Annual Development 2009-2010
Further implementation of the platform should be linked to whole school and subject development plans and SEFs. I would propose that the following areas be included within development plans for the next academic year:
STAFF TRAINING
(nb this is based upon a survey of staff training needs carried out in March 2009)
• The newly appointed IT Technician to attend administrator training (June 2009).
• Staff (teaching and non-teaching) skills training to be offered in 3 week blocks per term, taking place from 2.30-3.30 in N33, on Tuesdays, beginning September 2009 (i.e. 6 training courses to be offered over 1 academic year).
• One further group of Year 9 into 10 student trainers to be recruited to offer support to subject areas (by end September 2009).
• Subject staff to attend county training sessions and disseminate to staff (at least 3 training courses are normally offered through CfBT over one academic year).
• A staff trainer register to be created (i.e. of staff who have expertise in certain applications and who can offer training and support across subject areas e.g. DT and the use of Forums) (by end December 2009).
• An input to be made during one whole school INSET day on ‘pedagogy and learning platforms’ (by end July 2010).
STUDENT E-PORTFOLIOS
• E-Portfolios to be piloted and developed with Year 9 classes (by December 2009).
• E-Portfolios to be rolled out to the remaining student body (by July 2010).
FLEXIBLE LEARNING
• An anywhere-anytime flexible learning pilot project to be organised with two groups of Year 11 ICT classes (November-December 2009) and a report produced for consideration at middle leaders / SLT meetings (January 2010).
• One further flexible learning project to be piloted with a Year 10 group from another curriculum area (March/April 2010).
• A whole school policy relating to flexible learning to be written (July 2010).
• An opportunity to be created within the extended learning programme for a KS3 year group to experience flexible learning supported by technology (by December 2010, based on a Business & Enterprise project).
ENHANCEMENT
• GCSE IT to be offered online to a small group of Year 11 students in 2009-10.
• Opportunities to be identified from across the curriculum in relation to an enhanced programme of study that can be offered to KS4 students using the platform (by March 2010).
STUDENT VOICE
• A school council area will be established on the platform (by December 2010).
• Elections for the School Council will take place online.
• School Council agendas should include a learning platform update.
• A separate KS3 and KS4 School of the Future unit of work will investigate and evaluate student perceptions of learning (July 2009).
• A second whole school Cyber bullying programme to be delivered in November 2009 to coincide with a national programme of events.
• At least three key areas of school life that impact on student learning will be discussed in the Big Talk area, with evidence of a ‘joined-up-trail’ between student discussions and school action (September 2009, January 2010 and April 2010).
• Every Year 10 student will complete a community based project that will be promoted through the platform (from September 2009).
PARENT ACCESS
• Over 2009-10 the impact of the Digital Access Project on parent access to the school curriculum via the learning platform will be evaluated (by July 2010).
• An implementation plan for parental access to the platform will be developed (by January 2010) with the PTFA taking a lead in the implementation of this (from March 2010).
• Nb parental access to data will be delivered through SIMS Learning Gateway / UniServity integration in 2010 (local authority led project).
COMMUNITY PROJECTS
• The Young Mayor of Newhaven elections will take place online through the platform (July 2009).
• A Newhaven Fort student support group will be established on the platform (September 2009).
• In preparation for the extended learning community market place a marketplace area will be developed online in partnership with local groups (from January 2010).
TRANSITION
• Junior School transition project (lead Mat Hafernik, July 2009).
• Establish a junior/secondary school teacher collaborative area on UniServity (April 2010).
COLLABORATIVE LEARNING PROJECTS
• A major Holocaust Project will take place online in January 2010 to coincide with National Holocaust Memorial Day (planning in place from July 2009).
SUBJECT DEVELOPMENT (focus)
(nb a cross curricular survey of ICT use in currently underway)
• Humanities (September 2009).
• Maths (January 2010).
• Music (April 2010)
• The delivery of the IT Diploma will be integrated into to the platform (September 2010).
ASSESSMENT
• The use of the assessment tools within the platform will be piloted from January 2010 within a specific curriculum area (results being used to inform practice across the curriculum / initial curriculum area to be identified through consultation).
