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.

MIT 2020 - Step 4: Tweaking and redefining the challenge

Below is my original challenge statement which reflected my concern around figuring out how teachers could equip Year 8 with the necessary life skills to make the move to their first year of high school as seamless as possible

Taking on board comments from the from the School Hall scenario, I realised that 'life skills' was too broad and could legitimately include skills such as how to cook which although useful life-skill was unlikely to be a dealbreaker for a Year 8 transitioning to high school. Clearly, I needed to consider more carefully the type of skill set that would be both appropriate and beneficial to support Year 8 students in their move to secondary school.

For me, the logical 'next step' was to look to the New Zealand Curriculum document for inspiration, in particular the five Key Competencies..  I found myself gravitating towards the competency of  MANAGING SELF and re-worded my challenge statement to now read:

Preparing Year 8 students with the self-management skills to confidently transition from the primary to secondary school learning environment.

This one tweak has helped me drill down to where I need to focus my design thinking -i.e.  developing a Year 8 student's capacity to cope in new or unfamiliar situations.