One way the Ao Tawhiti team are eager to engage with the goals of Te Taura Here o Ōtautahi Kāhui Ako is by developing our students’ collaborative skills.

We see this as supporting several of the achievement goals of the kahui ako, supporting wellbeing by connecting students to each and creating a common sense of purpose, as well as supporting future focused learning that engages place based concepts.

There are a number of tools that we can use to better support ways for us to engage students in collaborative practice using digital platforms, and Sarah and Laura have been exploring these through the MindLab’s Postgraduate Certificate in Digital and Collaborative Learning. The ultimate outcome is to support our students in creating and promoting a digital tool that engages our community of students in Te Tiriti O Waitangi. Our first foray into using a new digital world was with Kupu, a Te Reo app and Ngā Motu, The Islands in Minecraft. In this world, the students work together to learn Te Reo Maori, explore early Maori settlements and ways of life, and build gardens to feed the Pā. Within this digital context, students are learning key 21st century skills like communication, resilience and collaboration.

We’d ultimately like to use these tools to support our students into presenting some of our place’s cultural narratives through augmented realities and in digital contexts. We’re excited to see what our students can do when given the chance!