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What the future may hold for technology in Education
Today we had a guest lecturer Darren Savage who discussed how technology is going to progress in the future. He introduced us to some new technological advantages such as Estimote Stickers.
Estimote Stickers hasn’t specifically been design for a school environment, but I feel this could be adapted to engage students and benefit learning. Estimote Stickers is currently used to display information once a phone or application is held in front of the sticker, this provides the extra snippets of information.
This video gives an introduction to Estimote Stickers:
I feel that this could be used in the classroom as the Esitmote Sticker can be re-codded therefore re-used, these stickers could be placed around the classroom or school. The children could then have activates that link to specific sticker, these stickers could ask questions or provided facts and information on certain topics.
Badges
What are Badges? Personally I have never heard of this therefore I’m going to start with introduction to these.
This video gives an over view of what badges are:
Benefits of Badges to Teachers:-
Using Badges in the classroom allows teachers to personalise their class as well as set tailored targets that a visual and realistic for the children. For children to be motivated I feel that the visualisation of their targets can encourage them to reach them, children are also able to view own progress allowing them to work at their own pace. This can also be used as an assessment tool for the teacher as they document a child’s progression. Having this sorts of details information can also be used to set new targets for the class as a whole or individual children. Badges can be a motivation tool in the classroom, they can also lighten the load of the teacher as this allows the teacher to share these with the children online as well as in their books with ease.
Benefits of Badges to Children:-
Badges allow children to engage with their learning as they are able to see when they have achieved a target, being able to see their achievements can motivate the children to set new targets themselves and not wait for the teacher. Children can create personal targets that they are able to work towards at their own pace. Having badges can create a sense of self competition as the children strive to meet the next target or goal.
Personally I would have to do more research into this before implementing it into the classroom.
Chapter 2: The 5 Stage Framework and e-Activities.
After reading Salmon’s 5-stage framework and e-activities I found that children need to be supported through a structured developmental process, this means that children need ‘scaffold-ed learning’ this allows them to build on their current knowledge and experiences. Salmon talks about a five stage model that provided this structure, it also provides examples of how participants can benefit form increasing skills that leads to success.
This is the 5-stage framework and e-activities:
Each stage requires the children to master certain technical skills, each stage calls for different skills. Moving through the stages the child increases their interaction with others as well as improving technological skills. Technical support is provided by e-moderators and this promotes action and interaction, Salmon says that nearly all children will progress through these stages. Salmon is a aware that children will take a varied amount of time to progress through each stage, children all learn at different speeds according to their skills, and it is vital for teachers and e-moderators to support their learning. Using this model to design development processes and build a programme of e-activities for online learning will provided knowledge of how individuals are likely to exploit the system at each stage as well as avoiding common pitfalls.
To ensure that the children are progresses through the stages it is important to motivate them. Teachers should not to assume that the online aspect will be enough to motivate the children to progress. Many children are lead by ‘achievement’ motivation, they require tasks that can easily be achieved where as others will need ‘competence’ motivation which requires the child to believe they can achieve what they see as a difficult task.
School Web Design – Good and Bad
So I have chosen Two schools to compare their websites first being Sacred Heart Catholic Primary in Roehampton and the second being my primary school, Hereward Primary School this is where I live in Essex. Its important to understand what a good and a bad VLE or website before evaluating these websites, therefore I have read .
So Sacred Heart Catholic Primary is close by to University and as a computing group we have the school in Year 1 this allowed us to see ICT implement in school. Their website provides an adequate amount of information for example an interactive calendar and even a blogging facility for the school, children and parents. Despite the parents not using the blog as of yet this option. This website also provides links to the children’s homework so that parents can be involved in their learning. Although this is website has a few issues as several links didn’t work correctly or came back with a common error “404 error pages”, but this didn’t seem to be a major issue. The website is formal and has a range of images of the school and children. I found that this website is adequate for its propose but has a few faults this could be improved as every website can be. In my opinion this website could be improved as it lacks a sense of engagement and school character.
Hereward Primary School is a primary school outside of London and the website is visually very different to Sacred Heart. Hereward has used bold writing, colours, images to make the website eye catching but also slightly busy, I feel that this site could be adapted to look formal but this is overridden by the positives of the website. Navigation aspect of the website is up to date and works correctly, there is a vast range of information provided that can be used for parents and children. Options to help with school inquires and even E-safety support are available on the site. This website allows parents, teacher and children to login and access further information, which I feel is a brilliant aspect as images and information my be private.
I overall feel that Hereward Primary School‘s website is well resourced and better organised than Sacred Heart Catholic Primary, the visuals could be adapted but this doesn’t affect the navigation of the site or the information displayed upon it. When in practice as an ICT specialist and programmer I would like to be involved in the website design, navigation and information.
