Naace Strategic Conference 2007

Mel Philipson, Head of the Northern Grid for Learning; David Mason, London Grid for Learning and Hilary Guckian, Chief Exec, South West Grid for Learning

We will explore the role and impact of RBCs in supporting the Government’s agenda to provide online personal learning spaces for teachers and pupils. Covering the range of strategies employed by RBCs working in partnership with their LA and schools to identify learning platforms fit for local needs. Strategies for support, development and embedding will be explored. (Case studies, examples and improvement).

Oscar Stringer, Animation for Education, Teacher and Filmmaker

Creativity can scare people, ICT can scare people (mostly grown up people) But there is a way forward ……

Creativity with ICT has huge educational potential. But where do you start? Oscar Stringer will shed light on ideas and approaches to using ICT creatively in the classroom.

Jane Finch, Teacher Adviser ICT, HoS Manager, Worcestershire LA

This session will consider some of the features of successful Primary ICT CPD, capitalising on lessons learned in the Worcestershire Hands on Support Scheme.

Ian Usher, E-Learning Co-ordinator, School Improvement Service, Buckinghamshire CC

This session will tell the story of how one Local Authority started out on the road to using Moodle as a core component of its Learning Platform offering to schools. It will include the requisite technical background as well as lessons learned from both successful and unsuccessful strategies in supporting schools in developing their use of Moodle. It will show examples of practice from primary, secondary and LA levels as well as reflections on the experience of staff and pupils. The rationale behind and implications of not buying into a “commercial” VLE product will also be explained.

Ben Walsh, History Teacher, Author and Trainer, Historical Association

History is extremely well supported in terms of electronic resources but embedding ICT into the teaching and learning of this (as with most subjects) has proved problematic. In this session we explore how using ICT in History has brought to light a surprising amount of common ground between the two subjects.

From technical skills to deeply philosophical questions about the nature of information through history. The use of ICT in History has created opportunities for learning which is exciting, powerful and even inspirational.

Notes of session:

Aim of session to achieve the impossible. Finding time to find out what other people do. ICT is one of the great literacy, with English.

Changing pedagogies

The past is not what it used to be either taking from the last session. It changed a long time ago. One of the great myths is that it is about dates. If you ask

One of the great changes is that ICT has opened up history. Professors often email back, maybe because he has a television series to plug. Not that difficult to get hold of the expert anymore.

HA running email conferences.

Also seeing an explosion of ‘people’s history. Eg. http://bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/

Getting at the history through the way it actually was  and the more subtle analysis – so much of our history is seen through a prism eg. a Victorian perspective on history. This is something that British Pathe has really opened up – http://www.britishpathe.com

There are others doing great work – The National Archive – http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk

Also see history in new forms – 3D VR environments eg. tudor Hackney – http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/tudorhackney/vrworld.asp

ICT and pedagogy in History
You can’t separate this –

The trouble with History in the curriculum is that you can still do well in history without technology. However history teachers have embraced technology

http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk – some awful stuff, but a vibrant community

VLE – often imposed, without consultation is the message. It is being used well – wikis and discussion forums for keeping kids in revision mode. Online polls are used, for getting the discussion going. Forwarding new stories / web sites to student accounts.

History is …

Undoubtedly missing opportunities

Remarkable amount of common ground between History and ICT
- as subjects (what you need to know)
- as disciplines (effectively communicating what you think)

History: Methodology
Ongoing debate but basically scientific / empirical
Example of that is getting kids to look at a popular perception – not interested in whether it was right or wrong, but how right of wrong and the effects of these perceptions.

History: Pedagogy
Highly rated by OfSTED
HA/Becta events have explored much common ground between History and ICT
- NC levels – lost of synergies and common ground
- ICT Framework

History: Content

History content is Drama – it’s the human drama that sucks them in. But it also has it with an analytic bite and edge.

Interesting web 2.0 related questions
What’s the point of using podcasting if the content this boring?
Is the content equally valid?
Is wikipedia ‘the truth’?
Why is so important that kids that students ‘read’ the web.
History is a special case

Education is about the human not in the technology

Margaret Danby, Education Consultant, Mirandanet Fellow

Lessons learned from various evaluations about what promotes and what impedes effective CPD will be described. The session will include points raised with evaluators by both teachers and providers about what worked really well for them as well as what went wrong. These lessons will be used to identify criteria that will help schools to select appropriate CPD provision, to monitor its effectiveness and intervene when problems are identified and finally to evaluate its impact in school. The merits of a range of evaluation strategies will also be discussed.

Laurie O’Donnell, Director of Learning and Technology

This session outlines the key strategic drivers for change in Scotland, touching briefly on the role that Learning and Teaching Scotland plays in relation to learning, teaching, curriculum, assessment and technology. The issues facing the education systems across the UK have much in common but divergent political and structural contexts have enabled different responses. This session will outline some of the thinking that has underpinned the development of Glow in Scotland as the focus shifts away from the technology towards realizing the promised benefits of ICT for learning and teaching.

Margaret Zglinski, Foundation Stage/Key Stage One ICT Consultant, Sandwell LA and Jonathan Keay, AST, Sandwell LA

Following a successful bid to the DfES for funds to support an ICT Foundation Stage Project, Sandwell LA has explored effective ways of using ICT to support the development of speaking and listening. This session aims to share practical resources an reflections from the classroom, along with the findings from the project and recent developments, as the work is continued into Key Stage One.

Christina Preston, Chair MirandaNet Fellowship; John Cuthell, Director Research and Implementation MirandaNet Fellowship and Dai Thomas, Director of ICT at Warden Park Specialist School and Mirandanet Fellow

This theme will explore a number of approaches to ICT CPD and evaluate their effectiveness in terms of school improvement, pedagogical change and learning for both pupils and teachers. Examples will be drawn from a number of projects that have examined the affordances provided by new technologies, and ways in which these have been used to promote personal and institutional transformation in learning.

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Credit: Leon Cych for Naace