Tag Archives: technology

Online learning spaces – the Class space

This is the first post in a series which describes some of our work on ‘content-free’ templates for educators and learners to use in our learning.

This space is on Glow O365, so it is best to log into Glow (eg on the Learning Spaces Community) before you explore the links below

classspace_logo3What’s the thinking behind it?

This space helps support the learning of a class throughout an extended period of time.

It covers the first 2 or 3 stages of the Salmon model reasonably well, helping learners with easy access to resources, encouraging socialisation and information sharing.

At the same time, it offers the potential for ‘flipping’ some of the teaching and learning .

What does it do?

It has a number of functions that will support class learners; teacher announcements, newsfeed, calendar and learning resource areas. The slides below will you give some idea of the functionality…

Ok, how do I get it?

The Class Space template is on Glow O365 and is available to any member of staff from their school site. See How to create a Class Space for more details.

Summary of support available

Thanks for reading!

Sky Academy Skills Studios in Livingston

Sky Academy Skills Studios in Livingston is inviting you and your class to be part of an unforgettable, exciting and interactive learning experience!
Already hugely popular in London, Sky Academy Skills Studios opens in Livingston in March 2015. This free half day learning experience gives young people between the ages of 8-18 the opportunity to use cutting edge technology to make their very own TV report based on a subject area of your choice.

Groups of up to 32 students will be divided into four teams, each with their own studio equipped with a green screen, broadcast quality HD camera and touch screen edit table.

The whole experience is tailored to the Curriculum for Excellence, and learning is central to every stage of the experience. Topics link to:
• Mathematics
• Literacy and English
• Sciences, Technologies
• Expressive Arts
• Social Studies
• Health and Wellbeing

Students also develop core life skills such as creativity, problem solving, communication, teamwork and self-management. Sky’s dedicated team will be on hand to ensure the experience is inspiring and unforgettable, as well as safe and easy to organise.

Take a look online (Sky.com/skills) to find out more about Sky Academy Skills Studios and book now on Sky.com/teachers or call us on 01506 325 999.

Christmas Cyber Security public Lecture

The Christmas cyber security lectures, run in association with SICSA, are a series of lectures for school pupils that take place across Scotland in the week before the Christmas holidays. With up to 5 talks from leading industry figures, Police Scotland and University academics in one session the lectures provide a fun and varied introduction to the challenges facing all of us as we move towards the internet of things.   The lectures aim to use light-hearted and fun methods to promote cyber security and to highlight educational and career options in the field.

The first two times slots are for school pupils only (approximately age 14+), while the third, starting at 14:30, is a public lecture open to all.   There are public lectures at Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow universities.

· Glasgow Uni – Mon 15th Dec, 1430-1630

· Edinburgh Napier (Riady lecture theatre, Craiglockhart campus) – Tue 16th Dec, 1430-1630

· Dundee Abertay – Wed 17th Dec, 1430-1630

Registration is free and is open via Eventbrite at

https://christmas-cyber-security-lectures-2014.eventbrite.com/

Inspiring workshops and presentations for all year groups

File:Edinburgh Napier University logo.png

Presentations

Our presentations are designed to be delivered to up to 150 people. We can happily deliver these to an entire year group. All presentations run from 40mins– 1 hour

P7 – S3 Workshops

Our workshops are intensive fully interactive sessions designed for groups of up to 30 pupils (unless otherwise stated). Workshops are 45mins—1 hour long to fit into a standard lesson.

Careers & Parents’ Evenings

We are happy to attend your careers event or parents’ evening to answer individual questions and provide literature and information on our courses. We also have presentations suitable for a group of parents & carers. Please let us know your date and we will check availability.

Edinburgh Napier University Information Stand

If you are holding a careers event or parents’ evening, invite us along, and we can bring our information stand with literature about our courses and applying. We will provide a member of staff to answer any questions.

