Week 5 Mindlab

How and why would I use Computational Thinking in my classroom?

So from our Mind Lab notes:

"Computational Thinking is a problem solving process.  Computation thinking is a fundamental skill for everyone and involves solving problems, designing solutions and systems to solve open ended problems based on multiple variables"

Computation Thinking Means ....

• Solving problems
• Applying abstraction and decomposition
• Thinking algorithmically - what's the process?
• Thinking conceptually - what's the model?
• Understanding how things repeat and scale
• Dealing with errors
•    ... among other things (depends who you read)

To demonstrate the concept we did an activity in pairs to find a number between 1-100 and count the number of yes/no questions it took to correctly find your partners number.  Any number can be "guessed" within 7 steps:

I would like to think that computational thinking is added to every student's analytical ability because it is an important "attitude and skill set"  It gives students the courage to solve problems by arming them with methods and models which can help them breakdown a large difficult problem into small manageable chunks.  It will be an important skill to demonstrate in a modern workplace.

That is the why I would use it answered - now to the how I would use it: (taken from Pat Phillips presentation), Computational Thinking: A Problem-solving Tool for every Classroom.

Let’s take each of these computational terms, many of them derived from computer science, and think about how they fit into your classroom scenario. First a brief definition of each, and an example of how it applies. 

Algorithm—set of rules to solve problems..not just a simple recipe. There are vignettes for slightly more complex problems, novels and series of novels for the most complex problems. An important question is to ask “Is this solvable?” and “How exact must the result be to be good enough?”

In a science class you might use this term in organizing some experiment. “let’s create an algorithm for setting up our chlorophyll experiment.” “The class party is coming up. Let’s create an algorithm for getting all of the work completed.”

Data—the information used to solve problems, how it’s organized and how it’s accessed. In social studies “Let’s gather all of the population data we have on the European countries and compile it into a data base. What words should we use to label the fields?” Lining up for lunch becomes a queue. The details for making a decision about planning a class trip become variables …some constants.

Abstraction –(1) pull out the important details and (2) see or generalize the relationship of details to other situations. Math story problems lend themselves to this…abstract the important details. In history class you might lead students through abstract thinking by generalizing the qualities of good leaders. Or in ??

Query—efficient searching for information …drop the word “search” with online searching…learn to use more advanced searches that use conditionals of </>, apply what they have learned in math about Boolean logic with and/or/not logic. Use simple data bases to explore these in any subject.

Sensing—Discussion of handicapped - how do blind people navigate? How is that similar to robotic programming.

Iterations—repeat cycles. In math, iterations occur in long division, In science in the steps of experiments. Questions about “how we know when we are finished” are also part of this.

Systems—large complex group(s) processes – Every lesson needs to be set into the framework of how it is affected by other entities and effects others…Questions about how groups self-organize with decentralized control, migrating birds, kids on the playground, social groups…up to economies and biological systems.

Here is a link to a free online course on computational thinking if you want to develop a greater understanding: https://computationalthinkingcourse.withgoogle.com/course?use_last_location=true

Week 3 Mind Lab

Will a robot take your job? http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34066941
Great site to check out.  I think we need to do more work with students around what the current digital disruption will mean for them.  In particular our current Y12 and Y13 students are sitting in our classes with plans already in place to "go study law," what are we doing to prepare them for their futures.

Putting in my subject area into the above calculator shows there is a 95% chance of the job of an accountant becoming automated.  So why am I teaching Accounting??

Yes I believe that it is important for students to master the skill set of understanding numbers and financial information, but to me it is a lot more than that.  Is Accounting the subject just the vehicle that I use to teach the real stuff? The 21st century skills?  Hell yeah!  After studying the subject I believe my students have had opportunities to: develop their resilience and problem solving skills; work out appropriate forms of communication dependent on the audience; be exposed to entrepreneurial ways of thinking and experience the ups and downs of collaborating with classmates.
I also hope they learn the importance of following your heart when working out what you want to do and that hard work and passion make a great team.

But the question remains - is the best way to do this by teaching my subject in isolation?

Week 2 Mindlab

What a revelation!  I had not come across the Innovative teaching and Learning ITL research.

