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e-learning UPDATE News
www.teachingtimes.com
Editorial Office PUBLISHER Howard Sharron
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Google Glass
Editor Raspal Chima
New e-safety service
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i-WIGT Review
New mobile app gives fast, secure access to teaching and learning tools
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How to ensure successful investment in technology
Learning is embracing social networks
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Online bullying affects 35 per cent of children
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Are schools responsible for teaching children about e-safety?
Innovating Pedagogy 2014
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BETT Show Review
Digital Capabilities in Higher Education
Technology - Education Apps
Reports ››
A ICT Update Publication
Using online mind-mapping tools to structure thinking
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Features
Helping teachers with today’s technology
Sub Editor Maisie Gould DESIGN MANAGER Devinder Sonsana ADVERTISINg DEPARTMENT 0121 224 7590/91 marketing DEPARTMENT James Mason 0121 224 7591
Company registration number 02445043 © e-Learning Update 2014 No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means. e-Learning Update is an independent magazine. The views expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent those of the magazine. The magazine cannot accept any responsibility for products and services advertised within it.
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This month’s NEWS
Learning is embracing social networks Education can be dramatically enhanced by social networks, a report from The Open University claims. The so-called ‘network effect’ comes from many thousands of people learning from each other, but it needs careful management to reach its full potential. The movement of education from the classroom and onto social networks is one of the key trends identified in the Innovating Pedagogy 2014 report. The report identifies ten methods of teaching, learning and assessment that are gaining influence but which have not yet had a major impact on education. One of these, massive open social learning, brings the benefits of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to people taking online courses, by recommending, liking and following the best content created by other learners. Millions of people are now studying massive open online courses (MOOCs) for free. Massive open social learning exploits
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the ‘network effect’ where the value of a network increases as more people use it. This new trend encourages online learners to connect to each other, join productive discussions, share ideas and create material that other learners can use. Mike Sharples, Professor of Educational Technology at the OU and lead author of the Innovating Pedagogy report, said: “Social networks have transformed entertainment from delivering books, radio and television programmes into holding a global conversation. The same is about to happen with education through social learning. By its nature, we don’t know how this conversation will evolve. For instance, on an online course with 10,000 learners, there are 50 million ways that pairs of them could connect directly. “That is a huge opportunity, but also a challenge to manage the discussion and file sharing. Learning on that scale can’t only be controlled centrally. It has to come through social network techniques that put learners in contact with others who share their interests, reward the best contributions and allow learners to report issues.”
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This month’s NEWS
Online bullying affects 35 per cent of children Forty per cent of children have been bullied online, according to research by internet security firm, McAfee, which polled 2000 UK children and 2000 parents. The figure has doubled in a year with 35 per cent of 11 to 17-yearolds getting abuse on the internet. The research also suggests that thousands of teenagers, including under-16s, use disappearing message service Snapchat and dating app Tinder every day. The research indicated increasing numbers of parents have a more relaxed attitude to the risks online. Only 27 per cent of parents said they were worried about their child being the victim of cyber-bullying this year – almost halving from 45 per cent a year ago. And 67 per cent of children are allowed to go online without supervision, up from 53 per cent. But 77 per cent of parents said they had conversations about online safety, up from 68 per cent last year. Andy Phippen, professor of social responsibility in IT at Plymouth University, said: “There is a real gap between parental concern and the reality of what children face. “While it is encouraging to see that these talks are happening, there are areas in which parents may not be completely aware of their children’s online behaviour.
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“It’s time for parents to become more educated on social platforms, what ages they are suited for and the behaviour they encourage. “Cyber-bullying happens across all platforms.” One in six youngsters – 17 per cent – used Tinder every day. Almost half of them were 15 and under. Tinder users are shown other subscribers close to their location. They tick those they like and must get one back in order to start communicating. It is open to those who are 13 or older, with under-18s only able to match with people in their age bracket. Phippen said: “It is very concerning to see younger teens using apps like Tinder, whose aim is hook-ups and dating – and very much for an adult audience. “These apps can be used as platforms for grooming and abuse.” Thirty-seven per cent of children used Snapchat. Explicit images have been hacked from the app.
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This month’s NEWS
New e-safety service Supplied with specific guidance packs for schools and parents, a new e-safety service has been launched to help you ensure 360° e-safety at all times, for students of all ages – both on and off your school network. Point2Protect is an e-safety service that works on all PCs, tablets and smartphones. It encourages ‘respectful and responsible’ internet use, while helping to keep all learners safe in a fully adaptable and ageappropriate way –whether they’re at school or at home. As well as helping teachers to easily incorporate e-safety teaching alongside other subjects to meet new curricula requirements, Point2Protect is designed to provide easy-to-understand information about how students are using devices – and where they might be at risk. The service allows access to online resources in a fully adaptable and age-appropriate way, tailored to specific student needs – to help enhance learning outcomes in a safe and supportive environment for everyone. The cost to schools is £7 per device.
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National Launch
Behaviour app re-integrates difficult children
5 markers of improving behaviour The Student Behaviour Analysis System uses a research-based questionnaire format that can simplify behavioural issues by breaking them down into five main themes:
1. Academic 2. Verbal 3. Self-Management 4. Physical 5. Outside the classroom
Transforming school culture While teachers will find the assessments fast and simple to complete, assessors are able to use the app to highlight areas of concern that demand action, as well as celebrate areas where a child shows improvement.
The new Sandwell Student Behaviour Analysis System (SBAS) helps you to:
School leaders can use SBAS to continually refine how the school supports children with behavioural issues, leading to whole school cultural transformation.
Accurate and simple It also pinpoints which aspects of the school system support the child or trigger disruption. This allows staff to learn from each other how best to manage a process of behaviour recovery.
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Track a child’s behaviour through all aspects of school life
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Ensure teacher participation in behaviour assessments
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Locate the causes of bad behaviour
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Provide support for individual teachers
Guarantee cooperation between departments
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Respond quickly and effectively, based on hard data rather than impressions
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Link your strategies to expert practice on student engagement
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Communicate intervention strategies to all staff involved with the child
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Create a school culture that is ‘behaviour friendly’
Create a consistent, data-driven response for each child School tested Sandwell Inclusion, one of the most exciting and innovative agencies in UK education, is nationally launching the Student Behaviour Analysis System (SBAS) – a new mobile behaviour App that is already having great local success in resolving individual student and organisational problems around discipline and behaviour.
An alternative to exclusion SBAS allows schools to follow individual children causing concern through all aspects of their school life. The system’s precision enables you to locate flashpoints and resolve crises by isolating individual causes. These particular issues can then be confidently managed by staff, rather than resorting to a child’s removal from the school.
Find out more at www.teachingtimesbookshop.co.uk
Because it is mobile, simple to use and extremely accurate, staff at all levels within the school can be authorised to start assessments. The app coordinates interventions by notifying staff that actions are required. It also tracks how far through each assessment cycle a child is. Children can be reassessed easily to monitor the impact of interventions and their behaviour performance tracked centrally over time.
Best practical support Managers can also send detailed notes to staff about intervention strategies and help teachers tackle behaviour issues by linking to the Imaginative Minds Best Practice Library – which provides teachers with dedicated expertise on engagement from behaviour and learning experts.
Behaviour Audit Tool for Schools (BATS) SBAS is a standalone system, but it will be linked in future to the Behaviour Audit Tool app, that assesses your school’s ability to improve behaviour of all children, and locates which areas of the school need development.
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This month’s NEWS
New mobile app gives fast, secure access to teaching and learning tools The Magellan mobile app has been launched, which provides fast, seamless and secure access to a school’s server from mobile devices. MD of Computer Systems in Education, Gordon Derham, said: “Historically schools have been held back by the limited access and options presented by iPads and smart phones. With Magellan, however, virtually any file or document, in any programme, can be viewed, worked on, and resaved to the system from any gadget. “This enables teachers and students to use their own devices to access multi-programme teaching and learning tools, and without compromising security. Our new Magellan app will make such access easier still.” The company believes schools that have invested heavily in tablet technology and use the Magellan portal will welcome this latest development. The Magellan Mobile app is available now to download from the Apple and Android stores. Magellan is available from CSE-net.co.uk.
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FAO: Headteacher, Literacy and English subject leaders, SENCOs and inclusion managers
ENABLE your
Teaching Assistants to make a real impact How the programme helps struggling readers: ● ● ●
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Develops a pupil’s self-esteem and their self-belief in becoming a reader Provides a model and supports the reading of quality books Develops a child’s use of context and prediction by questioning, discussing and re-telling the stories Helps pupils to develop an extending sight vocabulary of high frequency words Extends the learner’s vocabulary of high frequency words that can be written independently Learners will be able to recognise by sight and say the sound for all letters of the alphabet and Be able to hear the sound of and write the correct letter symbol for all letters of the alphabet They’ll be able to read and write three/ four letter phonetically regular words as well as be able to read and write some common digraphs Plus, be able to compose and write simple sentences containing high frequency words and three/four letter phonetically regular words.