For more information and a brochure on more about ‘what we can do for your pupils’ – studentrecruitment@napier.ac.uk



Engaging with Scottish schools to promote STEM

Engaging with Scottish schools to promote STEM
10am to 3:30pm, 2nd February 2015
Venue: Deans Community High School, Livingston

The Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce states in its report that ‘a focus on sciences, technologies, engineering and mathematics (STEM) should sit at the heart of the development of Scotland’s young workforce’ and calls for long-term partnerships to be established between schools, colleges and employers to bring about significant change.
Similarly, higher education institutions and research groups are looking for ways to engage effectively with school communities to encourage learners to develop STEM skills and pursue further study in these areas.
There are many activities taking place nationally and schools are already engaging with a variety of partner organisations and institutions to enhance the learning and teaching of STEM within Curriculum for Excellence and to develop the employability skills of learners. However, more needs to be done to coordinate efforts and scale up successful approaches to bring about the transformative change that is required.
The purpose of this event is to:
• Share interesting and thought-provoking models of school partnerships with industry, higher education and colleges
• Create a forum for discussion regarding effective partnership working with schools to support learning and teaching in STEM areas
• Outline the national actions that are being developed by national bodies to address the recommendations from the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce.
Audience: This event is aimed at key decision makers or a nominated substitute (persons with interest in STEM School engagement) in local authorities, professional bodies, colleges, higher education, research and industry.
Programme: The event will include a stimulating mix of keynote presentations, workshops and discussion. Further details regarding speakers and workshops will be provided in due course.
To register: This is a free event. Please email STS@SSERC.org.uk to book a place. It is advisable to book early as places are limited. When booking, please remember to send details of any special dietary or access requirements.
For further information please contact Scott Bryce at scott.bryce@sserc.org.uk.

Disruptive Innovation Festival

Hopefully you will have had the chance to see some of the outstanding sessions available as part of the online Disruptive Innovation Festival which has been running from 20th October to 14th November 2014. For those of you that have not managed to catch any of the sessions or missed some due to other commitments we are delighted to announce that many of the events have been recorded and will be available to view for another 30 days.

Visit the DIF website archive at DIF Archive to access the sessions that are still available until 14th December 2014.

Here is a small sample of some of the events that will be available to view until 14th December:
• 3D Printed materials and the Circular Economy
• Internet of Things
• Circular Economy Classroom Activity
• Biomimicry Classroom
• William McDonough (Cradle to cradle): Redesigning the Future
• Jeremy Rifkin: The Next Industrial Revolution
• Mark Miodownik: Made to be Made Again
• TU Delft: Pioneers of Design -Longer Lasting Products
• Sir Ken Robinson: Inspiring a Generation

Please share this information with colleagues who might be interested: STEM subjects, Geography, Business Education, Economics, Modern Studies and anyone interested in inter-disciplinary learning.

If you are inspired to introduce your pupils to the circular economy but would welcome some help in getting started please do not hesitate to contact me by email at jen.barrett@ellenmacarthurfoundation.org

Disruptive Innovation Festival – must-see events this week for Educators

It’s week 3 of the Disruptive Innovation Festival: an online festival exploring emerging ideas and technologies that have the potential to reshape our economy. The Festival is curated by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

So far you will have had the opportunity to drop in on events covering ideas such as self-driving cars, powering cities with coffee bean waste, cradle-to-cradle design, restructuring the financial system, biomimicry design and the sharing economy.

This week – the penultimate week – has a strong focus on education. This includes a Headline Act by Sir Ken Robinson on Thursday where you will have the opportunity to put questions to him and hear of his thoughts for a transformed educational system. Sign up for free here: http://thinkdif.co/headliners/sir-ken-robinson

Transforming D&T Education
04 Nov 16:00 GMT – 04 Nov 17:00 GMT
http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/transforming-d-t-education
Steve Parkinson of Teach Design will host this session where he will take a look at the changing face of D&T education, and what he and his students have learned from studying the circular economy and Cradle-to-Cradle design.


