Primary Bits and Bytes

(Posted by Fiona)

The last few weeks have seen the release of new eSafety resources. Safer Internet Day 2012 (SID 2012)  takes place on Tuesday 7th February with the theme of Connecting Generations and Educating Each Other. The main event website can be found at http://www.saferinternet.org, keep checking the resources section, resources for this year’s event should be available in the next week or so.

CEOP ThinkUKnow will be supporting SID 2012 by broadcasting The Parents’ and Carers’ Guide to the Internet, which will be available to stream or download and use during parent information sessions. The video and other resouces will be available from the ThinkUKnow website on the 9th January.

YHGfL have also set up a support page for SID 2012 http://www.yhgfl.net/eSafeguarding/eSafety/Safer-Internet-Day-2012. At present it has videos to support schools in planning an event. Further materials for use on the day will be available shortly.

YHGfL have teamed up with ROAR Educate to offer schools the opportunity to buy an eSafety software product called ‘Grapple’ which can be used by parents and children to help bridge the knowledge gap between different generations. ‘Grapple’ will be offered to YHGfL schools for a discounted rate and ROAR Educate will allow schools to sell the software to parents/carers enabling them to raise funds for the school. More details of this unique opportunity for YHGfL schools will be available in early January. For a sample of Grapple and useful eSafety challenge for parents and pupils, see the ROAR educate website homepage.

The UK Safer Internet Centre have released a new resource to support parents, which fits in nicely with this year’s theme. A Parents’ Guide to Technology is an online guide which includes information on the  safe use of gaming devices, tablets and smartphones.

(Posted by Dughall)

Yesterday I had a long but incredibly satisfying day in Bradford.

In 2009 I attended the first bMobLe conference run by Education Bradford making my way through the snows of West Yorkshire. The same conference this year could not have been hosted in more benign meteorological conditions.

The promise was as follows: “The bMobLe “Next Generation Learning” Conference 2010 aims to share best practice and suggest ways that mobile technologies can be integrated appropriately into the classroom.” That promise was certainly met.

The initial keynote presentation was by Tim Rylands. The man is a giant in my estimation for his inspirational ideas and his passion for language, literacy, technology and, well, high quality, honest-to-goodness learning. Tim eschews what he calls the ‘(aero)plane’ model of learning in which learners are asked to “Come in, sit down, face the front and belt up”. He also believes that “excellence & enjoyment is not just something you do on a Friday afternoon”. Like me, he is a big fan of the mix of analogue and digital but, most importantly, that there is no substitute for real life. For a glimpse of the impact Tim has on an audience, visit his blog here and look at the expressions on people’s faces in the slideshow near the top of the page. Those faces say it all! Throughout the keynote, we were also treated to a plethora of fantastic (mostly free) resources that are available here http://linkbun.ch/y2bz

After coffee, we enjoyed another dose of Mr Rylands, this time with assistance from his equally impressive sidekick Sarah Neild. The break out was titled ‘Using ICT to Inspire: Raising levels of creativity in children of all abilities.’ Key messages I received were reminders to educators: to take their time, not be afraid to join with learners in the journey, and to not forget children’s almost boundless capacity to absorb information. It was another thoroughly engaging session.

In a short slot before lunch, I spent some time talking to pupils from a couple of Bradford primary schools about their experiences of one-one devices (netbooks in one case, PDAs in another). I was interested to learn that these devices were used at home and at school, often connected to the internet at home via a wireless connection. I was also interested to learn about the sorts of activities in which the devices were used and how they were used. “Whenever we need to.” “To do Powerpoint.” “To send and receive messages.” “We have to bring them to school fully charged or we get in trouble.” “I would prefer an ipod touch (to the PDA).” “I like to play ‘photo-wars’ (on the PDA).”

I enjoyed a stimulating lunch with Nick Jackson, Doug Belshaw, and David Mitchell where (amongst other things) we discussed the problems of using definitions such as ‘Digital natives/immigrants’, ‘Digital literacy’, ‘E-learning’ etc. Maybe more on that another time.

As an aside, I love the letter that one of David’s Y6 pupils wrote to him via their school blog!

After lunch, I had a necessary and enjoyable session with Nicola Stables, my co-presenter for an afternoon breakout titled ‘Out of the Game’. Our session promised ‘to examine the opportunities for learning that arise beyond the game itself. After a week on Safari, this Year 3 class have done more than just track animals. Find out more about how a Wii console, a game, careful planning and reflection can foster collaboration, communication, team work and the development of language in a group of enthusiastic learners. Having a games console in your classroom is about so much more than playing games. Every class should have one!’

