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13 February 2004
January/February Newsletter
The NOF ICT Training Evaluation by MirandaNetArticle for the TES
This is an extract from the article Tina has written for the TES:
“80 per cent of the UK's 450,000 teachers have now completed the New Opportunities Fund's (NOF) £230 million programme on Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Training, undertaken by forty seven Approved Training Providers (ATPs), which began in 1999.
Because of the controversy surrounding this programme, the MirandaNet evaluation, completed during 2002-2003, aimed to present a balanced report, reflecting the multiple perspectives of teachers, teacher leaders, trainers, inspectors and policy makers.”
You can read the whole of Tina’s article about the research, which is about to be published in the TES.
The three TTA/NOF reports can be viewed on our website.
Part One: The Summary
Part Two: The Emergent Trends
Part Three: The Full Evaluation
Send £2 p&p to Debra Cook for Part One and Two printed versions.
Interactive Whiteboards: new tools, new pedagogies, new learning?
During 2002 Promethean and MirandaNet collaborated to examine the impact that interactive whiteboards had made on teaching and learning in schools. The first phase of the project was completed at the end of 2002 and published for the BETT exhibition at Olympia, London. The evidence collected was arranged thematically. Case Studies from this first phase explore the ways in which interactive whiteboards are used, and the ways in which they contribute to student learning and teacher pedagogies. They’re in no way definitive: what they offer is shared experience, and the beginning of a Community of Practice.
As more schools are fitted with interactive whiteboards there is a real need for teachers to play an active role in specifying the ways in which this extremely powerful tool is installed and used. The technology can effect a profound change in the ways in which our students learn, the ways in which we teach and, more fundamentally, the ways in which we organise the curriculum and our schools. When teachers are expected to respond to so many conflicting demands – social regulation vs. radical change; transforming teaching vs. raising standards: and when the audience for learning has expanded beyond the teacher – student relationship, these case studies may provide some ideas for hard-pressed colleagues.
During 2003 the work was extended, and seven teachers from schools across the country participated in action research projects that covered all Key stages funded by Promethean and directed by MirandaNet.
Three distinct threads emerged from the research:
the need for a planned approach to the infrastructure and ICT skills that were needed when interactive whiteboards were introduced;
the identification of all of the curriculum concepts involved in the teaching;
affective changes in staff and students engendered by effective use of interactive whiteboards.
Thanks are due to Promethean and their educational teams for their support throughout the project. Detailed case studies are available to download.
Dr. John P. Cuthell
Writing Bids and Funding Applications
Jane Dorner, who used to be our web editor, has just had published the second book in the OUP writing series. Writing Bids and Funding Applications (OUP). We have already found it very useful.
£7.99 from Oxford or £6.39 on the direct link below
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0198606753/editornet07
http://www.editor.net/author/oup_bids.html
Jane Dorner
From our Bangladesh Chapter we have several interesting new sites
BANGLADESH FIRST HOMEWORKERS WEBSITE LAUNCHED
During a visit to Dhaka, Neil Kearney, General Secretary of the Brussels-based International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation, formally inaugurated the first website in Bangladesh focusing on homeworkers, the goods they produce and the difficulties they face in their working lives.
The website is the latest initiative of the Bangladesh Homeworkers' Women Association to place the issue of women homeworkers at the forefront of the minds of developmental policy makers in Bangladesh.
Siraj/ Bangladesh: Unity saving the people
http://www.mirandanet.ac.uk/profiles/profile.php?prof=335
Cisco Networking Academy Scholarships for Women in Bangladesh, Mongolia, Nepal and Sri Lanka
http://www.iie.org/wcoast/wit.html
Becoming a Delegate to IYP2004: International youth parliament Who can apply?
IYP will select 250 people aged 18-25 to participate as delegates in IYP2004. Delegates will be selected from as many countries as possible as well as from unrepresented nations, indigenous communities and ethnic minorities.
http://www.iyp.oxfam.org/news/iyp2004/become_delegate.asp#Whyapply
http://www.iyp.oxfam.org/involved/index.asp
Shahjahan Siraj
The Education Resources Awards 2004 and BESA Conference
Now in their seventh successful year, the Education Resources Awards, run by BESA, highlight the quality and diversity of educational products and resources, the best educational establishments and the most dedicated members of the teaching profession, all working together to encourage the raising of standards in education.
