Category Archives: Educators

Across learning, Archaeologist, Collection of the week, Educators, First, Learn with, Literacy, Partners in Learning, Sciences, Scientist, Second, September, Social studies

Educators learn more about………Collections of the past, Dinosaur Discovery

 

Dinosaur Discovery is an interdisciplinary learning experience developed for first level and second level learners and is part of the Collections of the Past learning opportunities with the National Museum of Scotland.

The Dinosaur Discovery planning guidance  provides practitioners with an overview of the learning experiences using the NAR flow chart process. Educators can adapt this guidance to meet the needs of the learners they teach.

Dinosaur Discovery creates a context in which learners can be supported to explore evidence from the past, be posed questions to gain greater insight into the life of dinosaurs and how their fossils, bones and other evidence can be used to tell us about the history of the earth. Learners will be encouraged to:

  • Develop a curiosity and understanding of their environment and the past
  • Undertake simple scientific investigations using practical techniques
  • Explore a range of media to create images and objects
  • Be creative
  • Share and learn with peers through Glow

These challenges will be live in September 2013 with a live Glow TV event with the National Museum of Scotland on the 20th September at 1.30pm . Afterwards they will be made available as packs of learning, teaching and assessment resources in the Collections from the Past Channel on Glow.

This learning experience has been developed to work towards supporting the delivery of

The Curriculum for Excellence Implementation Plan 2012-13

The Sciences 3-18 Curriculum Impact Project Summary of Key Strengths and Aspects for Development

ICT in Education Objectives

Animator, Approaches to learning, Creativity, Curriculum area, Curriculum level, Educators, Expressive arts, First, Learn with, Learning spaces, Partners in Learning, Second, September, Technologies, technology workshop, Third and Fourth

Educators learn more about …….. Animation – The Big 5!!

Educators learn more about

Animation – The Big 5!! is an interdisciplinary learning experience developed for first, second and third level learners. Scotland’s Big 5 campaign aims to get everyone talking about Scotland’s nature by discovering five iconic species and the places where they can be seen. Scottish Natural Heritage and VisitScotland are promoting the Big 5 campaign in support of the Year of Natural Scotland 2013.  Education Scotland in partnership with Dundee Contemporary Arts and industry expert animator Bruce Husband have designed a series of filmed animation workshops to support learners to use stop motion animation to create an adventure text about these incredible creatures.

The Big 5!! project outline provides practitioners with an outline of the learning experiences using the NAR flow chart process and the publication ‘Taking a closer look at NAR.

The Big 5! creates a context in which learners can be supported to

  • Create texts using animation
  • Be creative
  • Work towards safe guarding Scottish biodiversity
  • Share and learn with peers through Glow
  • Profile and recognise achievement

These challenges will be live in September 2013. Afterwards they will be made available as packs of learning, teaching and assessment resources in the Digital Story Telling Learning Channel on Glow.

This learning experience has been developed to work towards supporting the delivery of:

The Curriculum for Excellence Implementation Plan 2012-13

ICT in Education Objectives

Creativity across learning briefing paper

The Year of Natural Scotland

Collection of the week, Educators

Educators learn more about…….collection of the week

Educators learn more about

Collection of the week is a weekly learning experience which enables learners to get involved in creating collections, collecting data to contribute to scientific research, citizen science and viewing collections of objects from the past.

Many artists are interested in collections and collecting and involving others in this process to create artwork. Tania Kovats is calling upon a global network of people to collect a sample of water from seas and oceans across the world and send it to The Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh to create an artwork called ‘All the seas’. The Fruitmarket Gallery welcome Scottish learners to participate in this work and will be providing additional learning experiences to develop the concept of collections, maps and journeys.

Citizen science involves volunteers, in this case Scottish learners, collecting real data to contribute to valuable scientific research.  The surveys that have been selected for the autumn collection of learning experiences are research streams for  Open Air Laboratories (OPAL).  Learners will be encouraged to document and share the ‘stories’ behind their data collection in Glow.

National Museums Scotland are working in partnership with Education Scotland to share collections of national importance.  The curators will demonstrate their expertise in asking questions to support learners in interpreting historical evidence and to build a picture of Scotland’s heritage and other societies in the past.

