Tag: community

Running an Esports Club – British Esports Association

Esports (or electronic sports) is a term used to describe competitive video gaming. With 81% of children playing video games online nowadays, games are arguably a larger part of their lives than ever before.

The British Esports Association (BEA) is a not-for-profit national body established in 2016 to promote esports in the UK, increase its level of awareness, improve standards and inspire future talent. As a national body, their aims are to support esports and provide expertise and advice.

They help to educate parents, teachers, media, policy makers and government around what esports is and what its benefits are. BEA aim to:

 

  • Promote esports in the UK and increase its level of awareness
  • Improve the standard of UK esports
  • Inspire future talent

There has been lots of work with colleges in Scotland so far but the BEA are keen to support more schools setup, deliver and develop esports clubs for children and young people. Running an esports club is about more than playing games, there is the setup of equipment, recruitment of friends and peers, and all the digital literacy required to produce videos of their games. In fact, capturing gameplay can become a whole production with sounds, graphics and video editing going on to showcase their gaming skills.

 

Find out more about esports and the British Esports Association with these links:
British Esports Student Champs
Student Champs Resources
Esports in Education Conference
Glasgow Clyde Case Study
British Esports Champs 2021 Aftermovie
Forth Valley College Division 2 Rocket League Interview
Scottish College Cup
Diversity and Inclusion of Esports

A CODE CLUB IN EVERY SCHOOL: CODING THE FUTURE – NORTH AYRSHIRE

Coding the Future – initiative to allow all 9-13 year olds to experience coding (@NAC_CodeClubs)

This post was written by Rosslyn Lee (@RosJLee), Digital Skills Coordinator for North Ayrshire Council. The programme has delivered Computing Science to primary and secondary learners across the authority. Most of the knowledge came from the team’s personal interests in coding and digital. Code Club Scotland and Barefoot Computing provided training that supported the programme.

 
Coding the Future has had an incredible impact on learners in North Ayrshire, and they have been unable to fulfil demand for code clubs and summer camps because of the high level of interest. Pupils learned a variety of digital skills apart from coding and was captured in photos, videos, saving programs and sharing and demonstrations to adults.
 
 

Coding the Future – North Ayrshire Council

 

In May 2017, North Ayrshire Council made a pledge to tackle the digital skills gap by providing access to Code Clubs for all learners aged 9–13 by August 2020.

The ‘Coding the Future’ project team, including staff from Customer and Digital Services and Education has the aim of expanding and supporting Code Clubs across the authority.  The first step was to look for volunteer staff to become STEM Ambassadors.  North Ayrshire Council allows their staff to volunteer within the community for 14 hours per calendar year.

Approximately 40 staff became STEM Ambassadors and were part of a ‘train the trainer’ approach.  Their objective was to support schools to set up their own clubs, taking a step back once the staff felt confident to run the clubs by themselves.  We had some training from Code Club Scotland to start us off.  This eventually led to a core group of 8-10 people delivering support to schools.

In addition to this training, some staff attended a Barefoot Computing session. 

Schools were advised that they could request help from a volunteer to start up a Code Club.  We tried to work this on a geographical basis, depending on where the volunteer lived. Some schools set up weekly clubs for a term, some for an academic year and some on a more ad hoc basis.

In addition to individual school clubs, two of the team ran a club most Saturdays at Irvine Library which was always well attended, in fact at times oversubscribed.

We ran two very successful Summer Code Camps in 2018 and 2019.  These ran for a week in July and operated from 10am until 3pm each day, with lunches provided by North Ayrshire Council.  The limit on participants was 25, although we could have organised a couple of camps such was the interest.  Unfortunately, this was not possible as staff were using holidays to run the camp.

At camp, the young people had a variety of activities to choose from including Scratch coding, Python, Raspberry Pis,  Microbits, Spheros, Virtual Reality headsets, Merge Cube AR, 3D printing, 360 degree photography and video making.

At the end of the week we held a challenge – participants had to make their own robot using a Sphero, plastic cups and various other craft items including balloons.  We invited parents to come in on the Friday afternoon to enable the young people to show them what they had experienced and created during the week.  We also had visits from the Leader of the Council, a couple of NAC Heads of Service and two of the Digital Skills Team from Education Scotland.

