Our online Manaiakalani Digital Fluency Intensive got off to a great start today. We have just over 50 participants from around the country, a good mix of primary and secondary school kaiako. If I think back to 2020 when we first held the DFI online, many people were quite new to using Google Meet. A couple of years on and with distance learning often happening in schools via Google Meet, teachers seem to be more comfortable with accessing our Google Meet links. The breakouts in Google Meets have made smaller group work that much easier too.

Today, during our Learn section of the agenda, I was reminded of how the name Manaiakalani came about. A toanga (gift) given by the local kaumatua of East Tamaki, Ihaka Samuels, it represents the star constellation that guided the early voyagers to Aoteroa. The translation is the Hook from heaven, a beautiful name that I know continues to shape the growth of Manaiakalani.

I’m looking forward to working with this wonderful cohort of teachers and principals over the coming weeks. Collectively, we hold so much experience and that will provide us with many opportunities to share and learn from one another.

For our Create session, I started an infographic about the upcoming Manaiakalani secondary school specific professional development events. We have the Department Discussions which start next week with Science on Tuesday 15th February and Maths on Thursday 17th February. To find our more information and to register, you can click here or on the image below.