Order today:
Price: £195 + VAT Call: 0121 224 7599 Fax: 0121 224 7598 Email: enquiries@imaginativeminds.co.uk
i
i-WIGT
Will transform teacher appraisals, evaluation and mentoring in your school Discover why schools across the UK are making the i-WIGT a key tool in their school improvement strategies…
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“The i-WIGT provides an excellent and highly efficient system to observe and evaluate the quality of
teaching and learning linked to performance management and, through the links with the Imaginative Minds Best Practice Library offers immediate access to a range of articles to support professional development.
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Elaine Ricks-Neal, Jt. Principal Adviser for School Improvement, West Berkshire Council
Research has shown that trained TAs give a massive boost to learning outcomes 10 years of research and development in Sandwell Local Authority schools has produced Enhancing Attainment in Basic Literacy (ENABLE) – a solid, proven platform that empowers your teaching assistants to transform children's reading.
ENABLE is cited in Greg Brooks’ 2007 publication ‘What Works for Children with Literacy Difficulties’ as creating significant literacy gains for pupils that were experiencing difficulties with comprehension, spelling and reading accuracy.
Ofsted now demands evidence that the Pupil Premium is being used effectively to close the learning gap. Training your Teaching Assistants with this established platform will ENABLE them to create effective interventions to boost the confidence, selfesteem and skills of struggling readers.
By using ENABLE you can ensure that your Teaching Assistants are fully trained on an effective intervention programme that can significantly improve children’s reading. In fact ENABLE has been proved to lift children’s reading age and ability by up to two years.
“The i-WIGT is bringing quality and consistency to our judgements and the analysis tool has helped us to form a clear overview of the quality of teaching and learning and areas for improvement supported by clear evidence. This has saved us many hours of work.
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“I think using the i-WIGT has definitely made our monitoring processes more robust and transparent and we will be using it for all observations and feedback from now on.
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Clare Beynon, Castleview School, Slough
Mr Nick Turvey, Head Teacher, Upton Cross Primary School
Used correctly TAs can transform your school’s performance For more information on ENABLE please visit: www.teachingtimesbookshop.co.uk
You can read more testimonials online at www.wigt.co.uk/iwigt To find out more and book your FREE demonstration of the App go to Online: www.wigt.co.uk/iwigt Call today: 0121 224 7599 Email: enquiries@imaginativeminds.co.uk
#i-WIGT
This month’s Reports
Innovating Pedagogy 2014 Published by the Open University This report from the Open University explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment, to guide educators and policy makers. It proposes ten innovations that are already in currency but have not yet had a profound influence on education.
Main Points: ■■ Massive open social learning brings
the benefits of social networks to the people taking massive open online courses (MOOCs). The aim is to engage thousands of people in productive discussions and the creation of shared projects, so together they share experience and build on their previous knowledge. A challenge to this approach is that these learners typically only meet online and for short periods of time. Possible solutions include linking
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conversations with learning content, creating short-duration discussion groups made up of learners who are currently online, and enabling learners to review each other’s assignments. ■■ Learning design is used in the development of courses or series of lessons to help educators plan a coherent sequence of media, technologies and pedagogies. The use of learning design tools and templates shifts attention away from content, towards learner activities and the learning journey. ■■ Flipped learning reverses the traditional classroom approach to teaching and learning. It moves direct instruction into the learner’s own space. At home, or in individual study time, students watch video lectures that offer them opportunities to work at their own pace, pausing to make notes where necessary.
This allows time in class to be spent on activities that exercise critical thinking, with the teacher guiding students in creative exploration of the topics they are studying. ■■ When students bring their own smartphones and tablet computers into the classroom, this action changes their relationship with the school and with their teachers. Teachers become managers of technology – enabled networked learners, rather than providers of resources and knowledge. This shift opens opportunities for connecting learning inside and outside the classroom. ■■ Learning to learn. Self-determined learning involves learning how to be an effective learner, and having the confidence to manage our own learning processes. ‘Double-loop learning’ is central to this process, for double-loop
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This month’s Reports
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learners not only work out how to solve a problem or reach a goal, but also reflect on that process as a whole, questioning assumptions and considering how to become more effective. This helps them to become self-determined learners with the ability to seek out sources of knowledge and make use of online networks for advice and support. ■■ Dynamic assessment focuses on the progress of the student. The assessor interacts with students during the testing phase of the process, identifying ways to overcome each person’s current learning difficulties. In the dynamic assessment process, assessment and intervention are inseparable. ■■ Event-based learning runs over a few hours or days and creates a memorable sense of occasion. The time-bounded nature of an event encourages people to
learn together, its local setting supports face-to-face encounters between amateurs and experts, and the scale of an event can provide access to resources that would otherwise prove inaccessible. ■■ Learning through storytelling. Learning requires a structure that helps learners to embed and revisit their understanding. Stories provide one way of creating this structure. Developing a narrative is part of a process of meaning making in which the narrator structures a series of events from a particular point of view in order to create a meaningful whole. ■■ A threshold concept is something that, when learnt, opens up a new way of thinking about a problem, a subject or the world. An example is the physics concept of ‘heat transfer’ that can inform everyday activities such as cooking or home energy use. Teachers are
increasingly using threshold concepts as starting points for the design of effective lessons. They can also be used as a focus for dialogue between students, teachers and educational designers. ■■ Bricolage is a practical process of learning through tinkering with materials. It involves continual transformation, with earlier products or materials that are ready to hand becoming resources for new constructions. It is a fundamental process of children’s learning through play, as they create castles out of boxes and tell stories from remembered events. It also forms a basis for creative innovation, allowing inventors to combine and adapt tools and theories to generate new insights, while also engaging with relevant communities to ensure that the innovation works in practice and in context.
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This month’s Reports
Digital Capabilities in Higher Education Published by Accenture This survey conducted by Penn Schoen Berland (PSB) for Accenture of 1,500 students in Australia, India, Singapore, the U.K and the U.S. found the majority of college-bound students (85 per cent) said that digital capabilities, such as virtual coursework and online classes, are a top determinant in choosing which university to attend. As universities compete to attract students, digital capabilities are a major draw and need to rise to the challenge of addressing demands for digital services among current and prospective students.
Main Findings: ■■ The results from the United Kingdom
show that a clear majority (83 per cent) place an emphasis on a university’s
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digital capabilities, such as virtual coursework and online classes, when comparing institutions. The survey also revealed 63 per cent of respondents wanted digital tools to play a greater role in learning and content delivery. However, the cost of university remained the top issue for U.K. students. 59 per cent - the highest of all countries surveyed – stated that they had considered alternatives to university. ■■ The survey provides a useful window into the contemporary concerns of current and potential students both in the U.K. and across the world. Education leaders should take note of these results and use them to re-evaluate their communications and operations strategies. Through doing so, they will be able to more effectively meet the needs
of students, and differentiate themselves from other education providers. ■■ The cost of attending a university was the number one reason students across the five countries – 54 per cent overall – said they were considering alternatives to higher education. The concern over cost was fairly consistent across the five countries, cited by 55 per cent in Australia, 48 per cent in India, 53 percent in Singapore, 59 per cent in the UK and 55 per cent in the U.S. ■■ Satisfaction levels in the overall experience at university among current university students and recent graduates were high in all five countries, with 86 per cent globally saying their experience was either excellent or good. The U.S. had the most satisfied students, with 90 per cent saying their experience
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This month’s Reports
was excellent or good, followed by the U.K. (88 per cent), Australia and India (both at 82 per cent), and Singapore (80 per cent). ■■ University websites were the most valuable source of information for university-bound students in four of the five countries, with the exception of Australia where a higher percentage of students pointed to “university visits/open houses” as the most useful information source (26 pe rcent, versus 20 per cent selecting university websites). ■■ The survey also found that while the majority of students (84 per cent) identified obtaining skills and knowledge for success in the job market as the main goal of a university education, three in four respondents also said personal benefits, such as exposure to new people and news ways of thinking, was also a main goal.
What sort of teaching allows students to take ownership of their own learning? What will motivate and excite children’s curiosity and haul them out of passivity? What style of teaching will develop their intellectual skills to the point that they can become effective agents of enquiry in any field?
