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The BBC micro:bit playground survey results are here!

The BBC micro:bit playground survey results are here!

Primary school teachers and pupils across the UK have been taking part in the BBC micro:bit playground survey. An exciting investigation to help children aged 7-11 get to grips with data science and digital skills in a way that relates to their everyday lives.

Students have measured their playground areas, explored temperature differences between natural and synthetic surfaces, tracked how active their break times were, and counted many different types of plants and animals; discovering lots of new things about their playgrounds along the way!

To find out more, visit the BBC micro:bit – the next gen website.

For the full results report click here

 

Ada Scotland Festival 1-11 October 2024

We are pleased to give you and your colleagues, an early heads-up on events and resources for high school teachers and students from the 5th Ada Scotland Festival 1-11 October 2024.

The Ada Scotland Festival mission remains to champion gender balance in tech and computing, providing inspiration for our young people and to build a stronger, fairer, more diverse work force now and for the future. However, school resources are not just for computing and IT students – these are designed to support teachers and students across the curriculum to explore journeys in computing and also harness it as a useful tool in the classroom (whatever the subject). Please read on:

For the Teachers:
Both of these events are relevant across the full curriculum and open to all teachers. The Code Division session has been scheduled to overlap with an In-Service Day (Glasgow schools) to support teacher CPD.

ONLINE  – 16:00 to 17:00 Tuesday 8 October 2024: Apps for Good Classroom Resources covering “Social Action”, “Climate” and “AI” themes – more info

ONLINE WORKSHOP  – 09:00 to 12:30 Friday 11 October 2024: Data Dive with CodeDivision  “harness the power of data in their classrooms” – more info

RECOGNITION – Ada Scotland Inspiring Teacher of the Year 2024: launching soon. View past winners here.

For the Students:
IN-PERSON – 10:00 to 14:00 Tuesday 1 October 2024: Ada Scotland Launch Event. A day of interactive workshops and tours at Barclays Campus Glasgow – more info join wait list

ONLINE – 09:00 to 10:00 Wednesday 2 October 2024: Tech for Gen AI Lesson with Tech She Can – more info

IN-PERSON – 10:00 to 14:00 Thursday 3 October 2024: A day of interactive workshops at the WASPs Creative Studios in Inverness – more info places available!

ONLINE – 09:30 to 10:30 Wednesday 9 October 2024: Cracking Cryptography with My World of Work Live – more info

IN-PERSON – 10:00 to 17:00 Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 October 2024: Games Design Jam and Play Party at Cake & Dice Dundee – more info drop in

For Senior Years and Teachers:
ONLINE – 15:30 to 16:30 Thursday 3 October: Design Sprint with Firefly and Dundee University “Building Habits of Self Compassion” Workshop – more info

You can view all events (updated daily) here

More schools events across Scotland are in the planning. To register interest please email hello@ada.scot

recommended reading on screentime and social media

‘Screentime’ – recommended reading

This page contains links to articles and papers exploring the risks of ‘screentime’ and social media and the lack of data and evidence supporting its purported impact on mental health, particularly children and young people:

The great rewiring: is social media really behind an epidemic of teenage mental illness? (nature.com)

OII | Study finds screen time – even before bed – has little impact on teen well-being (ox.ac.uk)

Do smartphones really cause mental illness among adolescents? Ten problems with Jonathan Haidt’s book – Parenting for a Digital Future (lse.ac.uk)

Focus on teen social media use obscuring this key cause of depression (sfchronicle.com)

Ada Computer Science: Time-saving Resources for Teachers in Scotland

Ada Computer Science: Time-saving Resources for Teachers in Scotland

Ada Computer Science is a collaboration between the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the University of Cambridge. Their aim is to provide high-quality, free, resources for Computing Science teachers and students.

 

To kick off the school year, they have mapped their content to the SQA’s National 5, Higher, and Advanced Higher qualifications, giving teachers and students access to free resources that meet the specific requirements of their qualification.

 

 

Ada Computer Science have also introduced two new table database scenarios for the Database Design and Development area of study. The scenarios provide practical, hands-on experience and deepen students’ understanding of database concepts and applications.