Find out more about Collections of the past Dinosaur Discovery

Chef, Curriculum area, Educators, First, Health and wellbeing, Information for educators, Kitchen, Learning spaces, Partners in Learning, Second, September, Third and Fourth

Educators learn more about ……. The Great Scottish Schools Bake Off!

Educators learn more about

The Great Scottish Schools Bake Off is an interdisciplinary learning experience developed for first, second and third  level learners.  Learning experiences will be supported in the kitchen learning space in Glow from September 2013.   Sharing the learning process in Glow will increase opportunities for learners to access specialists and learn with others across Scotland.

The Great Scottish Schools Bake off outline provides practitioners with an overview of the learning experiences using the NAR flow chart process and the publication ‘Taking a closer look at NAR.  Educators should adapt this guidance to meet the needs of the learners they teach.

The Great Scottish Schools Bake Off creates a meaningful context in which learners can be supported to improve their understanding in sourcing local food producers, hygienic and safe practical cooking techniques, healthy eating, financial education and enterprise. A series of measurement learning experiences are being developed to address areas of weakness identified by the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy. These will work towards improving learners understanding and skill in measurement.

Baking techniques will be demonstrated by leading chefs from across Scotland. These inspirational role models will aim to instil a sense of pride and value in preparing and cooking food with local Scottish ingredients.

The first of four bake offs is the Muffin Bake Off live from the Cooking Bus at Dundee on 3rd September at 10am

You can sign your class up on Glow TV

Recipe sheets for the Muffin Bake-off are

Beetroot and chocolate muffins

Fruit muffins

The presentation for the Muffin Bake-Off is on Prezi

Afterwards learning experiences will be made available as packs of learning, teaching and assessment resources in the Health and Wellbeing Learning Channel on Glow.

This learning experience has been developed to work towards supporting the delivery of:

The Curriculum for Excellence Implementation Plan 2012-13

The results of the Scottish Survey of literacy and numeracy

ICT in Education Objectives

Health and wellbeing experiences and outcomes, Food for thought

Educators, Information for educators, Partners in Learning, September, Storyteller

Educators learn more about …..Tell a story!

Educators learn more about

Storytelling and storymaking provide opportunities for sharing thoughts and ideas as a class, group or with an individual. It is a motivational tool which encourages learning, good communication skills and engagement with writing. Storytelling is also an ideal tool for supporting children with special educational needs.

Through listening to and telling stories children extend and enrich their vocabulary and develop their understanding of what is special, vibrant and valuable about their own and other cultures and their languages. There are opportunities to communicate, collaborate and build relationships when children share stories and participate in storymaking activities as a small group and as a class. Retelling stories through different media show children the wide range of ways in which they and others can be creative. Storytelling helps children to reflect on and explain their literacy and thinking skills, using feedback to help them improve and sensitively provide useful comments for others through positive feedback and formative assessment.

The ‘Bothy’ at the Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh will be the venue for 3 live Glow TV Tell-a-Story events when storytellers will ignite the imagination of viewers by telling stories and they will then share their techniques and answer questions to help learners learn to tell stories and plan their own Tell-a-Story Day event.

Tell-a-Story Day is the national celebration of oral storytelling, when people all over Scotland will be making, sharing and listening to stories in schools, libraries, community centres, churches, hospitals, homes, gardens – and some more unusual venues! Tell-a-Story Day is a great way of taking part in the Scottish International Storytelling Festival wherever you are and is a fun way of spending time with family and friends whatever your age.

Enter a magical world of enchanting fairy tales, scary Halloween stories or treasured family legends, and bring your community, workplace or family closer together on Tell-a-Story Day.

The first of the Tell a Story event is on 5th September at 11am

Sign up on Glow TV here

Creativity, Educators, Information for educators, Second

Educators learn more about …….. learning in Minecraft

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Educators learn more about

Over the past number of years Education Scotland has partnered with schools across Scotland to explore the effective and innovative use of computer games to enhance and enrich learning and teaching. Together we have helped contribute to changing the discourse around the use of such resources in schools by understanding, embracing and practically applying theoretical perspectives such as socially mediated learning, situated learning and the power of semiotic domains in our practice.