During these visits our young people very ably demonstrated and taught our visitors about the devices they had been using during the week, including a safety talk about the use of VR Headsets.

We also ran a successful Learn to Code Day for staff one Saturday in November 2019, supported and funded by a STEM Grant from Education Scotland.  Activities ranged from unplugged coding to Raspberry Pis and Codapillars to Python.  Participants were from primary and secondary schools as well as members of our Family Learning Team.

In December 2019 as part of Computing Science Education Week, we held an event where North Ayrshire Council employees could bring their children into work at the end of the day, to learn how to code.  This session attracted children of varying ages and we had children coding with Scratch as well as using devices such as BlueBots, Dash and Spheros.

We were delighted that the project won the North Ayrshire Achieves Award ‘Skills for Life’ in 2018 which recognised the work we had already done and our ambitions for the future.

In February 2020 we were included in EdTech50 for 2020 as one of the projects in the UK shaping technology across the UK.

Unfortunately the initiative was hit by COVID early in 2020 and has not yet resumed.   However we hope to run a Summer Camp in 2022 and depending on the virus, be able to support individual schools- in session 21-22 with clubs and staff with training.

 Coding the Future – North Ayrshire Council

In May 2017, North Ayrshire Council made a pledge to tackle the digital skills gap by providing access to Code Clubs for all learners aged 9–13 by August 2020.

The ‘Coding the Future’ project team, including staff from Customer and Digital Services and Education has the aim of expanding and supporting Code Clubs across the authority.  The first step was to look for volunteer staff to become STEM Ambassadors.  North Ayrshire Council allows their staff to volunteer within the community for 14 hours per calendar year.

Approximately 40 staff became STEM Ambassadors and were part of a ‘train the trainer’ approach.  Their objective was to support schools to set up their own clubs, taking a step back once the staff felt confident to run the clubs by themselves.  We had some training from Code Club Scotland to start us off.  This eventually led to a core group of 8-10 people delivering support to schools.

In addition to this training, some staff attended a Barefoot Computing session. 

Schools were advised that they could request help from a volunteer to start up a Code Club.  We tried to work this on a geographical basis, depending on where the volunteer lived. Some schools set up weekly clubs for a term, some for an academic year and some on a more ad hoc basis.

In addition to individual school clubs, two of the team ran a club most Saturdays at Irvine Library which was always well attended, in fact at times oversubscribed.

We ran two very successful Summer Code Camps in 2018 and 2019.  These ran for a week in July and operated from 10am until 3pm each day, with lunches provided by North Ayrshire Council.  The limit on participants was 25, although we could have organised a couple of camps such was the interest.  Unfortunately, this was not possible as staff were using holidays to run the camp.

At camp, the young people had a variety of activities to choose from including Scratch coding, Python, Raspberry Pis,  Microbits, Spheros, Virtual Reality headsets, Merge Cube AR, 3D printing, 360 degree photography and video making.

At the end of the week we held a challenge – participants had to make their own robot using a Sphero, plastic cups and various other craft items including balloons.  We invited parents to come in on the Friday afternoon to enable the young people to show them what they had experienced and created during the week.  We also had visits from the Leader of the Council, a couple of NAC Heads of Service and two of the Digital Skills Team from Education Scotland.

During these visits our young people very ably demonstrated and taught our visitors about the devices they had been using during the week, including a safety talk about the use of VR Headsets.

We also ran a successful Learn to Code Day for staff one Saturday in November 2019, supported and funded by a STEM Grant from Education Scotland.  Activities ranged from unplugged coding to Raspberry Pis and Codapillars to Python.  Participants were from primary and secondary schools as well as members of our Family Learning Team.

In December 2019 as part of Computing Science Education Week, we held an event where North Ayrshire Council employees could bring their children into work at the end of the day, to learn how to code.  This session attracted children of varying ages and we had children coding with Scratch as well as using devices such as BlueBots, Dash and Spheros.

We were delighted that the project won the North Ayrshire Achieves Award ‘Skills for Life’ in 2018 which recognised the work we had already done and our ambitions for the future.

In February 2020 we were included in EdTech50 for 2020 as one of the projects in the UK shaping technology across the UK.

