ANY TIME, ANY PLACE
Hannah Watkins looks at next generation learning
Debates on the social and educational
impact Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) has on the developing
brain continue to rage around us. In one
corner, we have critics arguing that
prolonged use of computers and tv
screens causes, amongst other things,
attention deficit, social isolation and
obesity. In the other corner are the
supporters who recognise that technology
is here to stay and we'd better get up to
speed with it if we want to succeed in
years to come. It seems then that, whether
we like it or not, in order to be prepared
for the realities of the 21st Century, children
now have to be technologically savvy so
that they are equipped with the right tools.
“IT IS VITAL THAT CHILDREN HAVE THE SAME CORE SKILLS IN ICT
AS THEY HAVE IN LITERACY AND NUMERACY BUT IT IS VERY MUCH
SEEN NOW AS A TOOL LIKE A PENCIL OR PEN”
The government proclaims that all UK primary
and secondary schools now have a broadband
connection to the internet and have charged Becta,
a government agency, with ensuring the effective
and innovative use of technology in learning. Becta
believes that: “Technology has the potential to
transform learning” and that children find it both
motivational and fun. Becta has also commissioned
research which found that:
- 95% of parents think it can help their child learn
- 78% of parents think it can bring subjects to life
- 77% of parents think it can help with difficult
subjects
- 68% of parents think it can help exam results
- 95% of teachers believe that the use of
technology is having a positive impact on
standards in schools and colleges
- Pupils studying Key Stage 2 Maths, Science and
English using ICT improve at twice the rate of the
national average
- When young people use technology to
support their learning at home, they do better
in national tests
These seem to be very positive stats and there are
many forward thinking schools that have already
taken up the challenge to assert their position at the
forefront of ICT integration into school life and
beyond. These schools have also seen, at first hand,
the effect this has had on children.
I recently met the ICT Co-ordinator of one such
school, Victoria Jordan, who explained to me the
fascinating and exciting new uses of ICT in schools.
“Technology has the potential to
transform learning”
Through her commitment to the inspiring use of
technology, her school, Prospect House School, an
independent prep school based in Putney, has won
the title of Best School in London in Becta’s Excellence
in ICT awards for the last two years running.
Her key message is that: “It is vital that children
have the same core skills in ICT as they have in
literacy and numeracy but it is very much seen now
as a tool like a pencil or pen. Rather than taking
away from the skills of reading and writing, it is seen
as an addition to these basics and should be
integrated as a normal part of school life.”
Sharing Tool
A growing number of schools in both the independent
and state sectors now offer what are known as
‘learning platforms’. A learning platform brings
together different resources, games, worksheets,
websites and other tools for communication all in
one safe place. Access to the learning platform can
be from both school and home for children, teachers
and parents alike.
Using the Apple Mac system throughout the school,
with computers and wireless laptops in every
classroom, along with interactive whiteboards,
Prospect House has a learning platform (externally
provided by Studywiz) that is set up for the school.
For the younger children, the learning platform can
be used “very much as a sharing tool between pupil,
parent and teacher.” The teacher can log on and
create a page for their class with a welcoming
message, an index of features and activities and
perhaps a feature page, for example, what’s
happening in the Autumn Term. Pictures and text
can be added by the teacher as the term goes on
and as the children’s skills develop.
A number of games are often embedded in learning
platforms that the teacher can adapt and edit so that
the game is not the same over and over again and
features like a Gallery section, similar to YouTube,
allow children to add artwork, photos, movies and
audio. Using these tools, teachers can set tasks,for example: “upload a picture from your holiday
and get one of your parents to help you.”
Learning platforms are a place for
children to showcase their work and
share it with teachers, parents and friends
This has the added bonus of enabling the parent
and the child to enhance their ICT skills together
and work as a partnership. It helps children question
and learn things for themselves and enables them
to gather and share information and experiences as
it is an interactive activity. Comments, discussions,
evaluations and ratings can be added by the
children, other pupils and teachers. This gives a
place for children to showcase their work and share
it with teachers, parents and friends.
Victoria notes: “We make a big point of saying that
this is a positive area and we do not accept negative
comments. We tell the children if they have nothing
positive to say then don’t post.” Teachers can also
delete anything inappropriate and posters are easily
recognisable.
Going Live and Online
Schools can also subscribe to external websites that
children can log on to both at school and at home
that can help in core skills like maths and literacy.
Mathletics, for example, is used by schools and
children worldwide. Each child has their own individual
log on details and can create their character, choosing
the hair colour, clothes, hat, etc of their online
persona. Once they are members, they can play live
maths games against other children from around the
world, from the UK to Australia, the US, and even
China. The levels stretch from basic subtraction and
addition in Level 1 to challenging maths questions at
Level 5: “The children really like playing against other
children from around the world as they are able to
see how they are progressing against others – it
really adds a level of fun competitiveness.”