Product Teardown
05 Nov 17:00 GMT – 05 Nov 18:00 GMT
http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/product-teardown
Kyle Wiens will walk us through product teardown, showing us the process the iFixit team go through when rating products for their repairability. Kyle will take your questions on how designers could re-educate themselves to design for disassembly and repairability.


Transforming Learning: Beyond the $1,000 Pencil
06 Nov 13:00 GMT – 06 Nov 14:00 GMT
http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/transforming-learning-beyond-the-1-000-pencil
Join the renowned Alan November to hear how we can equip our students to take responsibility to manage a large proportion of their learning, and to help others to learn.


The Circular Economy Workshop
06 Nov 17:00 GMT – 06 Nov 18:00 GMT
http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/the-circular-economy-workshop
Watch this video to learn how the circular economy can be introduced to a large group of students by taking a group work approach. Download the presentation and lesson plan so you can replicate the session in your setting


Education: What are the new stories?
06 Nov 17:30 GMT – 06 Nov 18:30 GMT
http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/education-what-are-the-new-stories
Is the traditional narrative of school, qualifications and a ‘good job’ still relevant? Oliver Quinlan doesn’t think so, but he wants to hear from YOU in this session as he asks for the new stories around education

Watch this quick video summary of what else is in store for educators this week at the DIF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NXYY9mkGN8&utm_source=DIF&utm_campaign=9bd7318ffa-DIF_Mon_3_Nov11_3_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_45b4eeb0e0-9bd7318ffa-87295145

Computing Clubs for Girls – Primary and Secondary!

CC4G

Free to the first 50 schools to sign up!

CC4G – Computer Clubs for Girls – is a fully resourced scheme of work from e-skills UK, developed with teachers, supported by role models from leading employers and specifically designed to encourage girls to take on the digital world with confidence.

The resources cover a variety of topics, from coding to e-safety, web design to music video production, are fully supported by teacher guides, and can be used to deliver extra-curricular clubs or to support lesson time activities.

Running CC4G doesn’t need any specialist IT expertise or software, it’s fully curriculum-compliant, and girls love it.

Java Fundamentals training

In addition to sponsoring CC4G licenses, Oracle is offering teachers from each school within this scheme free Java Fundamentals training using the Alice and Greenfoot development environments.

The course lays the foundation for students with little or no programming experience to learn the Java programming language, introducing fundamental programming concepts and terminology in an easy, engaging manner.

Sign up now for a free one year account

The first 50 schools in Scotland to respond will each receive a free licence, sponsored by SDS and Oracle, to run CC4G for a one year period, plus free Java Fundamentals training from Oracle. To see for yourself how good CC4G is, register for a free trial at www.cc4g.net.

This offer will not last long and licenses will be assigned on a first come, first served basis. Please contact CC4G with any questions and to confirm your acceptance: cc4ghelpdesk@e-skills.com

CC4G is run by e-skills UK, the Sector Skills Council for Business and Information Technology. We work on behalf of employers to ensure the UK has the technology skills it needs to succeed in a global digital economy. Our work covers software, internet & web, Computer Games, IT services, telecommunications and business change. At e-skills UK we help people achieve their goals every year through our programmes, research and initiatives – at work, school and in further and higher education.

 

Home Economics & Science staff Teach Meet Dundee Science Centre Tuesday 11th November

Teach Meet for Home Economics and Science staff offering support around Broad General Education, National Qualifications, positive destinations, progression with assessment. Presenters include Education Scotland, Scottish Food & Drink Federation, Food Standards Scotland, SQA, University of Abertay, SSERC & Dundee science Centre to name but a few.

Also included in the session will be a ‘Science of Gin’ presentation, discussing the use of botanicals to produce different styles.

TUESDAY 11th NOVEMBER 4.30pm – 7.30pm Dundee Science Centre.

Sign up here – https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/teachmeetDundeeScienceScentre

Get with the Programme

Get with the Programme

An evening of resources, ideas and discussion for computing classes and STEM clubs in primary and secondary schools.

