Mindlab Reflective Blog 2018

Problem Identification One of the main problems I identified in my Mindlab learning journey was students not collaborating well when working on digital projects. This was really important to increasing achievement as students were not taking the opportunities available to them through collaboration, such as shared learning, improved communication and problem solving. Teachers were reluctant to action planned collaborative lessons because of the tension within groups and poor outcomes and therefore teachers were asking for 1-1 devices and the strain on resources increased and inquiries were left incomplete.  Observation and Analysis Using a focus group of students I sought to understand the nature of the problem with collaboration from students. Students just did not know what collaboration was, how to collaborate, what it looked like and how valuable it could be for their learning. Through research I also gained knowledge around the benefits of explicitly teaching collabora

During this inquiry we explored and looked at the development of a planning framework to provide teachers and students a clear approach to implementing PBL digital inquiries within the classroom. We should have been able to answer the questions: Was this delivery method of PBL digital inquiries effective? What criteria - including teacher skills and guidelines are necessary for it to be effective? How does the planning framework need to be changed to accommodate further needs of students and teachers? How does using this innovation improve student outcomes ? If the data collection and research point to use of this planning framework with or without modifications the anticipated outcome will mean the need for other Year 5/6 classes to start using this method and then eventually throughout the school. What is the observed impact?  Improved student outcomes in science and social sciences areas of the curriculum - using the framework students had a more in depth u

This inquiry seeks to gather data to inform us whether using our “innovation” which is a planning framework which includes teacher criteria, can deliver PBL in a more robust and rigorous manner compared to a control group not using the framework. We also want to seek out further criteria and additions to the beta model framework to ensure we can have the best delivery for teachers and students. Our data collection methods will have two approaches: Evaluate and refine the innovation which in this case is the planning framework and criteria - Collect teacher baseline data - assumptions regarding PBL, inquiry process and perceived successes and challenges of current inquiry in classroom with Google Forms Ongoing basis through the student inquiry, collect observations, videos of teaching Collect student data on whether teachers are meeting criteria set out, skills of teachers and student feedback on the framework through interview Collect teacher endpoint data

Defining Audiences My inquiry is about the use of a planning framework for digital integration and project based learning. My audience will therefore be > Local - The teachers and students involved in the inquiry Year 5/6 as well as the community that students engage with during their inquiry about the NZ Bush ecosystem - in this case local community, forest and bird, DoC, pest free NZ. > National & Internationally - Other teachers within our CoL to other teachers interested in development of scaffolds for project based learning > Researchers, Teacher Facilitators who are looking for a model to base their practice on under the theme of personalising learning with a subtheme of the role of current and emerging technologies according to (Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall, Bull, Boyd & Hipkins, 2012) , “Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching: A New Zealand perspective” . This inquiry  challenges us  to think about how to deploy the resources for