I have been lucky enough to spend some time recently with Nicola and her class using the Nintendo Wii and the game, ‘African Safari’. She has done a much better job than I could do here in explaining the project via her blog (Specific posts mentioning the Wii can be found here). Nicola spoke brilliantly about the learning that took place ‘beyond’ the game itself: the social skills, the collaboration, the language, the opportunities for cross curricular links etc. I chipped in occasionally with my observations about what I had seen the children get from the sessions. It was heartening to have heard so many similar messages delivered by Tim earlier in the day.

The final session of the day included a stunning presentation about the largest cave in the world (in Vietnam) accompanied by some amazing photography and last of all, a voting-pad evaluation of the conference.

However, the day was far from over. There were 90 minutes to kill before the Bmoble Teachmeet. What better way to spend it than back in the sunshine tackling Tim’s Teachmeet Try-cycle Tryout. I wonder what folks must have thought at the sight of grown men hurtling around the carpark like infants on the tricycle. I suppose it was fitting and in the spirit of fun that seemed to pervade the day.

The teachmeet itself was (as these things always are) incredible. Everyone who stood up and spoke was inspring and engaging. Special mentions go to Doug Belshaw for a jaw-dropping 124 slides in 7 minutes, David Mitchell’s brilliant use of Voicethread, and Emma Barker breaking her Teachmeet duck to share the excellent work she has done at Netherthong with the Nintendo DS.

I returned home head-buzzing!

Many, many thanks to James Langley and all the Education Bradford team (and all the others) for putting on such a great event!

Some other reflections on Bmoble can be found here:

http://dajbconf.posterous.com
http://mrmitchell.heathfieldcps.net/2010/05/20/bmoble-conference-education-bradford/

http://bitsbobsandwaffles.blogspot.com/2010/05/recently.html

(Posted by Fiona)

Following the success of last year’s event you are invited to visit the ICT Showcase where pupils from Kirklees Schools, ranging from KS1 to KS3, are presenting an exhibition of innovative ICT activity.

The pupils will demonstrate and talk about some of the exciting and innovative work they have been undertaking using a range of ICT tools. These are just some of the uses of ICT that will be demonstrated :

• Using a learning platform
• Video conferencing with a book author
• Multimedia work, with sound and  animation
• Digital video creation
• Using Lego robots
• Creating a virtual school guide
• Creating video documentaries
• Using voting pads for quizzes  and self assessment
• Using animations software
• Using Nintendo DS Lite and  brain trainers
• Pivot Stick Figure Animator

Last years pupil participants really enjoyed the day as the following comments made by them on the day show:

“I think it was brilliant and interesting. I liked finding out what other schools are doing.”

“I thought that overall it was really interesting and informative. I really enjoyed it, and it was very well organised.”

“I really enjoyed all the hi-tech equipment and cool software. Thoroughly enjoyable.”

Staff and Governors from other schools who attended enjoyed seeing pupils demonstrating their work :

“A wonderful opportunity to see something of the vast range of ways in which ICT is being used – and enjoyed by pupils across Kirklees. It was fantastic to see the confidence and enthusiasm of pupils as they explained and demonstrated the work they have been doing.”

“Fantastic, thank you. The children were so enthusiastic. We saw some fantastic uses of software.”

“Lots of new technology we now want in our school. What fantastic confident children to explain and demonstrate it all!”

“Very impressive with great enthusiasm from the pupils.”

Please make a note of the date and be sure to save an hour in the day to visit.

We welcome anyone from school and also your governors.

To give us an indication of attendance figures we request that you make a booking through INSET online:  Course number ET20001

Non school  bookings can be made via Hilary.stubbings@kirklees.gov.uk 01484 225735

Further information from

Eileen.torr@kirklees.gov.uk

(Posted by Dughall)

Friday 26th March, 6.00 – 9.30 pm Doncaster South CLC

I’ve mentioned Teachmeet in this blog before (here, here and here). So what is it? Well, boiled to its bones, it is good quality, free CPD.

I first encountered a Teachmeet at the BETT show in January 2009 and was an instant fan. Teachers (and others with a direct involvement in education) took to the stage and spoke enthusiastically about things they were doing in classrooms. They were short, punchy, informative presentations of ideas and resources that you were left feeling you could probably use in your classroom the following day.

Hearing first hand from practitioners about things they have tried, things that have worked and problems encountered and solved is very powerful.

One of the nice things about Teachmeets is that although they are increasingly happening all over the place, technology allows anyone to attend via the internet. This ‘virtual’ attendance can be entirely passive or might involve a degree of participation from ‘afar’. These distance contributions might be actual presentations (via web-conferencing) or may be texted questions or comments.

I have now attended a number of Teachmeets in person and virtually and I have also given presentations in situ and virtually. In the spirit of Teachmeet, I have shared examples of my own practice in the classrooms of Kirklees.