Our attitudes to and our professional appreciation of the digital tools and contexts that are embedded in the cultural domains of young learners is continually evolving and we are developing our awareness of the many ways that learners are engaging with learning outside of school. As teachers we have to some extent always tuned in to and exploited cultural phenomenon such as books, TV shows, music and movies and more and more we are doing the same thing with computer games.

One game that is currently hugely popular with learners across the globe is Minecraft. Minecraft is a sandbox game that allows learners/players to create the most amazing and complex worlds by mining for materials and using them in informed ways. Materials that are mined or collected are then gathered in an inventory and can be crafted together in order to make the necessary materials and resources to help you build and survive in the world.

This learning experience is not about actually playing on a Minecraft installation but about offering learners a space in Glow where they can:

  • learn from others
  • share their expertise
  • celebrate the wonder of the world of Minecraft
  • showcase their expertise, interests and talents for everything Minecraft

If you speak to primary school children about Minecraft they will happily talk to you about accessing servers, downloading texture packs, survival techniques, the best YouTube tutorial channels and even the differences in the platforms that this game can be played on. The bar of expectation and aspiration is being raised by them.

What we want to offer learners is a learning space where first of all they will choose to come and when they do they will see this space as their own – a place where they can play an active part in discussion forums, where they can upload their own tutorial videos and even their own creations of all things Minecraft in ways that we have seen it happening on the fantastic diy.org site. Have a look at some examples from there: Creeper in hama beads, Creeper costume, Minecraft cookies

Learner engagement in contexts such as this offers ways in which skills development and dispositions to learning in its wider sense can be addressed, showcased and celebrated.

We are keen to begin building Learning Spaces in Glow that tap in to the digital zeitgeists that so engage and enthuse our learners. There is so much potential here and so much to be gained by situating learning in contexts that have cultural appeal and that encourage learners to choose to share their learning and to showcase their talents.

Derek P. Robertson 02 June 2013
Approaches to learning, Creativity, Curriculum area, Educators, Expressive arts, First, Information for educators, Languages, Literacy and English, Sciences

Educators learn more about ……. Natural colour

Educators learn more about

Natural colour is an interdisciplinary learning experience developed for first level learners and is part of a progression of creativity challenges designed around the context of colour.

The natural colour outline provides practitioners with an overview of the learning experiences using the NAR flow chart process and the publication ‘Taking a closer look at NAR.  Educators should adapt this guidance to meet the needs of the learners they teach.

Natural colour creates a context in which learners can be supported to explore ‘fat questions’ through practical and creative challenges

  • Develop a curiosity and understanding of their environment
  • Undertake simple scientific investigations using practical techniques
  • Create visual information
  • Explore a range of media to create images and objects
  • Be creative
  • Share and learn with peers through Glow
  • Profile and recognise achievement

These challenges will be live in September 2013. Afterwards they will be made available as packs of learning, teaching and assessment resources in the Creativity Learning Channel on Glow.

This learning experience has been developed to work towards supporting the delivery of:

The Curriculum for Excellence Implementation Plan 2012-13

The Sciences 3-18 Curriculum Impact Project Summary of Key Strengths and Aspects for Development

ICT in Education Objectives

Creativity across learning

2013 is the Year of Natural Scotland

Creativity, Educators, Technologies

Educators learn more about…… Consolarium Code Club

Educators learn more about
Scratch uses costumes to animate characters

 

Eric Schmidt, the Chairman of Google, recently highlighted the need for learners to be embedded in contexts where they are the creators of digital materials and the writers of the web. In his MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival in August 2012 he argued that the learner experience with computer science in school as one that lacked challenge, demand and appeal and said, “Your IT curriculum focuses on teaching how to use software, but gives no insight in to how its made. That is just throwing away your great computing heritage.”  

As you will know, Curriculum for Excellence has in some way made provision to address this concern by the fact that from Second Level onwards in the  Technologies outcomes it is an expectation that learners will learn to a range of skills to enable them build their own computer games. 

