. Matt suggested a survey form similar to what he was already using to monitor student learning for his class. Students were asked to log their challenges and the comments they had made on others blogs.

Student centred content
A team of TAHA Challengers - a mix of Year 7 & 8 students - created the video/visual content for the site. Due to time restrictions and physical distancing, I chose students who I was already seeing online for distance learning at the end of Term 1. We met informally  at the end of a GOOGLE MEET session (all filmed!)and using a spreadsheet were able to plan and assign tasks amongst ourselves with time lines to get as much content finished as quickly as possible. A template script for the TAHA videos proved helpful to support students as they added their own flavour to the TAHA  'adverts' they created.

Engaging Tasks
A key element of the whole TAHA CHALLENGE was to find a collection of tasks that  Year 7 & 8 students would be willing to try - nothing too serious but nothing too lame either! I got inspiration from a lot of different sources including:
- a BINGO Board of Awesomeness from the folks at KIWIKIDS NEWS
- the Mental Health Awareness Week initiative
- Rangitahi Tū Rangituhi , a rangtahi leadership organisation in Wellington that offers Ngā Taonga
  Tākaro wānanga (traditional Māori games workshops)

MIT 2020 - Building a Prototype (Part 1)

prototype: the first design of something from which other forms are copied or developed (Oxford Dictionary)

Newly enthused from our MIT meeting on Monday and with lock down looming,  I was focussed on getting a website prototype up and running pretty quickly. Without the luxury of 'user' testing with a group of my target students, here's how things unfolded:

Digital Tool
It made sense to use New GOOGLE Sites to build my new website. It would be less stressful than trying to design something from scratch using another software programme that I was less familiar with.

Overall Concept 
Big shout out to Matt for letting me throw ideas at him and troubleshoot how my digital tool was going to work. His timely wisdom had already steered me clear of trying to develop an app.  My thought now was to design a site as the hub through which students could stay connected with each other. There would be a series of tasks, with elements of competition (points) and opportunities to share their experiences (blog posts) and also check out and give feedback on what others were up to (blog commenting).

A culturally approriate framework
Our Year 7 & 8 students were familiar with the Te Whare Tapa Wha model of Maori health from the term's inquiry topic. They had been introduced to the analogy that a person's overall health was like a wharenui or meeting house - it stands strong if all four walls are all in balance.  Framing the challenges to the four dimensions of Te Whare Tapa Wha -  Taha Tinana (physical wellbeing), Taha Wairua (spiritual wellbeing), Taha Whanau (healthy relationships) and Taha Hinengaro (emotional wellbeing) would allow students to build on their prior knowledge and understanding of Te Whare Tapa Wha but also provided a real-time context for them to see this approach to hauora/wellbeing in action.

Branding
 I kicked around a few ideas for naming the site including Kia Kaha! and Make the Taha Connection! I really wanted to focus on the importance of being resilient and staying connected with their peers.  I  eventually settled on TAKE THE TAHA CHALLENGE!  It provided a clear invitation for students to try something new while also developing their personal wellbeing 

Remote Learning: The view from home

Day 2 of Remote Learning. A snapshot from home from our Google Meet today for Literacy. All from the comfort of her bedroom - the 'new normal' for teaching and learning spaces in lockdown.

Remote Learning: Go Live for Team 5!

As a team, we met informally after school last Friday for a quick debrief of the week that was. There was a definite vibe that schools were very likely to be shutdown at some point in the near future. Our talk soon turned into a constructive brainstorming session where we thrashed out how to  LIMIT THE LINKS  on our learning site so that access to learning at home in lockdown would be as streamlined and straightforward as possible.

Today, we reaped the benefits of this forward planning. While, we had started the week thinking we would have a good couple more days to trial and tweak things we quite simply ran out of time! So,  six of us took the plunge with our very first Google Meets and experienced our first taste of teaching and learning remotely in real time!

What a buzz! Lots of excitement as I met with my students as a group online. Students quickly learnt how to mute their microphones while I got to grips with the technical skills like finding the correct 'view' to see all of my students at once and remembering how to click RECORD for the session. Thank you for Dorothy for capturing the moment as members of our SMT came through the block to see us in action.

MIT 2020 - Reality checks are invaluable!

Reality Check #1: The last day 'in' school for our kids was yesterday, our lessons switched to distance learning mode as of this morning and we will enter COVID19 Lockdown Level 4 as of midnight tomorrow night.
Time is of the essence to get a prototype up and running. The mantra FAIL FAST, FAIL FORWARD is foremost in my mind. I was more than ready to make mistakes, find the learning, reset, and keep moving on!