With sessions and discussions from:

Skills Development Scotland

Code Club

Abertay university

Apps for good

FREE Professional Learning session for education practitioners

Thursday 30th October 2014, 1615-1830 at Dundee Science Centre

Delivered by

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Sponsored by

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Bookings can be made by contacting learning@dundeesciencecentre.org.uk, or calling 01382 868609/10.

Glow TV at SLF

Once again Glow TV will be at the Scottish Leraning Festival to bring you the seminars that you can ‘t attend yourself!

This year we will be focussing on the new Glow tenancy and how you could use it effectively in your classroom:

SLF 2014 – Online Learning Spaces – Wednesday 24th September at 4.15pm
SLF 2014 – Using Glow and Office 365 to Support O365 – Thursday 25th September at 9.15am
SLF 2014 – Glow in Action – Thursday 25th September at 12pm
SLF 2014 – Glow the Evolution Continues – Thursday 25th September at 1.15pm

We hope that you can sign up and join us live or if not Watch Again!

The E-CLIC Landscape Competition

The E-CLIC Landscape Competition was announced on January 25th 2014 and will run until September 30th 2014. Participants are invited to submit an idea / project based on the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) devices and tools to face a challenge for the landscape, with respect to the principles of the European Landscape Convention. Participants can compete in one of three categories (Secondary Education Pupils, University Students and the General Public) and win a trip to Estonia, where they will have the chance to present their idea and take part in the international E-CLIC Competition.
Choose one of the three challenges for the landscape in our country and put your imagination to work – you have four months to think, prepare and submit your project, either as an individual or in a team (if you are aged under 18, please do not forget to get permission from your parent or tutor at the personal data form).
The Scottish/British challenges are as follows:
 
Offshore renewables in coastal landscapes and seascapes.
Allotment gardens and change in urban landscapes.
The historic shaping of upland landscapes.
We will be happy to answer your questions (jose.munoz-rojas@hutton.ac.uk). Good Luck !
Please visit our website ([http://www.e-clicproject.eu%3chttp:/www.e-clicproject.eu]www.e-clicproject.eu<http://www.e-clicproject.eu>) and ning platform (http://e-clic.ning.com/) for further information, and also pass onto those whom you think might be interested.

Series of 6 Glow TV Events with Engineers

Meet the Engineer with Primary Engineers.

This is an exciting series of 6 Glow TV events between the 4th of September and the 23rd of October from 10am until 11am to help support the Scottish Engineering Special Leaders Award with Primary Engineer and the Leaders Award for STEM.

Ask your pupils the question ‘What would you do if you could be an engineer in Scotland?’ to help them formulate their answer join our Glow TV interviews with engineers and a Glasgow based solicitor who can tell you how to protect your ideas!

For the third year in a row Education Scotland supports this award as an exciting and relevant way for students from primary and secondary schools in Scotland to discover more about the impact and diversity of engineering, alongside paths and routes into this amazing career.

The list of all the dates and speakers is shown below and their biographies can be found on the leaders award website http://leadersaward.com/index.php/corporate/glow-meets

4th September –            Philip Hannay – Cloch Solicitors (Patents Solicitor) – Watch Again

11th of September –              Craig Goldie – Director Sweitelsky

25th of September –              Gordon Masterton – Vice President Jacobs Engineering

2nd of October –            Tom Sreeves – Director of Manufacturing Aggreko

9th of October –             Douglas Anderson – Founder and CEO OPTOS – this presentation will not be interactive and will be recorded and uploaded to the Education Scotland website Technologies pages

23rd of October –              Emma Henderson – Senior Engineer Expro Group

You can find out more and sign up for any of these events by following the relevant links above.

The Leaders Award for STEM website holds resources such as lesson plans for primary and secondary schools, links to resources from The Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame and award winning engineering companies from across Scotland through Scottish Engineering.

Entry deadlines are the 12th February 2015 with awards being presented in Glasgow alongside a public exhibition in March 2015.