Resources like Mathletics can also be used by
teachers to set specific activities that are linked to
the classroom. These online tools may perhaps be
used for the last 5 minutes of a lesson or as part
of their homework.
Key benefits are engagement and
motivation. It is especially effective
for children who are not very confident
in Maths
The use of computers and, in particular, resources
such as Mathletics, makes learning more individual.
It becomes much more a case of ‘personalised’
learning. Levels of learning can be set so that those
who are struggling can work at their own pace whilst
those who pick it up quicker can advance quicker.
Children can see immediately how they are getting
on as can the teachers as reports are generated for
the teacher including the levels that have been
reached and the number of hours spent on the
exercises. Gold bars can be achieved which count
towards points. The more points that are racked up,
the more access children are given to different
activities or to the website shop to buy glasses,
hairstyles and clothes for their online character. Points
also go towards certificates – gold, silver and bronze –
which, at Prospect House, are presented at assembly
every Friday.
Victoria has noted that the key differences have been
in engagement and motivation: “This motivates the
children. It seems to have been especially effective
for children who are not very confident in Maths.
They have really grasped it as, for them, it doesn’t
seem like work, it is much more like fun games.”
Personalised Learning
One of the great successes that the school has found
in ICT is the use of revision podcasts for Year 6 children.
Many of the children sit 11+ exams in January. The
space of time to prepare them is relatively short and
is disrupted by the Christmas break. So, the school
looked into the question of how to support the
children more at home during this period. They
wanted to make sure that the children were kept
up to speed with revision without it becoming an
onerous task with numerous test papers.
“What the children really like is to
download the podcasts onto their ipods
and revise wherever they are – on
the bus, on the tube – looking cool
with their ipods but really they are
actually revising!”
The staff came up with the idea of filming teachers
in a normal class, teaching basic concepts. So,
they set up the video camera, recorded the teacher,
edited it and made it into an imovie for ipods. The
children can download the podcast from the learning
platform. They can also sync it to itunes and subscribe
to the podcasts so that they can automatically
download podcasts on to their ipods as and when
they want to: “The system works really well as they
can listen to their own teacher from a lesson that
they actually sat in. This triggers an automatic
recollection of their lesson and what they learnt.”
The revision podcasts are short, ranging from
one minute to five minutes long and currently cover
maths and literacy: “What the children really like
is to download the podcasts onto their ipods and
revise wherever they are – on the bus, on the
tube – looking cool with their ipods but really they
are actually revising!”
The learning platform and podcasts are not only
used for revision purposes. Children can use music
media like Apple’s Garageband to create music
stories with sound effects and narration, record their
times tables to rap and drum beats and can upload
these.They have also been a very useful tool for
children with special needs. The teachers have
listened to what the children find difficult or want
help with and have created podcasts for them.
Savvy Parents
On her arrival at the school five years ago, Victoria
Jordan noted that there was ICT equipment already
in place. However, it was seriously underused
through lack of understanding of how to get the best
out of it. Part of her role has been to train the staff
and to get them to understand how integration of
the technology can enhance teaching and learning:
“The staff have picked it up amazingly and are really
keen as they see how it inspires the children.”
On seeing all this technology in action, the learning
platform, the educational quizzes the podcasts (so
cool…), I found it really exciting that we, as parents,
can also reap the benefits of this new generation
learning. For example, if we are not able to go into
school much during the week, or if, as many dads
experience, weekends are the only proper time we
have with the kids, this sort of technology will allow
us to interact and share our children’s work.
Says Victoria: “We have found extra benefits from
the podcasts that we had not fully considered
initially. Parents have found them fantastic as often
children will say to their parents that they are
learning, for example, long division and parents
try to help them. This often ends in confusion of
methods or parents can’t recall the concepts.
Now parents can log on, watch the podcast and
help their children as they can ‘work off the same
songsheet’ as the teachers.”
The benefits of easy access to online resources also
goes someway to helping schools continue teaching
uninterrupted should such things as swine flu cause
children to be kept away from school. So parents
don’t need to worry about what to do to occupy
the kids!
My fears that reliance on computers can lead to
children living in total isolation are now starting to
diminish slightly if ICT can be used innovatively and
creatively and we, as parents, can share the
experience with our kids. Perhaps it could also hail
the end of homework tantrums and the “Oh, nothing
much” response we get when we ask: “So, what did
you do at school today?” We can hope!