Unfortunately the initiative was hit by COVID early in 2020 and has not yet resumed.   However we hope to run a Summer Camp in 2022 and depending on the virus, be able to support individual schools- in session 21-22 with clubs and staff with training.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bridging the Digital Gender Divide – OECD

This post is based on a report published in 2018 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The report aims to further strengthen the evidence base in support of the equitable participation of women in the digital economy. As the OECD report runs to more than 150 pages, I have written this post to share what I believe are the key messages, most relevant to educators in Scotland, and some of the guidance we are putting, or can put, in place to improve gender balance in computing and digital skills. 

 

We are all well aware of the increasing gender wage gap, which is especially so in digital careers, and if we don’t engage girls, they’ll be further behind in terms of earnings and career progression. In terms of digital literacy, the report suggests that the ‘generalist wins out over the specialist’ – this is useful to consider when we plan our learning and teaching: do we need children and young people who are very good at one area or skill, let’s say coding, or would be preparing them better for the world of work by allowing them to experience data, security, web development and other areas all set in cross-curricular meaningful contexts? 

 

Regarding gender balance in Computing Science, the report recognises that ‘girls perform better in collaborative tasks yet we celebrate completion/accuracy of tasks (think exams!) which don’t reward or mention the collaborative process’ – this made me reflect on my own practice, and while I would recognise good teamwork or effort that would probably be second to task accuracy or completion. So, do we need to upskill ourselves in supporting and developing collaborative learning – how to recognise when this is effective and how to feedback effectively on it – so that we can design learning and environments that foster, promote and celebrate collaboration? 

 

It might seem like common sense to promote girls-only or girl-centred lessons, classes and clubs to engage more girls – and yet the research does not support this! The OECD points to the need for ‘girls and boys working together breaks down barriers and biases’ and ‘awareness raising of digital as a cultural norm for girls and women’, while ‘showcasing female leadership in digital’. So, next time you think of setting up girls-only clubs, is it worth thinking how you can ensure mixed-gender activities that promote the skills, abilities and characters of girls alongside those of boys? 

 

In addition to the potential ‘barrier’ of gender to accessing computing and digital skills, how many of use consider the possibility of cultural and language barriers? Are our computing lessons relatable and meaningful to learners who speak English as an additional language? Does it fit their cultural capital – or that of their family? The ‘most exciting’ computing lesson (if such a thing existed) might be that for just one group while being less accessible to others. So, how do we ensure our lessons and activities excite and engage more learners, and not just more girls. 

 

The DigiLearn team have been working with our Improving Gender Balance colleagues to ensure we implement as much of this in our support as possible. We are proud to say that we will ensure that our support for educators will: 

  • support engagement in extracurricular activities 
  • bear in mind gender-related considerations for teaching – this will be built-in to our webinars and web content 
  • raise awareness of women who lead in computing and digital skills – in and out of education 
  • support applications for funding that can be accessed to support or enhance female participation 

 

Read the paper

REMOTE TEACHING OF CODING, CARMYLE PRIMARY

Laura Di Pasquale (@LauraKeeney01) was previously acting principal teacher at Carmyle Primary School and Nursery Class in Glasgow City.

She has been delivering learning to staff to increase their confidence in delivering the learning to pupils:

“I have taken part in several computing science CPD sessions over the past two years and am now leading the Glasgow City (GCC) webinars for Swift Playgrounds on iPad. In the beginning, staff did not have a lot of confidence in teaching computing science, so I developed some further training to improve this.

I had already introduced the GCC trackers for Digital Literacy and Computing Science but staff were still developing their confidence with this too. So, I developed and delivered online training with staff in my school on computing science, coding and its place in the curriculum. I then created a staff pack of three coding lessons for each year group P1-P7 for staff to use. Finally, I team-taught a lesson remotely (I was shielding at home whilst the rest of the school returned) with each class to build that teacher’s confidence.

Throughout this work I have been able to demonstrate how accessible coding can be, and how each teacher already has most of the skills required to teach a coding lesson in the classroom. Colleagues took my ready made lesson for their own class and taught this – feedback was excellent! Staff are now much more aware of how computing science can be taught offline and are now more engaged in developing computing science in the classroom; some have actively sought out further CPD (such as digilearn) to enhance their skills and knowledge.”