 

 

This release follows the launch of Ada’s Database Design and Development project, and the roll out of material to support the Computer Systems area of study.

 

Ada now covers more than half of the theory content for Scotland’s National 5, Higher, and Advanced Higher specifications. Stay tuned for more updates throughout the school year!

Browse SQA resources

post by andy mclaugjlin, what is digital literacy

What is Digital Literacy? A guest blog from Andy McLaughlin, University of Aberdeen

The presentation in this post was created and shared by Andy McLaughlin; a lecturer at the School of Education at the University of Aberdeen. He is a former teacher and leader in schools where he had a particular interest in digital pedagogies. Andy has been exploring the misalignment between national policy and classroom practice when it comes to developing digital skills in schools, and casting a critical eye over the influence of ‘Big Tech’ on education.

The following presentation was recently delivered to Education Scotland’s Digital Literacy exploration group as a provocation for discussion around Digital Literacies. In it, Andy shared some interesting research that has been carried out recently around the world.

If you would like to know more, or get in touch with Andy, you can find him on LinkedIn with this link.

 

Microsoft Testfest Resources and Exams Available

We are delighted to announce that in partnership with Prodigy Learning, the licences for Microsoft learning resources (LearnKey) and the Microsoft Practice tests (GMetrix) have been renewed until June 2025!

 

Moreover, we are excited to offer you a valuable opportunity for professional development – FREE Microsoft Certification exams throughout June 2024. 

 

This is a fantastic opportunity for educators across Scotland to develop and enhance their digital skills with Office applications, such as Word and PowerPoint, and discover how to use your digital skills to deliver classroom experiences that will develop students’ 21st Century Skills.

 

Ensure you take the time to review the Channels in the MOS Training and Certification Scotland Team and the MCE Training and Certification Scotland | General | Microsoft Team to make the most of this opportunity!

family learning cyber aberdeen

Supporting Children in the Digital World: a user story from Aberdeen City Council Family Learning

This guest blog post was provided by the Community Learning and Development team at Aberdeen City Council.

Supporting Children in the Digital World is a four week course developed by CLD Family Learning Aberdeen to help parents keep their children safe online and develop strategies to manage device usage.

 

The course was created in response to a need identified by parents/carers who wanted to understand the technology their children using.

Over the course of four weeks we cover:

  • The technology children and young people are using
  • Digital footprints and being a good digital role model
  • Understand the risk and reward of devices
  • Know how to respond to negative online experiences
  • Discover age appropriate online safety resources
  • Learn about online safety strategies

The aim of the course is to ensure parents feel more empowered to manage device usage in their homes and give their children the skills to self-regulate and make good decisions while online.

We deliver this course to parents/carers in Aberdeen out in the community as well as online, to ensure we can reach as many parents/carers as possible.

 

One parent who attended the course said:

“I feel a lot happier that I now have the skills and information to tackle internet safety with my child, and will be a lot more relaxed having conversations which will in turn will benefit my child and make them more likely to approach me when they need support.”

 

We are further developing the course to create two one off information sessions, for those who cannot commit to the full four weeks. One of these one off sessions will focus on pre-school children and device usage and the other will be a more general information session condensing the content of the original course.

If you would like to know more, get in touch with the team by email: familylearning@aberdeencity.gov.uk

boy girl jump device

#SDLW24 Video Recap series

Below is a playlist that shows the Curriculum Live Lessons, Professional Learning, and sharing practice sessions that were delivered as part of Scottish Digital Literacy week 2024.

Continue to share the amazing work that is taking place in your settings and be sure to mention us @digilearnscot using #SDLW24

DSAS ELC 2024 logo

Introducing The Digital Learning Through Play Award in ELC – CLPL Sessions

Accompanying CLPL supporting the new Digital Learning Through Play Award in ELC.

Join us in a 30-minute information giving session, introducing the brand new Digital Learning Through Play Award in ELC and to find out about the new accompanying CLPL professional learning network. 

22/08/24 11 am

22/08/24 4pm

19/09/24 10am

19/09/24 4pm

The Digital ELC Award for Scotland (DSAS) Introduction Session. Tickets, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite