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BBC micro:bit – The Next Gen : Register for 30 free micro:bits!

BBC micro:bit – the next gen, is a new partnership between BBC Education, The Micro:bit Educational Foundation and Nominet. The partnership will donate a set of 30 micro:bits to every primary school across the UK!

The campaign aims to empower primary learners with the digital skills to understand the world around them and shape their futures.

Register for your school set here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/microbit

The campaign aims to empower primary school children aged 8 to 11 with the digital skills to understand the world around them and shape their futures.

Teachers will be supported by teacher training and a suite of cross curricular teaching resources alongside an array of inspiring classroom activities to get children coding.

living in a digital world

Living in a Digital World: cyber resource

YouTube player

Experience an interactive journey into the world of cybersecurity. This resource shines a light on some of the most important topics for how to stay safe inside the digital world and gives practical suggestions that help improve cyber resilience. Designed and developed in collaboration with Daydream Believers and Education Scotland

Use this link to go to Daydream Believer’s site and download the resources: go to Daydream

scottish computing science week 23

15 – 19 May, Scottish Computing Science Week 2023 #CSscot23

Put a hold in your planner for the week of the 15th May 2023 and join us for exciting interactive live computing science lessons. 

Below is our exciting offering for CSscot23 but remember to keep your eyes peeled for more updates and details as we release them (everything will be added here)!

Let us know what you’re planning to join or anything you’re planning in your own setting on twitter @digilearnscot #CSscot23

Webinars and Curriculum Live lessons

15 May 11:00, MITCH RESNICK creator of Scratch, Live Assembly & Sustainability Challenge #CSscot23 - Join Mitch Resnick, LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab, as he explores and shares how he develops new technologies to… …
15 May 16:00 – 17:00 Esports Scotland: The Journey into Education - Join Esports Scotland to hear about their journey into education and their future plans. Over the past 18 months Esports Scotland have been working within… …
15 May 19:00, ELC Practitioner Code Along, with Scratch Jnr #CSscot23 - Celebrate #CSscot23 with the Education Scotland Digital Team, by joining a short 30 minute evening 'Code Along' session to explore the free online block-based coding… …
16 May 11:00, Scratch Code Along with Barefoot – Planet Pledge #CSscot23 - Live Code Along with Barefoot Computing to create a Planet Pledge using Scratch for first - 4th level learners. Join Barefoot Computing for this Live… …
16 May 14:00, Technology to Protect our Planet – Live Assembly, Tech She Can #CSscot23 - Are your students interested in technology and how it can help us protect our planet? Could they see themselves working in a green career in… …
16 May 19:00, ELC Practitioner Play Along, with Barefoot Computing #CSscot23 - Be part of #CSscot23 by joining the Education Scotland Digital Team in a short 30 minute evening 'Play Along' session and be introduced to the… …
17 May 11:00, Live Code Along, Inspiring Sustainable Behaviour with micro:bit #CSscot23 - Making a difference in the world around us can seem a little daunting but there are lots of easy, individual and local things we can… …
18 May 16:00, Artificial Intelligence – Exploring Opportunities for Scottish Educators #CSscot23 - Join Education Scotland for a short session exploring Artificial Intelligence. This session is suitable for educators in Scotland. In this session we will explore... What… …
18 May, 11 – 11:45 Live Lesson, Soft Robotics and AI with National Robotarium - Join Engineers from the National Robotarium as they take learners through Soft Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Soft Robotics focuses on technologies that more closely resemble… …
19 May 11:00 – 11:45 Next Tech Girls Scottish Computing Science Week Event - This is an amazing opportunity for secondary school students around the UK to find out what it means to work in tech and hear from… …
Computing Science Scotland 2023: Review and Resources - If you missed Computing Science Scotland Week, we have (most!) sessions available for you to view again!  (Unfortunately the tech gremlins appeared in a few… …
Monitor and Encourage Sustainable Behaviour, micro:bit, ON DEMAND #CSscot23 - This is pre-recorded session for you to watch with your class at your own leisure. The video will be made available from 17th May at… …

Monitor and Encourage Sustainable Behaviour, micro:bit, ON DEMAND #CSscot23

This is pre-recorded session for you to watch with your class at your own leisure. The video will be made available from 17th May at 11am within the Curriculum Live Channel.

