ICTeachers - Interesting Stuff for Teachers ICTeachers Magazine - February 2002 -
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and sign up! If you know colleagues who would appreciate the independent minded thinking behind this magazine then please pass it on. Who Are ICTeachers? Some would say that we are masters of time management and manage to run a business and schools. Others would just say we are breaking the mould and introducing the values we believe in to the commercial sector whilst learning from the private sector the importance of customer service, marketing and financial management! I have returned from taking my 9-11 year olds (Y5/6 in the UK), to a "camp" in Torquay. Despite it being advertised as the Riviera of England it seemed that we had arrived in the middle of the monsoon season! Battered by force 8 winds and undergoing hail and rain we managed to smile ourselves through the mud and tears. Mind you, camp isn't what it used to be. Gone are the real tents, primer stoves, dodgy milk and half cooked sausages; enter instructors, canteens, adventure and tramping round AFTER the kids instead of leading from the front! Whilst standing at the door looking down to the ground some 20 feet away, attached to the second longest zip wire in the country (I think it's called zip wire because you go ZIZZZIIIIPPP as you hurtle towards the other end of a field trussed up like a chicken in a harness attached to a large metal filament), I pondered on the fact that I too was going through a learning experience. I could hear the children behind me, encouraging me to jump off, although this time I was wearing the rope, and I thought, this is scary. I haven't done anything physically scary, bar watching my children being born, for years. Mind you, although I wasn't actually having the baby, I did have to rely on the midwife to extricate me from a very effective headlock my wife had got me into! "Let go! You'll need him later!" she said. Obviously not a feminist. Anyway, I believe I was undergoing the same sort of scariness as when I made a decision some months ago to let the children evaluate my lessons giving gradings of 1 - 5. 1 being boring and 5 excellent. For me, I stood on a precipice. Do I believe in what I'm doing? Do I believe that these children, the people I am actually trying to influence/develop/facilitate/deliver to, do I believe they can actually not only reflect on their own learning at the end of a session, but also make some sort of judgment as to the effectiveness of my delivery in terms of their own learning? I stepped out, and I was not disappointed...... AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH...hur, hur, hur....hehehehehehe.....HAAAAAAA..... Zzzzzzzzzziiiiiiiiiiiiiippppppppppp............. ; ) The Editor Resources Vault : www.icteachers.co.uk/resources/ New resources: Some excellent and very colourful My World 3 Screens in the History Resources page about Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt from Dave Hollett (work on PCs or Acorns) Updated resources for Judaism on The RE Resources Page by some chap called Mike Freedman (also a link to Mike's Rough Guide to Judaism - his new set of WebPages). Editors Recommended Links Modern Foreign Languages - ages 9-11 http://www.ltscotland.com/5-14/c4modernlanguages/ for reinforcing both languages through games and vocabulary learning. It's worth a look! Homework - huh - what is it good for - absolutely NOTHING - ah say it again!! Or maybe it is! This was an site from the US site brought up in recent head teacher discussion group about what evidence there is for the pro's and cons of homework on children's development. http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/plato1/constructhome/index.html You may also want to have a look at http://brs.leeds.ac.uk/~beiwww/beid.html This is the British Education Index and contains downloadable papers on all aspects of education. You can read them online or download and save them as word docs. The NFER site is also good for research papers too. My gratitude for Jan for this link. If you have anything on your hard disk to share with colleagues then send it to vaultman@icteachers.co.uk , Have your say on the future of the teaching profession The Institute for Public Policy Research, in collaboration with the Future Education Network, today launched a major online survey, a ‘call for visions’ on the future of the teaching profession. Teachers and Teaching in 2010 is an opportunity for everyone who is passionate about learning to shape national policy. ippr and FEN have developed an online resource that enables individuals and groups to contribute your perspective on teachers and teaching as an individual or group. As well as a survey, there is also a set of resources that can be downloaded to photocopy and use in the classroom, the staffroom, or any other group meeting. .. We promise that taking part will take no more than 20 minutes of your time and may take less than five! To have your say please visit before 28 March 2002 Primary Key - Deconstructing and integrating databases in the school curriculum IntroductionEvery day we have to manage data. Facts and figures, numbers and statistics all are presented in both conceptual and concrete forms and from this evidence we have to construct our reality, make value judgments about truth and validity and peel away the layers of information to try and achieve higher levels of understanding and awareness. Or maybe we just want to come to grips with why our football team lost on Saturday. Lies, damn lies and statistics. The Information Superhighway. It seems that more than ever before we are being challenged with data. The incorporation of Information and Communications Technology as a seemingly permanent feature of curricula around the world has helped formalise the place of computing in schools. Already, generations of children who grew up with personal computers