Octopus garden report

OCTOPUS GARDEN PROJECT

REPORT

Jason Hayklan G7

Research Question: What is a 21^st Century Classroom?

Classrooms are created to provide an environment for learning. How comfortable and settled we are affects our ability to learn in the classroom. The rooms in Nexus are a little dated and our grade 7, along with the students from grade 8 were tasked with researching and presenting our ideas and designs for the classroom of the 21^st century that could revolutionise the way we learn, just like the iPhone has changed the way we communicate.

Research & Analysis

The group that I worked in focused on fixtures and fittings (lights, cables, wires & plugs and fans) as well as peripheral learning support tools (projectors and laptop trays).

Lights:

The existing fluorescent strip lights on the ceiling look like they come from the 1980s!

While fluorescent bulbs have their advantages, they are filled with gas called ballast. This gas sends out a pulse that causes a high frequency flicker. Some people are known to be sensitive to this flicker; it can cause headaches and eyestrain.

Our choice was to opt for high tech LED lighting, and units that were both powerful and moveable.

The reasons were straightforward: they use less power, have no flicker and are therefore better for our eyes. We also liked the colour and variety that would brighten up the classrooms.

Fans:

All our classrooms have aircon, this uses a lot of electricity. If we are going to be eco-friendly, we need to use less. And, some parts of the classroom get very cold.

There are more energy efficient aircon units available, however, our team thought that it would be better to install ceiling fans. They circulate the air, they don’t create pockets of cold, they don’t have to be topped up with gas and use a lot less electricity.

Cables & Wires:

We do not have many plug sockets in the classroom and they are located at the walls. This is typical of older classrooms where computers etc. were not used. So, if we need to charge our laptops or plug in a projector, we have to move to the side of the room.

The team decided that a funky option would be to use a range of power extensions. We found some very practical ones as well as some fun ones.

We liked these extensions as you can twist the sockets around a bar, making them directional and you do not get the problem of a large plug covering the socket next to it.

 

This Wire Pod is a great idea for use around the beanbags or on the carpet. It unravels out and has multiple extensions that unravel like the branches of a tree. 

Projectors:

The projectors we use at the moment are not very good. Some of them are old, their colour is faded and they take a long time to configure. They are also static, meaning they are fixed at one angle and mounted. This means they are not very versatile and the classroom is not as functional as it could be.

We looked at a number of makes and options that are available.

The Dell S300WI is a classroom specific projector. It is an interactive wifi projector and can project onto “virtually any surface”. This means we do not even need a screen. It also comes with an interactive pen that works like a writing and drawing tool, both on and off surfaces.

Another plus point is that it has a long lamp life.

Laptop trays

The design of our classroom has created spaces where we can work in a more relaxed manner, like sitting on beanbags or on the carpet. We realised that this means we have to have our laptops on our laps. Laptops get quite hot and can burn our legs.

Some of us already have laptop trays at home, so why not at school?

We found some reasonable priced trays in Ikea and on eBay.

Conclusion & Recommendations

The No Limits team looked at fixtures and gadgets that we could use practically in our 21^st Century classroom. We wanted to find ways to make it easier to learn, create a comfortable learning area that was also bright and cheerful. We also wanted to make an environmentally friendly impact with our classroom.

I hope that all of these ideas can be used to make our classroom experience more enjoyable and more modern than what it is now.

References:

Lights:

http://ergonomics.about.com/od/ergonomicbasics/ss/fluorproblems.htm

Projectors:

http://www.dell.com/ed/business/p/dell-s300wi/pd

Wires and connectors:

http://izismile.com/2012/11/05/cool_gadgets_we_simply_must_have_47_pics.html#pic8

http://www.artecnicainc.com/Products/Interior_Elements/WirePod

Fans:

http://www.ceilingfan.com/v/vspfiles/photos/FMFP7900OB-2T.jpg

http://www.ceilingfan.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=FMFP7900OB

Laptops:

http://acceries.blogspot.sg/2011/09/gtmax-durable-white-plastic-foldable.html

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/$(KGrHqMOKi8E3ZEg2YezBN8iUYdr8g~~_35.JPG

Cables and Wire

Almost there...

What is a 21st century classroom?

The time has come! For the past few months, Grade 7 and Grade 8 have eaten, slept and dreamt about this moment - the final presentation for the Senior Leadership Team happens ON FRIDAY!

Our soundboard

Learners have been working during breaks to get together to rehearse and edit their presentation, ready for the deadline.