Freshly inspired, I caught up with Matt earlier today and pitched him my new idea - I wanted to build either an app or site that will connect students during lockdown and bring together the Key Competency of Managing Self, the taha components of Te Whare Tapa Wha with blogging.

Reality Check #2: An app would be super appealing to Year 7 & 8 students however developing one would require a skill level and an investment of time well beyond the scope of our MIT project

This realisation was a blessing -  I would devote my time to building a site (not an app) as the digital tool to anchor by design project.

Reality Check #3: One of the core aims was to increase connectedness between students so the plan was to have as much of the site content made by and featuring students. How to make this happen given we had started 4 weeks of physical distancing?

I figured since I still had 3 days teaching before the school term ends, the best way forward was to invite a handful of students who I already knew from my Literacy or Maths classes to join my 'as yet unnamed' project team. 

MIT 2020 - Revisiting our Project

Dorothy encouraged us to revisit our MIT projects in light of pending lock down due to COVID19 framing it as a time of opportunity rather than a setback to the work we had already done.There was an acceptance/acknowledgement in the group that yes, things may need to change as the ideas that had been swirling and starting to take form during/since our weekend at Kuaotunu were more than likely no longer workable or relevant. 

My initial concern was centred around getting access to former Year 8 students. I hadn't really factored in that they were 'no longer my kids' and even with 'inside' help at one of the local colleges it was always going to be tricky to negotiate parental permission as well.

So gifted with time out from the main session, I literally had a meeting with myself to thrash out what direction I wanted to take my project - do I stick with figuring out a way to help Year 8s make confident transitions to secondary school/Year 9 OR do I find another path?

I went back to basics, trawled through notes and readings. The Key Competency of managing self still made sense. So too did the section on connectedness and inclusion in the ERO publication, Transition from Primary to Secondary
    

One of the most influential aspects of school environments is the extent to which students feel connected while they are at school (Jose and Pryor, 2010). Connectedness was defined in terms of students feeling that they: belonged, felt included (regardless of their ethnicity, ability, gender or sexual orientation), had a contribution to make to the school, were cared for by their teachers, were accepted by their friends, were physically and emotionally safe and were learning (Adolescent Health Research Group, 2009).


BING! BING! My epiphany:

1) Why not focus on my current cohort of students (both Year 7 & 8)?

2) What would they need to manage themselves/stay connected during an extended period of home lockdown and a switch to distance learning online?

3) How could I help keep the kids engaged with and connected to each other through this time?

What did I land on? I decided that my new project challenge will be to design:

an app/site page that provides a 'one stop' shop for students, teachers and whanau to access a toolkit for self-management and staying connected that is
based on Te Whare Tapa Wha*.

OK! Well, now to embrace the mantra: Fail Fast, Fail Forward! - time to get a prototype up and running!
*Te Whare Tapa Wha is a Māori model of health developed by Dr. Mason Drurie in 1982 that the students are familiar with.

MIT 2020 - Distance Learning 101

Hard to believe that in the space of a 2-3 days, plans for our first MIT 2020 gathering since Kuaotunu changed as many times, such was the fast changing impact of COVID19 as logistics fell into line with measures introduced by the government to stem the spread of this disease.

Plan A - carpooling and jumping on a train and heading into downtown Auckland to KPMG Offices
Plan B - relocate to Sommerville School in Glen Innes with one person self-isolating
Plan C - everyone at home joining the meeting via GOOGLE Meet

So, armed with a headset, laptop and decent internet connection I was ready to sign in and catchup with the rest of the MIT 2020 crew. It was great to 'see' everyone again after a break of 3 weeks or so and as Dorothy pointed out we were lucky we had already met in person so no awkwardness to overcome.

A GOOGLE Sheet was shared amongst us with an agenda to guide our session for the day and space to record reflections for WWW - What's working? What's not? (Barriers/Road Bumps) and What opportunities do you sense? We each took turns to unmute our mics and in 3 minutes (or less!) update our fellow MITers as to how our projects were going. 

This was a golden opportunity for Dorothy and Matt to hear directly from each of us about our projects and for all of us to pitch in with suggestions and advice to steer us in the right direction. We were encouraged to rethink our projects in light of changes brought about by COVID19. The seriousness of the pandemic did not dampen our enthusiasm. Indeed, there was a lot of positive energy, excitement, solutions on the fly, clarity and a strong sense of purpose throughout our virtual meeting room - from each other, and towards each other!

I was impressed with how easily we adapted to this style of gathering. Being physically apart did not seem to be a disadvantage. We could still interact with each other in a group setting and also had plenty of opportunities throughout the day to take time out by ourselves or with other MITers to focus on our projects. Connecting online was certainly not an obstacle to robust discussion - if anything it made us more focussed, wanting to make the most of the time we had together away from our regular teaching commitments.

