DT With Mrs B

  In the Mindful Minute Segment, I will share a video (probably from Youtube) that  is themed around digital technologies.  Once viewed, teachers are prompted to ponder the implications of the content for students.   Finally, teachers are urged to consider ONE CHANGE that they can make to their practice that aligns with the thinking in the video, to impact student learning. This week's Prompt: Source:  Education Gazette - Tukutuku Korero Questions: What does it mean by students being creators as opposed to users? Are we doing this in our current programmes? What are the soft skills that are mentioned in the clip?   In what ways do we support our students with growing these skills? Is there one thing I could change to support student growth in these areas? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below:

As educators, it is essential to provide students with innovative tools and opportunities to foster their creativity and critical thinking skills. One such tool that has been proven to be highly effective in the realm of Digital and Visual Communication (DVC) is MaKey MaKey. This post will explore the definition of MaKey MaKey, its benefits in the classroom, and how a recent lesson on this tool allowed students to reflect on the functionality of their creations for end-users. MaKey MaKey is an invention kit that allows students to turn everyday objects into touchpads and combine them with the internet. It is a small, user-friendly circuit board with alligator clips that can be connected to various conductive materials, such as fruits, vegetables, aluminium foil, or graphite pencil drawings. By connecting these materials to the MaKey MaKey board, students can create interactive projects, turning their imaginations into reality. Interdisciplinary Learning: MaKey MaKey bridges the gap bet...

Remove.bg: A Powerful Tool for Teachers I'm a big fan of remove.bg, a website that uses artificial intelligence to automatically remove backgrounds from images. It's a great tool for teachers, and I use it almost every day - in fact, I have it bookmarked. Remove.bg has a number of features that make it a valuable tool for teachers. First, it's very easy to use. Just upload an image, and remove.bg will automatically remove the background in a few seconds. Second, the results are usually very good. remove.bg is able to remove even complex backgrounds with a high degree of accuracy. Third, remove.bg is free to use for up to 50 images per month. There are a few flaws with remove.bg. First, it doesn't always work perfectly. If the background is too complex, or if there are objects that are similar in colour to the background, remove.bg may not be able to remove the background completely. Second, remove.bg doesn't allow you to save the original image with the background r...

As a digital technologies teacher, I'm always looking for ways to use technology to enhance student learning. One of the things I've been doing lately is having my students create Google Sites to collate their learning in my subject area. Each student's site includes an image and about the creator, as well as photos, film, and screenshots from their eight sessions in my class. This gives students a central location to store all of their work, and it also makes it easy for them to share their learning with others. I recently had "student led conferences" where parents came in and students talked through their learning. Thanks to the collection of learning activities in the Google Sites, the process was streamlined. Students were able to use their sites to explain their learning to their parents, and play the videos that they created. I was really impressed with how well the Google Sites worked for student led conferences. It was a great way for students to showcase...

  In the Mindful Minute Segment, I will share a video (probably from Youtube) that  is themed around digital technologies.  Once viewed, teachers are prompted to ponder the implications of the content for students.   Finally, teachers are urged to consider ONE CHANGE that they can make to their practice that aligns with the thinking in the video, to impact student learning. This week's Prompt: Source:  @teachwithit7292 Questions: How is the workforce going to be different for our students?   Are we doing enough? Is there one thing I could change to support student growth in digital literacy? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below:

The Hour of Code is a global movement that aims to get more students learning about computer science. It provides a fun and engaging way to introduce students to the basics of coding, and it can be used to supplement the New Zealand Digital Technologies curriculum. The New Zealand Digital Technologies curriculum covers a wide range of topics, including computational thinking, programming, digital systems, and information and communication technology. Hour of Code activities can be used to teach many of these topics. For example, there are activities that teach students how to code simple games, create animations, and design websites. In addition to teaching specific topics, Hour of Code can also help students develop the skills they need to be successful in the digital age. These skills include problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking. Hour of Code activities can help students develop these skills by giving them the opportunity to solve problems, create new things, and think ...