In order to help address this the Education Scotland Learning Catalogue will regularly feature contexts where the skills and understanding of computer game design can be explored and extended. Through the Consolarium Code Club we will endeavour to embed a culture of creation and not just consumption of digital materials and games design is one area that we intend to have a major focus on. 

Our initial Introduction to Scratch 2.0 learning opportunity will encourage learners to join a pupil led and pupil managed learning community in Glow where they can gradually build the skills necessary to make a computer game using Scratch 2.0. They will be actively encouraged to access the community at school and at home (where access permits). They will be encouraged to become an active participant in the community and to ask questions when necessary, respond to the weekly challenges and upload their creations to the community. Learning experiences will focus on developing their skills and confidence in creating the digital resources such as images, animations and sounds and to learn to control how these behave by using code. Our planning document will help you see what we are planning for learners. 

It may be worth noting that there will be a next steps Scratch 2.0 course in the term after the October holidays that will build on the skill sets and understanding established in the this learning experience. 

Articles of interest 

Colleagues may find this further reading about the worth and value and importance of teaching game design in school of use: 

Mitch Resnick (MIT) gives a TedX talk about why we need to teach kids to code 

Scratch: Programming for all Mitch Resnick 

Reviving Papert’s Dream Mitch Resnick 

Hope Livingstone Review NESTA 

 

LearnCAT Email the LearnCat to sign up for Consolarium Code Club: Introduction to Scratch

Across learning, Approaches to learning, Art Gallery, Creativity, Curriculum level, Educators, Expressive arts, Learning spaces, Literacy, Partners in Learning, September, Third and Fourth

Educators – Learn more about ….. ‘Found Colour’

Educators learn more about

‘Found Colour’ is an interdisciplinary learning experience developed for third level learners and is part of a progression of creativity challenges designed around the context of colour created in partnership with the The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh using the context  of Dundee born artist, David Batchelor’s exhibition ‘Flatlands’ and his online portfolio.

The Found Colour Learning Experience Overview provides practitioners with an overview of the learning experiences using the NAR flowchart process and the publication ‘Taking a closer look at NAR’.

The Fruitmarket Gallery is a member of Engage and they work to promote access to, understanding and enjoyment of the visual arts.

Learning experiences focus on improving skill and understanding in responding to abstract art and undertaking design briefs collaboratively and creatively. This briefing paper ‘creativity across learning’ will support educators in thinking about creativity when planning for learning.

This partnership with The Fruitmarket Gallery also works towards improving confidence in educators to discuss and respond to contemporary, abstract art and overall by engaging with art in this way it is hoped that young people and their families will visit an art gallery in their locality.

 The colour creativity challenges will be live in September 2013.  Afterwards they will be made available as packs of learning, teaching and assessment resources in the Creativity Learning Channel in Glow.

This learning experience has been developed to work towards supporting the delivery of the Curriculum for Excellence Implementation Plan 2012-13 and the ICT in Education Objectives. Learning will culminate in an online exhibition of young people’s creativity. Using Glow to facilitate this experience works towards changing behaviours as identified in these objectives.  The Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy revealed that learners need to increase their skills and understanding in group discussion. This set of learning experiences also supports the development of these skills.

Approaches to learning, Creativity, Educators

Educators – Learn more about….. Mix it up!

Educators learn more about

Mix it up! is an interdisciplinary learning experience developed for early level learners and is part of a progression of creativity challenges designed around the context of colour.

The Mix it up learning experience outline provides practitioners with an overview of the learning experiences using the NAR flow chart process and the publication ‘Taking a closer look at NAR.

Mix it up creates a context in which learners can be supported to:

  • Undertake simple scientific investigations
  • Be creative
  • Share and learn with peers through Glow
  • Profile and recognise achievement

These challenges will be live in September 2013. Afterwards they will be made available as packs of learning, teaching and assessment resources in the Creativity Learning Channel on Glow.

This learning experience has been developed to work towards supporting the delivery of:

The Curriculum for Excellence Implementation Plan 2012-13 

The Sciences 3-18 Curriculum Impact Project Summary of Key Strengths and Aspects for Development

ICT in Education Objectives

Creativity across learning briefing paper