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IntellIgent learnIng Written and presented By Steve Williams Acclaimed by the NUT
“Intelligent Learning is a complete DVD training course for promoting independent learning, curiosity, good dialogue and thinking skills in your school at Key Stages 2 and 3”. Debra Kidd and Rebecca Patterson Manchester Metropolitan University
Intelligent Learning is a teaching practice course, executed through six half hour video sessions, which address in detail the changes in pedagogy you and your school need to introduce to start addressing the issues of motivation and becoming a thinking and learning community. The central theme of the course is to give students the skills to ask more and searching questions. …it’s the questioning skills, not of the teacher but of the student that really count in developing their cognitive abilities and engagement. Their questions dominate the learning agenda and the ownership of learning follows. At the end of the course teachers will have the skills and practical strategies to: • • • •
facilitate more and more sophisticated student questioning support children in using concepts to organise their thinking manage dialogue and discussion to develop children’s ideas plan lessons and study programmes that promotes questioning and dialogue • create communities of inquiry in their classroom
Imaginative Minds Ltd, 309 Scott House, Gibb Street, Birmingham B9 4DT
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In the pack are: • Six half hour videos on DVD • Supporting guides for each video, written by programme users in schools themselves • A CD of supporting articles and materials to stimulate professional development and curriculum design
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Most pupils find mind maps useful for organising their thinking, but once complete, it’s often difficult to return and expand on previous ideas. Not so with online mind-mapping tools! In this article and accompanying training video, Chris Thomas explores the benefits and exciting possibilities of one tool in particular.
This month’s Video Based Learning
Using online mind-mapping tools to structure thinking How do your children plan and break apart large tasks? How do they record their learning? KWL grids can be useful, but they’re unstructured, so don’t support children in making links between what they’ve learnt. Mind maps, however, can be an excellent tool, as they support children in bringing order to complex projects, but also allow them to record what they have learnt over a period of time.
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Why are mind maps so effective?
This month’s Video Based Learning
A mind map is a pictorial representation of knowledge, understanding or processes. It uses a hierarchical structure, much like a family tree, with branches linking ideas (or nodes) together. So why are they so effective? Why are they so much better than standard lists? It’s the organisational nature that gives mind maps their true power; they structure ideas in the same way that the brain does, creating connections between related knowledge and understanding. There are many excellent examples of ‘artistic’ mind maps available online, which ingeniously combine pictures, drawings, branches and words. While these can be great fun to use in the classroom, and they can be very powerful tools, they can take an enormous amount of time to create, especially if, like me, art is not your strong point! They’re also harder to turn into working documents, as they don’t encourage students to reorganise their thoughts and ideas as their learning develops. Technology however can make this happen. There are a great number of mind-mapping tools, either available as mobile apps, desktop applications or through websites. Many of the online offerings provide a broad range of features, but are costly. In the video that accompanies this article, we’ll be exploring how to use a free online tool called Coggle.
The power of Coggle Coggle exploits the online storage and collaboration facilities built into Google Drive, the free online suite of applications from Google. All users will require a Google account, but these can either be created for individuals for free by registering with Google, or created in bulk for students by setting up a Google Apps for Education account. Once set up and logged in, creating mind maps is simple; simply click ‘create’, then start adding nodes. The first layer of nodes (or branches) will form the initial headings for ideas. Let’s say you were
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creating a mind map of different types of animals. The first layer of nodes would be the animal types, such as insects, mammals or reptiles. Nodes created below these would then be sub-categories of their parent node; ‘winged’ and ‘not-winged’, for example, could be child nodes of ‘insect’, as shown in figure 1.
Figure 1
Branches automatically adopt a consistent colour, emphasising the structure and related nature of each node. These can easily be changed though, should it be necessary. The true power of Coggle however comes through its ability to enable users to collaborate in real time on the same mind map. Simply click the ‘Share’ button, enter an email address and the mind map is shared. Children always marvel at how their document changes before their very eyes, as their classmates work together to develop the mind map. It’s worth however allocating particular branches of the mind map to particular groups, otherwise students can be tempted to change each other’s work, which doesn’t always go down too well!
Using mind maps in the classroom Mind maps can be used in a whole host of ways in the classroom, from story planning to sorting and categorising. Here are some specific uses you may wish to try.
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This month’s Video Based Learning
Science – Mind mapping prior knowledge and end of unit knowledge Before starting a new topic, ask the students to mind map what they already know on the subject. Challenge them to group their ideas, using scientific vocabulary as much as possible. Print the mind map, then add to it throughout the unit. Compare the print out from the end of the unit with that from the beginning to see how the children’s knowledge and understanding has grown. Science – Categorising animals Provide students with a broad range of photos of animals. They sort them, initially, into two groups, such as ‘Can Fly’ and ‘Cannot Fly’. The students must then add additional questions to further sort the animals, until just one child node belongs at the end of each branch. They can then use their mind maps in a ‘guess who’ style game, asking certain questions on an animal before guessing what it is.
Figure 2
English – Word class word banks Create structured word banks for different word classes, such as verbs, adverbs and adjectives. Discuss with the students how best to group the words. For example, verbs could be grouped as ‘speech verbs’ or ‘movement verbs’, or according to how powerful they are. Alternatively, identify a root word, then mind map the different words
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that can be derived from it, along with their respective word classes – see figure 2.
English – Non-chronological report planning Students can find the structure and organisation of longer pieces of writing difficult, especially if it’s on a subject they’re less familiar with. As your students develop knowledge on a topic for a nonchronological report, encourage them to record their findings on a mind map. This will then form the basis of their plan, with each branch becoming a paragraph and each node within a branch becoming a sentence. This will help students develop their use of paragraphs and topic sentences.
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Lesson planning – Long term lesson planning Mind maps can also be an extremely useful tool for teachers during initial planning stages for a new topic. Add the topic title to the centre
This month’s Video Based Learning
of the mind map, then group ideas by subject, as shown with the example of the Victorians in figure 3.
Figure 3
To find out more about how to get started with Coggle, watch the video tutorial that accompanies this article. Follow link: https://vimeo.com/113714030 Password: teachingtimes6
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This month’s Features Few areas in life have managed to avoid the disruptive effect of recent advances in communications technology, and the education sector is no exception. Mobile devices have changed the way in which information is disseminated, but the biggest impact of technology has been the way in which it has changed expectations of both teachers and students. Wearable technology such as Google Glass is the latest development in teaching and learning, and it has huge potential for education. Here we look at what it could mean for teachers and students...
e-learning UPDATE n www.teachingtimes.com
Google Glass Google Glass is a type of wearable technology with an optical head-mounted display (OHMD) - essentially it is a pair of glasses you wear that has a mini display screen you can see in the corner of your vision. There is a touch pad on the side of the glasses that you can use to access information and a camera to capture activities in front of you. It also has a microphone so you can use voice recognition to have it type messages or to send commands, like you do with Apple’s Siri or Google’s version of Siri, called Google Now. Users wear Glass like a pair of glasses, and they interact with it through voice controls, a touchpad, and Google Glass applications (called “Glassware”). Glass uses WiFi to receive data, and it connects to a smartphone to access services such as GPS and SMS. Glass also includes built in sensors such as a gyroscope and an accelerometer.
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This month’s Features
Google Glass has the potential to become a significant educational tool because it allows using actions, such as “Search”, “Take a picture”, “Record a video”, “Translate” and other commands for integrating into teaching and learning activities. One of the first projects of using Google Glass in education was STEMbite (www.youtube.com/STEMbite). This YouTube channel, with a series of bite-size videos, has been set up to show the maths and science of everyday life. It is the shift in perspective, from watching a lecturing teacher to seeing as if through the eyes of a teacher, that allows for new teaching and learning experiences. But it doesn’t have to stop there. By combining Google Glass with something called Augmented Reality (which overlays information onto a live camera image), teachers could take learning to a whole new level.
and a sense of presence, with the potential for this to be applied in a range of ways - for example, the ability for an audience to be ‘placed’ in the middle of a war-zone or a village in sub-Saharan Africa suffering from drought as a way to engage and educate. The exciting thing about the Google Glass and Oculus Rift combination is their potential, through creating vivid, visceral experiences to inspire and educate people.
Stay connected Google’s search is phenomenal. And the Glass will allow students and teachers to stay connected to an interactive environment featuring online tools all the time. This could pave way to a leap into the future of the educational system. For example: ■■ Students can record their lessons in real-time for future reference. ■■ Google Glass could help students to create visually-rich projects
For example, when you see a homeless person on the street through Google Glass and AR, it will be possible to overlay what you are looking at with real time information, so you’ll be able to give money directly to a shelter. In addition, combining Google Glass with 3D technology, like the Oculus Rift, is going to create an unparalleled capacity for immersion
e-learning UPDATE n www.teachingtimes.com
and presentations. Students can shoot relevant videos and images with an actual wink of an eye. The same can be integrated onto their presentations via Google docs. ■■ Learning new languages and speaking them could be done on the go with Glass, coupled with Google’s own Google Translator. Google Glass could present text-based translations in real-time. ■■ Teachers could use Google Glass coupled with facial recognition to take attendance and could be used to access the Student Information System. Just by looking at the student you will get access to his/her student records with details of academic and non-academic performance, attendance etc… Creating students’ reports, schedules and class timings is only the tip of the iceberg. ■■ Distance learning could be made a lot easier than before with Google Glass. Webinars can be streamed directly onto your Glass so that it’s easily accessed anywhere, anytime.
