D21: Learning, Making, Shaping

Social Media and virtual engagement have taken center stage in the pandemic world. In this session Allen and De Haan will explore how to foster two way connectedness with school stakeholders - students, parents, alumni, and friends using social media and virtual platforms.

How often do your teachers discuss feeling intimidated by their lack of technology knowledge and experience when observing new generations of students that are born into a world of technology advancing at a rapid pace?

We will discuss ways of boosting your confidence to explore and create incredibly engaging content for many areas of the curriculum using free apps and software to create 3D environments, explore existing models that you can embed in your presentations, and explore your creations in 3D / VR / AR across multiple platforms.
In the first half of the presentation, we will discuss engagement, integration, different areas of the curriculum and the journey from creating 3D models for the classroom to winning the international NASA / LEGO design competition and being flown to Kennedy Space Centre to meet the NASA team and observe their Space Education programs.

In the second half, we will go through some specific workflows and discuss some free cross-platform apps like Sweet Home 3D & LEGO design Studio 2.0, and how to extract your designs and add them to Sketchfab to view on any connected device and interact with.

At the very least, by the end of the presentation you will be able to embed interactive models into your existing Keynotes / PowerPoints, websites or eBooks using existing models from vast libraries of rich online content, but with the ultimate aim of giving it shot and creating your own specific content too!

In this workshop, participants will be equipped with how to create brave spaces where difficult conversations can happen. The difference between “calling in” and “calling out” will be addressed and participants will be equipped to “call in” with compassion and grace. Workshop participants will be provided with resources to encourage self-monitoring and critical self-reflection.

This session focuses on using real life ethical dilemmas in interdisciplinary curriculum to generate student focus and support learning outcomes. Emotion drives attention and attention drives learning and ethical dilemmas are a thought-provoking way to stimulate student interest and discussion. Value and belief systems are important concepts; they are an integral part of what makes us human and by using these as a reference point, teachers can support purposeful inquiry based units and understand how these enrich the student interdisciplinary learning experience. All examples will be drawn from our recently published teacher resource books ‘Interdisciplinary Thinking for Schools: Ethical Dilemmas MYP 1, 2 & 3’ and ‘Interdisciplinary Thinking for Schools: Ethical Dilemmas MYP 4 & 5’ (John Catt Educational Ltd, UK).