In a nutshell:
The extended version:
One day I caught myself saying to the kids "I've been teaching longer than you've been alive" and then I realised it was true! Yep...20 years since graduating from the Dunedin College of Education...the technology has changed but the passion to find ways to bring it into the classroom hasn't.
I was in charge of ICT at the very first school I taught in, the honour of leading change with Apple IIe green screen computers with 5 1/4" disks! I remember unplugging every computer in the school and hauling them across to the school hall to run staff PD sessions. 20 years later and the students and teachers own hand-held devices and the learning environment is global.
This year I'm throwing all the balls up in the air. I have taken a year's leave (thanks Andy) from my teaching job to play, to explore and, as Alice in Wonderland put it, to become 'curioser and curioser'.
I have been doing a lot of research and reading about the Maker Movement. Everything about it resonates with me. I loved making when I was a kid...not necessarily finishing or tidying up...but, definitely, making. Making is your way of adding something to the world. I pored over books like these, spending hours planning and gathering together resources:
- I've been a teacher, a team leader and an acting deputy principal. I have taught in New Zealand and in England. I have 20 years teaching experience.
- My passion is for finding out what goes on in the classroom that will make learning engaging, authentic and relevant. My belief is that design thinking, computational thinking and the concepts promoted by the Maker Movement are a great way to make shifts in classroom practice which will generate these outcomes.
- I use digital learning tools frequently. Because I'm interested, I know quite a bit but I'm pretty sure I always learn more from the kids than they learn from me!
- I don't believe that digital tools are always the answer....right tool, right place, right time. I'm into cardboard and sellotape too!
- I have a lot of interest and experience in creating websites with students, using Google Drive and Apps, developing code writing skills, storyboarding and animation.
The extended version:
One day I caught myself saying to the kids "I've been teaching longer than you've been alive" and then I realised it was true! Yep...20 years since graduating from the Dunedin College of Education...the technology has changed but the passion to find ways to bring it into the classroom hasn't.
I was in charge of ICT at the very first school I taught in, the honour of leading change with Apple IIe green screen computers with 5 1/4" disks! I remember unplugging every computer in the school and hauling them across to the school hall to run staff PD sessions. 20 years later and the students and teachers own hand-held devices and the learning environment is global.
This year I'm throwing all the balls up in the air. I have taken a year's leave (thanks Andy) from my teaching job to play, to explore and, as Alice in Wonderland put it, to become 'curioser and curioser'.
I have been doing a lot of research and reading about the Maker Movement. Everything about it resonates with me. I loved making when I was a kid...not necessarily finishing or tidying up...but, definitely, making. Making is your way of adding something to the world. I pored over books like these, spending hours planning and gathering together resources:
Making was something I did outside of school. Any making I did at school was linked to 'clubs' but was generally not part of the mainstream curriculum. I think this is still the case for many students. Their classroom and life passion don't always connect. How many times do we hear of kids writing code for money-earning apps. When does the article say they learned their craft in the classroom? It's generally on their computer in their own time.
Our family purchased a ZX Spectrum computer in the 1980s. Programmes were loaded with a cassette tape. We would spend hours laboriously typing code to make simple game sequences. Little did we know those coding books held a literacy of the future...a literacy still trying to get embedded into schools.
The more I read, the more I am engaged in the Maker Movement and in finding ways to get making as a way of learning back into classroom programmes. Making is the ultimate form of inquiry. It addresses all of the key competencies and is an easy link to authentic learning.
It's challenging for teachers...time, resources, money...the usual constraints. This year I'm going to be finding ways to reduce these challenges for teachers and my aim is to help in spreading the Maker Movement and design thinking across NZ schools.
The views expressed in this website are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my current employer.
Phillipa Dick
BEd (Education), BA (Psychology), Diploma of Education
Our family purchased a ZX Spectrum computer in the 1980s. Programmes were loaded with a cassette tape. We would spend hours laboriously typing code to make simple game sequences. Little did we know those coding books held a literacy of the future...a literacy still trying to get embedded into schools.
The more I read, the more I am engaged in the Maker Movement and in finding ways to get making as a way of learning back into classroom programmes. Making is the ultimate form of inquiry. It addresses all of the key competencies and is an easy link to authentic learning.
It's challenging for teachers...time, resources, money...the usual constraints. This year I'm going to be finding ways to reduce these challenges for teachers and my aim is to help in spreading the Maker Movement and design thinking across NZ schools.
The views expressed in this website are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my current employer.
Phillipa Dick
BEd (Education), BA (Psychology), Diploma of Education