“The best part of all of this work has been the educational impact on the children! They were really engaged and could make the links between skills being taught in the classroom and those linked to the wider world. The learners were engaged in the tasks and really enjoyed follow-up tasks that used online activities such Scratch or Swift Playgrounds. Children were assessed using a lot of questions and watching how they engaged with the task and how well they could remember and use new technical vocabulary, such as commands and sequence.”

FIRST LEGO LEAGUE JUNIOR: PLAYMAKERS, DALMILLING PRIMARY

Elizabeth Cairns is a class teacher at Dalmilling Primary School in South Ayrshire. She has been using the First Lego League: Playmakers project to develop her learners’ understanding of coding, problem solving and design solutions. Elizabeth started by attending a webinar with the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) where she learned about the project, resources and advice on delivering the learning. The First Lego League is fully resourced with learning materials, guidance and instructions on the IET Lego Education site and the Lego WeDo 2.0 kit was purchased by the school. Using the Lego WeDo project is a great way to engage learners as the challenge has a context, relates to a real world problem and the Lego makes it hands-on with concrete materials.

Elizabeth noted that all of her class engaged with the project, especially those who don’t always engage with technologies or computing lessons. Research shows that girls, especially, engage better with technology when the learning is contextual, collaborative and based on relationships -which match the six core values of the First Lego League: inclusion, discovery, teamwork, innovation, fun and impact. Elizabeth felt that this learning was enjoyed by almost all of the learners and that they developed many skills, including coding, teamwork and problem solving.

uhi cyber course reflections

TEACHER’S REFLECTIONS ON CLPL – UHI INTRO TO CYBER SECURITY ONLINE COURSE FOR TEACHERS

“Courses like this are vital to give teachers the skills and confidence to deliver Cyber Security to their pupils.”

by Darren Brown, Computing Science Teacher from Inverness High School in Highland (@invernesshigh), Northern Alliance

I’ve been keen for a few years to bring in more Cyber Security into my school but admittedly I was a little put off due to my lack of knowledge and having no idea how to even start to approach the practical work.

The Intro to Cyber Security course from UHI was exactly what I needed. It did require a few hours a week of work but I progressed through all the basics of Cyber Security building my knowledge. Having done online courses before I was used to working independently but on this course although I could work when suited it me we also had a specific recorded lecture a week to watch and tutorial session where all the students could tune in, ask questions and share ideas. There was also a discussion board for interaction and posting ideas, issues or questions anyone had. There were various extra resources, links, videos and websites available to go into more detail if I wanted to and all related to the latest real world scenarios. There were plenty of practical tasks on various online systems to do hands-on work to build on the theory as well as setup of virtual machines to do proper Ethical Hacking.

At all times what was studied was brought back to thinking about how you could introduce and bring concepts to life in your own classroom. Even the assessments are tailored to creating materials and ideas for classes.

The course had a mix of primary, Computing and other subject secondary teachers so was very accessible for all introducing the key building blocks of Cyber Security but allowing those who wished to do hands on Ethical Hacking to upskill to think about delivering the SQA National Progression Award (NPA) in Cyber Security.

Everyone is very busy but this is a CPD course that will directly help your teaching on the ground of Cyber Security. The lecturers were very approachable, gave any help required, answered questions as well as being flexible to teacher’s busy weekly schedules with deadlines. Like general Computing Science it is very clear we need to bring more Cyber Security into all schools at all levels.

“Courses like this are vital to give teachers the skills and confidence to deliver Cyber Security to their pupils.”

digital xtra flummix magician

DIGITAL XTRA FUND – CASE STUDY: FLUMMIX (2020)

 

Flummix – How to Build an Online Shop

Encouraging Ecommerce for Everyone
In 2019, Heart of Midlothian Football Club created its pioneering Innovation Centre, sponsored by Baillie Gifford and powered by Dell Technologies. One of the key goals for the centre was to create educational programmes which would provide the community with accessible opportunities to learn practical and valuable digital skills. The Innovation Centre looked for experienced educators who could create classes, to help pass on skill sets which would help future career opportunities and employability.

Luckily, they had an expert in house.