Encouraging those around you to make better choices in their sustainable behaviour is hard. One important thing to encourage change is to convince them with data. Using the data logging feature on the BBC micro:bit, we will build a manual data logger to allow you to gather data for your local area. You could look at transport on the way to school or the types of litter in your local environment. The choice is yours but remember collecting the data is only the first step. Then you need to think about how you will present and share that data in order to make a difference.

This session is suitable for 2nd – 4th Level learners.

This session is based on the traffic survey project – https://microbit.org/projects/make-it-code-it/traffic-survey-data-logger/

Book your place here to access the On Demand recording for your class!

15 May 11:00, MITCH RESNICK creator of Scratch, Live Assembly & Sustainability Challenge #CSscot23

Join Mitch Resnick, LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab, as he explores and shares how he develops new technologies to engage educators and learners in creative experiences.

His Lifelong Kindergarten research group developed the Scratch programming software and online community , used by millions of young people around the world. The group has also collaborated with the LEGO Company on the development of new educational ideas and products, including the LEGO robotics kits.

There will be an opportunity to ask Mitch questions at the end of his talk and learners across Scotland will be invited to take part in a national Scratch sustainability challenge. Projects developed will be showcased globally on the Scratch website!

This live assembly will be relevant for learners in the upper first level – senior phase.

Sign your class up here!

This is digital leaders CLPL

This is… Digital Leaders: skills to help you lead change in your school

This programme aims to support teachers develop their leadership, improvement and coaching skills in the context of digital skills. It will provide the skills and knowledge to develop a strategic plan based on the needs of your colleagues, learners and wider school community; develop your understanding of improvement methodology and support you undertake an enquiry-based approach to developing professional learning for teacher digital skills and the digital literacy curriculum planning for learners.

This CLPL will run throughout the academic year 2023/2024.

Register your interest: coming soon.

 
digital leader

Entry requirements

Teachers need to be digitally confident:

  • professional certifications, such as Apple Teacher, Google Educator Level 2 or Microsoft Expert are required to demonstrate this

Applicants will need time to be able to deliver training, develop curriculum planning and implement school improvement planning:

  • approval from their headteacher to join the programme

The programme requires an enquiry-based approach to learning:

  • applicants must take the time to read the literature, test change in their practice and reflect on their learning to complete a portfolio of learning

Programme content

Applicants will be provided with a list of recommended literature to ensure they have a deep and informed knowledge of digital skills and learning and teaching. This will underpin their development work in school.

There will be inputs from across Education Scotland to support the applicants’ development of skills and knowledge in:

  • leadership
  • improvement methodology
  • curriculum development
  • effective pedagogy

 

These sessions will provide the practitioner with the knowledge to evaluate their schools’ needs for:

  • teacher digital skills
  • the use of digital to enhance learning, teaching and assessment
  • learner digital literacy curriculum planning
  • engaging families in digital learning

 

This evaluation will be used to identify an area of inquiry to develop their thinking and practice over the course of the learning programme. This will be shared as a final summative assessment to pass the course while informing the Scottish education system of effective digital leadership and practice.

The applicant will need to be able to demonstrate how they took evaluated school needs, developed and delivered professional learning to colleagues, and developed the digital literacy curriculum for learners and engaged families with this. The particular aspects that the applicant identifies and develops will form the basis of their professional enquiry.

Programme calendar

calendar

27 March 16:00 – 15:00, This Is Data Session 3

This Is Data

You may have seen spreadsheet dashboards that react to use interactions, automatically filtering and updating charts and tables. Ever wondered how to do it? This short course will support you to develop you skills to store and process data using tools you already use.

These sessions will show you how to use tables, slicers, pivot tables and charts to bring your data to life. You will be able to use these skills to look at your own data and / or share these skills with pupils as part of their learning.

  • Sample data files will be provided.
  • Basic knowledge of excel will be useful.
  • This set of sessions will make use of Microsoft Excel.