and video recorders are now teaching in a world where text messaging, multimedia devices and web cams are no longer exciting, new innovations. For those of us old enough to remember, it didn’t seem so long ago when fax machines revolutionised our lives. Now I can search the Internet and receive emails using my mobile phone. There is no escape. All exits are blocked. The technology and the data have us in their digital grip. But amidst the chaos and white noise there is an order and a range of easily accessible tools that offer new experiences and new ways of looking at the world. Teachers are expanding the use of data tables within the existing primary school curriculum and exploring ways in which higher-level conceptual skills can be fostered through the use of data for analytical and constructivist thinking. There is a continuum, which allows us to make sense of data. In its raw form, data tables are organised repositories, classifying data according to certain categories or fields. Although the data can usually be browsed, interrogation of the data table in a meaningful way is usually restricted to the extraction of discrete records. The addition of a structured method by which to filter, sort and query data enables hypotheses to be tested, statistical information to be collated and more detailed analyses to be undertaken. At this point, the data has become meaningful information. The ability to analyse, synthesise and convert the information into knowledge becomes a journey in which the computer can be a valuable tool when used in conjunction with a spreadsheet or database program. Data analysis skills are being applied across the curriculum in a number of subjects. English In English, the use of data tables and analysis can be used to advance discussion, summarise points, consider alternatives and predict outcomes (1.3). Skills incorporating this include investigating, selecting and sorting, planning, predicting and exploring, explaining, reporting and assessing. Data tables can be also used to teach pupils inference and deduction and reading for information (2.3). Mathematics Data tables can be used in Mathematics for organising work and refining recording methods (2.1). They can be used to propose and interpret solutions within the context of a problem, and when used in the development of reasoning skills, pupils can look for patterns in results. Transformation of data can be taught by use of formulae (2.4) and data handling activities (4.1) can promote problem solving, flexibility and the need to identify data needed to solve problems. The use of data tables within a spreadsheet can teach the use appropriate calculation skills and give the pupil the ability to check their own results, present findings and interpret tables, lists and charts employed in every day life. The use of graphs and diagrams generated from the data give a visual representation to findings and enable pupils to discriminate between continuous and discrete data and draw conclusions from visually presented statistics. Importantly, data tables in Mathematics facilitate the use of patterns and relationships enabling pupils to distinguish between valid and misleading data. Science Scientific enquiry involves creative thinking as well as testing ideas with evidence (1.1). Data analysis requires the development of investigative skills involve planning, obtaining evidence, analysing evidence, evaluating and presenting conclusions. Data tables and graphs can be used for presenting and analysing data in a systematic way allowing comparisons, observation of patterns and relationships, and prediction of results. The collection of data has been facilitated in recent years by the use of electronic data logging devices, which allow the uploading of data directly into a spreadsheet or databases The very nature of a structured data tables encourages and facilitates classification and the use of keys enables this powerful tool to be used for grouping and classifying. D&T Much of the work in Design and Technology involves the developing, planning and communicating of ideas and the use of data to within each of these processes. This is true of many aspects of the primary school curriculum. ICT Information and Communications Technology is a natural home for the use of electronic data tables and the requisite skills required making the best use of them. The use of data tables for investigation involves choosing data sources, locating data, classifying and analysing and verifying them. At a higher conceptual level, pupils use ICT for developing ideas and organising data types into a number of data type types including text, numbers, images, and sound. Pupils can then propose and test hypotheses through the use of simulations and modeling by altering the values in the tables. Many other subject areas use data to identify and provide reasons for patterns of change. Pupils are required to collect and record evidence, evaluate it and draw conclusions from the data provided. The ability to sort, query and present information about a range of subjects can increase knowledge and understanding. The pupil, when equipped with the necessary tools and skills makes a potentially powerful researcher. Unburdened with the prejudices of adulthood and with a naturally inquiring mind, the pupil who can use electronic data analysis can unlock knowledge that goes beyond merely information. Biography of the Author - Albin Wallace ICT and Learning Technologies Manager for the South East England Virtual Education Action Zone. Prior to that, 20 years experience in Learning Technologies in Melbourne, Australia where I co-ordinated professional development in ICT for teachers. My email is albin@seeveaz.tctrust.net.uk and our website is www.seeveaz.tctrust.net.uk.. We also run an Intranet for teachers in the Education Action Zone. Visitors are welcome at www.seeveaz.intranets.com School Websites - OFSTED Coming?
