I have enjoyed watching an episode of the BBC programme Click, entitled Back to School. The episode deals with how tech is being used in education - from using Minecraft to teach children about logic gates, to apps which provide on-demand tutors for students, and educational toys for pre-schoolers which mesh physical play with tech. I was most impressed with the Osmo kit, which teaches early coding through the use of physical tiles, and the programme shows how this can be used in a school coding club. Osmo's Youtube channel also has content showing how the tool can be used in schools.
The episode can be watched here: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07v8l39/click-back-to-school
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This will form part of my collaborative project with two other students.
GPP Computing Lead Is computing taught throughout the school? If not, why? Where is it taught? Which year groups? Yes, EYFS planning is covered through early learning goals whilst KS1 and KS2 is covered through planning created in partnership with MGL, our ICT partners. Are all three areas taught with the correct time given to each? (50% CS, 20% IT and 30% DL) Yes, the planning has been created in order to ensure the correct balance is in place. Is the Computing lead specifically trained in Computing? No. What resources does the school have? List main apps/software and hardware. Laptops, desktops, iPads, Macs, Scratch, Audacity, Whiteboards, Visualisers, Lego Kits, Makey Makey kits. How does the school deal with e-safety? Each class covers a unit of e-safety during computing lessons. E-safety workshops take place. E-safety policy is in place and is regularly updated. How is computing integrated with the rest of the curriculum (core and foundation)? e.g. whiteboard use, iPads, ICT design, robots, websites, search engines. Use of iPads - strong cross-curricular usage. How is computing delivered to ensure all students are engaged and targeted? Through the level of challenge planned by teachers into each lesson, plus the range of resources available. Does the school have a clear commitment to computing and its role as a key skill? Yes, although this is not always clear due to other priorities. What new applications/innovations have been brought in recently? Art Rage - powerful digital media app. Are teachers enthusiastic about IT? Is there a specialist teacher? Are teacher confident? With all three areas (CS, IT and DL)? Enthusiasm and confidence are mixed across the school. Does the school have a social media policy for staff? Can you summarise it? Yes, basically outlines security settings, whistleblowing and lines of responsibility. Would you agree that students -
Although I have been in school since the beginning of September, I formally started my GPP placement with Year 1 on Monday (17th October). This is a very exciting and busy time for me, and I have started to look at how I will be teaching Computing and developing my knowledge during the placement.
I have now completed the Computing Pick n Mix module on Information Technology and Digital Literacy. This particularly focuses upon the use of blogging within schools, with ‘children as publishers’.
As stated on the University Blackboard site, ‘software, apps & tools can help in the process of reflection, critical thinking and demonstration of understanding. Everyone is different so accepting that not all children will be lit up by, for example mind-maps, is important. You need to understand different approaches to be as inclusive as possible with every child in your class’. School blogging and tweeting is still in its infancy, and is only present in a minority of schools. This is almost certainly due to issues surrounding e-safety concerns, a lack of technical confidence within the staff, lack of time or budget restraints. If used, blogging and tweeting are usually undertaken by children in KS2, and educational consultants such as Pie Corbett believe that this can have a hugely beneficial effect on the quality and quantity of the children’s writing. Corbett argues that blogging provides a child with a ‘real audience’, prompting them to improve their writing as they consider the reader. Children can use peer assessment and learn from reading written work from schools around the world. The training module suggests introducing blogging through three distinct steps, with children leading the activity.
It also suggests that posts should be about something the children are really interested in, rather than about a topic generated by the teacher.
It is clearly important to get the senior leadership team behind any blogging initiative. A linked video suggests that teachers should persevere if they face an initially negative response. The presenter argues that blogs can have a hugely beneficial effect on student engagement, whole curriculum learning and on the reputation of the school as a whole, and they do not have to be an e-safety concern. Although not mentioned in this video, it is always possible for blogs to be intranet-facing, or only accessible via a password. In this way, parents and staff could access content, but it would not be available for the internet as a whole.
Further case-study videos demonstrate the eagerness and excitement of pupils in a primary school in Greater Manchester, including several boys being very enthusiastic about story planning, writing and blog content production. Quadblogging is a tool which teachers and schools can use to produce blogs within a global network of other class blogs. Pie Corbett argues that this is the most important development in ‘fifty years’ to help improve writing in schools. Over 150,000 pupils from over 40 countries are currently taking part in the movement, and children are encouraged to interact with schools and students from other countries. One review from a teacher states that: ‘Highlights of Quadblogging? All of it! The children in my class are absolutely absorbed and loving our purposeful learning journey around the world. Each day brings something new to our classroom. You can’t “plan” that!’ Although this review does form part of a large advert for the tool, I am interested in how Quadblogging can be used. My GPP school does not have a blog and I will not be producing one as part of my placement. However, I will be investigating how I can develop the pre-existing class blog at my FPP school, possibly integrating Quadblogging into this. This could be taught in either an English or Computing lesson, or could be run as an extracurricular club. I am now confident with my Weebly site, and look forward to the challenge of creating new blog content with my FPP class.
Further Links
Quadblogging - www.quadblogging.net Get to setting up a class blog - www.teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/activity-1-getting-your-class-blog-started Children's guide to blogging - www.kidslearntoblog.com E-Safety, Social Networks and Blogging for Children - www.kidsmart.org.uk/socialnetworking/
I have been very busy with my placement school, assignments and knowledge audits, but I am taking the time this weekend to watch Code Kids. This documentary follows the Code Kids movement in Canada, which aims to embed computer science in every aspect of the curriculum, and looks at how children can be taught Computing skills alongside traditional subjects.
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