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■■ The Glass could be used to set timetables for students along with
information regarding the halls where classes will be held with details on teachers to take the classes.
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How else can teachers use Google Glass? Teaching and Augmented Reality There is no room for doubt that incorporating Augmented Reality in the classroom curriculum can enrich the learning process. Google Glass can, for instance, be a part of a school trip to a museum or a historical monument, where all the crucial data like facts and figures about relevant landmarks can be instantly displayed on the screen. Moreover, teachers can capture scientific phenomena in photos, videos or audio files, and share them over time with their students. They can also make their own mini-documentaries about the subject being taught and consequently enhance the storytelling in the classroom. Remote teaching Google Glass will be of great help to all those involved in distance learning – students and teachers alike. Using the device, teachers can make first-person video guides in real time that will mimic the regular classroom experience. They can document and share lessons that involve demonstration and hands-on experience. All this helps in creating a real-time connection that is usually impossible in a distance learning environment. To top that, Google Glass can provide accessibility of the learning materials to students with visual, auditory and physical disabilities. Scheduling and organising Teachers can benefit from Google Glass when creating schedules, which can be shared with their colleagues and students. This way they’ll make sure that everyone is well-informed.
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Google Glass also features a special application for facial recognition, which can be of great help to educators who teach a lot of students and sometimes find it hard to remember all their names. Both things are simple, but they really matter in the daily school life. Personalisation This is crucial – sharing information and processing it will help teachers to create study programs that meet the precise requirements of their students. Thanks to its built-in Augmented Reality Feedback System, Google Glass shows if some students are falling behind on the study material. Teachers can get a full student profile to help them fashion lessons that will correspond with the student’s strengths and weaknesses. Teachers are not the only ones to benefit from Google Glass – the device will enable students to search in real-time for the cross-referencing purposes involved in writing essays, reports and presentations. Google Now application can help students personalise their search and retrieval on cards, adapted to their learning capacities. Collaboration Google Glass provides a feature to send test scores and report cards directly to parents, helping to foster parent-teacher communication line. Within a classroom, Google Glass can keep various members of a study group constantly connected and ensure that every exercise based on collaboration goes more smoothly. Physical Education Gym teachers can use Glass to add to workout footage they take of students. Coaches can wear Glass while carrying out a particular technique (such as a pitching a ball) in order to demonstrate it from their perspective. Wearable technology is being used to encourage physical activity in general.
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Create instructional videos Glass can be used to make “how-to” videos that are more useful than regular education videos since they show the point of view of the wearer: ■■ Practice Videos. Students wear Glass to record themselves solving
a problem (for example, calculus). Teachers can then assess and correct the method used. ■■ Diagnostic videos of motor skills. Wear Glass and record physical activities such as building something so that teachers can review motor skills. Learning a new language With the right app, and with Google Translator, Glass can be used to learn a language. Distance learning & remote collaboration Glass could make it easier to learn for those students who have to study at home: ■■ Used to collaborate remotely on group projects, or for students to
help each other with homework.
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■■ Remote tutoring: The teacher and the
This month’s Features
student can both use paper at their respective locations instead of screensharing software. Learning science ■■ Glass can make it extremely safe to view
lab demonstrations and experiments close up. These can be broadcast to a screen. ■■ Students can record science lab experiments to supplement their notes. Other Educational Uses ■■ Teachers can use apps such as Evernote for Google Glass in order to capture notes to view later on a tablet or PC. ■■ Professional Development: Teachers can record their teaching and use the video for review. It’s projected that there will be 300 million shipped by 2018. While it’s too early to determine whether teachers and students are ready to use Google Glass in the classroom, we can assume that wearable technology will significantly change the situation in educational practice. It will be important to determine the recommendations for revision of curriculum, assessment to new skills and extending educational opportunities by using wearable technology in the near future.
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Uses of Google Glass – An Overview Create First-Person Video Guides Teachers of all year groups can use Google Glass in some manner. For the most part, you’re going to want to take advantage of the first-person recording functionality. That seems the most useful for a classroom whether it’s remote or in-person. Flip Your Classroom Once you have built up a few videos, you can upload your Glass-recorded videos to the school website and then add some additional resources and guides to your footage. Have Students Use Glass Students can throw on a pair of the glasses and record interactions with fellow students, on field trips, and while out of the classroom in general. This is a great way for students to start thinking strategically about their everyday actions and what they can learn from them. Review permissions Be sure you have the appropriate permissions and other legal documentation before going off and recording everything your students do.
Video guides Create first-person video guides for a collective class experience in real time. Document lessons Document lessons that require demonstration and hands-on experience. Augmented Reality Use the Augmented Reality feature of Google Glass on class trips/excursions or historic tours to display facts or figures about relevant buildings or landmarks instantly. Capture Science Capture science in everyday life and share with the classrooms. Remote Teaching Remote teaching with one-on-one trainer and assessor sessions. Google Translate Learn new languages using the Google Translator App/Real-time Language Translation. Timetables/Schedules Create timetables/schedules for teachers.
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Documentaries Create mini-documentaries to enhance storytelling in the classroom. Facial Recognition Facial recognition to help teachers identify their students. Teacher Evaluations Make teacher evaluations, removing the observer from the physical classroom. Google Hangout Connect with other educators from different parts of the world via Google Hangout. Teacher’s View Create a “Teacher’s View” online to watch a colleague’s lesson and offer suggestions in real time that appears in the teacher’s eye-line. Transfer to Tablets Transfer videos and images to student’s tablets/devices for show and tell. Display Information Display academic information for instructors, allowing them to craft lessons to experiences students have had, making lessons more personal and memorable.
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Real-Time Referencing Real-time searching and cross-referencing. Accessibility Provide accessibility modules for people with visual, auditory and physical disabilities. Identify Learning Difficulties Have a specialist or behavioural expert observe children for signs of a learning disability as they work in their classroom with their teacher. Feedback Systems Augmented Reality Feedback System - a HUD that lets teachers know when their students are falling behind. Google Now Personalisation Use Google Now for personalised search and retrieval on cards that are tailored to your personal learning needs (based on repeated use). Problem Solving Interactive, augmented, reality-based problem-solving games inside the classroom. Public Speaking Record role-plays or public speaking exercises without the “observer effect”.
Home Schooling Create instant home-school connections via Tumblr to share with the rest of the family. Record Lessons Record lessons from the teacher’s perspective and edit together with views from the student perspective as a tool for revision and reflection. Send Messages Send messages that contain important information to parents; such as progress reports. Interact with Instructors Interact with instructors and peers in a classroom setting via online learning. YouTube YouTube education for distance learning. Text SMS Questions Students who are reluctant to ask aloud questions in lectures can send questions via text SMS to Google Glass. Group Tutorials Group tutorial sessions like Google Hangouts with teachers to clarify any points or questions that may have been missed - or to coordinate with teachers on homework.
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i-WIGT Review i-WIGT is a collaborative iPad and web-based teacher development app based on the acclaimed ‘What is Good Teaching?’ framework and designed to help teachers to assess, mentor and improve teaching and learning within school. Here we review the software to find out exactly what it has to offer…
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For those of us that have undergone an Ofsted inspection recently, it will come as no surprise that at least 25% of Ofsted’s judgement on your school will officially be about your quality of teaching and learning. In fact this is an underestimate. The inspectors’ view of teaching and learning in your school, and as importantly, what systems you have in place to monitor and improve it, will colour the whole Ofsted report. In most instances, inspectors will record evidence about achievement, behaviour and safety, leadership and management, and the social, moral, spiritual and cultural development of pupils. Inspectors are likely to look at work done in books and folders, and speak to pupils. During the inspection, inspectors will also consider the school’s own view of the quality of teaching, assessment data, and test and examination results. They do this to gain a view on the impact of teaching over time. Inspectors will not expect to see any particular approach to teaching. Nor will inspectors expect extensive lesson plans, or plans written in a particular way. It is for schools and teachers to decide how to teach and how to plan. However, they will record evidence about the quality of teaching during school inspections. The evidence gathered about the teaching in the school will inform the inspection team’s judgement about the overall quality of teaching across the school. This is where a good lesson observation tool can be invaluable in helping schools to look more closely
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at learning in the classroom and in shaping a school improvement strategy.
