Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Google Video

In June this year we had the amazing experience of having a team from Google led by Robin Morgan come to Pt England School to make a video about our community of learners.

Today we heard the news that it was ready to air and we are so pleased to see our young people and their whanau being showcased on YouTube.

The professionalism of the team made this experience special for our community. We all learnt heaps from watching how Anna Brent, Jeremie Battaglia, Karen Mackenzie and Zara Balfour worked together to create the film. Even the weather in the gloomiest part of the year gave us a break for the filming outside.


18 comments:

  1. I love this! Fantastic!

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  2. Wonderful to see this shared online Dorothy, has really captured the spirit of the community <3

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  3. OMG this is awesome. Well done Russell and Dorothy

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  4. OMG this is awesome. Well done Russell and Dorothy

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  5. What a wonderful snapshot of Pt England. Very cool to see Shannon and Anthony on there, such great representatives of the community. Well done!

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  6. Creates a picture of a holistic environment - all involved. Fantastic - good for you and good for NZ education!

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  7. thats good idea making community video

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  8. Hi! My name is Luana Madden, and I am a student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama, U.S. I am currently majoring in elementary education. This semester I am in an educational media course where we learn how to incorporate technology into the classroom. In this particular class each student is assigned to comment on an educator's blog. I will be summarizing two of your blogs in a post on my blog at, www.maddenluanaedm310@blogspot.com, on February 9, 2014.

    I wanted to comment on something that was stated in your Pt. England Has Gone Google video. The mother in the Samuels family said, "it [Google Apps] bridges the gap between [between school and home] making it [learning] something that only happens at school; it becomes part of a lifestyle..." I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical of children using electronic devices as a constant learning tool. When Mrs. Samuels made the previous statement about what Google Apps has done for learning by bridging the gap, it made me realize how children using technology to learn can expand education. Technology engages children so that maybe they will choose to play educational games at home versus sitting mindlessly in front of the television for countless hours.

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    1. Hi Luana, Thanks for sharing your thinking here. Mrs Samuels was not referring to her children playing education games! She was speaking about continuing their learning in a porous fashion. We don't really use technology for games as our learners are expanding their learning horizons and accelerating their learning.
      All the best in your exciting career.

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  9. My name is Savannah Price, and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I have commented on your later post, and for my EDM 310 class I am assigned to comment on another one of your posts.

    I think it is awesome that Pt. England has "gone Google". It is really amazing to me that the students in the elementary grades know so much about the internet and technology. It is awesome that these young students are able to teach their parents about such things as Google. Google Docs is a great tool to help students enhance their learning on their own, and collaborate with other students and teachers. Technology has come so far, and I know it will just continue to keep advancing.

    Congratulations to all of the students and teachers who have taken the time to learn about the technology of Google, and good luck with technology in the future!

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    1. Thanks so much Savannah. It has been an exciting few years as teachers to see the world of learning unfold inn a whole new way for our learners and their families. This is what I went into teaching for three decades ago, when I had no idea that it would be possible.

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  10. My name is Briley Lovett. I have to comment on you for my EDM 310. I watched the video about Google and I completely agree. Google give you ever opportunity to better yourself and manage your own learning. It amazes me that technology has come so far and that students are starting to use technology more in classrooms. It allows the students to be the best they can be.

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  11. It has been 16 years since I have been in the high school classroom. I have been teaching adults in the private sector in and industrial setting. I am taking an Educational Media 510 class at the University of South Alabama and I have so much to learn. Technology has changed the way we live but I never thought about how much it can change the way we learn. This video was touching, bringing the community together and learning from one another. Thank you for sharing and I as I follow your blog this semester, I look forward to seeing what changes technology has made in the classroom and community.
    Lynn Gartman
    EDM510 personal blog: http://gartmanlynnedm510.blogspot.com/
    Twitter: @LynnGartman

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  12. Hello,

    My name is Mary Alice and I'm a student in Dr. Strange's EDM510 technology class at the University of South Alabama. I was checking out your blog, and I wanted to share some thoughts with you after viewing your video.

    I agree with the mother who shared that what Google Docs has done is allow the learning to take place at home too, versus when she was young and it only happened while in the confines of the school building. I loved seeing her with her children all working from home on their computers. You are right. This definitely breaks free from the 9-3 clock, and offers learning any time that children have access to the internet. I like that you say that children who have access to the internet have the ability to manage their own learning. What a powerful statement!

    What do you see being the top indicator of that in your school? What have your students pursued learning now that they have the tools and the knowledge of how to look?

    If you'd like to check out our EDM510 blog or my personal blog (It's pretty bare presently, but I'm brand new, so it'll start filling in soon, I'm sure!) please feel free. Here is a link to the EDM510 class blog, and, is my own personal blog.

    Thank you for posting and for sharing the great video. It's definitely something to think about!

    Sincerely,
    Mary Alice

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    1. Hi Mary Alice, thanks for your thoughtful comments. I would love to share with you some of the ways in which our young people are learning new things that are not possible. On most of their blogs you will see a post in December where they answered that very thing. Many simple examples come to mind eg a boy writes about ripping a hole in the couch and going on YouTube to learn how to sow (sic) in order to mend it before he got in trouble! Many write about self-selecting a language or music instrument to learn, and being successful. A particular pleasure is reading reports of how they have taught others online.

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  13. Congratulations! You are light years ahead in the world of learning. I am proud to have been a "visiting member" of the Pt. England School for about 5 years. As you can see from the comments above, I am using the experiences of Pt. England to expand the understanding of how technology can be used effectively as part of a learning strategy that emphasizes project/problem/challenge based learning. I have learned so much from the staff, teachers and students at Pt. England. I hope my students have as well. It appears that some of them have! Someday, perhaps, I can visit Pt. England School in person. I feel as if I know so many of you from a distance and would really like to meet you and personally thank you for all that you have done for me and EDM310! Each semester my students spend about 4 weeks reading and commenting on Pt England student blogs. We are in week 2 of that adventure for our Spring term. Thanks for lettings share in your wonderful learning community. And a special thanks to Mrs. She, Mrs. Lavakula, and Mrs. Burt and their students. They welcomed me and coached me from the very beginning of my venture into blogging and connecting with the world!

    Keep up the great work that you are doing!

    John Strange, Professor
    EDM310 and EDM510
    University of South Alabama
    Mobile, Alabama USA

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    1. Dear Dr Strange, we continue to be indebted to you and your students for supporting our work and for inspiring us to continue to innovate. I hope to post soon about how we took a germ of an idea from your work and began a new pre-teacher education scheme this year. Watch this space... :)
      Dorothy

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  14. Hello there,
    My name is Savannah Rhodes, and I'm a student in EDM 310 also! I think it is awesome that Pt. England has had the opportunity to team up with Google. It looks like the students have had so many amazing learning opportunities because of this, and like one of the parents said, it truly bridges the gap between just learning at school, and learning at home. Students can learn to become lifelong learners, and having access to the internet and technology gives them the power to start learning on their own, and also to collaborate with their peers! I'll be featuring your blog, and the Pt. England School over on my EDM 310 Class Blog soon so I can share all of the wonderful things that are happening at your school with my fellow classmates! Thank for sharing with us what's happening, and I look forward to see what's next for Pt. England School.

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