SUSTAINABLE CLOTHING TRAINING EVENT

1 day – Thursday 25th September 2014 from 09.30-16.00

The Lighthouse, Glasgow

Delivered by  Made-by (www.made-by.org) on behalf of Zero Waste Scotland

Event overview
Zero Waste Scotland and the STLA are proud to bring this Sustainable Apparel Training Day to the textile sector working and designing in Scotland. Come along to this day long workshop based session and learn from global case studies on the supply chain and innovation, opening your eyes to the opportunities for sustainbility in the textile sector. A networking lunch will also provide ample opportunity for networking with others working within the Scottish textile sector.

This event is suitable for individuals and companies involved in the design and manufacturing of apparel as well as academic and education professionals interested in the wider issues of clothing and environmental sustainability.

Event detail

The days training will provide you with an overview of:

  • The sustainability issues related to the clothing industry
  • The carbon, water and waste hotspots across the clothing lifecycle
  • The metrics and tools that have been developed by industry groups and multi-stakeholder organisations.
  • The Sustainable Clothing Action Plan Knowledge Hub
  • Innovations, processes and practices which have the potential to have a sustainable impact across:
  • o   Design
  • o   Raw Materials & Textiles
  • o   Colouration

 

Alongside the global case studies you will also hear from our speakers working within Scotland

  • Keela Clothing www.keela.co.uk
  • Dawn Ellams – alternative denim research case study

For further information and to book onto this event please visit here.

Computing Science opportunity to work with Museums and Galleries of Scotland

Pilot project for schools, using museum collections datasets as part of the Computing Science curriculum:

                                                                                                                                                                                               Museums have an untapped resource of rich data, relating to their collections, which can be explored and re-used in new and exciting ways.  

Museums in Scotland have identified digital engagement as a priority (see page 17 of One Year On: Turning Actions into Advocacy), with a focus on how to reuse assets such as digital collections records (which can be similar to library catalogue records, containing data about individual or groups of museum objects) and images.  

Education Scotland and MGS (Museums Galleries Scotland the national development body for the museum sector in Scotland) would be keen to establish up to a number of pilot projects to run over the autumn to spring terms, through which schools would make use of museum collections data, as part of the Computing Science curriculum.

Museums would provide access to museum collections data, to support coding or other exploratory work.  The time available by the museums involved in these pilot projects will vary, but there would be the opportunity to discuss with the museum what the collections data represents, and how it is currently organised, and for the museum-school partners to explore their shared interest in data reuse.  There may also be the opportunity to work with the museum to create a resource which has a life beyond the project, to present new stories about the collections in new ways to the museum and its visitors.

Education Scotland and MGS would aim to work with the school-museum partnerships to develop case studies and a report on what has been learned from the pilot projects, to share with the wider museum and education sector.

If you are interested or would like to find out more about this opportunity please contact Kirsty McFaul Senior Education Officer Technologies, Education Scotland, Kirsty.mcfaul@educationscotland.gov.uk

Education Scotland Higher Computing Science Conference

Higher Computing Science  – Conference Report

Background information

Education Scotland held a conference on Thursday 29 May 2014 as part of the ongoing support of the new national qualifications.  The need for this national event became clear following a series of meetings early in 2014 between the Technologies team at Education Scotland and the following local authorities:

  • North Lanarkshire
  • East Ayrshire
  • West Dunbartonshire
  • South Lanarkshire

Discussion with the local authority representatives focused mainly on the implications of moving from 2 Higher Grade courses in this area of the curriculum to one new higher.  The opportunity to up-date the content was quite rightly taken.  However this has resulted in a significant amount of new content which has resulted in practitioners being uneasy about their ability to deliver the subject content for this new qualification.  In order to evaluate the scale of the difficulties Education Scotland established a Short Life Working group for Computing Science to discuss the best ways to address the issues that were being highlighted.  This resulted in two main areas of activity

  • ‘crowd sourcing’ of support materials
  • organising and planning a national conference.