This month’s Features
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A decade of research i-WIGT creator, Heather Clements, has been a headteacher, advisor, head of school improvement and education director with more than 30-years’ experience of working with teachers to improve the quality of teaching and learning. The App began life as the ‘What is Good Teaching?’ (WIGT) matrix, which Heather developed as part of her role as a school improvement adviser. In particular, it was her work with a cluster of schools in special measures that inspired her to create the tool. One of her key tasks was to work with school leaders to improve the quality of teaching and learning. She said: “What struck me was how little teachers knew about themselves as teachers. If asked about the effectiveness of lessons, they would frequently describe what happened – the activities, if pressed they might describe what they said, but most frequently they would talk about what went wrong, couched in terms of what pupils did or did not do. “In reflecting on my own practice as a teacher, and indeed as a trainer of teachers, I realised that I had little idea of what I was
like as a teacher, and as a headteacher I had consciously avoided modelling teaching for NQTs because I didn’t really know what is was that I did that worked.” The outcome of this was the WIGT toolkit, which Heather has developed and refined over almost ten years. The WIGT toolkit is more than just a lesson observation tool; it’s a system for monitoring and mentoring teacher performance, which can be used at classroom, department or whole-school level, within which individual teaching styles and approaches can still flourish. What the toolkit succeeds in doing is making the implicit qualities of excellent teaching and learning explicit (what outstanding teachers do, often without realising or being able to relate to others), and enables observers and the observed to recognise strengths and areas for development. The skills of these teachers can then be used to inform other teachers in the school. The toolkit has now moved to a digital format, which makes the WIGT much more powerful by reducing paperwork related to appraisals, lessening the time required before feeding back to teachers and linking professional development directly with CPD materials.
How i-WIGT works The i-WIGT App uses a clean, simple interface that enables teacherperformance appraisals and feedback to be recorded on an iPad. This is supported by a school Data Centre, where data is securely saved and stored for reporting and analysis. The Data Centre portion can be managed using a laptop or PC. i-WIGT allows real-time observations, making it easy to: ■■ Create lesson observations quickly and effortlessly on your iPad. ■■ Identify core areas evident in effective teaching and learning. ■■ Refine observation by year group (from EY to Year 11), key stage,
subject and class ability level.
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Observations made during a lesson encompass national criteria drawn from Ofsted. They are also correlated directly with the National Teachers’ Standards. However, the App allows schools to go far beyond these parameters, making it a powerful teacher development tool, rather than simply an Ofsted compliance tool. During observations, the observer can use the iPad’s touch screen to select from a clear matrix of preferred statements. These subtle and intensively researched gradations in performance skill are the key to the power of the i-WIGT. They unpack that elusive, and often intuitively used, set of skills that constitute effective and outstanding teaching – allowing them to be recognised, recorded and translated for other teachers. A key aspect of the framework’s appraisal criteria is what pupils are doing in class – enabling the incorporation of assessment of learning as well as teaching into observations.
Feedback instantly i-WIGT eliminates the time gap between a lesson observation and giving feedback on appraisals and performance. The app provides a performance discussion report which neatly summarises where a teacher has excelled and any areas where they need to develop. It even allows photo and video evidence from individual teacher’s lessons to be uploaded to assist with teacher self-assessment. It also provides ample space for additional notes on the lesson, if there’s more to be said. In fact, many of the schools that beta-tested the app reported that teachers preferred receiving feedback using the i-WIGT. Sue Hughes, Head of Anglesey Primary School, Birmingham, says: “[our teachers] liked the way it is much more objective and transparent than previous lesson-objectives. They like the way it lets them know what they have to concentrate on to progress.” Sue also commented that the i-WIGT made the appraisals themselves much more objective: “Staff felt that it took a lot of the
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subjectivity away, which they appreciated. I did worry that they would find the level of detail difficult but not a bit of it. I liked the quality of the statements of performance and the way they show progression – there wasn’t one instance when I saw a statement and said ‘I don’t think so’.”
performance reports: by individual teacher, year group, status of the teacher (NQT, ITT, TA etc.) and department, as well as across the whole school. This evidence can be used to: ■■ Identify skills and knowledge gaps
Reflective practice
■■ Highlight and share outstanding best practice
Once an appraisal is completed, the i-WIGT app creates a Performance Management Document (PMD) for each teacher. It is these PMDs that enable the school to drive improvement. As well as connecting the teacher’s observed strengths and development areas to the National Teachers’ Standards, the App automatically links this information to appropriate articles in a Best Practice Library, which has over 7000 articles. School managers can choose from a pre-selected list of articles that are associated with each Teaching Standard. In this way they are immediately giving a teacher a way forward to meet the higher levels of the framework. Managers can also add in their own references to articles, books, websites or courses that they think the teacher should follow. The app also encourages teachers to take ownership of their professional development, by enabling them to create self and peerassessments and post these, along with video and image evidence, directly to their personal PMDs.
■■ Effectively target CPD ■■ Present Ofsted with sophisticated teacher performance data ■■ Make informed performance-related pay decisions
Secure data
All of this happens securely and safely, with access to information being strictly controlled with a series of role-based log-ins and passwords, all of which are created and managed exclusively by the school. The upside of all this is that the data gathered not only helps and improves teaching and learning within the school, but it is available and fully aligned to the Ofsted inspection process. Schools that are already using the i-WIGT say that it has uncovered weaknesses and outstanding practice that managers and teachers had previously been unaware of. Mr Nick Turvey, Headteacher, Upton Cross Primary School, said: “The thing that has really sold it to me is the reduction in bureaucracy and bits of paper. The i-WIGT is bringing quality and consistency to our judgements and the analysis tool has helped us to form a clear overview of the quality of teaching and learning and areas for improvement supported by clear evidence. This has saved us many hours of work. In fact, schools using the i-WIGT say that there is a saving of at least 25 per cent in time over the whole teacher appraisal process.
The PMDs for all teachers are securely stored in the school’s confidential Data Centre. Using the Data Centre, managers can create numerous
For more information on i-WIGT see, www.i-wigt.com, where you can also book a free trial of the app.
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How to ensure successful investment in technology
The new national curriculum for computing in intended to equip young people with the foundational skills, knowledge and understanding of computing they will need for the rest of their lives. But what does this mean for primary schools? The government announced £1.1m of funding for BCS in December 2013 to develop a programme for primary school teachers who are new to teaching computing, then a £500,000 fund in February 2014 to attract businesses to help train teachers. But training aside, teachers will undoubtedly be keen to introduce new technologies into the classroom that will support them in teaching the new computing curriculum. Jon Silvera offers his check list for successful investment.
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While there has been some opposition from critics who feel children do not need to be taught computing so young, support has been widespread from those who believe that ‘computational thinking’ is a skill children must be taught if they are to be ready for the workplace, and able to participate effectively in the digital world. The UK Council of Professors and Heads of Computing has projected a 15 per cent rise in the demand for IT workers over the next eight years. And with a number of employers raising concerns over the lack of skilled IT graduates, the need for immediate intervention to re-dress the shortfall in projected numbers is vital.
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The new curriculum is intended to equip students with a strong foundation in computer science, on which they can continuously build as they progress through the education system. At the same time, the curriculum has been left deliberately vague in places, so that schools can make their own decisions on which materials, languages and software they use to teach computing. On the one hand, this can be liberating for schools; enabling teachers to take ownership of their lessons and to ensure that content is kept up-to-date to reflect the ever-changing needs of industry. On the other hand, choosing resources can be a daunting prospect, especially when considering that many primary school teachers and leadership teams do not come from a programming background and may not feel they are best positioned to make purchasing decisions. So what is the best way forward? Here’s my checklist for successful investment:
Strike the balance between cost and value If an initial price seems too good to be true, the chances are it probably is. A low price will always turn heads, but it’s important to investigate whether the product itself is actually suited to a school’s specific needs. An inexpensive product does not necessarily mean it will be value for money, so schools need to ensure that they are considering the total cost of ownership when purchasing resources. As well as the initial purchase price, this includes factors such as training, whether it is fit for purpose, warranty/service and support, maintenance and expected life of the product. To get a more accurate idea of the total cost of ownership, schools should make a note of all the components offered, how much educational value these are likely to bring, and any associated costs that they may face.
Make learning easy Looking for something easy for staff and students to use may sound
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obvious, but it’s very easy to get caught up in what a product promises to do, without really considering how easily it can be used. It’s particularly important to ensure that computing resources aren’t overly complex, as they should ideally be alleviating teachers’ anxieties about the new curriculum, as opposed to exacerbating them. Products which are easy to set up and which can be used more simplistically can help to ensure that teachers are not left feeling out of their depth when delivering the new curriculum. In addition, look for products which offer additional resources, such as lesson plans, project ideas and access to ongoing support, to help teachers and students reap the full benefits. While it’s important to ensure that a resource can be used at a more basic level, even better is a product which caters to a range of abilities all in one. As with any subject, some students will take to it instantly and will progress much faster than others. Therefore, a product that provides more flexibility will ensure that if a student does not have a natural affinity for computing, they can work at a level that they feel comfortable without being left behind, whereas those with a better understanding of programming can progress onto more difficult tasks.
