Duration: 3:1
At Aorere College, all year nine students take a whole year’s course called Digital Innovation and Design as a core subject. This gives students a foundation in digital fluency, digital technologies, innovation and design to use across all learning areas. Technology specialist, Angela White explains that during the course students use a Google site to record learning reflections each lesson. Students, Nikki and Rakshay outline how learning reflections help their metacognition and motivation. DP, Stuart Kelly explains that by reflecting on their learning, students begin to realise that learning is a journey rather than a destination. Music teacher, Brent Woods uses the students’ reflections to make improvements in the programmes of learning.
| Audio | Visual |
| Title slide: Reflecting on learning with and about digital technologies enabling e-Learning | |
| Angela White, Digital Technology teacher Students set up their own Google site. And, we have some focus questions about what went well, | Class of students opening their laptops and starting to type their reflections. |
| what didn’t go so well, what do I need to improve? Those types of questions | Angela speaking to the camera. |
| and they’d answer them, reflect on what they’ve done for the week and keep artefacts there of some of the work that they’ve done, | Class of students working on laptops. Closeup, showing screen with week 4 reflection. |
| and so that’s part of the literacy focus across the school as well. | Angela speaking to the camera. |
| Nikki, year 11 student So the reflections were put on to Google slides which were put into our Google classrooms. And, at the end of each lesson we’d have to write | Nikki speaking to the camera. |
| two things we enjoyed about today and one thing we had to work on. And, we also had to find out where we were with each task that Sir had uploaded on the classroom. | Laptop screen with "Week 4 Reflection. I have learnt in DOD to create my own site using Google sites all by myself. I have also learnt how to compete a coding game called Santa tracker. I am finding this subject fun but a little bit challenging." |
| It’d usually involve ten minutes just before the lesson ends just to sit down and think about what we enjoyed about the day – whether it be the activities we had done or who we worked with. And, the things that we found difficult, were like, maybe we didn’t understand the specific sort of coding we were using, or maybe it was just harder because our group wasn’t there or we just didn’t get it. | Nikki speaking to the camera. |
| Stuart Kelly, Deputy principal The academic research that suggests that | Laptop screen with tasks 15 tasks for students to practice skills to make a website. |
| to value the journey and learn from the journey rather than just the destination or outcome, you’ve really got to be cognisant of how am I tracking? So, our students aren’t even aware that it’s the writing assessment. We just say you must complete this and as long as they complete each three sentences for a week, they all pass the writing assessment. And, that’s really powerful because 1) They realise their voice counts but also 2) it enables them to see their own progressions and we’re hoping that also enables them to realise in other subjects that learning is a progression and learning is a journey. | Stuart speaking to the camera. |
| Rakshay, year 12 student In year nine we did reflections on every Friday but in other classes it turned out to be every day after each lesson. That helped because it made you think I have done something this lesson and I could do more next lesson. It really did help with trying to get me to do more. | Rakshay speaking to the camera. |
| Brent McGarva, Head of Music The most significant thing with reflections for me was actually having a look at where the teacher needs to step in and support the students. | Muzaffar and student viewing a computer screen. |
| It was very much done every class. | Brent speaking to the camera. |
| So we had that five minute bracket where the students had to have it done and then staff could come together afterwards | Student using computer, closeup of computer screen with "Week 1 lesson reflections. In this lesson I made a bitmoji and saved it to my Google drive. I also learned how to take screenshots using awesome screenshot. I though this class was going to be hard, but so far it seems easy and fun." Bitmoji of girl giving thumbs up and girl in a car with a dog. |
| and have a look at how those students were working and how better to support them. Because we were team teaching, there were teachers taking a couple of periods and then another teacher would take the other two so you could, you know, talk about where issues lie and how we can better support the programme. And, it helped us see different angles of the programme to build it and make it better. | Brent speaking to the camera. |