Technological age: using ICT to transform T&L

scameron — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 10:49:11 +0100

It is sometimes surprising to think how far ICT use in schools has come in just the last decade. This month’s Case in Point takes a look at some of the key ICT development issues (here).

The role of ICT in the curriculum

scameron — Mon, 24 May 2010 14:08:31 +0100

Are you taking a bold line in the great ICT debate ahead of pending government decisions on qualifications? Some schools, because of their vision, foundation or status, take their own strong view of how new technologies should contribute to the curriculum and be accredited.

The framework for ICT assessment and qualifications has yet to be announced: whether ICT will be more fully integrated, or have greater stand-alone status as a subject, awaits clarification.

Are your school’s pupils safe online?

scameron — Wed, 19 May 2010 09:26:51 +0100

What are the key risks?

Pupils using the internet may be exposed to inappropriate material which they find distressing or embarrassing. They may also be made vulnerable by posting their personal information on the web. Children could be led into cyberbullying, anti-social behaviour or even criminal offences through their use of the internet.

What are schools’ legal duties?

Technology and SEN

scameron — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:46:41 +0000

There is an ever-expanding range of technology to support children with SEN and disability. It can facilitate inclusion, improve access to the curriculum, enable pupils to work independently and of course, is often very motivating. Yet SENCOs and teachers in many schools (especially mainstream) have still to discover the potential of up-to-date hardware and software for pupils with SEN. This issue we encourage you to spend some time in finding out what technology can offer.

Learning from home with ICT

scameron — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:32:54 +0100

Despite all she’s been through, Catherine Jones remains surprisingly upbeat. A 47-year-old single mother of two sons, she has faced the usual obstacles while raising her family. But in Catherine’s case there was always an added difficulty: Michael, her elder son, aged 15, is autistic and hates school so much that four years ago he came close to killing himself. Today, however, he is in Year 11, preparing to take his GCSEs and talking enthusiastically about his plans for post-16 study.

How to tackle truancy using ICT

scameron — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:40:25 +0100

It’s a familiar picture in any high street on a weekday: a group of kids who should clearly be at school hanging out in the shopping malls or pursuing other interests, such as skateboarding. Despite the efforts of ministers, schools and the police, truancy remains a major issue. It not only affects academic achievement but it feeds into some of the biggest concerns of central government: gangs, anti-social behaviour, drugs and juvenile crime.

Teaching primary literacy with ICT

scameron — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:44:07 +0100

Benefits for the teacher

Keeping traveller children safe online

scameron — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:09:12 +0000

Today’s digital generation has a wealth of opportunities to exploit through the application of ICT, both within the school environment and at home. However, although technology opens countless doors for children and young people, there are also aspects that prove a significant risk. The potential dangers should not be overlooked and range from students accessing inappropriate internet sites to the threat of cyberbullying, and in its most extreme form, predator grooming.

Advancing learning through KTP

scameron — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:06:05 +0000

The knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) at Bedlingtonshire Community High School is a two-year project that runs from January 2008 to December 2009 in collaboration with the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching at Newcastle University. It is one of the first of its kind in the UK and its primary aim is to improve learning for staff, students and the community.

Computer games to encourage fitness

scameron — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 11:18:51 +0000

Beneath Christmas trees across the country and around the world, Nintendo Wiis were wrapped and ready for action. And for once no one could complain about children and young people being couch potatoes as living rooms were transformed into sporting arenas.

Visual literacy

scameron — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:34:49 +0000

Visual images are fast becoming the most predominant form of communication. Children are surrounded by all sorts of visual media now and according to Mary Alice White, researcher at Columbia Teachers’ College:

‘Young people learn more than half of what they know from visual information, but few schools have an explicit curriculum to show students how to think critically about visual data.’

Asset management in secondary schools

scameron — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:55:10 +0000

The school revenue funding settlement, which was announced by Jim Knight, school’s minister at the DCSF, in November 2007, ensures that schools are fiscally, and lawfully, aware of their budget spends. For many schools, prioritising resources in a strategic way is not currently high on the agenda, and this needs to be addressed. As with all new initiatives, schools, headteachers and teaching staff are wary of how to implement new procedures, and where the funding will come from to meet each target.