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Bring computing to life
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While some students will be interested in technology and coding for its own sake, many students will be motivated to learn coding only if they can truly understand what they can do with it. By giving young people the opportunity to see first-hand what can be achieved with programming, schools can best encourage them to learn coding and computing skills. With this in mind, schools should seek out resources that will spark the natural curiosity of its pupils; tools that will enable them to use programming to make something happen, so they can see how what they’re learning can be used in realworld context. Not only will this help to generate enthusiasm and excitement among students, but it is also a great way to equip them with essential practical skills that will one day help them to thrive in the world of work.
Make the most of the crosscurriculum Schools should move swiftly on from just ticking the box, and instead look outside of the box, exploring how computing resources can be used to support, not just IT but other areas of the curriculum. Simon Humphreys, coordinator at Computing at School, hit the nail on the head in a recent article, when he stated, “Can we please tell government ministers that it’s not about programming? In just the same way that the music curriculum is not designed to fill desks of London Symphony Orchestra, it’s about something different, it’s about something enriching.” The creative and technical elements of programming means that
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it lends itself to a range of other subjects, such as design technology and electronics, which may help to capture the interest of students who do not find themselves enthused by computing alone. Moreover, it teaches students to think analytically and logically, and to become confident problem-solvers; skills which are invaluable to nearly all subjects across the curriculum.
Bridge the gap between primary and secondary Schools should keep an eye out for resources that will not only enthuse pupils and give them a hands-on understanding of programming, but that will also help to smooth the transition from primary to secondary school computing. While the new curriculum does not mandate which languages schools must use to teach programming, the majority of primary schools are opting to use Scratch. This is all very well, and Scratch is no doubt a great tool for students at beginner level, however with a large proportion of secondary schools using Python (a far more advanced programming language), there needs to be some middle ground to enable students to make this leap. One such tool that lies in this middle ground is ‘Fuze’ - powered by Raspberry Pi (RPi) – a programmable computer and workstation that comes equipped with the programming language Fuze Basic (an expanded and modernised version of Basic). Still in its infancy, the impact of the new curriculum is yet to be known, and for many teachers it’s likely to be as much of a learning curve for them as it will be for their students. However, the right resources can offer both direction and reassurance to schools, while simultaneously providing students with the understanding and passion to excel at the subject. Jon Silvera, founder and managing director of FUZE Technologies.
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Serious data Climbing Frames combines print and digital functions to create a comprehensive assessment package.
About the author Sue Hackman was the Chief Adviser on School Standards at the DfE between 2006-2013.
Teachers will like the mobile app, which makes Climbing Frames easy to use in the classroom. Your managers will love the powerful, at-a-glance management data that Climbing Frames will hand to them. And parents will prize its clear-cut progress reports.
Climbing Frames gives you a fair, manageable and reliable replacement for the old levels. Written by Sue Hackman – very recently a Chief Adviser at the DfE, and one of the UK’s top experts on assessment and curriculum – Climbing Frames covers the whole of the new National Curriculum. It is an incredibly strong tool for managing transitions through Key Stages 1 to 3. It includes:
Innovative thinking By using Climbing Frames you will ensure that you have an easy to use, developmental and consistent set of assessment frameworks with which to track pupil progress across the whole school.
She was responsible for accountability, assessment, inspection, school improvement, pedagogy, catch-up programmes, international policy and deprivation, as well as the core subjects.
Innovatively, you will also be able to track in progress children’s cognitive development with the thinking and learning framework. Climbing Frames assists teachers to help children who are slipping off trajectory. With direct links from the framework to the Imaginative Minds’ Best Practice Library, teachers can access expertise and specific strategies to improve learning.
Prior to joining the department, she was a National Director of the National Strategies.
Climbing Frames also connects directly with the i-WIGT – Imaginative Minds’ teacher mentoring app. This will help you pinpoint teaching issues where children aren’t making progress.
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Sue was a teacher for many years, and her experience spans all key stages. As well as being a local government adviser, she is an experienced school inspector and a well-known writer with over ninety titles. Her assessment experience includes roles as a moderator, syllabus writer and chief examiner.
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This month’s Features Over the past few years, technology has evolved at such a rate that it’s challenging for any curriculum involving technology to keep pace. Technology advancement is in no way a bad thing. The internet has revolutionised classrooms: accessing information from around the globe has become instantaneous and hassle-free and some subjects have been bought to life through interactive media. For children today, who have grown up with laptops and smart phones, a time before modern technology seems as prehistoric as the dinosaurs or their parents. Try as we might, parents and teachers aren’t always on top of the latest developments or apps our children use in this ever-expanding tech world; and so as technology continues to advance, the information gap between adults and children continues to widen. But who is tasked with the important job of teaching today’s tech savvy children how to be safe online? Tony Anscombe, Online Safety Expert at AVG Technologies, discusses...
e-learning UPDATE n www.teachingtimes.com
Are schools responsible for teaching children about e-safety? Research conducted by AVG to assess how teachers see their role in e-safety education (using almost 1,800 teachers worldwide, and a focus group of 210 teachers in the UK), found that considerable miscommunication exists over whether parents or teachers are responsible for ensuring that kids are getting the most out of the Internet, without having to face its more sinister side. Of the UK teachers surveyed: ■■ A worrying 86 per cent expressed concern over how much
parents rely on them (and the school) to teach their children about e-safety. ■■ Nearly half (49 per cent) admitted that by the age of 13 years old, students will know more about technology than they do.
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■■ Although alarming, the findings are not altogether surprising,
This month’s Features
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given that nearly two thirds (63 per cent) of the teachers interviewed had not received any formal training on how to teach e-safety. As such, when approached by students for advice on various online safety issues, a considerable 28 per cent felt they were ‘insufficiently equipped’ or ‘not equipped at all’ to handle the issue. With such a vast pool of instantly accessible information, there is no doubt that the internet is a great place for children to learn (and play); but without the correct training in schools, teachers are placed in a difficult position when approached by students for advice on e-safety issues. With 26 per cent of teachers having been approached for advice relating to cyberbullying and 16 per cent for advice on inappropriate content online, teachers are frequently being placed in a situation that they do not have the adequate training to deal with. Unfortunately, the level of reliance on teachers does not end there. Nearly 1 in 5 of the teachers surveyed (18 per cent) said that parents had also approached them for guidance on how to manage their child’s e-safety. Of that figure, 55 per cent of parents wanted to know how best to limit the amount of time their child spends online, and a whopping 45 per cent asked teachers how they could find out what websites their child is visiting. The fear, of course, is that if parents don’t know what their children are doing online (and look to teachers for advice) - and teachers are not trained to teach e-safety in the classroom – then online behaviour is essentially being dictated by the children themselves, elevating the risk of them accessing inappropriate content, cyberbullying or a more sinister issue. Given that a third (33 per cent) of teachers expressed concern that parents of their students do not know enough about IT and e-safety, it seems that it’s not just teachers that need to be educated.
But so far efforts made by schools to educate parents about e-safety have fallen on deaf ears in the UK. Of the third of UK teachers (33 per cent) that said their school had arranged events to educate parents about e-safety, 40 per cent said they were very unsatisfied or somewhat unsatisfied with the parent turn-out for the session. While it’s clear that UK schools are heading in the right direction when it comes to bridging the information gap, these attempts only matter if parents are willing to try too. So where do we go from here? It looks like the best way to protect children online is to instil a culture of e-safety education at every touch point – from the parents at home all the way through to the teachers in the classroom: ■■ Parents need to start monitoring their child’s Internet
habits – While parents should not be encouraged to ‘snoop’
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This month’s Features
on their child’s online activity, showing an active interest in what children are doing online is an important part of development. It’s important to start this discussion from an early age. If you/ your students’ parents are unsure how to go about it, direct them to Magda & Mo – this free interactive online safety e-book walks children through different scenarios they could be confronted with online. Don’t forget that simply communicating with a child and asking the right questions about their Internet use can be enough to spot the signs of trouble. ■■ Teachers need to receive the proper training - As many children’s first port of call when they have concerns about the online world, teachers should be given all the necessary resources to tackle the online issues they’re being confronted with. If your school does not have these readily available, why not take a look e-learning UPDATE n www.teachingtimes.com
at some of the free education resources online? Childnet (www. childnet.com), The Safer Internet Centre (www.saferinternet.org. uk) and my recent book – ‘One Parent to Another’ – are good places to start, and continue your own online education. Harnessed properly, the Internet can be a wonderful educational tool, from which students will benefit immensely - so long as we all play our part in the education process online. The challenge is to remove any discrepancy between what parents think teachers should be doing and what teachers feel they can actually achieve in the classroom. Tony Anscombe, Online Safety Expert at AVG Technologies.
