A wonderful wet weekend wondering wistfully.

In the second week of July, I had the privilege of spending the weekend with some amazing educators from across New Zealand discussing everything from computational thinking to dancing micro-bits as part of inaugural New Zealand Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert hui held in Microsoft's offices in Auckland.

Anne Taylor, Teacher Engagement Manager for Microsoft NZ, kicked off the Hui on Saturday morning

For those unaware, MIE Experts are part of the Microsoft Innovative Educator program who have consistently demonstrated the use of Microsoft Educational applications in innovative ways and who share their knowledge, skills, and expertise with other educators both locally and globally. The efforts on New Zealand's MIEE's are highlighted in the following website: https://mieexpertsnz.org/. The two-day event was organized by MIE Fellows Nikkie Laing, Morgan McKeen, Rachel Chisnall and Steve Martin who are a small group of educators who have demonstrated exceptional skill and commitment to education. 

Following the successful formula of similar events, the Hui kicked off on the Saturday with a keynote from visiting expert Becky Keene on why should we teach computational thinking?

Becky argued that computational thinking will better prepare every learner for living in an increasingly digitalized world, and those computational thinkers will be superior problem solvers in all fields. This examination of computational thinking sharpens our definition of what an algorithm is: an algorithm is not merely a sequence of steps, but a series of steps that control some abstract machine or computational model without requiring human judgment. Computational thinking includes designing the model, not just the steps to control it.

The universal components of computational thinking:
1. Abstraction- when you identify the critical parts of the problem.
2. Algorithms- when you develop a step by step plan or the rules to solve a problem.
3. Decomposition- the ability to break a larger problem down into smaller parts.
4. Pattern recognition- when you observe similarities and patterns within problems Simon Sinek’s TedX on the Golden Circle is worth watching in this regard.

On reflection, I was still unclear on what computational thinking is, exactly. The characteristics of computational thinking as above were given, but no real definition emerged. How exactly is computational thinking different from other forms of thinking? I am still unclear how computational thinking differs from other kinds of thinking that require abstraction (such as artistic thinking) or require a great deal of data to recognize patterns (such as the process of drawing scientific conclusions). Because I find it hard to track down what exactly sets this form of thinking apart from other forms, I find it hard to be convinced that computational thinking should be more integrated into education.

There are a number of problems that would seem to lie outside the realm of computational thinking – for example, when I consider how to revise a draft of this very blog post. While I go through a problem-solving process in thinking about the changes I wish to make, there are a number of elements that I consider which seem very different from a computational process, such as questions of aesthetics, or what I personally wish to gain from the writing itself, as well as what I wish my reader to gain from it. These things are concerns that are both personal and creative, and I don’t feel that I rely on a computational process to resolve them – unless one considers the process of drawing on my own experience to be similar to the process of amassing a great deal of data and extrapolating conclusions based on that. But if that is the case, I would once again raise the question of what, then, makes computational thinking so different from any other kind of thinking. Similarly, it seems that it would be difficult to solve something like a moral problem, or a question of ethics, based on the system of computational thinking. I would argue that such problems are not a process of amassing data and drawing conclusions based on that – or even a process of conceptualizing. Rather, they are a process of understanding personal values and ideas, or values that belong to a society as a whole, and they are also problems that do not always have a concrete, reachable solution. 

Where the idea of computational thinking can be useful is encouraging people to start thinking about solving problems as a process, wherein a number of steps are taken in an effort to reach a solution, rather than relying on rote knowledge to draw conclusions without truly considering them. In hindsight I think is where Becky was coming from and I support these ideas.

On the Sunday Koen Timmers joined via Skype from Belgium to discuss the UN sustainable development goals and Project Kakuma where educators from the around the world taught via Skype refugees in the Kakuama camp in Kenya.

Koen's contention is that education is about offering empathy and softer skills. Students can learn in different ways and do not necessarily need a teacher to learn. If teaching and learning are designed where students are no longer the object of learning but become the subject of learning, then student needs can be addressed in new and creative ways and provide student agency.

Although I do not necessarily agree totally with Koen's ideas around students being directed through their interests. I am a keen advocate of his global collaboration projects and have been involved in his last two which my students and myself have gained a lot from. 

I got in touch with Koen during the keynote on Twitter and managed to organize the next day to teach a biology lesson to the Kakuma camp which although requiring me to be up at 1 am in the morning was an amazing experience and I look forward to repeating it with hopefully some more tricky questioning from students full of curiosity.

After this final keynote, there were breakout sessions led by the MIE-E’s that delegates could choose to attend. On Saturday afternoon the Immersion Sessions were thrown open to any educator that wished to attend.

Finally, the Sunday afternoon then saw educators working in small groups on a project based on the topics discussed in the keynotes earlier, in particular, the use of computational thinking to solve the problems associated with realizing the UN sustainable development goals.

For me, it was an opportunity over the course of the weekend to come together and be inspired, challenged and encouraged by others ideas and develop a real sense of community by getting to know the people behind the twitter handle.

The educators I met are an incredibly talented group of individuals, passionate about education and transforming the lives of our tamariki and it was a pleasure to finally meet and now be able to continue the conversations after the Hui.

Naku te rourou nau te rourou ka ora ai te iwi

With your basket and my basket the people will live