Computers in Classrooms

ISSN 1470-5524 User group: progress report

~ For colleagues who teach or manage information and
communication technology (ICT) in schools ~ I said in the last newsletter that have started
a user group to try out various products and
From Terry Freedman aspects of the Educational Technology: ICT
Home Page: http://www.ictineducation.org in Education website. This is proving quite
interesting and useful to all concerned. I
Email: terry@ictineducation.org
have space for one or two more people. If
#25 ~ 21 December 2006 you'd like to
join, drop
In this issue… me an
FEEDBACK FROM ISSUE #24...............................................1 email
USER GROUP: PROGRESS REPORT........................................1 saying who
FORUM .............................................................................1 you are and
5 MINUTE TIPS ..................................................................1 what your
LEARNING PLATFORMS: THE EXPERIENCE OF ONE PRIMARY role is. The
SCHOOL ............................................................................2 benefits are
15 MINUTES OF FAME .......................................................3 that you'd get first look at up-coming
LAST TIME I SET YOU A CHALLENGE ...................................3 features, and all e-products free, and free
REVISITING REASONS FOR RESISTING… .............................3 electronic versions of new books or
REVIEW OF THE MOVIE REVIEW PODCAST .........................3
REVIEW OF THE SCIENCE CHANNEL PODCAST ....................3
booklets. In return, your commitment will be
REVIEW OF THE THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE PODCAST ..............3 to provide me with feedback on ideas and
BOOKS FOR SALE ...............................................................4 products in a timely manner, and observe
THE BETT SHOW ..............................................................4 the usual rules of confidentiality. Obviously,
AND FINALLY…................................................................4 I can't take everyone on board, so I'm
FEEDBACK ........................................................................4 looking to restrict membership to around 6.
DISCLAIMER .....................................................................4 So, please get in touch ASAP if you are
PASS IT ON/HOW TO SUBSCRIBE .........................................4 interested: terry@ictineducation.org.
Feedback from Issue #24 Forum
Thanks to everyone who sent me their thoughts Setting up the user group has been a good
about the format of the last newsletter. I had tones way of trying out Moodle’s forum feature, so
of responses, and I replied to each one personally I was thinking of setting one up for
(at least, I don’t think I missed anyone). This newsletter subscribers. What do you think?
process wasn’t helped by the fact that something It seems to me that on the one hand
went wrong with my email program, and resulted in everyone belongs to at least 3 such forums
my not knowing who I’d sent a reply to (see (), but on the other hand the newsletter
screenshot: the question marks mean that the subscriber base is unique because it spans
email program lost the plot). So, if I sent you two a number of different types of community
replies, I apologise. and loads of different countries. I could set
one up quite easily, and you would use your
existing login details to access it. Let me
know what you think please.

5 Minute Tips

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Responses were overwhelmingly in favour of the and innovation, and more to come.
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moment it would be difficult.
 compic 25.doc
Learning Platforms: The Experience of One Primary
School
Jim Fanning, Assistant
Headteacher at Tideway
School, describes what
they’ve done and what
they’ve learnt in this
area.
By 2008 every junior and
secondary school in the
UK will have it’s own
Learning Platform. The technology will allow access
‘anytime-anywhere’ to teaching and learning
resources. Students will maintain their own online
ePortfolios of evidence to show how they have
progressed through the key stages. Parents and
guardians will be able to view student work and
school assignments. And best of all, integration into
a school’s management information system will
save time and allow teachers to more effectively
track student progress. Or at least that is the DfES
vision.
Learning Platforms are old technology not new. The
term is a generic one that describes software
platforms that integrate services such as web
pages, message forums, chat or conferencing, file
sharing and assessment tools. Products such as
First Class, BlackBoard and Moodle have been in
use in further and higher education for at least ten
years or more.
At Tideway School staff were first introduced to a
Learning Platform or Virtual Learning Environment
(VLE), through the New Opportunities Fund
training. The Open University, with its Learning
Schools Programme,
was our training provider.