ADMINISTRATION
• The embedding of the platform in teaching and learning should be part of an overall strategy to reduce the amount of paper use in school and move towards a more environmentally sustainable use of technology (these issues to be explored in Term 1 and 2 with a view to producing an action plan in Term 4).
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Five Year Development Plan
Learning Platform 5 Year Development Plan
Background
The term Learning Platform is a generic one used to describe the whole range of VLEs that are available. Whilst the product names may vary – First Class, Blackboard, WebCT, UniServity, Moodle, to name just a few – they all have certain common elements.
• All are Internet based.
• They have areas where course materials can be downloaded and student work uploaded.
• They have chat, message board and conference facilities, where synchronous (live) and asynchronous (not live) ‘conversations’ can take place.
• Some have video conferencing, as well as student social, shared calendar, course notice boards and assessment areas.
• They may be linked with an institutions management information system.
• All allow the teacher to track student access; who is using the system, when and for what purpose.
• They are integrated online packages and it is this high level of integration that separates them from stand-alone, independent software solutions.
The pedagogy upon which they are based is collaborative and constructivist ,that is they encourage participants to discuss their learning and it is this critical element that leads to new and deeper learning .
By 2008 every primary and secondary school in England and Wales will have its own Learning Platform.
Many LEAs are consulting schools and providing information and training sessions.
Some LEAs have made decisions to purchase a platform on an authority wide basis.
Some schools already have their own platform.
The DfES policy views learning platforms as a tool that will allow students to work anywhere-anytime that they have access to an Internet connection; that it will make learning more personal as teachers can more easily check individual pupil progress and offer personalised support; that it will help parents/carers become more involved in their child’s learning as they can access schoolwork and progress reports from a home computer; that they will improve collaboration between institutions and result in a more effective use of teacher time.
Student Learning/UniServity Development Policy
Year 6/Transition Project
By the end of year 6:
- some pupils will have attended a Saturday morning ICT Club at Tideway School at which they will have been introduced to UniServity.
- most pupils will have taken part in an online transition project informing them about Tideway School.
- all pupils will have a KS4 mentor who they can contact through the learning platform.
- all pupils will be able to log on to UniServity; download presentations and communicate via message board forums.
Year 7
By the end of Year 7 all students will:
- be able to log in to UniServity from any PC with an Internet connection.
- understand how to use the folder/upload/link tools on their My Archive area.
- be able to enter the ‘rooms’ that have been set up for their curriculum areas and access resources.
- have used a message forum in EITHER the Debating Chamber OR their Room 7 area.
- have accessed UniServity out-of-school-hours EITHER from home OR from an after school club for homework or subject support.
- regularly check their UniServity accounts for school news / information on special events / school calendar / homework calendar.
Some students will have taken responsibility for managing the Room 7 area.
There will be a Year 7 representative on the ICT Committee who will provide feedback on the use of UniServity.
Year 8
Building on the above learning by the end of Year 8 all students will:
- have started to use UniServity in at least their core lessons to access learning resources / download files / upload completed work for teacher assessment.
- have visited the Debating Chamber regularly and posted comments relevant to the current topic.
- have taken online assessments in at least their core subjects.
- have begun to use the communication tools to seek advice from teachers and fellow students.
- have used the collaborative documents/tools for peer assessment.
- have begun to maintain their own online learning diary.
- have begun to use their My Archive page to keep evidence of work.
- show evidence of after school use of the system.
Some students will have taken responsibility for managing the Room 8 area.
There will be a Year 8 representative on the ICT Committee who will provide feedback on the use of UniServity.
Year 9
Building on the above learning by the end of Year 9 all students will:
- have built an online archive of learning resources on their UniServity accounts.
- be regular contributors to forum areas.
- have had an opportunity to use UniServity in all of their subject areas.
- have taken part in at least one event where they can question or receive support from an outside expert.
- have shown evidence of ways in which they use the learning platform to support group work.
- be used to accessing assessment data from the platform.
- have taken part in at least one online assessment opportunity in all subjects.