In preparation and to ensure the presentation can be the best possible showcase for all their hard work, learners presented their final ideas to five volunteers who kindly gave up their free time. On Wednesday afternoon, our 'soundboard' came along to watch the final presentation and give some critical feedback via a Google Form developed from our co-constructed rubric.

All Octopus's Garden Project presenters were really nervous as they have worked really hard and it was the first time they had showed anyone else their work. However, they were kind and supportive of each other and did a really great job.

The Octopus's Garden Project team would really like to thank Mr Beach, Mr Brian, Mrs Robyn, Ms Barbara and Mr Paul for being our sounding board. Your comments, questions and feedback were encouraging and helpful - and now we have some great advice about how to improve for Friday.

Soundboard completed Google Forms to give feedback

The project team will work on final adjustments and rehearse a few more times before finally presenting to Dr Stuart, Mr Wade and Dr Rosie on Friday afternoon - what an awesome way to end a fabulous term!

Watch this space to find out if our pitch is successful!

THE OCTOPUS GAREDN

In this phase i’m doing the Grammar checker.When my group mate done the project or something.I will check the sentence.And change the mistakes.And sometimes I will find some informations about ceiling ideas give them.

I think the most challenging is to check their grammar.Because my first lauguage is chinese.So my english is worse than my team mate.But they always help me to do my job.

Why visual is more important than text?

Because if visual storytelling is more interesting.If I saw so many words and no pictures no funny things I will think this is so boring.When we use visual it will make the blog or something funny.And visual can make you feel funny.We should make use of more visuals and minimum text in our classroom presentation in the future.

 

Phase 3: Final Design Presentation BEGINS

This week, Grade 7 and Grade 8 have been deciding on how to proceed with their final design presentations. They created a list of guidelines based on the feedback and reflections from Phase 2 presentations, along with a lesson on slide design...

  

Introduction to Slide Design: 7 Rules for Creating Effective Slides

from Alex Rister

Lots of critical thinking happened as learners made important decisions about how teams would be formed, how the presentation would work, what would be included and the order each section would occur in. Learners took part in a poll to decide on team formation for this Phase and then, using the guidelines and learning from the slides above, worked on planning out their section of the final design presentation.

Rubber Ducks: 'Walls' Presentation Planning

Using sticky notes, each team planned out exactly what they wanted to be seen on each slide and in what order, with notes about what would be heard whilst the slide was displayed - speech or music.

Two members from each team then circulated among the rest of the group, spending two minutes discussing the plan with the remaining members. Returning to their own team, they shared what they had seen and heard and adjusted their plans accordingly, (see right).

Plan for Slide 1 of
Final Presentation

Once each team's plan was made, all sheets were stuck up on the wall around a central overall plan - which included a general introduction to the whole project, (see left and below).

As a group, we then started to plan out the whole presentation bringing together all our ideas. Learners wanted to mix up the different areas in a logical way. By discussing links and connections between different topic areas, learners began to create a presentation plan that seamlessly links different areas together. For example, discussion of a ceiling painted like the sky (from G.O.A.T.'s 'Ceiling' plan) lead to a discussion of flooring like grass (from Dominant Innovation's 'Floor' plan) to create a more sophisticated presentation that shows careful thought about all the different elements.

Final Presentation Plan starting to take shape

Learners recognised that these thinking, planning and linking skills are essential in effectively and clearly showing all their designs in a cohesive way, but are also very important for organising their writing.

Phase 2: Research COMPLETE

Phase 2 of The Octopus's Garden Project has now been completed.

During this part of the project, learners worked in teams to research a specific topic: walls, floors, ceilings, furniture and 'other stuff'. Each team therefore became an expert in their topic.

They collected all their research together into a Mural.ly and then created a short film presentation to share their favourite items with the rest of the group. You can have a look at their short films on our website.

Learners are now working on recount writing to reflect on this part of the project before coming together to decide how to use their learning from this phase to approach their FINAL DESIGN!

You can read learner recounts of Phase 2 by going to the Grade 7 and Grade 8 Class Blog pages - the links are here >>>>>.

G.O.A.T

This week we searched some fantastic pictures about ceiling.And communicating with grade eight was hard I think.
This is one of our pictures.

Our team G.O.A.T had to research our team topic,CEILING.First we created a Mural.ly to collect all our research together and then we decided on the best ideas.We took the best ideas and then had to collaborate to create a team film about them to share with the rest of the class.We all felt very happy to do our job.

Today,we worked with Gr2 in D block with both grade 2 classes .  We went during our English lesson to improve our writing.  My partner was Ivan , We talked about car design. He read his ideas for me .  His car can do anything  and can run fast. His ideas is awsome. We had good time.