“The technology has been used
The experience was not most effectively where staff and
a good one, with the VLE
proving to be slow and
students have seen a clear benefit.”
unreliable. In its review of the NOF training,
OFSTED described this particular aspect as a
technology ahead of its time.
In 2002 the school was awarded a Best Practice
Research Award from the DfES to examine the
ways in which message forums and chat could
have an impact on student achievement. This led in
2003 to a pilot programme, involving History, PHSE
and ICT Departments in the use of Think.com, a
free VLE from the Oracle Corporation. The pilot
year allowed staff to explore the uses of a Learning
Platform in the classroom and understand more
about the effective use of such technology.
In 2004 the school decided to purchase a
commercial Learning Platform. A number of
Computers in Classrooms
companies made presentations to staff. The
Tideway criteria for selection included a
product that had a simple interface and that
was easily accessible to students at all
levels. It had to be easy for staff, teaching
and non-teaching, to design their own
‘rooms’ or learning spaces; we did not want
the platform to become the preserve of the
specialist ICT technicians. We did not want
to purchase content as a package deal but
wanted a choice over what we deemed
suitable. And the price had to be right!
The implementation of the commercial
Learning Platform has been a steep
learning curve for all involved. Looking back
over the two years that the platform has
been in use it would be good to say that we
had implemented an efficient master plan
that saw the technology smoothly rolled out
across school, into every curriculum area
and to every student. The reality is
somewhat different. The technology has
been used most effectively where staff and
students have seen a clear benefit. In
English, GCSE online revision areas have
proved incredibly successful. Science has
begun to develop some very good
assessment opportunities. In History a
major Holocaust Project has used the
platform to build up a unique collection of
learning materials. In PHSE message
forums have been used to discuss a range
of pastoral issues. Most recently the
assessment tools have been developed to
run elections for the UK Youth Parliament
and gather student views on bullying and
healthy eating, which have in turn
impacted on school policies.
We have also piloted the
appointment of a range of part-
time posts to enhance use of the platform.
These have included an eLearning
Technician who supports our local junior
school partners; a design assistant who has
worked with staff to develop content; and a
group of ex-student eModerators who have
been investigating after school use of the
platform. The latter aspect remains our
greatest challenge. With up to 25% of our
students lacking the technology at home to
access the Internet we need to find ways of
providing out-of-school access to the
platform.
In November of 2006 the school set up a
website at www.learningplatforms.info to
share our experience of implementing and
Page 2 of 4 21/12/2006
 compic 25.doc
using a learning platform. The site contains a range
of case studies and practical advice and continues
to grow as our use and understanding of the
technology develops.
Jim Fanning
15 Minutes of Fame
The web 2.0 booklet, Coming of Age, was
nominated for an international Edublog award in the
“Most influential
resource…”
category. It
didn’t win, but
never mind. If you
go to the
awards site
you’ll find some
interesting blogs and other resources to look at and
share with colleagues and students. The link to go
to is here:
http://incsub.org/awards/2006/
Last time I set you a challenge
Devise a formula that will award a bonus mark to
students if they hand in their essay before the
deadline, and deducts a penalty mark if they hand it
in late. Send me your solution:
terry@ictineducation.org.
I have received a round number of
http://www.discovery.com/radio/podcasts.html
responses (ie zero), so I’ll give you a chance to do
it over the vacation period instead of crosswords
and soduko. (That will also give me a chance to
figure out the solution for myself!)
Revisiting Reasons for resisting…
… ICT (educational technology), that is. The poll I
set up on the website, at
http://www.terry-freedman.org.uk/db/polls/ indicates
the reasons shown in the chart that teachers have
not fully embraced computer technology in their
lessons.
Following comments from subscribers I have
changed the graph. Firstly, I deleted a repeated line
in the data, and secondly I have changed the
formatting of the blocks so they are more clearly
distinguishable from each other. This is based on a
response rate of about 80 people.