- have contributed to a survey about whole school policies.
- be using UniServity in a more extensive way to support work outside school hours.
Some students will have taken responsibility for managing the Room 9 area.
There will be a Year 9 representative on the ICT Committee who will provide feedback on the use of UniServity.
Year 10
Building on the above learning by the end of Year 10 all students will:
- have taken part in one extended learning day which will re enforce existing skills and teach new ones (specimen programme attached to this paper).
- be using the learning platform as their main resource and communications tool.
- be accessing the e-Moderator evening support on the system for help with homework and coursework.
- have experienced a degree of flexible learning using the system (e.g. negotiated with staff to complete online lessons at a time and place outside the existing timetable).
- have experienced a range of small group work online across the curriculum
- have regular access to outside experts.
- begin to set up their own forums.
- show evidence that they are using the assessment data on the system to develop their own improvement strategies.
- show evidence of parental/carer access.
- be maintaining a regular My Learning diary.
Some students will have taken responsibility for managing the Room 10 area.
Some students will be trained to act as student e-Moderators, providing support to other staff and students.
There will be a Year 10 representative on the ICT Committee who will provide feedback on the use of UniServity.
Year 11
Building on the above learning by the end of Year 11 all students will:
- be able to show embedded use of the system across the curriculum for flexible and personal learning and assessment.
- have accessed outside advice/career/college support.
- be able to show evidence of a regular dialogue with students and staff about their learning.
- provide support for younger students.
Some students will have taken responsibility for managing the Room 11 area.
There will be a Year 11 representative on the ICT Committee who will provide feedback on the use of UniServity.
Beyond year 11 ex-students will use UniServity to:
- access up to date news about life in school.
- maintain contact with staff and fellow students.
- provide support for online school based projects.
This development policy will also encompass staff development and community.
Background
The term Learning Platform is a generic one used to describe the whole range of VLEs that are available. Whilst the product names may vary – First Class, Blackboard, WebCT, UniServity, Moodle, to name just a few – they all have certain common elements.
• All are Internet based.
• They have areas where course materials can be downloaded and student work uploaded.
• They have chat, message board and conference facilities, where synchronous (live) and asynchronous (not live) ‘conversations’ can take place.
• Some have video conferencing, as well as student social, shared calendar, course notice boards and assessment areas.
• They may be linked with an institutions management information system.
• All allow the teacher to track student access; who is using the system, when and for what purpose.
• They are integrated online packages and it is this high level of integration that separates them from stand-alone, independent software solutions.
The pedagogy upon which they are based is collaborative and constructivist ,that is they encourage participants to discuss their learning and it is this critical element that leads to new and deeper learning .
By 2008 every primary and secondary school in England and Wales will have its own Learning Platform.
Many LEAs are consulting schools and providing information and training sessions.
Some LEAs have made decisions to purchase a platform on an authority wide basis.
Some schools already have their own platform.
The DfES policy views learning platforms as a tool that will allow students to work anywhere-anytime that they have access to an Internet connection; that it will make learning more personal as teachers can more easily check individual pupil progress and offer personalised support; that it will help parents/carers become more involved in their child’s learning as they can access schoolwork and progress reports from a home computer; that they will improve collaboration between institutions and result in a more effective use of teacher time.
Student Learning/UniServity Development Policy
Year 6/Transition Project
By the end of year 6:
- some pupils will have attended a Saturday morning ICT Club at Tideway School at which they will have been introduced to UniServity.
- most pupils will have taken part in an online transition project informing them about Tideway School.
- all pupils will have a KS4 mentor who they can contact through the learning platform.
- all pupils will be able to log on to UniServity; download presentations and communicate via message board forums.
Year 7
By the end of Year 7 all students will:
- be able to log in to UniServity from any PC with an Internet connection.
- understand how to use the folder/upload/link tools on their My Archive area.
- be able to enter the ‘rooms’ that have been set up for their curriculum areas and access resources.
- have used a message forum in EITHER the Debating Chamber OR their Room 7 area.
- have accessed UniServity out-of-school-hours EITHER from home OR from an after school club for homework or subject support.