The winners will be announced at a gala event to be held in Birmingham on the second evening of The Education Show 2004: Friday 12 March 2004.
The following Awards may be of interest to MirandaNetters. We would like to sponsor any entries you want to put forward.
Leadership in Teaching (in association with NAHT)
This award will be presented to a member of the teaching profession, nominated by his or her peers or themselves, for some special leadership quality or qualities. The award is open to any teacher from the primary, secondary or tertiary sector. Teachers could be nominated for the way that a team or teaching environment is managed; for qualities displayed in managing an educational purchasing policy; for the way in which the respect of pupils has been gained, or for outstanding innovation or creativity.
Educational Establishment of the Year (in association with NAHT)
This award will be presented to an educational establishment from any phase - primary to tertiary – which can demonstrate effectiveness and real value to the community it serves, e.g. premises management – examples of community use outside of school hours; how the establishment has created and sustained partnerships with local businesses; the success of the pupils over a three-year period; a comprehensive and supportive approach to extended learning; a supportive and inclusive approach to the role of parents and carers in pupil achievement; a wide-ranging and relevant professional development programme for teaching staff.
See www.besanet.org.uk/ukcompanies/eraawards.htm for the nomination form and further details.
Will ICT transform education? Choices and challenges in schools
One-day conference: Headington Hill Hall, Oxford Brookes University
9.30 am to 4.30 pm, Wednesday 3 March 2004
This major conference brings together education specialists, practitioners, publishers, ICT suppliers, and academics to examine the issues, hear about best practice, evaluate what works (and what doesn't), and discuss the options for investing in this important area of education. All sides in the debate face the dilemma of how to allocate resources.
Chaired by Ray Barker from the British Educational Suppliers Association, speakers include: · David Worlock, independent commercial representative on the Curriculum Online Content Advisory Board
· Professor Angela McFarlane, Graduate School of Education, Bristol University
· Chris Stevens, Head of Special Educational Needs at Becta
· Tony Parkin, ICT Adviser at The Specialist Schools Trust
· Peter Birmingham, Oxford University
· Chris Blake, Inflexion
· Lis Tribe, Director of Schools Publishing, Hodder Murray
· John Foxwell, former primary adviser and author of Badger ICT
· Myf Powell, Education Manager, RM
· Nigel Canin, Managing Director of 2Simple Software
· Mike Taylor, Director of eLearning Systems, Equinet
· Steve Rickard, Ransom Publishing
This conference is an essential date for anyone involved in making decisions about implementing an ICT policy, whether investing in ICT products for a publishing programme, or developing teaching and learning strategies. The cost is £195 - lunch and refreshments included. There are reductions for early booking and for companies or organisations sending more than one delegate.
Register your interest and reserve a place now by emailing Eva Holiday, or by telephoning 01865 484951.
This conference has been planned with the support of senior directors from Oxford University Press, Harcourt Education and RM. It is supported by the British Educational Suppliers Association.
DFES Survey - via eGov Monitor
Geoff thought that you might already be aware of this survey, but just in case....
Department for Education and Skills: Survey of Information and Communications Technology in Schools 2003.
The DfES and National Statistics have now published the latest survey of ICT provision and usage in English schools for the year ending 31 March 2003, based on a questionnaire sent to 1,700 primary, 1,800 secondary and 730 special schools. The survey presents a wealth of data on a range of issues including staff confidence in using ICT in teaching, ICT expenditure, sources of technical support, and ICT access within school and after school hours. Among the notable findings are that average ICT expenditure actually decreased in 2003, although the average number of laptop and desktop PCs in each has risen over the year. Data on wireless networks was collected for the first time in 2003, showing that of schools with networks, 16 per cent of primaries, a third of secondaries and 15 per cent of special schools, were either entirely or partially wireless. While internet connections are virtually ubiquitous, broadband connections of 2MB or faster are the most common form of access in secondary schools, with slower ISDN connections more popular in primary and special schools.
