Reflections on DT

Planning and preparation was so important. The time spent behind the scenes resourcing and creating easy to use motors and circuits were central to making sure that all learners achieved the aims of the project. Without doing this, I think that it made it easier to focus in on the real learning rather than spending time overcoming procedural problems to do with motor skills. While some may criticise us for doing too much of the work for the children, I would contest that while problem solving and resilience are important skills, if the cognitive boundaries are too big then no amount of resilience and problem solving will suffice. I believe we provided challenge that was suitable to learners’ age and stage of development. All learners enjoyed the process and learned important transferable skills

Important that we as teachers developed the subject knowledge necessary to make learning meaningful so an understanding of how circuits, switches and motors worked was vital. We learned by doing just as the children would and for me, the learning was more powerful because of it. I am really proud of what we achieved as facilitators and would feel confident taking on a project like this in school as part of a whole school STEM day.

Reflections on Computing

Research from Quinlan (2015) shows a high level of learner interest in games and apps and many children already use technology such as Crumble in the home. However, Cranmer, Selwyn and Potter (2008) suggest that experiences at home are often passive and fail to maximise the potential for learning that technology offers. Although there is a wealth of quality resources suitable for use in schools, some argue that teachers lack the subject knowledge necessary to use them effectively, I have experienced little meaningful or creative learning in school with activities such as word-processing dominating computing lessons. It was important to us that we made sure learners really got something out of their experience with technology in school. Helsper and Enyon (2009) suggest that, if there is a gap between teacher and student competency, it is possible to close it. With this in mind we made sure to teach ourselves and practice with the software in order to stay one step ahead and be able to appropriately scaffold learners.

With this in mind we had to be sure we were confident using the software and hardware and plan in detail in order to maximise the potential for learning. As a team, we were very successful in doing this. Following this project, I feel much more confident in my ability to build computing into cross curricular projects. the potential for learning is massive through enhanced learner engagement and the learning journey has big implications for my future practice.

Attached is a short video showing the journey that we have been on throughout the project.