Bett 2017
This year is the first time I’ve attended Bett and I found that there was much to see. There was an extensive amount of shall’s this provided a wide range of resources that would be beneficial in the classroom, many of which were variations of each other. One of which was interactive screens the Bett show represented more than just the SMART screen, this allowed us (the computing group) to discuss what we would use the different versions for in the classroom and found that the interactive table such as the Sun-Tech I.T. Solutions Limited would be ideal to have around the classroom in early years to develop different skills, but we also found that most school budgets wouldn’t cover the ideal use for most of these resources. When imagining how you want you classroom to look when at the Bett show you need to have an extensive budget that many school can not provide.
As well as the theses shall’s the stage also provided speakers that informed us about a variation of computing and classroom developments. One speaker being our lecturer Miles Berry who twitted that he was happy to see us.
Computing group attending the Bett fair 2017
Miles’ speech informed us of Raspberry Pi developments as well as a new adventure Hello Word, this is a magazine that is widely available to anybody who’s introducing young people to computing and digital making. Hello World is a free magazine delivered to your door that provides expert advise and experience of how to teach using Raspberry Pi’s and computing in schools.
I found the Bett experience valuable and will attend next year as this has provided numerous ideas and resources that will be useful in practice, of which I can’t mention all as there are so many.
My Reflections on Learning Communities with in Primary Schools.
A learning community is a group of people who share common academic goals and attitudes. They are continually growing and becoming valued more in education for teachers and pupils. Since Funding for Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) became available this has also shown an increase in popularity and use of them in schools.
The Teachers Viewpoint.
When planning and organising lessons online communities can be extremely helpful in order to share resources and idea in the teaching community. There are many websites that offer this such as TES and Twinkl etc., these websites allow teachers to correspond with each other in a educational/ professional environment as well as share lessons. They can offer both, advice on good lessons plans that will aid a child’s learning and ease the planning process as well as lessons that may not have gone to plan, being able to offer support and guidance on teaching. They also offer a number of solutions and suggestions this allows the teacher and communities to work together developing lesson plans.
Using resources in the classroom can also benefit the teachers and pupils as the teacher can set and monitor homework from an online community, such as Fronter or Frog, that the class is a part of this allows almost instant feedback and communication between teacher, peers and pupils on an educational level outside of the classroom.
On placement when in the role of teacher, I definitely found the numerous websites and online professional chats for teachers supportive, they were able to give incite into activities that the pupils would enjoy on specific subjects as well as activities and lesson plans that didn’t follow the correct path. Having access to readily available lesson and support allowed me to develop my own ideas as part of a community and also offer them to others to expand or diversify. They opened up an infinite number of channels thought which I could learn and help other. I also found that due to the National Curriculum the amount of resources available for the correct content is huge! Allowing teachers to adapt and even use plans and advice straight from online communities, although I feel they should always be adapted to suit the class being taught.
The Pupils Viewpoint
As mentioned pupils can be part of VLE’s such as Fronter, Frog, or even Moodle in higher education, these are accessible at home in school and across the world. I feel that providing pupils with a safe environment that they can access at home and in school can also increase their willingness to learn as it can create a more active and social side to it to learning. Being able to show their parents and peers what they has achieved can act as a motivational tool as pupils then wish to take pride in their work. VLE’s and learning communities can benefit pupils as they are a place to record and find resource allowing them to share learning as well as find new channels of learning though embedding content.
As I have used Fronter and Moodle from the perspective of a pupil I feel that they are a great source of information when away from school for pupils as well as parents, they allow pupils to continue learning at home but in different styles.
I’ve only discussed a limited amount of implications found on learning communities but overall my experience and understanding of them is good, I feel that they benefit teaching and learning at home or in the classroom. In practice I would definitely use a VLE or learning community to aid my abilities to teach, as well as the pupils ability to learn.
My reflections on Barrs and Horrocks: Educational Blogs and their Effects on Pupils Writing.
Barrs and Horrocks express that blogging in schools has been seen as an effective practice if use correctly. Although some blogs by students have been seen as vague and didn’t allow or encourage responses from other students in regards to feedback and comments, thus it is important to have guidance from the class teacher. To encourage students to research and self-educate the teacher should ask probing questions to enable the student to move on or further their learning and understanding of a topic. Barrs and Horrock also suggest that its important not to always provide exact locations for the students to research as this will allow them to explore the internet in regards to a safe topic. At a younger age it is important for students to develop an investigative nature towards their works, as when they get older and move on to years 5 and 6, structure become more vital in regards to the style and type of writing produced by the student. As the teacher your role is to comment on blogs to stimulate the students learning. Comments can be a form of motivation showing students that as the teacher reading their works as well as showing they ‘care’. This can also promote further learning.
When it comes to blogs I feel that Barrs and Horrocks agree that as the teacher it is important to be enthusiastic and enjoy class blogging, making them creative, engaging and inclusive for all students. Blogs can enable students to focus on content rather then literacy books that are used in class all the time. Students responses often depend on the teachers initial prompt, the class needs a standpoint for approaching a task as well as a time constraint to promote an effective blog. The role of a teacher throughout blogging is key to the success of the project.