- regularly check their UniServity accounts for school news / information on special events / school calendar / homework calendar.
Some students will have taken responsibility for managing the Room 7 area.
There will be a Year 7 representative on the ICT Committee who will provide feedback on the use of UniServity.
Year 8
Building on the above learning by the end of Year 8 all students will:
- have started to use UniServity in at least their core lessons to access learning resources / download files / upload completed work for teacher assessment.
- have visited the Debating Chamber regularly and posted comments relevant to the current topic.
- have taken online assessments in at least their core subjects.
- have begun to use the communication tools to seek advice from teachers and fellow students.
- have used the collaborative documents/tools for peer assessment.
- have begun to maintain their own online learning diary.
- have begun to use their My Archive page to keep evidence of work.
- show evidence of after school use of the system.
Some students will have taken responsibility for managing the Room 8 area.
There will be a Year 8 representative on the ICT Committee who will provide feedback on the use of UniServity.
Year 9
Building on the above learning by the end of Year 9 all students will:
- have built an online archive of learning resources on their UniServity accounts.
- be regular contributors to forum areas.
- have had an opportunity to use UniServity in all of their subject areas.
- have taken part in at least one event where they can question or receive support from an outside expert.
- have shown evidence of ways in which they use the learning platform to support group work.
- be used to accessing assessment data from the platform.
- have taken part in at least one online assessment opportunity in all subjects.
- have contributed to a survey about whole school policies.
- be using UniServity in a more extensive way to support work outside school hours.
Some students will have taken responsibility for managing the Room 9 area.
There will be a Year 9 representative on the ICT Committee who will provide feedback on the use of UniServity.
Year 10
Building on the above learning by the end of Year 10 all students will:
- have taken part in one extended learning day which will re enforce existing skills and teach new ones (specimen programme attached to this paper).
- be using the learning platform as their main resource and communications tool.
- be accessing the e-Moderator evening support on the system for help with homework and coursework.
- have experienced a degree of flexible learning using the system (e.g. negotiated with staff to complete online lessons at a time and place outside the existing timetable).
- have experienced a range of small group work online across the curriculum
- have regular access to outside experts.
- begin to set up their own forums.
- show evidence that they are using the assessment data on the system to develop their own improvement strategies.
- show evidence of parental/carer access.
- be maintaining a regular My Learning diary.
Some students will have taken responsibility for managing the Room 10 area.
Some students will be trained to act as student e-Moderators, providing support to other staff and students.
There will be a Year 10 representative on the ICT Committee who will provide feedback on the use of UniServity.
Year 11
Building on the above learning by the end of Year 11 all students will:
- be able to show embedded use of the system across the curriculum for flexible and personal learning and assessment.
- have accessed outside advice/career/college support.
- be able to show evidence of a regular dialogue with students and staff about their learning.
- provide support for younger students.
Some students will have taken responsibility for managing the Room 11 area.
There will be a Year 11 representative on the ICT Committee who will provide feedback on the use of UniServity.
Beyond year 11 ex-students will use UniServity to:
- access up to date news about life in school.
- maintain contact with staff and fellow students.
- provide support for online school based projects.
This development policy will also encompass staff development and community.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Support
If you were making an appointment to support the development of your VLE/learning platform, what kind of questions would you ask at interview:
Question 1
How would you describe a VLE or learning platform to a member of staff?
Supplementary
Which application within a VLE do you think teachers will use most and why?
Question 2
What comes first - skills training in using a VLE or the pedagogy (how the technology can be used to enhance teaching).
Supplementary
How might you use the VLE or learning platform itself to deliver training?
Question 3
What kind of strategies would you use to encourage parents/carers to use the platform?
Supplementary
What could you do to support those pupils who don't have access to the platform at home?
Question 4
What strategies would you adopt to encourage staff to use the platform?
Supplementary
Imagine you have been in post 6 months - what would you have expected to have achieved in terms of VLE use by that point?
Further examples of questions welcome.
Question 1
How would you describe a VLE or learning platform to a member of staff?
Supplementary
Which application within a VLE do you think teachers will use most and why?