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SBU/b000421/bweb05-2003.pdf
Contributed by Geoffrey Scott-Baker.
New Scholars & Fellows
Mark Bennison
A Fellowship is being awarded to Mark following final submission of a website he is creating on our recent joint work in South Africa (Free State). A few words from Mark…
“My name is Mark Bennison. I currently work as a Secondary Assistant Headteacher at Chafford Hundred Campus; a school only two years old but at the cutting edge in so many fields. From across the globe, educationalists and government officials come to explore and learn about our modern building design, our innovative, competency-led, pupil centred integrated curriculum, our creative use of modern, portable, wireless technologies and so much more.
Led by an inspirational visionary in Alison Banks; an existing Mirandanet Fellow, I have worked closely with her at Chafford Hundred Campus now for just over one year. Prior to that I led innovation in ICT and in Gifted and Talented teaching and learning at school and EAZ level in Basildon and county level in Essex.
My interests are wide and varied and mostly spring from a sincere drive to raise expectations, aspirations and life opportunities in young people, their parents and in communities; locally, nationally and internationally. As a practicing Buddhist of twenty years, I am driven by the presupposition that destiny is an illusion and that real and substantive social change really can be brought about when people of all ages, inclinations and cultures truly work and build knowledge and understanding together. I am drawn to the theory of braided learning.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my first 18 months of working with scholars and fellows in Mirandanet which, recently culminated in the start of a truly exciting venture deep into the Free State of South Africa - consulting, alongside Christina and Fellow Mara Chrystie on the future implementation of elearning across the province. You can find out more about this venture through the Mirandanet website but also at www.mrbennison.com/mirandanet. Fellows and scholars are free to get in touch. I look forward to it.”
Peter Calder
After teaching for 15 years overseas in Uganda, Tanzania, Lesotho and Papua New Guinea Peter came back home and has been teaching for 13 years at Leek High School.
See his personal profile on our website.
David Dickinson
David is currently working as an ICT Subject Leader in a very proactive ICT school. The school possesses an excellent provision as regards resources and has identified teaching and learning, although being classed as very good by OFSTED, as an area that needs developing. He is currently in the process of completing an MA in educational ICT and hopes to combine his duties at school with his academic research. He will investigate how best to encourage the more reticent of teachers into using ICT. He also intends to deliver a teacher training course that focuses on demystification and encouragement. He will use this course as a basis for his research.
Eddy Jackson
Eddy’s full time post is Headteacher of Highfurlong School, Blackpool. He is the teacher responsible for ICT. This specialist work has been described as best practice and outstanding. The new 2004 school website and prospectus illustrating the above, is on the link below. He has won the North West Teaching Award and last year became a Farmington Fellow, Harris Manchester College, Oxford.
www.communicationuk.com
Eddy tells us::
This page and the links have detailed rationale about my work:
http://www.plodicus.com/AboutUs2.htm (over two thousand words).
The work we do below using assistive technology has been rated as some of the best practice in the country:
http://www.highfurlong.blackpool.sch.uk/
This work features on:
http://www.nwlg.org/pages/resources/highfurlong/
The NWLG have also bought the licence for the DARE project – as featured in the TES In November 2002.
Joan Laws
Joan has been looking at the MirandaNet site and found it very interesting. She already has years 6 and 5 on the Think.com site as she is just introducing it to the children as a means of communicating with others all over the world. Joan is an EMAG teacher (Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant) with KS 2 in a multi ethnic inner city school in Nottingham. She is also the ICT coordinator and one day a week works with all the children in the school - from Nursery to Year 6 - on the computers. They have a suite of 14 computers and each class has at least one additional computer all networked. Their year 2 class was fitted with an Interactive whiteboard in September.
Joan is also a facilitator for Becta on the ICT Coordininators site and has undertaken software and website reviews for TEEM. The last one being a review of Gridclub.com.
Do send us any news that other Fellows will enjoy.
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