 

More Than Magic
Jody Grieg is a former computer science teacher and specialist in digital marketing, who also happens to be a professional magician (and is the resident magician at Heart of Midlothian Football Club). Jody’s STEM learning and performance arts company, Flummix, specialises in educational entertainment, combining Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths to develop skills in creativity, computational thinking, and confidence. With years of teaching experience, Jody now uses magic as a tool for delivering his unique form of educational entertainment.

“It encourages confidence, self-esteem and empathy,” says Jody. “It’s a great tool to build on the natural curiosity of ‘how did you do that?’ and helps learners enjoy solving computational mysteries and make meaning from direct experience.”

When not teaching or astonishing audiences, Jody also continues to develop his career in digital marketing. Through his other company, TreeTopFrog, Jody designs and develops websites and ecommerce stores. He also helps businesses grow online with search engine optimisation and pay per click (PPC) adverts.

 

Build Your Own Online Store
In January 2020, Flummix was one of 25 successful applicants to the Digital Xtra Fund’s fifth round of grant awards. The support enabled Flummix to develop and run a weekly ‘ecommerce’ club which teaches young people (from S2-S5) how to build and design their own online store, in a way they cannot learn at school. This can be used in a huge range of ways, to sell goods, offer services, or even showcase the developer as a potential employee.

“Creating an ecommerce site brings together a wide range of different STEM skills, which work together to create something really valuable,” says Jody. “It incorporates design, development and creativity. Participants learn how to explore new software and technologies. They integrate content writing and media creation, to build a brand and create something exciting and practical. They can explore their inner entrepreneur to turn their hobby into a business. This is an amazing practical real-world skill that has endless possibilities”

Flummix worked in partnership with Heart of Midlothian FC who kindly offered their facilities at the club’s Innovation Centre without charge, and also supported Jody with the marketing and delivery of the course.

 

No Coding Required
While some online courses are intensive coding exercises, Jody instead uses the popular WordPress content management system (CMS), which powers approximately 69% of all the websites in the world today. WordPress supports an enormous number of ‘plugins’ – pieces of software which enable the platform to utilise all of the leading software services, such as ecommerce providers, payment systems, social media sites, video providers, image sharing, and online security – without
requiring an in-depth knowledge of coding. This provides a course which requires computational thinking and computer literacy, but without the steep learning curve of traditional programming that can put off many young learners.

 

Classroom Meets Covid
The ecommerce course was originally created to take place in the Media Suite at Heart of Midlothian FC where all the Innovation Centre programmes are run, to enable hands-on teaching and support. As with so many plans in 2020, the Covid pandemic changed that. When it became clear that a lockdown of some kind would be highly likely for the foreseeable future, the course was adapted for online delivery. Working in partnership with the Club, the ecommerce course was able to use the same successful framework as the other Innovation Centre clubs and courses. Jody identified online tutorials with the core skills required and supported students directly via individual or group videocalls.

The new online course gave students the chance to study at their own pace, revisit material and still have a regular timeslot where they can ask questions, see others’ progress, get feedback, help and input from Jody and the other participants. At the end of the course, each student will have learned all of the components necessary to launch their own online store.

 

The Future Is Online
“Due to the impact of Covid-19, more and more businesses are now looking for digital solutions,” says Jody. “Young people with the skills to get themselves, friends, family, or small companies online are going to be really valuable.”

While the first cohort of online students started in October 2020, Jody already has plans for a more personal approach to future courses. “I would love to produce my own video tutorials,” says Jody. “It would let me personalise things, use examples closer to home, keep the messaging focused and make it a lot more fun.”

While he doesn’t say so specifically, there’s a strong possibility that Jody’s own online videos would be a little more magical than those produced by other, less mystically gifted teachers.

 

Retail Reality
“Every kid should be exposed to the opportunities of building a business online,” says Jody. “The BBC ran a news story in early 2020 about a 14 year old girl in London who had created her own online drop-shipping business. This means she’s created her own storefront, full of products that are produced and shipped by other companies. She was earning good money whilst learning at school! Thanks to the help and support of Digital Xtra Fund and Heart of Midlothian FC’s Innovation Centre, young people across Scotland will be able to bring their own ideas and projects to life and either build their own business, or kickstart a successful digital career.”

