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15 December 2011

MirandaNet December Newsletter

Members and Associates News

Introduction

As 2011 draws to a close and 2012 is very nearly upon us, may I first of all wish you all a Happy New Year!

BETT12 events face-to-face and online

The MirandaMods at BETT12 are about the value of digital technologies in raising the achievements of learners, and are being run in partnership with the Achievement for All project. We look forward to the participation of members in these continuing professional development workshops on the future of learning. Full details of our BETT12 programme including notes for participants are available on the web site. We shall be celebrating the new Fellowships and awarding certificates at 13:30 on Saturday 14th January in our networking room in Gallery Room 1 in the Grand Hall before the World eCitizens debate.

We still have room for named speakers and we can provide letters of invitation by email if required. These eight professional development events are free. Please let your colleagues know. Anyone who attends qualifies for a certificate of attendance. You can attend online on Saturday 14th January if you cannot get to Olympia, London.  This is the Twitter hash tag #MMShift2 – please check the wiki website for the concept map and Flash meeting registrations: mirandamod.wikispaces.com

The Future of Learning MirandaMods

Chris Yapp opened the first MirandaMod in the current series at University of Bedfordshire on 30th November and was inspirational. One of the teachers who attended the live workshop said ”I was amazed by Dr Yapp and his thoughts on the future of ICT in schools. I really liked the idea of the school being used out of hours, for the community and totally agree this is a potential way forward. I also really loved the fact the learning should be personalised. Pupils would get so much more out of education if it was streamlined to their needs. I am looking forward to being part of a community moving forward in which ICT can be used so much more effectively not only in schools but in the wider community too”.

You can see a draft version of the  resources we developed at this first session here: www.mirandanet.ac.uk/researchexchange/events/the-future-of-learning-shift-2/

The next session will be at Bedfordshire on 1st March and 3rd May and at the Education Show in Birmingham, March 15th – 17th when members will have a chance to contribute to Chris’s book about the organisation of learning in the digital era (more about these other sessions after BETT12).

New Fellowships

In this edition of the newsletter we are also introducing ten new Fellows who have won their awards in 2011. We hope you will be able to join them receiving their Fellowship certificates on Saturday January 14th at 13:30 in the Grand Hall Gallery Room 1.

The MirandaNet Fellowship have always had a partnerships with company representatives who have enriched our activities and supported research and development products. In fact, some of our members have moved from teaching to companies and back quite often but still remained in the Fellowship. The first two Associate Fellows are Jennie Martin, Nelson Thornes and Donna Burton Wilcock, Immersive Education who have contributed interesting articles about the products they have been closely involved in developing. In my new role at Bedfordshire, Marilyn and I are encouraging company representatives as well as educators to consider undertaking a doctorate based on their experience: Jennie Martin will be our first student looking at how digital technologies are forcing publishers to rethink their role in education.  If you are thinking about undertaking a doctorate as an educator, or as a company representative, do get in touch: christina at mirandanet.ac.uk. The next deadline for applications is the 30th January 2012.

Roger Broadie

Roger who is a well known debater on MirandaLink submitted an article about the impact of ICT In education in terms of real costs balanced against the real learning gains. He argues that the use of ICT in schools puts significant costs upon the education system in the UK and other countries. These include the costs of the hardware and software in schools, training for school leaders and teachers, and in some schools costs to the individual pupil and their parents. There are also possible additional costs that introducing ICT might cause, such as distraction from learning and safety considerations. He believes that it is necessary to demonstrate that the spend on ICT is at least as effective in producing learning as the spending of the rest of the school budget. He would like to establish link, therefore, between the use of the ICT and learning, and for this to be quantified relative to the spend on the school buildings and physical environment, on teachers and other staff, and on resources such as books.

Donna Burton-Wilcock

My first involvement with digital technologies was the opportunity to develop an adventure game called Scoop and a newsroom simulation called Newsnet for the old 8-byte machines we used in schools in the 1980s. So I really understand the commitment of the authors of educational software who have usually been teachers in their first life. Donna Burton-Wilcock is a teacher with a passionate interest in special needs. In her article she has written about Kar2ouche she explains that her  team wanted to provide all children, whatever their ability, with an engaging medium for communication. She  was one of the team of educationalists involved in the initial research project who had all taught children for whom school was a challenge, largely because much of what they did involved large amounts of text and/or seemed to them irrelevant. She started with this personal experience. But then looking into the more widely used definition of special needs as referring to those pupils who experience some kind of sensory or learning difficulty, she found that, on average, 20% of pupils in comprehensive schools fell into this category. Combined with studies showing that computers can enhance the learning experience of these children, the Immersive Education team decided that this was an important area to address.