Electronic interaction improves attainment

scameron — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:38:34 +0000

I have been in the very fortunate position of headteacher at Anton Junior School for five years now and, during that time, our school has progressed on a journey of investment and investigation into the use of interactive technology, in order to support and enhance teaching and learning. In this article I describe how a piece of new technology was used to boost attainment in the school.

The school business manager's role in implementing a VLE

scameron — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:50:57 +0000

Virtual learning environments (VLEs) have become one of the hot educational topics among both senior leadership teams and at partnership meetings between groups of schools. The government’s direction that all schools should have an operating VLE embedded in their working practices and those of students has certainly concentrated the minds of many school leaders. School business managers may have been part of debates over the respective merits of different VLE platforms, and many colleagues will understandably have been asked to investigate their suitability in the context of cost.

Dealing effectively with cyberbullying

scameron — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:48:23 +0000

Bullying is always an emotive subject. It is getting worse according to the latest research conducted by Ofsted, as published in its report, Children on Bullying. One may argue whether this is a question of fact or whether greater publicity means it is talked about more. Regardless, school bullying already claims the lives of about 20 teenagers a year, while thousands more suffer physical and psychological torment. What is clear is that the emergence of cyberbullying means there is no longer any safe haven from its effects.

CPD to combat cyberbullying

scameron — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:18:56 +0000

The increasing popularity of social networking sites such as Bebo, Myspace and Facebook, use of mobile technologies for making and sharing images and the potential to share and disseminate personal information online are an increasingly integral part of the everyday social lives and relationships of young people. At the same time, the potential for young people to use these technologies to actively engage in, or to be the victims of, online harassment or cyberbullying has emerged as an issue that requires a multifaceted response involving a variety of key stakeholders.

Safe internet usage at school

scameron — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:52:47 +0000

Following the Byron Report in March 2008, a new government body has recently been launched to oversee child internet safety. The UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) is going to be responsible for implementing the Report’s recommendations, including delivery of e-safety through the curriculum and ensuring that teachers receive the training they need for safe use of the internet. This makes it timely to review schools’ legal obligations in this area.

The internet in schools: protecting pupils and staff

'Virtual' schooling: education outside school

scameron — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:34:33 +0100

Billie Murram is gathering an impressive set of qualifications and has set her sights on becoming an IT tutor. Things could have turned out very differently for this 17-year-old from Kingston upon Thames. She opted out of school because bullying made her life a misery and she found it increasingly difficult to study in the classroom. ‘I just made excuses for not attending. I had a home tutor for a while, but this didn’t enable me to sit any exams.’

The role of ICT in CPD

scameron — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:33:03 +0100

Continuing professional development (CPD) among teachers is seen as something of a buzzword between education professionals, but what is it and are we doing it? Becta established that CPD refers to the process by which teachers acquire and develop the skills and knowledge to become effective in the classroom (Becta, 2004). Teachers are aware that developing their own knowledge, understanding and practice helps in both their learning and their teaching. Therefore, it is common sense that CPD leads to better teachers.

Using a virtual learning environment (VLE) to raise attainment

scameron — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:12:56 +0100

There was once a time when using technology in a school was a laudable aim but prohibitively costly. In time it became a reality for schools to have whole teaching rooms kitted out with expensive hardware that enabled pupils to access the curriculum in more adventurous and high-tech ways.

Tackling cyberbullying against teachers

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:39 +0100

What is cyberbullying?
Given the historical child-centric approach to bullying, the most-used definitions are those provided by children's organisations. Childnet International defines cyberbullying as a type of aggression relating to the "sending or posting of harmful or cruel text or images using the internet or other digital communication devices".

Enrichment Activities: Internet safety and animals for peace

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:39 +0100

This week's primary enrichment activity llooks at the dangers of the internet. Drawing on recent research, it asks pupils to discuss why the internet is considered such a threat and invites them to devise rules for making it safer.

This week's secondary enrichment activity draws on a recent news story involving a hedgehog to teach pupils about the ways that animals have been used in warfare. Pupils are then encouraged to think of ways that animals could be used to encourage peace.