That sounds magic, Jody!

digital xtra fund port ellen

DIGITAL XTRA FUND – CASE STUDY: PORT ELLEN PRIMARY SCHOOL (2019)

RESILIENT ROBOTICS TEACHING – THE NEXT GENERATION:

HOW TO CODE AT PORT ELLEN PRIMARY SCHOOL 

 

A robotics club from Port Ellen Primary School (@portellenps) on Islay has been hailed by Digital Xtra Fund as a great example of what schools can do to equip the next generation with the vital tech and interpersonal skills they will need in the future. 

Resilient Robotics was launched at Port Ellen Primary School in January by Class Teacher Jo Clark. A robotics club for children aged between 8 – 12, it teaches children how to code, create apps and build robots. Among other resources, the club uses Marty the Robot built by Scottish firm Robotical; an educational robot designed for kids.  

Jo Clark, who submitted the school’s Digital Xtra Fund grant application, explains the idea behind Resilient Robotics was to create a robotics club where the children not only learn new technical skills, but also develop resilience, improve self-confidence and, most importantly, have fun.  

She explains: “Developing children’s resilience and self-confidence is a key aim. Learning programming and building robots requires skills like investigating, debugging and perseverance. There is a lot of trial and error when it comes to programming; children need to know failure is part of the design process. Overcoming difficulties while creating robots develops resilience and, once they are successful, is also very rewarding.  

“I think lots of children don’t understand the outcomes of being able to code, but once they see what they can achieve, they are hooked. They follow instructions, generate algorithms, and use their skills creatively, developing progressively more complex ways of working as they go on. From simple exploring with Spheros using apps, to building a responsive robot in Marty using Scratch, to more diverse and creative programming using the micro:bit Inventor’s Kit – the children are inspired and motivated. 

“We are very pleased with the success of the programme and are especially delighted it is being adopted in neighbouring Primary schools and now at Islay High School. You can see how much the children are getting from it, and how much they are going to benefit from developing these skills at an early age.”  

 

Kraig Brown, Partnerships and Development Manager at Digital Xtra Fund, added: “It is essential we equip children with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in a technology-driven world, no matter what career or industry they may become interested in.  

“What is especially fantastic about Resilient Robotics is the success it has achieved in terms of sustainability. The original grant from Digital Xtra Fund supported the pilot programme at Port Ellen Primary School, however, it was quickly realised there was an excellent opportunity to expand this initiative across the island, including at the High School, as well as on Mull and Jura. The fact that some of the resources are also being translated into Gaelic will only add to the project’s legacy. It’s a fantastic programme which will make a real difference in the lives of young people from the islands.   

Brown adds: “Resilient Robotics is a shining example of the kind of initiative Digital Xtra Fund is looking to support. As a grant awarding charity, it is always the goal to see supported initiatives take root and grow and we hope other organisations and schools can take inspiration from its success.” 

Digital Xtra Fund is currently accepting applications for the next round of grant awards. Grants of up to £5,000 will be awarded to organisations delivering extracurricular activities that teach young people skills such as coding, data analysis, cybersecurity, and computational thinking helping inspire Scotland’s next generation of technologists, developers and digital leaders.  

 

For further information please visit http://www.digitalxtrafund.scot/ 

digital xtra hearts fc

DIGITAL XTRA FUND – CASE STUDY: HEARTS FC (2020)

Heart of Midlothian FC Digital Innovation Centre – Create an App to Save the World

 

Innovation in Sport
A football stadium may seem an unlikely place to learn about technology, robotics, and software programming, but for a growing number of children and young people across Edinburgh, it’s a valuable new addition to their community. Heart of Midlothian Football Club, (or Hearts, ‘Herts’ or ‘Jam Tarts’ if you prefer), has an unusual addition to the usual sporting facilities – an Innovation Centre. Founded in 2019, the Heart of Midlothian FC Innovation Centre, is sponsored by Baillie Gifford and powered by Dell Technologies. The centre provides hardware, software and equipment to the local community. It also runs a range of courses to help people across the city to learn new digital skills, or find a career in technology.

The presence of the Innovation Centre becomes a little less surprising when you discover that Ann Budge, the owner of the club, is a technology entrepreneur and business leader, with a passion for supporting new talent. The link with the club also helps attract young people who may not otherwise engage with digital technology through school or at home.