Stephen Fessey

In his role at Central Birmingham City Learning Centre and for his Masters (MEd in E-Learning) Stephen Fessey writes the occasional piece of research/action research. This is just the kind of valuable sharing of knowledge that MirandaNet likes to facilitate. Many thanks Stephen for this interesting piece on a very important subject called: Virtually Safe: Preparing School Staff for the Implementation of a School-Wide Online Safety Initiative Through the Effective Use of a School's Existing Virtual Learning Environment.  

Stephen explains that the initiative set out in this chapter shows the first stage of a process of developing existing e-learning practices within a secondary school. The school, working with the author, designed an e-safety programme with a blended approach to learning which involves 'the thoughtful integration of classroom face-to-face learning practices with e-learning experiences.' (Griffin, D., Mitchell, D. and Thompson, 2009, p8) The online safety programme had two objectives: (1) To raise awareness of e-safety amongst staff and pupils and (2) to seek to increase the use of the school’s VLE. Staff needed to be trained up on this new approach and so the initiative discussed in this chapter focused on the training of staff in the use of a VLE before the programme’s roll out to enable them to deliver an online safety programme for pupils via the school’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

He is keen for members to read the piece and contact him with any comments.

Glenys Hart

Dr Glenys Hart has sent us a case study which covers an international perspective on how digital technologies are deployed in different countries. Not surprisingly participants were only able to discuss their own regions of their countries, however, Glenys has come up with a fascinating overview of development of ICT in learning through a series of programmes over the space of nearly fifteen years. Starting with the involvement in Web for Schools Project in Belgium in 1996, and Dublin in 1997, leading Teachers International Professional Developments visits to schools Poland in 2002 and ECOTEC visit 2009; Norway in 2003; Hungary (Budapest) in 2006; USA (Connecticut) 2005; China (Beijing) in 2004; Canada (Montreal) 2007. Plus visits to Italian Schools in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and participation an Arion Educational Decision makers project to Spain in 2002 on the theme of ICT in the Curriculum with staff from Belgium, England, Finland, France, Holland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Poland. A number of visits have also been made to schools in UAE and Australia. What an amazing range to draw on.

The evidence, of great interest to our international members, is based on professional dialogues with colleagues who indicate that information and Communications Technology ( ICT ) is a rapidly changing subject. Glenys details findings about: ICT professional development; signs of the reengineering of teaching and learning; appropriate resource allocation; and technical support. From her conclusion you can place your country in the continuum of learning she explains.

Glenys has also joined the MirandaNet consultancy team

Simran Kaur and Marion Scott Baker

Ms Simran Kaur is one of the principals, of the group of 50 Podar schools we have been working with in India. Our iCatalyst programme has been running from 2009 when we met the Podar management team at BETT. Recently the iCatalyst work on leadership and management that John Cuthell and I have been supporting has been based discussing the differences in practice between Indian schools and schools in England in terms of leadership. In this context Simran Kaur spent a week with Marion Scott Baker, head of Cheam Pre-Prep. In particular Simran was assisting in a project about India at Cheam in a week that culminated in an Indian Wedding.  

Simran was particularly interested in Cheam leadership policies about discouraging negative feedback.  In the case study Marion and Simran discuss how negative feedback is considered to be counter-productive and inhibiting. The Cheam teachers build up the children’s confidence through encouraging the positive. But they also concentrate on achievement in the work, not on the level of the child’s performance. Rather than saying ‘good boy’ teachers say ‘this is good work’. They also discuss why it is good. This is because if a child is told they are clever then some of the other children give up and others feel there is no point in trying to do better. The ‘clever’ child does not feel the need to strive to do better and will often only do thinks he know he can do for fear of failure. These approaches are also continued in the way that the head interacts with her staff.

Trevor Kerry

Professor Trevor Kerry has submitted a paper that  examines the nature of a distance-learning Master’s level course, based in the UK, aimed at senior educationists, to students in the UK and around the world; the paper particularly highlights a group based in Malta. The current cohort across the university numbers almost 400 students. The paper deals with the work of a single tutor and chronicles both the specific situation of a Malta-based sub-group and the opinions of a wider UK/international group assigned to him. These approaches relate both to the use of e-learning to achieve effective results at M-level, and to the underlying philosophies that drive the work. The paper puts the emphasis on student-centredness in Higher Education (HE) learning.