Last year, I went to Manchester for a Teachmeet with some Kirklees teachers (one of whom spoke enthusiastically about the use of the DBPrimary Learning Platform with her Foundation Stage children). We shared a lift and on the return journey we were buzzing with the ideas that had been shared. We also decided that there was a need for something like this to happen closer to home. This was a seed sown.

Since then, plans have taken shape, cogs have slotted together and wheels have turned and Teachmeet Yorkshire & Humberside will be taking place later this month (26^th March).

One of the considerations for this event was to make the venue as accessible as possible for people to attend from a wide area – this is why we decided upon Doncaster – with its access to A1/M62 and other major roads. Doncaster South CLC is a fantastic, modern, flexible venue where attendees can come and know that they can attend in comfort, borrow a laptop or connect their own (if they wish). Credit must also be given to Damian Ward (Curriculum Manager at the CLC) for his work in helping this to get off the ground and for his excellent publicity materials. (Poster) (Flier).

So here’s where you come in.

• Please head over to Website and read a bit more about the event.
• Please consider whether you might be able to come along for some or all of the evening.
• If you can’t come, please consider checking in via the internet (a link with details will appear on the Teachmeet Y&H page closer to the date).
• Print off the poster and display it in the staff room, notice board(s), corridor(s) etc
• Print off the flier(s) and distribute accordingly.
• I know that you are doing or have done something with your pupils worth sharing with others – please consider sharing your practice with others on the night by signing up for a presentation.

I sincerely hope to see you there.

By all means contact me directly if you would like to know anything more about it or if you have any questions. dughall.mccormick@kirklees.gov.uk

(Posted by Dughall)

I always enjoy the annual BETT show at Olympia. As well as being an opportunity to get up to date on the latest developments in educational technologies, it is also an excellent chance to meet, network and catch up with educators who have inspired me virtually or in real life.

This year, though, promises to surpass previous year’s experiences for one fundamental reason – teachers are taking over! By this, I mean that there is a far greater emphasis on ‘learning’. As Ian Usher puts it in his blog:

“During various threads on Twitter about BETT – including a mainly productive one on Tips for (new) visitors to BETT – I opined how BETT would, to my mind, benefit significantly from having an “L” in its title (and core purpose) similar to the one in SLF – the Scottish Learning Festival, which was tellingly formerly titled SETT.”

Well this year it promises to be an ‘L’ of a BETT show with 4 significant ‘fringe’ features:

Firstly  TEDx Orenda.

On Wednesday 13th Jan at 6pm there will be a FREE TEDx event with a stimulating line-up of inspirational speakers from diverse backgrounds (from a London cabbie to the man who brought us Moshi Monsters). TEDxOrenda at BETT is an individually organised TED event that epitomises the tradition of TED as a vehicle for ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’.

One thing that is guaranteed is that the speakers will be sharing stories that will be of interest and inspiration to educators from every sector.
More details of the TEDxOrenda event can be found here.
The event is FREE and tickets are available from here.

On Thursday 14th January, there will be a free AmplifiED event, again from 6pm. AmplifiED follows a Barcamp, unconference model and is essentially a participatory event that involves table discussion around topics and themes. In this case, the topics for discussion will be education-based and possibly provoked by the BETT show itself.
More details of the AmplifiED event can be found here.
The event is FREE and tickets are available from here.

Last year, the highlight of the BETT show for me was the Teachmeet that took place on the Friday evening. It was my first Teachmeet and had a profound impact on me. I blogged about it at the time.

This year, on Friday 15th at 6pm a similar Teachmeet event will take place. For those unfamiliar with the Teachmeet format, it is an event that consists of short (2min or 7 min) presentations given by practitioners. These presentations are about great ideas and what works well in the classroom.
More details of the Teachmeet event can be found here.
The event is also FREE and although there are no formal ticketing arrangements, you are encouraged to sign up to the wiki (above).

Finally, Teachmeet ‘Takeover’ will be happening throughout Thursday, Friday and Saturday. In a nutshell:

What is TeachMeet Takeover?

• Short time slots of 30 minutes or less on vendor stands throughout the course of the show.
• Teachers taking over – no affiliation to the vendor or obligation to help sell their products.
• Education professionals talking about FREE ideas.
• Informal presentations of good, quality ideas that you don’t need to pay for.
• Vendors sign up for time on a wiki.
• Educators put their name down in a time slot to talk on the wiki.

Tom Barrett is the chief instigator of Teachmeet takeover and you can find out more on his blog.

If you are going to BETT this year, do try to add a little extra ‘Learning’ to the mix with one, some or all of the above. If not, many of these events will be available through archived video or even live streams from the events themselves.

If you aren’t able to attend in person, watch this space for a post-match report. It promises to be a BE(L)TTER!