 

Football First
The fact that many young people are first and foremost football fans, enables the Innovation Centre to find new ways to build upon that passion. Tanya Howden, the Digital Education Programme Manager for the Innovation Centre, says that the club’s use of technology provides a way for children and young people to think about the technology in their lives.

“There’s a growing range of technology used within football clubs. From goal-line technology to fitness trackers, we can show children from primary school age upwards, the ways in which a player’s location, speed and fitness levels are captured and measured, in a way which is meaningful to them. We can then work with them to build prototypes for their own trackers and teach them the design and development skills to understand all the other ways in which technology is present in their lives. This really helps show them that technology is not scary, that it’s not ‘just for boys’, and that you don’t need to be a maths genius to make things work.”

 

Innovation Centre
The Innovation Centre is located within the media suite, where journalists are based on match days. This provides a large and exciting space, which has been designed to support people taking part in the classes and courses. The centre works with a number of Edinburgh’s leading businesses, including Baillie Gifford and Dell Technologies, to provide equipment, from laptops to micro:bit (@microbit_edu) ‘pocket computers’. The centre also has a group of passionate volunteer mentors, to ensure that every participant has the support they need to learn new skills.

In the two years since the centre’s first pilot, it has grown from a single coding club, to offering a whole programme of free educational courses, encapsulating everything from basic digital skills through to employability, with a careers club for school leavers, and workshops on starting a new business.

 

Building Apps for Good
In January 2020, Heart of Midlothian FC’s Innovation Centre was one of 25 successful applicants to the Digital Xtra Fund’s fifth round of grant awards. The support enabled the centre to introduce a new club, which adapted the UK wide Apps for Good (@AppsforGood) programme, to help young people design and develop their own apps, with a beneficial social impact. Young people worked in groups, supported by volunteers, to determine real world problems that could be solved, or improved with the application of technology.

“We encourage them to think about the things they care about,” says Tanya. “We consider the problems they encounter in their daily lives, or the lives of friends and family, like elderly relatives. We ask them about their local community, mental health, and issues they wish people recognised, or could do something about. We even ask them what’s wrong with the world – that tends to get a LOT of great responses. Young people are very concerned about the planet and ecological harm taking place. So we get lots of ideas about pollution, deforestation, carbon footprints and even poverty, it really strikes a chord. We encourage them to think big crazy ideas and reassure them that there are no bad ideas at this stage. This is one of the things I really love about Apps for Good. It gives the young people real ownership over their ideas and encourages them to get far more involved and put in a lot more effort.”

 

Real World Skills
Over the eight weeks of the course, the young people will design a practical app idea, with all the features and functionality they wish it to have. They will use online design tools to create the user interface and experience and start to build a prototype using online development tools and potentially live code.

At the end of the course they will have a prototype they can use as part of a portfolio when looking for work, they can keep working on it in their own time, or they can come back to future classes to learn more skills and get the help and support they need to complete and publish the app themselves.

Students can even enter their ideas in the annual Apps for Good competition, which is open to schools and clubs across the UK. The winners will have their app developed and published by a professional studio and published on app stores around the world.

Learning 2020 Style
The Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 had a significant impact on the Innovation Centre, as it did most indoor activities. The Apps for Good course hosted two sessions before being forced to move everything online. The Innovation Centre team knew that children and young people would be stuck at home, and wanted to try and channel their creativity and ensure they could provide the levels of support that participants would need in order to keep pushing their concepts forward.

The centre created a number of relatively simple online courses, covering a range of STEM activities, using Google Classroom, for primary and secondary school students. Despite the differing approaches from schools, local authorities and regions, the online programmes were very popular. The Innovation Centre had students from across the whole of the UK take part, from Wick to London.

The team worked on adapting the Apps for Good programme to run online using Microsoft Teams. This enables teams to collaborate remotely, with breakout groups, file sharing, video/voice chat, and the ability to work together despite not being in the same location. Doing this online adds a new challenge, says Tanya: “I’m so used to being face-to-face with
people in a classroom, that doing everything remotely did cause a few unexpected problems. We’ve had situations where there are too many people in a group, or where some people don’t have working webcams. It makes it very difficult to read the room and know whether people understand what you’re telling them. However, we’re getting great feedback from all of the young people and we’re continuing to change our approach to make sure every student is engaged and supported.”