Jennie Martin

Jennie, who is undertaking her doctorate at our new iCatalyst school at Bedfordshire University, is charged with changing the traditional approach of publishers to educations needs. Many will remember Jennie at BT. In her new role at Nelson Thornes she is required me to look at the ways in which publishers can evolve to develop materials that schools will find useful in the digital age.

Like many others, the company is beginning to move from books towards a blended learning approach – traditional and digital publishing. Working with the AQA exam board, we have published not only the supporting books for GCSE and A Level but a range of interactive online resources as well. These include reinforcement materials and ‘test-and-assess’ activities for all of the GCSE and A Level subjects.

Now they are developing publishing learning and assessment resources online, and in such a dynamic manner, that they can constantly evolve and respond quickly to curriculum change and learning needs. This solution is evolving because regular user feedback enables the company to continually improve not only the learning content, but also the teacher interface, admin and tools as well.

Simon Shaw

Simon referred to his Fellowship case study in the recent MirandaLink debate about Gove’s speech on technology. MirandaNet members can view the Archive of this discussion by logging in at the Members' section and looking for the link to the MirandaLink Archive - it's the first item in the December Thread. If you don't see a link, this means that you have chosen not to receive MirandaLink, so you will first need to add yourself to MirandaLink by ticking the box in your MirandaNet profile.

Simon's study is about Exploiting ICT to improve Parental Engagement which focuses on value driven improvement and efficiency. In summary, the paper explains how investment in new technology is expensive and "technology led" change does not always lead to more effective practice. It fact it is often difficult to show measurable gain in performance or a quantifiable return on the investment. However, once key technology enablers are in place - such as sufficient levels of school and home access and familiarity with the internet and devices - then significant benefit and efficiencies can be gained by schools utilising technology to improve educational outcomes. The rapid adoption of ICT to improve communication between parents and schools in England is used as an illustrative example of a "value proposition". The example shows how the availability of technology and a campaign to communicate a set of expectations and educational benefits have led to step changes to both parental engagement and efficiency measures. More needs to be done to research and disseminate the "value drivers" - such as parental engagement - that can lead to better exploitation of technology when "tipping points" in the availability and use of ICT are reached. Clearly communicated expectations and exemplar practice can provide a "nudge" that enables schools to overcome perceived barriers and lead to improved practice, changed behaviours, greater efficiency and ultimately enhanced children's learning.

Chris Yapp

Dr Chris Yapp has always been generous in contributing to MirandaNet’s wider thinking and was responsible for my new professorial title: Educational Innovation. It is intended to indicate that digital technologies are now firmly part of part of mainstream learning.

For his Fellowship award Chris has submitted a piece entitled, What does it mean to be an educated person in 2011?. He begins…

“In my experience, the more you look at that question, the harder it gets to answer. Imagine that in front of you there were a group of people say aged 20. Another group would be aged 30, then 40, 50, 60 and 70 and so on. If I asked you to identify the "best educated" people in each group, what would you look for and how would it change as you moved through the groups?”

Company associates

Some exciting companies have joined us for 2012. Their support has been invaluable in organising the BETT12 MirandaMods.

Sharon Middleton: Radio Waves

RadioWaves is a small but innovative company that is already having impact in schools. Sharon has worked at Radiowaves since it started in 2004 supporting schools and education partners to use social media for learning through relevant, engaging and safe projects. As an Associate Producer of factual documentary and entertainment programmes for four years in the television industry and a TEFL Teacher in Taiwan, Sharon strongly believes in the power of media, creativity and communication as learning tools. (Picture attached).

School case study - The attached case study details how social media and online reporting can have a real impact on the learning and lives of young people - or you can access it online here:

www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/302154/title/catmosecollegecasestudy

To set up your school station go to www.radiowaves.co.uk/join

If you have any questions about using Radiowaves or would like to discuss any ideas feel free to contact Jemma Akers, Radiowaves Co-ordinator, on 0113 246 9989 or email jemma.akers@radiowaves.co.uk.

To find out more about Radiowaves whilst you are at BETT and arrange a time to meet up please contact our Head of Partnerships, Sharon Middleton, on 07908 403521 or email sharon.middleton@radiowaves.co.uk.

Donna and Gary Burton-Wilcock: Immersive Education

I met Donna and Gary Burton-Wilcock out in Argentina where they were introducing their software to South American teachers. Immersive Education is well known globally for innovation. They are the developers of Kar2ouche, MissionMaker, MediaStage and Krucible. They are a couple with many talents who represent what is best about British software developers.