What is cyberbullying?

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:36 +0100

What is cyberbullying?
It is a type of aggression defined by Childnet International as the 'sending or posting of harmful or cruel text or images using the internet or other digital communication devices'. Police experts and children's charities are concerned at the increase of cyberbullying and charities are voicing concern that this new phenomenon is increasing at an alarming rate. School bullying already claims the lives of around 20 teenagers a year while thousands more suffer physical and psychological torment.

Supporting children with visual impairments

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:31 +0100

Most children with visual impairments (VI) cope perfectly well in mainstream schools, with appropriate specs, but some have problems that go undetected, and others have significant difficulties that require specialist help.

Removing barriers to learning

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:31 +0100

Support for SENCOs

Removing barriers to learning for pupils with communication and interaction difficulties
Being unable to express yourself and make your needs known must be one of the most frustrating of human experiences. Similarly, trying and failing to understand what someone else is struggling to convey can be extremely disheartening.

Multi-sensory environments in special schools

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:59 +0100

They come in all shapes and sizes and, as small, Victorian-built special schools make way for much larger state-of-the-art edifices, architects are including them in their new designs. Multi-sensory environments are now firmly established as part of the therapeutic facilities of many special schools. But with their origins in the snoezelen rooms of the 1970s, they too have undergone something of a metamorphosis. Rooms whose key features were soft structures and ball-pools have been replaced with hi-tech environments using the latest technology to transform pupils’ sensory experience.

Virtual learnings environments for extended learning

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:57 +0100

Eighteen months ago the Ofsted evaluation of extended schools suggested that extended services were helping to enhance self-confidence, improve relationships, raise aspirations and produce better attitudes to learning among pupils. Just last month Christine Gilbert, Her Majesty’s chief inspector for education, children’s services and skills, reinforced this:

‘It’s encouraging to see that extended schools... are making good progress overall in the range of services they offer for children, young people and their families.’

A digital environment can raise school performance

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:56 +0100

St Paul’s Catholic College, a DCSF-designated technology college is based in Sunbury, Surrey. Totalling 1,050 pupils aged 11 to 19 years and 120 staff, the school attracts students from a wide range of both relatively prosperous and less affluent areas in the north of Surrey and west London. We aim to be the first choice Catholic school in the region and endeavour to ensure that all our students receive high-quality education in the field of technology. We also aim for the whole school – students, staff, parents and governors – to benefit from the specialist status.

How to use ICT to support young children's learning

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:52 +0100

In 2005-06 the DfES funded 20 local authorities to research good practice in the use of ICT in the Foundation Stage, the results of which have been published on the DCSF website. This article summaries some of the good practice highlighted in this study to serve as an introduction to the vibrant and exciting full accounts available on the website.

The benefits of introducing young children to ICT

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:52 +0100

According to ICT adviser Harriet Price it is no longer simply a case of thinking in terms of the benefits that an ICT-rich educational experience brings to children. She insists that technology is now such an important part of children’s everyday lives that a learning environment without it would be completely out of touch with their own realities.

Provision for pupils with severe learning difficulties (SLD)

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:49 +0100

Pupils with SLD experience ‘significant intellectual cognitive impairments’ having ‘a major effect on their ability to participate in the school curriculum without support.’ They may have ‘difficulties with mobility and coordination, communication and perception and the acquisition of self-help skills’ and need ‘support in all areas of the curriculum’. Some may use signs and symbols but ‘most will be able to hold simple conversations’.

Using ICT with able classes

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:48 +0100

I’m no expert when it comes to technology! I would like to think though, that I have kept up with the times. I value my classroom projector and interactive whiteboard, make full use of my laptop and as a teacher overseeing the practical production part of the AQA Media Studies GCSE course, I now know my way around moving image editing software and can teach pupils how to make best use of a digital camera.

Extending ICT provision beyond your school

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:44 +0100

In the last few years there has been a huge demand on schools for rapid, transformational change. Consequently, secondary schools have been faced with a proliferation of new initiatives, of which extended service schools is one.