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This month’s Features 21 Jan 2015 - 24 Jan 2015 Venue: ExCeL London Exhibition and Convention Centre
BETT 2015 Since its inception in 1985, when it was called the ‘Hi Technology and Computers in Education Exhibition’, the Bett Show is now one of the world’s biggest education technology events, where visitors could explore new education solutions, meet experts, or take part in seminars. Here, we preview some of the highlights… This year, the Bett trade show is to put the spotlight on start-ups. It has asked a panel of educators to select the 30 new start-ups that will e-learning UPDATE n www.teachingtimes.com
“have the most impact in education” for its new ‘Futures’ platform. These businesses will take “centre stage” at the show in January, exhibiting in a dedicated area with potential exposure to 40,000 attendees. They will also benefit from involvement in a range of Bett fringe events, specialist business support and “extensive marketing resources”. Nicky Morgan, Secretary of State, Department for Education (DfE), will be opening the show, and giving visitors an insight into the changes that she has planned for UK schools and colleges. She said: “I am really looking forward to visiting and opening Bett 2015. Events like Bett are a great opportunity for teachers to keep up to date with the latest developments and learn how they can be used to maximise educational benefits in schools.”
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Morgan’s ministerial address will outline her vision across critical educational policy areas, the school curriculum, school improvement and the establishment of academies and free schools. How will reform in these areas be achieved or enhanced through education technology? Her opening address will be given at Bett 2015 on Wednesday 21 January 2015 at 11am, ExCeL London.
Show Highlights Learn Live theatres There will be seminars, workshops and demonstrations on how to implement technology in the classroom. Across four theatres; primary, secondary, primary and secondary and SEN; there will be practical ‘How to…’ sessions providing top tips on how you can make a difference in your school. All sessions are CPD accredited.
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Top themes for 2015: ■■ How do you solve a problem like special measures? ■■ Seminar content: Applegarth Academy was once in special measures and had been for some time. Attendance for some pupils was below 90 per cent and exclusions were high. ■■ Making children the teachers ■■ Studies show that people learn best when they are teaching others, this is no different for children. This seminar explores the ideas behind children becoming the teachers and how they can learn through educating others across a variety of subjects. ■■ Bringing the “real world” into learning ■■ Ensuring progression for all students by bringing the ‘real world’ into learning. Innovating teaching through exciting and informed CPD. ■■ Launching Digital Leaders in school ■■ This session is a practical guide to launching Digital Leaders in both primary and secondary schools. Covering how to recruit, collaborate and connect with the wider community, and what your Digital Leaders can do in school. ■■ Implementing the SEND Code of Practice - Setting the scene ■■ Practical guidance and support for practitioners in implementing the reforms to supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. ■■ Asset Not Burden - A parent perspective ■■ Supporting teachers with blended learning ■■ Many teachers feel apprehensive about allowing students to bring their own devices into a classroom. Gail Abbitt will highlight some of the lessons she’s learnt over the years and provide some practical tips on how to make BYOD manageable.
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This month’s Features ■■ Computing 2014: Getting your department ready ■■ This session aims to help people implement computing into
their curriculum. It aims to explore how to ease people into it without scaring them off.
BlueSky BETT Award Finalist – ICT Leadership and Management BlueSky is a leading online performance management, CPD and self-evaluation solution for schools. BlueSky Education enables senior leadership teams to instantly access live data on the quality of teaching in their school or group of schools, demonstrate progress and impact by linking appraisal objectives and CPD to school priorities, and build capacity by creating standard reviews to target professional development and identify strengths. It also helps them to demonstrate a deep and accurate understanding of all staff performance by analysing lesson observation, CPD and appraisal information and to drive school improvement and standards through evidence-based self-evaluation and a culture of professional accountability.
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Vernier Software & Technology Vernier’s newly launched products include the Go Wireless pH, a versatile pH sensor perfect for anyone wanting to do wireless pH measurements using portable devices such as iPad, iPhone and iPod. Vernier is also launching its new software title, Graphical Analysis for Chrome, in addition to Chromebook sensor support via Vernier’s line of USB-direct probeware: Go!Link, Go!Temp, and Go!Motion. Vernier’s trademark data-logger LabQuest 2 allows teachers to plan lessons that make abstract ideas concrete, and enable students to access complex and interesting science in ways that they were previously unable to. Congleton High School (Learn Live Session) Learn Live Session: Best practice in 3D printing Date: Thursday 22nd January Time: 10:00 - 10:45 Location: Schools Learn Live: Secondary theatre Speaker: David Hermitt, chief executive officer and executive
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principal of the Congleton Multi-Academy Trust will cover best practice in 3D printing including:
This month’s Features
■■ How 3D printing can help illustrate a hard-to-grasp concept ■■ How 3D printers make it easy for teachers to engage their
students ■■ How 3D printing can enhance hands-on learning ■■ How students can produce realistic 3 Dimensional mini-models ■■ How 3D printing can help in lessons such as biology to study the
human heart or lungs etc. Cambridge University Press On show for the first time will be GCSE Maths, GCSE English Language and Literature, A/AS Level English Language and Literature, and A/AS level Computer Science. The Cambridge School Shakespeare series and Computing KS3 resources will also be featured. It will also be showcasing its new digital platform, Cambridge Elevate, demonstrating the digital editions of selected Cambridge IGCSE, International A Level and International Baccalaureate textbooks with their enhanced teaching and learning experience via additional rich media, formative assessment and annotation tools. Codio BETT Finalist - Innovator of the Year Codio is a free cloud-based programming platform for secondary, FE and HE students featuring rich code editing, a wide portfolio of programming languages and dedicated virtual servers that can be accessed quickly and easily anytime anywhere from within a browser. Contact Group BETT Finalist - ICT Company of the Year Contact Group (stand A250), is launching a new range of payment
e-learning UPDATE n www.teachingtimes.com
and communications solutions designed to help schools interact with parents, operate more efficiently and significantly reduce administrative costs. Making its debut at BETT 2015 is MoneyPiggy, a new online payment solution designed to help schools side step the costs associated with having a merchant account, benefit from fixed rather than variable transaction costs and remove the need for permission slips for school trips. Discovery Education BETT Finalist –Primary Digital Content (Discovery Education Coding, formerly Espresso Coding) Discovery Education is launching Discovery Education Secondary, a brand new digital learning service featuring engaging curriculum and news content spanning a wide range of subject areas for GCSE Key Stages 3 and 4 and EBacc subjects. Also making its debut is The Discovery Educator Network (DEN) in the UK. EducationCity.com BETT Finalist EducationCity, a provider of e-learning resources for primary schools, will be showcasing its brand new online platform, refreshed and upgraded in line with customer feedback and packed with new English, Maths, Science, French, Spanish, English as an Additional Language and Computing content mapped to the National Curriculum 2014 for England. Turn IT On! ICT support and training providers, Turn IT On! is offering free advice to schools about how they can raise ICT standards, save time and money and advance the teaching and learning experience. Experts will be on hand to discuss teachers’ needs for technical support, curriculum training and strategic planning for whole-school development. There will also be on-stand training sessions on creative
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coding, network building and e-safety, including free giveaways at the end of each session.
This month’s Features
Bett Awards 2015 The finalists for the 17th annual Bett Awards have been announced by organisers i2i Events Group, and partners the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA). Every year, the Bett Awards receive a large number of high quality entries from a vast range of ICT educational suppliers, hoping to win one of the outstanding awards that commend exemplar ICT products or services intended to improve standards in UK educational institutions. Caroline Wright, director of BESA, said: “Every year, the Bett Awards recognise excellence in the design of products and services which are positively influencing the education sector. This year we have added an ‘Innovation in ICT’ category to recognise those companies really driving the technology agenda in schools and Best Whole Course Curriculum Content.” The awards are judged by over 60 educational professionals to put each entry through a meticulous judging process. Winners will be announced at the Bett Awards ceremony on the first evening of the Bett Show, Wednesday 21 January 2015 at the The Brewery, London EC1Y.