As I write this post, I am still processing what 'school' will now look like as as we enter a period of now certain shutdown due to COVID19. What started as a necessary work around to comply with new government health policies, is now set to be the 'new normal' as a shutdown of schools looms large.

The challenge for both teachers and students, switches to how quickly we can all figure out how best to deliver and participate in effective distance learning programmes using digital technology.

A FEW POINTS TO PONDER (for teachers and students)

• What is your WIFI/Internet connection like - broadband? fibre? unlimited? data cap in place?
• How many number/what type of devices do you have available to use - laptop? phone? second laptop? desktop screen?
• What platform will you use for video conferencing between staff and/or students - GOOGLE Meet? Zoom? Skype? 
• How proficient are you in using the chosen video conferencing platform? Protocols for interacting online
• What is your distance learning/home learning set-up going to look like - background - distracting or nondescript? dress code? 

HOLD ON TO YOUR HAT - Exciting times ahead!

MIT 2020 - A note of appreciation!

The past couple of days has been a gift - time out from the usual hustle and bustle of our daily routines to meet in person as MITers of 2020. We've used the time to put into practice a range of design thinking tools to unpack our proposals and get them into shape for the year head. 

Thanks to Dorothy and Russell for being gracious hosts in Kuaotunu, to Matt for being an able navigator and sounding board and to my fellow MITers for sharing your ideas, generous feedback and collaborative spirit! Looking forward to catching up with you all again later this month!

MIT 2020 - Step 8: Crazy 8's - IDEATE

The final step of our design thinking process was to use the CRAZY 8s technique to come up with eight different ideas or solutions for our newly improved challenge.

We each contributed to two cycles of anonymous feedback by:

Round 1: Placing stickers next to solutions we thought could fly
Round 2: Sticking googly eyes on the best idea 

We had time to reflect on which of our potential solutions the other MITers thought had traction and then took turns to present our 'findings' to the group. It was reassuring to see that six of my original ideas were considered viable. There was a clear 'winner' with five votes, however three other ideas also had support.

5 eyes 

An app/site page that provides a 'one stop' shop for students, teachers and whanau to access self-management toolkit based on a cultural model e.g. Te Whare Tapa Wha, Kete of Knowledge, Wayfinding

MIT 2020 - Step 7: WHO? : Connections & Resource people

With a clearer vision of what our individual challenge now is, it was now time to brainstorm ideas about WHO we could bring on board to help us reach a solution. Who is my tribe for this project? Who are the learners impacted by this project? Who are possible collaborators and experts?

Taking it to the next level, we used the BAR Thinker's Key approach to go B Bigger, pushed it out even further to A Add in people who we may not know personally but could offer valuable insights and finally R Replace one person or group that now may not be needed.

MIT 2020 - Step 6: How Might We...? - Bringing multiple optimistic viewpoints to the challenge

Following on from feedback from my 5 WHYs buddy and the School Hall scenario, the sharing of the EMPATHY role plays, we switched gears. The focus was no longer on breaking down the problem but on providing POSITIVE suggestions for new ways of framing our individual challenges.

We updated a poster to show our tweaked challenge statement  and put them on the walls around us. Armed with post it notes and a felt-tip marker, we moved from poster to poster and left prompts for each other, using the question starter, HOW MIGHT WE...? 

Thank you fellow MITers for the valuable feedback! Thank you to Dorothy for helping me resolve the conflict I had in my original moonshot proposal between whether it was the teacher or the students with the problem! (FYI: It's the students!)

UPDATED CHALLENGE STATEMENT

I feel excited by my new and improved challenge statement - it defines a more specific skill set for Year 8s to acquire and develop and also shifts the focus of responsibility from teachers to students to build their own capacity as self-managers.

MIT 2020 - Step 5: Empathy Session

For this part of the design thinking process I teamed up again with my 5 WHYs buddy,Tina. Through role play, we got to bring to life the backstory that had inspired our respective MIT projects. Sharing our experiences with each other (and the rest of the group) helped build a sense of empathy and a deeper understanding of the range of different factors impacting our students and whanau we are seeking to address.

Role Play A: Context: It's week 4 of the new school year - a Year 9 student returns to primary school. He is happy to see his old home class teacher but eventually reveals he is not getting on with his Maths teacher (also the Form Dean) He says 'she thinks I'm dumb Miss!' He is acting up in class, he is on detention and the school will be calling his parents.

Role Play B: Context: A math's lesson in class - a student is trying his best to figure out what do with a maths problem. He shows increasing frustration - he is not able to understand the problem or how to figure out an answer. He complains that it's all too hard - he is convinced he cannot do the work and just gives up.