 

Everyone Welcome
The Innovation Centre has two cohorts of students in the ‘Create an App to Save the World’ programme, one all-female, which runs until the end of 2020, and the other a mix of male and female students, which starts in early 2021. The decision to have female only classes was an important part of the Innovation Centre’s focus on inclusion, says Tanya: “Technology is so powerful, it can be used in so many ways and it’s relevant to absolutely everyone. That’s one of the crucial things we try to get across on the course. We have had girls join in the past who have only stayed for one or two lessons, because they were the only female in the class and despite all of the support and encouragement, they didn’t feel entirely comfortable. We don’t want anyone to feel excluded because of their knowledge, or experience, or their background. So we created an all-girl cohort to encourage more girls to sign up. Our hope is that we can build their confidence and experience and welcome them back to some of the other mixed clubs, where they can contribute and get involved.”

 

Ongoing Innovation
The Innovation Centre is working to build long-term relationships with the young people taking part in its programmes. From learning new digital skills, through to finding employment, or starting a new business, the club plans to support students and make technology a positive part of their future.

“Scotland is a wonderful place to be,” says Tanya. “There are so many amazing companies here and so many different roles are required across the whole technology industry. We really want to emphasise to young people all of the opportunities they have on their doorstep. We also want to make sure they understand there are a lot of different pathways into
technology. You don’t necessarily have to go to university, or study computer science to find a career you love.”

The centre is now exploring several different ways to further support people into work, with new classes and courses currently being developed. The team is discussing issues such as presenting yourself online, writing a CV, taking part in video interviews, as well as mind mapping future goals and how to achieve them. The club is also finding that a growing number of older fans are starting to take an interest in the Innovation Centre and asking for help with their own digital skills too.

 

Linking into Industry
The Innovation Centre works with a range of industry partners to help highlight the huge number of roles and jobs which are available across Scotland. “Our industry partners make all the difference,” says Tanya. “Hearing from people working in technology, getting feedback from real developers and designers is so valuable for our young people. It shows them that what they’re doing is real and gives them a sense of what’s possible. We want to make sure that we use the local experience and expertise we have here to encourage and inspire the next generation of designers, developers, founders, and business leaders.”

abertay cyber security course

ETHICAL HACKING MODULE AT ABERTAY UNIVERSITY – REFLECTIONS OF A TEACHER

In today’s world I am sure I don’t need to point out how important cyber security is and it will be even more central in the future. Understanding how to protect both your financial and personal data is vital for all pupils and not just those interested in a career in computing. As a Computing Science teacher it is therefore my duty to ensure I do all I can to have the next generation as prepared as possible. 

So that I can give the skills needed for all levels, I realised I needed to have a good understanding of language and skills around cyber security as well as having up to date course material. This would then allow me to both develop a curriculum to suit all BGE pupils as well those interested in Cyber Security as a career. 

I have been attempting to introduce the National Progression Award in Cyber Security to senior pupils over the last couple of years. I attended various SQA courses and seminars, I read all the material and I did some online courses from other providers. This all gave me some confidence but I still never quite felt able to have real discussions or importantly problem solve when inevitably things go wrong. I still spent most of my time responding to pupils with “let me go find out” and start asking colleagues and web searching.  

When I was offered the chance to do the Ethical Hacking Module with Abertay University I jumped at the chance.  

For the first couple of weeks I felt completely out of my depth but I re-watched lectures, re-attempted the practical work and in the weeks following I was feeling confident in at least discussing topics with the NPA students using the industry language and giving them anecdotes that I wouldn’t have previously. 

The course was clearly designed to align with the NPA and this meant that the same issues I  came across are likely to be those that  the pupils might also find challenging. Although I am far from being a cyber security expert, I now have much more confidence and the increased skills needed to support pupils who will go on to specialise. I have been able to bring to BGE classes a new ethical hacking and data security topic added to S2.  

If you are a Computing Science teacher, whether presenting pupils to NPA Cyber Security or not, I would recommend taking the chance to do this course if offered.

 

Shona McAlpine (@MsSMcAlpine)

Computing Science Teacher, Stirling High School (SHS Computing (@SHS_CompSci)