Neurotechnology Finale

.                                                                                                   Image taken from the article link below.
 

Declan, Han, Marcel, Aidan and Josiah met today to complete and present their Neurotechnology ideas. 

 We learned about the NeuroHeal chip, designed to interface with the brain and give medical diagnostics and offer support information to users to help boost health and offer early diagnosis in the event of serious illness.  This would be implanted in the brain and upgraded by medical professionals.  

The NeuroTech invention was a microchip inserted via a port similar to a usb in the skull so that memories and knowledge could be captured and made available for purchase.  There were screening functions to deal with unpleasant experiences but essentially, you could purchase the knowledge and understanding or great minds like Elon Musk or Stephen Hawking and import it into your brain.  This chips content could be managed via a website and purchased from pharmacy's. 

Interesting ideas!  and the ethics behind them prompted lengthy discussion.  Ultimately the boys came up with the following reflections on this entire unit of work.

PMI (Positive / Minus / Interesting)

Positive: 

JL -That people can actually have brain chips put in - it’s good because the world is always changing and we need to cope.  We need to have the knowledge to be able to survive with new things.

AH- It was very interesting to see what Neurotechnology was actually like because you don’t  see much of it on the news.

DH- I didn’t know what Neurotechnology was before this and now I know what it is.

MR- I like people can see stuff that other people can’t see - someone can play a video game that others can’t see because they are using AI or VR.

HP- I didn’t know about any technology and now I know about neurotechnology -I thought technology was only for engineers but this stuff is for doctors to use.

Minus:

JL - If it malfunctions you may not be able to have your brain function properly.

AH- It could malfunction quite easily if it wasn’t engineered properly and tested properly.

DH - sometimes the things you get might not be very effective

MR- if the doctor doesn't know what they are doing when they put it in, it could change your life badly.

HP- It isn’t always safe to use

Interesting:

JL - There’s so much that knowledge and information that can fit into a tiny chip

AH- I find it surprising how lots of people don’t know about all this technology yet - its not mainstream.

DH- I didn’t know anything about this before we started and now I know quite a few things, like about the brain.

MR- It’s interesting that if your friend is dead - you could absorb their memory and take it as your own.

HP- its really hard to spell 'neurotechnology'.

Have a read of this article to see some of the current advancement in neurotechnology.

Neurotech advancements

Wrapping up Values in Action

 Kahurangi, Haepapa and Tautoko students had their final Values in Action sessions this week.  It was great to see the students selecting a value and taking on that characteristic for their character.  They then devised a problem and solution that required them to use that skill to reactivate their "thinking" brain or prevent them even getting to a point of distress.  The older students told a story about being at a seniors tea party - they reminisced about a dastardly deed one of them had done in the past and used their values of forgiveness and honesty, love of learning and social intelligence to resolve the story....unfortunately the resolution involved a poisoned smoothie drunk by all!  While it wasn't a happy ending, it was cleverly told!

The younger students today told a simple story about hobbits being too small to reach the cookie jar on the top shelf.  They used love of learning and prudence to trouble shoot ideas and grew a giant carrot that they carved into a ladder to reach the cookie jar.  It was an innovative solution to a common problem and was fun to watch.

Finals Day!!

 The teams came together on Zoom again to reflect and give feedback on the Inventionator Conference - a great wordle was created to share the thoughts from all the students around the country.  Then it was time for Jensen, Logan and Ben to get back to shaping and refining their presentations for the afternoon's Grand Finals.

                                          

 

           Pizza lunch revived the weary and added to an air of excitement ahead of the afternoon's hui.

All joined together again for the final zoom hui...

The presentations went very well for all the teams.

  It was hard to be patient but finally the judging was complete.

The Results!!

Congratulations to the Jensen and the Lean Leashes on winning the "2021 Rationale Award."

And to Ben, Logan and the Playful Pups on winning the "2021 Delivery Award."

A wonderful result for our first year taking part in this event.  Once the joyful exuberance had settled down (just a little!) the students had this to say about taking part.

Positive

MM - It was great to have the chance to be a part of it and I hope I get to do it again.

JB - I really liked working as a team and finding new people that I worked well with.

MC - I’m grateful for the whole experience, the opportunity to do it and working with other students.

MH - I'm grateful that I have a good team and the whole experience was really fun.

LC - I’m grateful for the pizza and my understanding team and my teacher Pou Toria.

BH - I think that it was tiring but totally worth it.

Minus

MM - they brought up our hopes by saying we might get into the finals - (based on judges comments)

MC - I feel nearly the same feeling as MM

LC - It was a bit stink because someone else in another team said “I don’t think you are going to make it to the finals..” in the group chat.

BH - I would like to actually be able to meet the people. Only meeting them virtually was really hard

JB - technical difficulties was a minus

MH - probably how long we had spend in the zoom meetings  - it would be easier to take more days and sit for shorter times.

Interesting

MM - I think it was interesting how the format of everything was - I liked how everything was put on the timetable. Things were similar but there was some different activities so we weren’t just doing the same thing every day.

MC - The whole timetable - I knew nothing going into it and how we actually did it was pretty good. Each day was similar but you got used to it fast.

JB - how rude some people were - some people were surprisingly rude (in the chat)

BH - Everything! It was all flat out interesting!