S.E.S (Scientific Educational Systems) Primary Digital Content 2Simple Software 3P Learning 3P Learning Discovery Education Focus Educational Software Ltd
K-First
Purple Mash Mathletics Reading Eggs Espresso Coding Focus on KS1 Computing: BeeBot Lesson Activities 3 iCompute Teaching Ltd iCompute for Primary Schools Rising Stars Switched on Computing Rising Stars Switched on Science Secondary, FE & Skills Digital Content Alfiesoft Ltd AQA GCSE Science Bamzonia Ltd Bamzonia Cambridge University Press Cambridge Dynamic Science Clio Online Aps Clio Tests I am learning I am learning London Grid for Learning The M Room Science Bits Science Bits Soundbitelearning UK Ltd GCSEPod Best Whole Course Curriculum Content 2Simple Software Serial Mash 3P Learning Mathletics Bksb Ltd
The Bett Awards 2015 finalists: Company Early Years Digital Content Day Two Productions Edu-Consulting International Ltd. eyLog Ltd Gyldendal Norsk Forlag AS Jolly Learning Ltd Phonic Books Ltd
e-learning UPDATE n www.teachingtimes.com
Product The Traditional Storyteller Apps EduQuest eyLog - Early Years Log Salaby Jolly Phonics Letter Sounds App Dandelion Launchers iBooks Units 1-7
Bksb English and Maths Solution Bloomsbury Publishing plc Music Express Online GenericMaths Ltd. ConquerMaths.com Hodder Education Compute-IT – Computing for Key Stage 3 iCompute Teaching Ltd iCompute for Primary Schools Rising Stars Switched on Science ICT Tools for Learning and Teaching – web based CEM epraise Ltd Frog Education
PIPS Baseline epraise FrogLearn
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Just2easy LearnPad Learning Ladders Ltd (part of School Explained Ltd) School Explained Ltd SMART Technologies Wordwall (Visual Education)
Just2easy Toolsuite ClassConnect Learning Ladders
School Explained (for schools) SMART amp™ Wordwall with Respond Anywhere ICT Tools for Learning and Teaching – non-web based 2Simple Software 2Build a Profile DisplayNote Technologies Ltd Display Note Essex Education Services Target Tracker LEGO Education StoryStarter Osborne Technologies Ltd Tango Teach SARL Maskott Tactileo Cloud TechSmith Corporation Camtasia Studio Digital Collections and Resource Banks Alfiesoft Alfie NNC Primary BrainPOP UK BrainPOP UK EduKit Solutions Ltd EduKit Connect Encyclopaedia Britannica Britannica School Encyclopaedia Britannica Britannica® Image Quest™ London Grid for Learning The Tudors in London ICT Special Educational Needs Solutions Crick Software Clicker Books IdeasWise Ltd ReadingWise English Inclusive Technology Ltd Inclusive EyeGaze Foundations JellyJames Publishing Ltd Dynamo Profiler SOUND FOR LIFE Forbrain Texthelp Ltd Read&Write: Write family of software products Therapy Box Predictable WizCom Tech Ltd Exam Pen Digital Devices 4D Creative 4D creative immersive space and software
Fuze Technologies Ltd LearnPad PASCO scientific
FUZE Decimo PASCO Spectrometer + Spectrometry App PROJEKTMEDIA s.r.o. MAGIC BOX SMART Technologies SMART Board 6065 interactive flat panel Vernier Software & Technology LabQuest 2 & Connected Science System zSpace Inc zSpace Virtual Reality Science Lab ICT Leadership and Management Solutions 2Simple Software 2Build a Profile Arbor Education Partners Arbor Insight BlueSky (trading name of Atkey BlueSky Education Solutions Ltd) Classroom Monitor Classroom Monitor Essex Education Services Target Tracker Minted Box Education Ltd MINTclass New Media Learning Ltd 4Matrix South West Grid for Learning BOOST (SWGfL) Free Digital Content/Open Educational Resources FutureLearn FutureLearn Royal Society of Chemistry and University of Colorado Boulder PhET Interactive Simulations Just2easy J2Code OCR Cambridge GCSE Computing Online Promethean ClassFlow Rising Stars UK Ltd Switched On Computing – Take Your First Easy Steps with Microsoft Tigtag and Imperial College Reach Out CPD London TrueTube.co.uk/CTVC Ltd Doorways International Digital Resources 3P Learning Mathletics
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This month’s Features
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EducationCity Encyclopaedia Britannica InfoMentor Petra’s Planet for Schools Rosetta Stone Twig World Ltd Vernier Software &amp Technology Educational Apps Crick Software Gojimo MS Micro Librarian Systems Osmo PASCO Scientific Red Jumper Studio Universal Learning Games Vernier Software &amp Technology
EducationCity V2 Britannica School InfoMentor Petra’s Planet for Schools Rosetta Stone Language Lessons Version 3 for Schools Twig LabQuest 2 and Connected Science System Clicker Connect Gojimo iMLS Osmo starter kit SPARKvue Book Creator The English Minnits Video Physics
ICT Company of the Year – < £1m turnover Edukey Education Ltd Earwig Academic Jigsaw School Apps Optimum Reports Ltd Sonocent Ltd School Explained ICT Company of the Year – between £1m and £10m turnover 2Simple Software Contact Group EducationCity Frog Education
iSAMS Independent Ltd Joskos Solutions Ltd Rising Stars Soft Egg Ltd ICT Company of the Year – over £10m turnover Advanced Learning Capita SIMS Dell Discovery Education LearnPad Promethean Innovation in ICT T.B.A
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Education Apps This This month’s month’s Remind Technology Video Based Learning
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.remind101 Android OS. Price: Free Remind offers teachers a free, safe and simple way to instantly text students and parents. Teachers can send or schedule reminders, assignments, homework, assessments, or motivational messages directly to students’ and parents’ phones. Interactions are safe because phone numbers are kept private, and messages are sent with no open replies. Teachers, students and parents see mobile messages from all their classes in one place. For students and parents, Remind provides an easier way to stay informed outside of the classroom. They can now download the app and opt-in to receive messages faster with push notifications! Use Remind to send free text messages to save time, engage students and involve parents with your class.
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Platform: Android. Requires Android 2.3 and up Publisher: Remind101 Category: Teaching Tools, Secondary/High School (11 to 18 Years of Age), College/University (18+ Years of Age)
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i
The i-WIGT will transform teacher appraisals, evaluation and mentoring in your school “The i-WIGT provides an excellent and highly efficient system to observe and evaluate the quality of teaching and learning linked to performance management and, through the links with the Imaginative Minds Best Practice Library offers immediate access to a range of articles to support professional development.
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Elaine Ricks-Neal, Jt. Principal Adviser for School Improvement, West Berkshire Council
“The i-WIGT is bringing quality and consistency to our judgements and the analysis tool has helped us to form a clear overview of the quality of teaching and learning and areas for improvement supported by clear evidence. This has saved us many hours of work. Mr Nick Turvey, Head Teacher, Upton Cross Primary School
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“I think using the i-WIGT has definitely made our monitoring processes more robust and transparent and we will be using it for all observations and feedback from now on.” Clare Beynon, Castleview School, Slough
You can read more testimonials online at www.wigt.co.uk/iwigt #i-WIGT
Discover why schools across the UK are making the i-WIGT a key tool in their school improvement strategies… Book your free demonstration of the App today Online at: www.wigt.co.uk/iwigt Call today: 0121 224 7599 Email: enquiries@imaginativeminds.co.uk
This This month’s month’s Handouts Technology Video Based Learning
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app.handouts Android Price: Free Handouts is a great looking app that allows you to create and distribute digital files to your students, to mark/give them feedback within the same app and to create portfolios with their work. Simply take a picture or import them and with a tap, send them to students. Go Paperless in the classroom and enjoy this simple handouts workflow solution. Handouts workflow all within the app: ■■ Create handouts ■■ Distribute handouts ■■ Students complete handouts ■■ Students hand in their work ■■ Simple grading & feedback ■■ Portfolios & assignment tracking
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Platform: Android Publisher: Tipitap Category: Teaching Tools, Secondary/High School (11 to 18 Years of Age), College/University (18+ Years of Age)
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This This month’s month’s Splashtop Whiteboard Technology Video Based Learning https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com. splashtop.remote.WHITEBOARD Android Price: £21.43
Splashtop Whiteboard turns your Android tablet into a mobile interactive whiteboard. If your teaching style is to move around the classroom in order to engage your students with what is being projected, then you will find the app’s large selection of tools and pre-created templates very useful. The cost of the app is high but it’s a good investment if your classroom is not equipped with an interactive whiteboard already. ■■ Requires Android 3.1 and up. Works with
Honeycomb or later Android tablets ■■ Size 13M. ■■ A computer with a dual-core CPU strongly recommended for best performance.
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This This month’s month’s ExitTicket Technology Video Based Learning
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.exittix. exitticket&hl=en Android Price: Free ExitTicket is a student response system designed to accelerate student achievement. ExitTicket can be used to deliver real-time formative and summative assessments in ‘exit ticket’ style delivery throughout a class period. ExitTicket is similar to other clicker or voting/polling and audience response systems, but unique in that every student has their own account and student performance data is tracked across all their classes, and over time. ExitTicket enables personalised intervention and differentiation for every student, and every class through in-classroom proven levers for real-time intervention & differentiation.
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The teacher can see progression metrics and can intervene in realtime making it the perfect tool for differentiation and immediate feedback for every student. ExitTicket has been developed to be used on any web-enabled device. This can be just about any android based smartphone with a modern web browser, netbook, laptop, Chromebook, Nexus 7, 10 tablets and more. Size: 220k. Requires Android 2.2 and up
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