learning making things for my family. I thoroughly enjoyed the Nourish and Flourish MOOC, and I learned so much!
Practical First Aid MOOC
teaching styles, and how we could play to our own strengths and support others as a leader. We both learned a vast amount from this MOOC, about ourselves and others from different year groups. The Leadership Development MOOC was not only unique in its interactive approach and online materials, but the content was interesting and new – neither of us had encountered a class or course like it. We both had so much fun with the MOOC, and we absolutely loved it!
Nourish and Flourish MOOC The Nourish and Flourish MOOC was like an online, virtual version of Food Technology. It was hosted by Mrs Burgess and Mrs Wiedemann. Over the span of a few weeks, we cooked three meals: a breakfast, a lunch and a dinner. The meetings were via Microsoft Teams, and Mrs Burgess and Mrs Wiedemann demonstrated how to cook each of the meals during a live stream. The participants could either watch or cook along with the demonstration. The three meals were made to be healthy but also delicious. It was very entertaining to watch the demonstration, as Mrs Burgess and Mrs Wiedemann chatted about many things such as handy tips, the proper materials and historical facts about certain foods. There was also a Padlet where we could share pictures of our creations and ask questions, which was really useful and interesting to read! Overall, I think the MOOC showed really admirable adaptations to online learning, and I was surprised how the MOOC managed to still be as fun as person-to-person Food Technology! It was great to use up some of my excess time during home
The Practical First Aid course was run by Mr Clark and taught students about basic, practical first aid and what to do in situations where it is required. The course consisted of a video introducing the course and then a series of ten videos covering a range of critical interventions in-depth. The content was very well organised and easy to follow and understand. It included anaphylactic shock and using EpiPens, asthma and how to use puffers, choking, bleeding, poisons, managing injuries such as burns and cuts, how to administer basic life support and CPR. The Practical First Aid course was full of new information which was both engaging and incredibly educational. It contained information such as how to properly do chest compressions in CPR, how to help someone who is choking and how to manage bleeding.
It was great to have the freedom to watch the videos and do the practical activities at our own pace. We were also provided with a Padlet, where we could share images with captions of what we practised by following instructions in the videos, and we could see and respond to what our friends and fellow participants did. We were able to ask questions about what we were learning, and we would
very quickly get a response with feedback and encouragement from Mr Clark. There was a quiz uploaded toward the end of the course (with answers), where we were able to test all the knowledge we had gained. We found it to be one of the most educational and engaging experiences that we have ever had, and we would highly recommend it to anybody of almost any skill level looking to extend their knowledge and skill set when it comes to practical first aid. In the words of Mr Clark, “You have the power to change somebody’s life, and that of their family, by applying your first aid skills. You have the power to save somebody’s life.”
THE MAGAZINE 2020
Technologies
There is no doubt that doing all these MOOCs greatly benefitted both of us in so many ways. We gained a lot of highly relevant and useful knowledge that we can apply to our daily lives. We had some wonderful and unique experiences in topics that we hadn’t explored before, and we made connections and interacted with new people, despite being at home. The benefits of doing these MOOCs are endless, and we are both so glad to have tried them. We’re both really eager to try more MOOCs!
Every time you do a MOOC, you learn something of value, so we would really strongly encourage everyone to give a MOOC – any MOOC – a go. You won’t regret it! Mulan Xu and Grace Ho, Year 8
PyMedia This year we started a new group called PyMedia. In PyMedia we film and edit or live stream events at Pymble Ladies’ College. We met on Fridays at lunchtime and our group was open to anyone from Years 7 to 12.
The first project we worked on was filming the Athletics Carnival, which was a lot of fun! We had the opportunity to learn different features on a camera, as well as working out which clips would go nicely together to make a final product. We also did a live stream of the Combined School Assembly. We experienced all the work put in behind the scenes and were able to assist in running the live event. I am excited to explore more about live streaming and different sites that can be used to enhance the quality of them. It was such a great experience and I look forward to continuing to learn more about filming, editing and live streaming. Isabel Aveling, Year 8
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