MH - What other people came up with  - their ideas.

LC - Our team member was from way down the bottom of the South Island

Inventionator Semi-Finals

 Our teams worked so well yesterday to refine their pitches with the help of their mentors and then to support other teams before presenting their ideas themselves.   The zoom chat was full of manaakitanga as the teams offered encouragement and praise to each team for their efforts and ideas.  

Our teams all presented strong pitches, they were all actively involved in the delivery - I have captured some of their presentation slides for you all to see.  Lets start with the team Logan and Ben joined...

This is Craig Coutts - one of our judges.  He is the principal of an international school in Japan but he is currently in quarantine in Auckland so he loved being a part of Inventionator 2021.

Next up is Meela, Maria and Max's team...

And finally...Jensen's team!

The judges loved the animation this team had created to play on this slide to show how their invention would work.

Such great presentations in a "Shark Tank" style set up.  We gathered together while the judges deliberated....had an anxious few minutes wait and then the results were in!

Congratulations to Ben, Logan and Jensen whose teams have made it to the final!!

Well done to Meela, Max and Maria on a terrific effort! Nga mihi nui!

Inventionator - preparing for the semi-finals

 

Wow!  So exciting to watch these six students preparing their pitches for the Inventionator judges.  They are involved in three different teams, pitching very different ideas.  Max, Meela and Maria are pitching a timing device to help teachers monitor how long they have been talking to students to ensure akonga don't have to sit on the mat too long.  Jensen's team is working on a pitch to launch a dog-walking robot that cleans up after the animal as well.  Max and Ben are working with students from other schools on a specially designed dog treat dispenser - activated by the animal and apptly named "The InFetchonator"!

The teams have had adult mentors who have checked in and supported them but the pitch development has many been driven by the kids.  Such a great opportunity for them.  Included in this weeks newsletter is the karakia we have closed with each day and I think it fits the Whakaaro philosophy beautifully!

This is what attending a virtual conference looks like!

Inventionator 2021 begins

Great to be taking part in Inventionator 2021 with Maria, Meela, Ben, Max, Logan and Jensen this week.

We joined a zoom hui this morning to meet students from around the country. We joined breakout rooms for a quick introductory task, and selected a variety of teams to join for the next four days. Our students are divided amongst various teams and we will share more about the pitches they are developing as they evolve.

I was very proud of their focus and self management online...they have made a great start to this

 conference!

Values in Action - Calming Techniques

 Last week our Haepapa and Tautoko students created advertisements for active gratitude (Three Awesome Things) and box breathing. These two techniques can be used to help us re-engage our thinking brains when a stressful or dangerous situation has thrown us into a tailspin and left us functioning with our instinct brain.

The Kahurangi students today looked at ways to use different values as well as these two mindfulness techniques to help them manage in difficult situations.  They also had to incorporate a setting as well as two drama conventions.  Our story-telling is definitely improving and more complex characters are being explored.

Box breathing is a really valuable, discrete technique for helping to manage stress  - check out the link below to learn more.

Box Breathing

We also spent time offering a PMI to each drama group, identifying the positive, minus and interesting points of their drama performance.

Positive / Minus / Interesting - Kaija / Josh / Isabelle (critique by Jimmy, Isaac, Grace and Jiwoo)

Positive:  

• XX did Hermione's voice really well
• I liked the way you all worked together and I liked how you got those 10 house points back
• They juggled all the characters well
• You did all the stuff Pou Toria told you to do

Minus:

• try not to whisper to each to each other, maybe practice a bit more so you know what's happening or just go with it if something goes a bit differently.
• XX did really well with her voices but she could use her body more to show her character

Interesting:

• They had a narrator who was a character
• You blended original Harry Potter story elements with all the things we are learning about
• Almost all the kids played two parts
• I liked the way that they found a way to solve the problem that used box breathing.
• They all used their accents really well

Positive / Minus / Interesting - Jiwoo/ Isaac / Jimmy / Grace (critique by Kaija, Josh, Isabelle)

Positive:

• I like that you found a lamborghini at a haunted mansion!
• I liked how you were funny but you still showed the values for us to see

Minus

• What does prudence mean? You could add in a bit of a definition
• I didn't really understand that you were at a mansion - that wasn't too clear.

Interesting

• I liked your freeze frame
• Grace's character had a knife and she was only 5 years old!
• I liked that the two 5 year olds drove for a long time with one steering and the other using the pedals. It was a long time till they crashed.

Inventionator Preparation

 

Over the past 6 weeks Maria, Jensen, Meela, Ben, Max and Logan have been working with me through a series of wero (challenges)  in preparation for Inventionator 2021.  This is a virtual conference being held next week.  There are 110 participants from up and down the country, Whangarei to Southland.  We have explored different ways of generating and growing ideas, how to pitch an idea to create interest and gain support as well as brainstorming what skills are required to be a good teammate.

Next week we will be based in the library from Tuesday to Friday, taking part and collaborating with our new teams online.  Our ideas have been hung in the Pitch Gallery, ready to be read and sorted by all the candidates and we will begin choosing teams early on Tuesday.  We look forward to keeping you updated of our teams progress!  Watch this space!