Sites include primary, infant, junior, secondary, community and special schools. Take a look at SOME of the sites we have recently built: http://www.woolgrove.org.uk "Bob gives
wonderful follow up service and uploads the stuff I send him without fail. He gives me
tips and advice and I really feel that I am an honoured customer. Nothing is too much
trouble and he never makes me feel dumb or ICT illiterate." Headteacher New York State of Mind! From what I have read and know about the
education system in the UK, it is very different from ours. One of the main
differences in your system is the small school problem. SCHOOL SIZE Let say there is a staff day and the speakers are beyond horrible. Instead of being rude and talking to everyone, we can sort of leave the building. We feel that the large numbers save the tax payers money. Our school would save on several headmasters (aka: principals), care takers (aka: costodial), cleaning staff, cafeteria workers, special area teachers that are mandated by the State, utility bills, and non teaching staff. When there is a teacher/pupil conflict, we can move the student to another teacher. The average cost to maintain 1 building is expensive. But we have less buildings. Therefore there is more money to pay teachers. OFSTED (EYSTEDFOD??) No one in NY State would allow the team from ESTOFAD?? to come in and rate us or tell us what to do. We would be marching to Albany (state capitol) and telling what we want. You must all do the same. Each district should visit (at the same time of course) to the main office of who sends the inspectors and who needs to change who goes to what school and how much of raise you all need to improve education in the UK. Simple??? Not really but someone has to start this movement or you will be left behind and miserable, overworked and underpaid. PARENTAL CHOICE and PUBLIC RESULTS However it was fun last year. Every year the stats come out and our school (with a 33% poverty rate) was near the bottom of looking good and the next line was but the salaries are #1 in the area. Scores from last year push up to #1 in English, Language Arts- (grade 4 only) to the shock of many school districts who thought that they were the best and this was an insult etc. The deal here was our low kids were better than anywhere else. But we were never upset that our contract was the best in the State. But the state gives more aid to schools who don't do well. NY thinks that more money will help educate our kids. TRADE UNIONS - STRENGTH IN NUMBERS! Broadband Over Satellite - is it the answer? Once considered the poor cousin of ADSL and cable, satellite is now being accepted as an effective alternative for receiving full-screen video, multimedia, websites and other focused educational material. There are three main advantages to satellite over ADSL and cable – countrywide access, higher-speeds and dramatically lower costs for data delivery. Since satellite is independent of other networks, the ability to receive it does not depend on your phone or cable connection. Regardless of a school’s location, be it rural Wales or the Highlands of Scotland, satellite has the potential to bring interactive and near-TV quality pictures and sound into every classroom. Secondly, satellite downloads computer files at up to 50 times faster than an ISDN line ensuring the delivery of near-TV quality pictures in a fraction of the time. For busy teachers and ICT coordinators this speed increase, combined with the ease at which resources can be transmitted, is highly attractive. No more unwrapping CD-ROM boxes and loading them up during the lunch hour, for instance! In the very near future, the promise of two-way satellite will make surfing the Internet at high speeds via satellite a reality and will offer schools an alternative to expensive always on connections. Next Month: The Editor reviews some of the REALLY BAD things people have said about OFSTED when they signed up for the newsletter. Be sure to wear earplugs! If you have research or articles you think would interest fellow educationalists then forward them to me md@icteachers.co.uk This Newsletter is
produced by ICTeachers Ltd |