Blogging videos has also been highlighted in Barrs and Harrocks article as effective classroom tools as the teacher to develop students understanding and knowledge of a reading or lesson through this. Blogs can allow a new library for learning, as videos can be embedded in order to enrich the lesson or activity.
When introducing blogs to the classroom it is important to build up to them as this it a new platform for the students to work with and they may need to adjust their style of writing. The affect of moving from paper to online can be hard for some students and preparation is key, it may even benefit the students if they take part in a oral rehearsal before filming a video blog. Another way to integrate blog into the classroom or at home would be to keep them relevant to the class topic or homework, taking it step by step leading in to a new blogging community.
Barrs and Harrocks discuss the idea that blogging isn’t just for the classroom, allowing children to continue their blogging as homework could improve the relationship between school and home. Home blogging also give the student work time to improve or increase content in their blogs. On the other hand not all students will have access to the internet or a computer at home thus this could create issues so perhaps time could be allocated after school to those whom need it. Allow the Student access at home could also widen their scope of topic that they are able to blog about, for example they could create their own safe blogging environment for home activities.
Analysing some of pedagogic approaches to blogging in these project classrooms have shown teachers are utilizing this tool but there’s still a connection to writing on paper, this can help to develop the students literacy work through different mediums. Blogging can have affect to the quality of writing good and bad depending of the method or quality of teacher, it can also become a cross curriculum activity as links often improve work. Good writing content has a purpose.
Key features of a blog are:
- Good content and ideas
- Real meaning and purpose
- Imagination originality
- Creativity
- Fluency and momentum
- A strong sense of a reader/ audience
My reflections on ‘Supporting Community Cohesion Through ICT: The E-Partners Programme in Northern Ireland’
Austin Hunter’s article discussing ‘Supporting community cohesion through ICT: The epartners programme in Northern Ireland’ , talks about the divides across Northern Ireland and how it became possible to bring schools together from different faith backgrounds, despite the history. Statistics show that the schools in the country consist of 95% of children attending either a Catholic or a Protestant school thus the divide is a huge part of life in Northern Ireland. Over the years a number of schemes were introduced in attempts to unite education system and schools within the country, this included a general curriculum that all schools would use thus creating a shared education but Austin et al’s research focused on how communication through technology within schools and education centers can help demolish the divide.
The scheme introduced was called ‘E-Partners’ and this consisted of 16 volunteer schools, which were asked to used technology to communicate their ideas between pupils this technology was Fronter, using fronter allowed the children to experience new learning environments between school and home. Research has shown that the influence of parental involvement can have a major impact on school readiness and attainment levels from birth right up to sixteen years old, thus fronter isn’t only able to decrease the divide in schools and communities in Northern Ireland, but this can also involve parents in the project. Fronter is also able to become a cross curriculum area for the schools and students as they may have specific tasks but are still able to move between different areas of the learning environment.
This scheme did show the two religions co-operating together, pupils and teachers putting differences aside in order to develop learning. although these 16 schools were able to co-operate together it also became apparent that the issues in Northern Ireland may not/ can not be solved through a task as simple as this. The divide runs deeper as this encounters the threat of terrorism and a political divide. But from Austin’s article and Berners-Lee work that the internet and WWW can be used to improve communication and bringing schools, teachers and communities closer.
My reflections on Barnes-lees, Answers for Young People and my experiences of the Web.
From reading Berners-Lees post he explains that the a system similar to the WWW has been around since the 1960, this came as a shock to me, as I’ve grown up with the internet around me. The internet is now an open resource, that the majority of people have access to, making it easier to communicate and learn across the world. Berners-Lee’s article points out how the web could be a vital tool for communication and I feel that it is also important in regards to education, and research. The internet is increasingly developed over the last few years as now there are apps, social media, and even online communities. In regards to education and teaching the internet and computers has altered the way and what is actually being taught. In 2013 teaching children to understand algorithms in KS1 became part of the national curriculum, due to this resources have been expanded online and in schools to enable this learning. Using online resources also allows teachers to communicate with each other and problem solve or plan lessons online.
My personal experiences with the web differ. When younger the internet in regards to my uses consisted of search engines. Throughout my education it feels as though the web has been an essential tool in order to gain my full potential, in regards to research and investigation it can have a positive and negative influence on education and learning depending on the resources available or selected. I also found that on placement the computing/ICT lessons in year 3 where similar to what I remember doing in year 7 thus expressing the advances in teaching over the years, being up to date with the current specifications in computing and ICT it vital in order to learn and teach correctly.
When teaching in the future I feel that it is important to understand the class and their preferences, in order to create a version of the curriculum that children will enjoy and be able to engage with as computing/ICT is a visual and active subject. Its important to remember that children are open to learning and even systems/programs that have the initial thought of over complication or to be ‘hard’, to teach or learn, can be taught effectively if segmented into manageable lessons allowing the children to slowly learn and understand what they are being taught, this can also be a enjoyable way to learn as the children can move at their own pace, rather then being overwhelmed with a complex system/program.