Question 2
What comes first - skills training in using a VLE or the pedagogy (how the technology can be used to enhance teaching).
Supplementary
How might you use the VLE or learning platform itself to deliver training?
Question 3
What kind of strategies would you use to encourage parents/carers to use the platform?
Supplementary
What could you do to support those pupils who don't have access to the platform at home?
Question 4
What strategies would you adopt to encourage staff to use the platform?
Supplementary
Imagine you have been in post 6 months - what would you have expected to have achieved in terms of VLE use by that point?
Further examples of questions welcome.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
LP Design
Having a support technician with professional skills in web design is making such a difference to the 'look' of our platform (see above) (how do you manage this issue if you are a small school).
CPD
Our network technician has begun to offer after school training sessions for staff on the use of the platform.
Staff can request a session on a specific topic or take part in a programme of specific training events.
The first training session highlighted an issue relating to the nature of this training. The trainer delivered a session on basic skills in relation to accessing the platform and what the various applications 'do' - what the department really needed was a first input on pedagogy with some concrete examples of how the platform was being used in other curriculum areas.
This does back up the findings of the school survey - so it's pedagogy first, followed by the technical skills needed to use the platform. (I know - blindingly obvious).
Staff can request a session on a specific topic or take part in a programme of specific training events.
The first training session highlighted an issue relating to the nature of this training. The trainer delivered a session on basic skills in relation to accessing the platform and what the various applications 'do' - what the department really needed was a first input on pedagogy with some concrete examples of how the platform was being used in other curriculum areas.
This does back up the findings of the school survey - so it's pedagogy first, followed by the technical skills needed to use the platform. (I know - blindingly obvious).
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Survey 2007
I have been looking back on the data collected from student surveys in school over the past 2 years - below are the 2007 stats - I'll post the 2008 and 2009 in the next few days.
2007 Survey.
6% of students did not have a PC at home.
10% did not have Internet access.
74% shared their PC with the rest of the family i.e. 26% had access to their own PC.
39% had used their school email from home.
82% had their own private email.
89% knew how to log on to the school VLE.
39% had used the VLE from home.
67% had used a chat room.
73% had a Bebo account.
A question was asked about social networking in an attempt to explore any links between uses of Bebo/Facebook and the school VLE.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Homepage Design
We have (once again) divided our school website from our Learning Platform homepage.
The website can be found at www.tidewayschool.org and we are using this as the main area for parents and visitors to access news and information about the school. We have used www.moonfruit.com to design the site.
David, our network technician responsible for supporting the design of content on the VLE, is now turning his attention to the design of the VLE homepage and the structure of subject areas. It's proving a time consuming job and I wonder how junior schools (small ones at least) manage this aspect of VLE use.
The platform can be found at http://www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupHomepage.asp?GroupID=321530
We have been using http://www.wpclipart.com/ as a good source of public domain clip art for the site.
We have also taken out a subscription for www.ict-teach.com as a good source of learning resources for the platform.
The website can be found at www.tidewayschool.org and we are using this as the main area for parents and visitors to access news and information about the school. We have used www.moonfruit.com to design the site.
David, our network technician responsible for supporting the design of content on the VLE, is now turning his attention to the design of the VLE homepage and the structure of subject areas. It's proving a time consuming job and I wonder how junior schools (small ones at least) manage this aspect of VLE use.
The platform can be found at http://www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupHomepage.asp?GroupID=321530
We have been using http://www.wpclipart.com/ as a good source of public domain clip art for the site.
We have also taken out a subscription for www.ict-teach.com as a good source of learning resources for the platform.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Staff ICT Skills
How do staff rate their ICT skills?
The questionnaire, completed by all teaching staff, asked teachers to rate their ICT technical skills against a bank of 5 statements.
48% of staff said they felt confident in using most hardware and software for learning and that they seldom used the classroom support provided by the school network team.
30% described themselves as confident in the use of technology most of the time but that they required training in some technologies.
15% described themselves as average users who would call ICT support if they required it.
A very small minority said they did not feel confident some of the time in using technology in the classroom.
So how do they rate their specific skills in terms of platform use?
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