Sign up here for some or all of the sessions below

Session 1 – Monday 13th March 4pm

Preparing data for analysis  – the importance of structuring data in tables, using slicers to filter data, conditional formatting, data validation, custom views and useful formulae

Session 2 – Monday 20th March 4pm

Creating Visual Interactive Dashboards – using your data to create pivot tables and visualisations then bring them together into a single user dashboard

Session 3 – Monday 27th March 4pm

Linking Data – how to link tables and visualise results that draw from more than one data source.

digital xtra fund now open

Digital Xtra Fund NOW OPEN

Digital Xtra Fund launches eighth funding round to drive digital skills for young people across Scotland

Digital Xtra Fund has launched this year’s Round VIII (2023/24) Grant Awards, with the aim to help drive digital skills among young people. To date, the Fund has secured almost £1 million to deliver coding and tech clubs and initiatives nationwide. Over the years, the Fund has awarded 137 high-quality, exciting extracurricular computing and digital technologies initiatives across Scotland, that has helped engage nearly 45,000 young people in tech. In 2022/23, Digital Xtra Fund has supported 35 initiatives covering 24 local authorities and are on target to engage over 7,400 young people by the end of June, of which approximately 50 per cent will be girls and young women. 

Supported activities must be delivered between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024 and delivered entirely in Scotland. Activities must also focus on engaging young people aged 16 and under. Applications are welcome from UK-registered companies, charities, chartered bodies, local authorities, schools, colleges, or universities actively involved in the provision of computing education or digital technology related activities, especially for audiences from excluded groups or backgrounds (such as pupils from areas of high deprivation and/or rural isolation, girls and young women and/or minority groups). Eligible organisations can apply for grants from a minimum of £500 to a maximum of £5,000. Similar to last year, applicants will be required to submit their applications via online form found on the Digital Xtra Fund website.

To help applicants with the grant application, Digital Xtra Fund will also be delivering two webinars and also while the funding is open. New this year, Digital Xtra Fund will also be delivering four in-person sessions in Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow, and Edinburgh giving prospective applicants an opportunity to ask questions to the Digital Xtra Fund team about the grant application. The team will also bring some popular educational devices (e.g., Sphero indis and BOLTs, micro:bits, Marty the Robot, and LEGO Education SPIKE sets) to these sessions for applicants to try before deciding if they would like to include them in their application.

The deadline for submissions of the grant application is Thursday 6 April 2023 at 15:00. To find out more about eligibility criteria, online application and details about the webinars, please visit: https://www.digitalxtrafund.scot/apply/.

12 December 16:00, **COMPETITION** Me, Myself and AI: How does artificial intelligence impact your life **COMPETITION**

The Scottish AI Alliance have recently launched their first-ever competition for schools and are looking for schools to take part!

The Scottish AI Alliance is a partnership between The Data Lab, Scotland’s innovation centre for data science & AI, and The Scottish Government. They are tasked with the delivery of Scotland’s AI Strategy.

Scotland’s future lies with children and young people and they believe it is fundamental to include their voices in creating a better awareness of what Artificial Intelligence (AI) is and shaping AI’s future in Scotland.

It is in this spirit that they have launched ‘Me, Myself & AI’ – a competition where children and young people are challenged to investigate how AI impacts their lives and share their findings for a chance to win prizes for their class. Any output from the investigation, as long as it can be displayed on a screen, will be considered by the panel of judges. The grand prize is a class visit from their competition partners, The National Robotarium!

With competition categories for P5-P7, S1-S4, and S4+, they would love to see submissions from across the year groups and across subjects. They are happy to talk to teachers to explore how we can best support their taking part but have also prepared a Teacher Pack with background information on what AI is, how it is used and how to investigate further.

 

You can register & find the Teacher Pack using this link: https://www.scottishai.com/schools-competition

Or get in contact with them via aialliance@thedatalab.com

The competition is open until Friday 24 February. We hope you have fun investigating, and can’t wait to see the creative responses to “How does AI impact your life?”

Scottish AI Alliance (@Scottish_AI) / Twitter