Cyberbullying with new technologies: how teachers should respond

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:43 +0100

2007 saw an alarming rise in the reports of cyberbullying among children and young people both inside and outside of the school environment. The broadest definition of cyberbullying is that it is characterised by the use of new information and communication devices and services to bully, harass or intimidate an individual or group.

Video conferencing

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:43 +0100

The government is encouraging schools to expand pupils’ horizons beyond the classroom but the logistics of organising educational visits can be restrictive. Video conferencing is becoming an acceptable alternative, offering an opportunity to contact schools and experts throughout the world. Children are very tuned in to modern technology and the chance of seeing sights worldwide and quizzing experts excites them.

Reflective learning journal or blog? Using social technologies

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:42 +0100

I love to see people’s faces when I introduce the topic of wikis, forums and blogs. However, baffled faces frequently become excited at the potential of these new technologies and their use in the context of teaching and learning.

As head of department for ICT/computing in a large (1,800+) comprehensive school, I sometimes feel the ‘been there, done that, got the T-shirt’ that all of us more sophisticated (synonym for older!) teachers go through. Partly because of that, three years ago I embarked on a part time MSc in e-learning.

Building Schools for the Future: the ICT outsourcing route

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:41 +0100

The Building Schools for the Future (BSF) initiative is set to transform the education sector by rebuilding or refurbishing all secondary schools and half of all primary schools across England by 2020. It aims to ensure that school students are educated in a 21st century learning environment – an inspirational environment that teachers will be proud to teach in and students will be eager to learn in.

Achieving strategic ICT delivery at Le Rocquier School, Jersey

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:38 +0100

If we were investing our own money in a high-interest account, we would want to know on a regular basis how this investment was doing, be advised and take the appropriate action to ensure a profitable return. Parents likewise invest in schools via their child and need a return for their investment.

SLICT: how to integrate ICT in your school

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:38 +0100

It may be difficult to believe, but it is less than 10 years since teachers were attending Inset course with names like ‘IT for the terrified’. Since then, many things have changed.

Providing ICT network support to a cluster of schools

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:36 +0100

ICT technical provision is now a crucial lifeline to any school. If this support breaks down, it causes major problems and disruption to the life of the school. The primary schools in our cluster in East Yorkshire found themselves in this predicament early last year and had to act very quickly to resolve the problem. This article will focus on the recent developments in our cluster that stemmed from this challenge, showing how an innovative approach can bring a wide range of benefits.

Exploring the options

Wif-fi and ICT: benefits and risks

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:35 +0100

Wireless networks offer great benefits for schools — many schools have already installed a network. Wireless technology is part of many schools' plans under the Government's ‘building schools for the future’ initiative.

But ‘Wi-Fi’, as the technology is known, is a contentious and emotive subject, generating media interest and concern about its use. There is controversy over the health risks, and debate over whether there has been sufficient control over the use of Wi-Fi in the classroom.

Cyber-bullying of teachers

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:31 +0100

Imagine logging onto MySpace to see a video of a pupil smashing up your car. How would you feel if you were receiving a series of silent phone calls or anonymous text messages warning you to ‘watch your back’? Or if you found pornographic material sent to your phone with your own face superimposed onto that of the actors?

Perhaps this has already happened to you? It is certainly the reality facing many teachers targeted by the new phenomenon of cyber-bullying.

Visions of social enterprise in Liverpool

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:28 +0100

As with all the Every Child Matters outcomes, the emphasis on economic wellbeing comes with a wish that all children should enjoy, achieve and make a positive contribution. Enterprise is at the forefront and organisations are asked to find ways to work effectively together to help young people learn and thrive through focused economic activity.

Informed decision making and IT

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:24 +0100

Anyone working with young people can be sure of at least two things. One, that they are very open to influence by peers, role models and those they admire. And two, that they can be equally resistant to influence by adults interested in their behaviour, attitudes and values. While hardly revelations, they have important implications for the resources used in life skills curricula.

New technologies

ICT and learning

Using ICT to enhance learning and teaching for able pupils in mathematics

How to deliver CPD on promoting e-safety for pupils

Social media - the risks and safety, a guide for schools part 1

Get more for less from your ICT budget

Enhancing provision for gifted users of ICT

Vulnerability to online grooming