Donna taught English for 12 years and has worked as the Senior Editor and Writer for an open learning company. Whilst studying for a DPhil at Oxford University, she taught trainee teachers before being co-opted onto an Intel funded project looking at the impact of computer gaming in education. She subsequently managed Intel’s education programmes in the Northern European Region which included developing and implementing the UK version of the Teach to the Future programme. Gary taught Physics for 7 years before moving into engineering in technology based companies. Ten years as Technical Director with a small engineering company, was followed by ten years project managing international teams working on computer based development for Kraft foods. He now manages all of the software development for Immersive.

Donna and Gary’s initial interest in the potential of technology to enhance learning began in the late 1980’s when they ran an authority-funded project to raise the attainment of young people identified as unlikely to achieve any GCSEs within the traditional secondary school system. The resulting group of students experienced a range of challenges from the behavioural and motivational to some severe learning difficulties. Later when given the opportunity to work with game developers and artists, it was the potential of multimedia and interactive approaches to engage and provide alternative modes of communication that lead the thinking. Both Donna and Gary continue to work with young people in order to inform their understanding of the problems children encounter with school-based learning, particularly literacy, and to assess how technology can help enhance the skills they need to function effectively and participate positively in everyday life.

Jane Richardson: Oracle

MirandaNet has worked with Oracle for many years- particularly on an early version of social networking for pupils called Think.com.

Nowadays Oracle uses its knowledge in  technology leadership to advance education, protect the environment, and enrich community life. We seek out intersections between the needs of society and the goals of our company, and make investments that benefit both. We are proud that the same innovative spirit behind Oracle’s technological success also drives innovative solutions and programs that benefit communities around the world.

Oracle works to advance education with state-of-the-art technology programs and to prepare students for life and work in the 21st century. Oracle has supported K-12 and higher education institutions with generous in-kind grants of technology, curriculum, and teacher training resources for more than two decades.

Each year, the Oracle Academy delivers more than US$2 billion in software, curriculum, hosting services, and teacher professional development to thousands of education institutions globally.

Oracle donates more than US$11 million in in-kind resources to help the Oracle Education Foundation implement its award-winning ThinkQuest program.

Combined, the Oracle Academy and ThinkQuest reach more than 2 million students across 95 countries. Read More…

Jennie Martin: NelsonThorne

Many of you will know Jennie Martin who has joined NelsonThorne in June 2010 after many years with BT. Nelson Thornes is part of Infinitas Learning (formerly the Education Division of Wolters Kluwer) and is one of Europe's leading providers of innovative and engaging teaching and learning resources. IL operates (as Op Co’s) in seven countries across Europe and has agents across the world. NelsonThorne itself sells in over 130 countries and is one of the UK’s leading educational publishers providing engaging and creative blended learning resources of the highest quality, supporting teachers and motivating students of all abilities through all stages of education.

One of Nelson Thornes key online education initiatives is Kerboodle Secondary - an online learning platform, containing hundreds of engaging resources to suit the way teachers teach. Kerboodle Secondary is part of the wider ‘Kerboodle Learning Suite’ that offers an innovative, blended range of products to help engage teachers and students using interactive resources, e-books and apps that all work in tandem with Nelson Thornes’ printed books.

Kerboodle Learning Suite is the brainchild of Jennie Martin, Online Services Director at Nelson Thornes, whose aim is to enable teachers to use alternative teaching styles to deliver lessons that raise attainment, whilst engaging learners to help take responsibility of their own learning.

Jennie has over 25 years experience working in the education sector and is driven and passionate about teaching and learning opportunities for all ages and experiences, regardless of geography, personal circumstances or skills. Jennie believes delivering equality and choice is a key priority.

She was the ICT Advisor for the Independent Prep Schools Association, IAPS, whilst also being an advisor on embedding ICT across the school curriculum. To this day she retains many senior level contacts and friendships across education – schools, LA’s, Grids, businesses and agencies & bodies, including the DfE, Besa and Naace.

For information about Kerboodle please visit www.kerboodle.com or alternatively please email Jennie Martin for more information.

You will be able to hear Jennie at the MirandaNet unconference seminars at BETT on Wednesday delivering her thoughts on “the classroom is not the only place for learning”. She is also  is one of the associates who is planning to join our doctorate programme. She has been awarded an Associate Fellowship for her discussion about the ways in which education needs to change.

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