You can see the new version of the graph here:
http://terry-
freedman.org.uk/artman/publish/article_954.php
Computers in Classrooms
Review of The Movie Review Podcast
Presented by Kevin Stobo, The Movie
Review is a short review – just 3 or 4
minutes – of a recently-released movie.
Each show follows a similar format: a short
extract from the film is shown, followed by
Stobo’s description of what it’s about and
his views on it. More extracts are then
shown, followed by two or three quotes from
newspaper critics.
Finally, Stobo gives it a star rating out of 5,
except that the stars in this case are photos
of himself, known as “big-headed stobo’s”.
If you like American humour you’ll enjoy
this, although the jokes are sometimes a
little forced. Go to
http://www.themoviereview.tv/ for more
details.
Review of the Science Channel Podcast
http://www.discovery.com/radio/podcasts.ht
ml
Professionally produced, as you’d expect,
this Science Channel podcast was very
interesting indeed. It was looking at a new
method of creating fuel, by compressing
waste products. Well, apparently it is not a
new method, but the one Nature has used
for eons. Fortunately, what is new about the
method is that you don’t have to wait
millions of years to see the results, which is
just as well if you think about it. I have a
slight problem with this one: it was
interesting, and it was relevant to everyday
life in the sense that it’s good to know that
there may be a solution to the problem of
the planet’s diminishing fuel reserves. But
useful for me personally? Not sure.
Review of the This Week in Science Podcast
http://www.twis.org/
This is one of those podcasts (unless, of
course, I caught them on a bad day) the
presenters think we have nothing better to
do than listen to their inane chatter. Let’s
face it, if I wanted to spend an hour listening
to drivel, I’d listen to Radio – well, I’d better
not say. I gave it three and a half minutes
and then, I’m afraid, I gave up.
These reviews first appeared in Micro Mart (
www.micromart.co.uk).
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 compic 25.doc
Books for sale
The books I mentioned in Issue #24 are now
available.
John Herd said this about the Every Child Matters
booklet:
“What I find refreshing particularly is the lack of
unintelligible mumbo-jumbo and jargon which often
makes such topics impenetrable to the newbie. The
points are made clearly and without assumption or
pretension and for this reason I feel that the book
would have a lot to offer teachers in the country in
which I currently work who, for the most part, have
had little exposure to modern teaching practices
and thinking and are having to improve their basic
pedagogical approach at the same time as having
to cope with the increasing impact of computers on
their society.
So a useful primer for many different people I
believe.”
John is an ICT Advisor in the South Pacific
Anthony Evans said this about the Go On, Bore
‘Em! Booklet:
“I think this is an excellent mirror for all ICT
teachers. It has already made me think about and
reflect on my own work in schools, I know I can talk
just a little too much.”
Anthony is a primary consultant in a London
borough.
A snip at just †4.99 (approx $9.00) each! Go here
for further details, including excerpts (“Previews”)
http://www.lulu.com/terryfreedman
Computers in Classrooms
The BETT Show
http://www.bettshow.com
If you’re in London in the second week of
January, you might want to go to the BETT
show, which is the UK’s largest annual
technology show. It starts on the 10th
January. I’m doing a couple of
presentations in seminars:
Social Technologies and Learning in Your
Classroom: Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and
More.
That’s with Miles Berry, for the British
Computer Society and is at 3.15 on 12th
January.
And:
What Does Good ICT Look Like?
With Janet Roberts & Russell Ingleby, for
Naace. That’s at 3.15 on 13th January.
And finally…
Depending on when you read this, have a
great Christmas or a great start to the new
term!
Feedback
What do you think of this format for the
newsletter? Please let me know:
terry@ictineducation.org.
Disclaimer
Good morning, Judge. I wasn't even there; it
wasn't my fault; he made me do it, etc.
Seriously, though, all the information and links in
this newsletter have been checked, and offered
in good faith. For the full text of the disclaimer,
please see:
http://www.terry-freedman.org.uk/about.html.
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To subscribe, go to
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This newsletter is ‡ 2006 Terry Freedman and
individual contributors.
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