The guide which has been developed by Microsoft partners describes six rubrics of 21st century learning, each of which represents an important skill for students for develop:

· collaboration

· knowledge construction

· self-regulation

· real-world problem-solving and innovation

· the use of ICT for learning

· skilled communication

The focus is on  the connection between the design of the learning activity and the skills the students are building.  Although you could be cynical about the fact the research is by Microsoft I do believe the rubrics are very useful.

As the mind lab states:  We are extremely optimistic about the potential for deep learning in digital environments, but caution the designers of these environments that such outcomes do not "come for free" just because technology has been added to the mix. Instead, designers of all learning environments must take account of the affordances of their resources and design with the core competencies - cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal - in mind.

So this weeks reflection is around which 21st skills relate to an area of practice that I would like to focus on for the first assessment.

Real world Problem Solving and Innovation
Does the learning activity require solving authentic, real-world problems?
Are students' solutions implemented in the real world?

This rubric examines whether students’ work involves problem-solving, and uses data or situations from the real world. The strongest learning activities for this rubric:

· ask students to complete tasks for which they do NOT already know a response or solution

· require students to work on solving real problems 

· represent innovation by requiring students to implement their ideas, designs or solutions for audiences outside the classroom.

Problem-solving involves a task with a defined challenge for the student. Problem-solving happens when students must:
 develop a solution to a problem that is new to them
OR complete a task that they have not been instraucted how to do
OR design a complex product that meets a set of requirements.

Learning activities that require problem-solving do NOT give students all the information they need to complete the task or specify the whole procedure they must follow to arrive at a solution. Often, problem-solving tasks require students do some or all of the following:

· investigate the parameters of the problem to guide their approach

· generate ideas and alternatives

· devise their own approach, or explore several possible procedures that might be

appropriate to the situation

· design a coherent solution

· test the solution and iterate on improvements to satisfy the requirements of the problem.

From <https://app.themindlab.com/media/19751/view>

So my plan is to use this rubric to plan an authentic real world challenge for the girls in code club.
The situation they will be presented with is this: 

The Waimarama junior surf programme has grown so much that they are having trouble utilising the data and information they collect from their members.  Therefore they have approached our code club girls to see if they can come up with an innovative solution to make the collection of, accessing and application of the information easier.  The club would like to have something to present to the board at a monthly meeting by the end of the term.

In terms of the rubric it satisfies the requirement that the real-world problem is an authentic situation which exists outside of an academic context.  It will require the students putting their ideas into practice in the real world.The challenge will allow the opportunity to reach the highest goal of the rubric which is:
The learning activity's main requirement IS problem-solving
AND the problem IS a real-world problem
AND students DO innovate.  They ARE required to implement their ideas in the real world, or to communicate their ideas to someone outside the academic context who can implement them.

·

Mind Lab Post grad Cert Week 1 Reflections:

My reflections on week 1 from Mind Lab Hawke's Bay course

So if role of education as Biesta states is to fuel the desire in students to want to exist in the world in a grown up way ie. Be in the world without being in the centre of the world.  To be eccentric centred as opposed to child or curriculum centred. Does this fit with the challenge that we need to transform education (Robinson, 2009)?

Yes I think it does as the statement that we need to focus on the over needs of people - not just as students resonates with me.

How do the 7 essential skills for students fit into this philosophy?

What do I consider a good leader to be like?

I gain a lot of my inspiration from George Couros and his blogs as The Principal of Change

Simply put, people don’t buy what you are saying, until they buy you.  

So my top 5 attributes of a good leader are:
1. Integrity: my most important attribute so one I look for in others

2. Empathetic: truly trying to understand those that you serve. 

3. Good communication skills: listening is an important component of communication

4. Ability to develop those around them: It is more powerful to develop the team with you than to forge the way on your own.

5. Risk taker and models learning themselves: I have these two combined because I believe you need to take the risk of letting your team know you don't have all the answers and are not afraid to make mistakes and learn alongside others.

Final reflection regarding how the tango is a great metaphor: I was a limp follower in the first large group activity.  When faced with a couple of large personalities I chose to withdraw firstly intellectually then even physically.  What will I do differently next time?