 The main aims of the conference were to

  • Examine a range of appropriate approaches to learning and teaching
  • Exemplify a significant amount of new course content
  • Continue to build a successful learning community for computing science
  • Examine other areas for development to be addressed over the next academic year

 Conference organisation and delivery

The programme for the event was a mix of keynote presentations and workshop sessions.  Gerry Docherty set the scene for the conference.  He is currently Chief Executive of Smarter Grid Solutions a fast-growing company, with operational bases in Glasgow, London and New York.  He leads on the implementation of the ICT and Digital Technologies Skills Investment Plan.  This plan makes explicit the need for developing skills in this key area of the Scottish economy.   It also makes clear connections to the industry working much more closely with the education sector.  From an education perspective, Education Scotland see this report as being a powerful driver behind the support we are going to be giving this area of the curriculum over the next year or two.  Gerry did a tremendous job setting the scene for the conference and many of the issues he raised in the morning were discussed again in the closing plenary. 

Peter Donaldson set the scene for the afternoon sessions by outlining the aims and objective of PLAN C (Professional Learning and Networking for Computing).  He explained that the Core PLAN C team are connected to 50 lead teachers who are then connected to a further 10-25 teachers in their local area with industry, HE and FE encouraged to link in taking a more strategic approach to supporting work in this area of the curriculum.

The workshops were delivered by 9 practitioners identified by the Computing Science Working Group and delegates were able to attend 3 workshops over the course of the day.  It was planned that each of these workshops would focus on learning and teaching as well as new course content.

Evaluations

The evaluations and conversations with various stakeholders during and after the event indicate these aims were met.  The table below indicates how successful the event was with respect to the evaluation forms returned at the end of the event.  This is based on 66 returned evaluations.  In total there were 125 delegates in attendance and 30 out of 32 local authorities had representatives and there was representatives from the private sector and from colleges.

The key statistics from the table above are

  • 92% of delegates agreed that ‘meeting and exchanging ideas with colleagues was valuable’.
  • 94% of delegates agreed that ‘the workshops sessions and discussions were helpful’
  • 89% of delegates agreed that ‘the suggested approaches to learning and teaching were appropriate’
  • 67% of delegates agreed that ‘a significant amount of new content was exemplified’

 

The figure of 67% in the final statistic is probably explained by the fact that the delegates were approaching the new content from a slightly different teaching background.  These being either a Computing Science or Information Systems background.  It is also an indication that much more needs to be done to support teachers in this area.  One of the comments from the delegates also helped explain this

‘Still need more detail.  Some subjects were over-subscribed, more access to these would be helpful.’

Further comments from delegates were very helpful and they focused on the following key areas.

Ongoing Support

The delegates recognise that this is just the start

‘More events like this to show ideas and methods.  Better continued support.  Direct guidelines to local councils as to how staff should be supported – reinforce the importance of computing science.’

‘We are still unclear about the depth of coverage and are simply guessing.  Fortunately we have a year to get the handle on this so hopefully more information will come out from SQA and yourselves.’

‘More meetings where we can gather, talk face to face and get away from being lots of ‘wee islands’ – the sessions were excellent and I am away feeling muchh more confident about the higher. Anything for ISDD would be great.’

Professional Learning Community

While computing teachers have an excellent ‘professional learning community’ through CompEdNet there is still more that we can do.

‘Local ES events welcome.  How can we develop a shared agenda?’

‘More of the same please. Always good discussions + inspiration.’

The role of key organisations

In the context of on-going work across education and the ICT sector this comment is pertinent

‘Very interesting and useful event.  Great speech by Gerry Docherty’.

Education Scotland and SQA are still expected to do more in this area too.

‘SQA arrangements still require more guidance on depth of treatment required.’

‘More detail on the support team at Education Scotland.  Who’s our contact? Who does what?’

Summary/Conclusions

Education Scotland would like to thank the Computing Science Working Group for their support in making this conference a great success.  The conference would not have been possible without their knowledge and understanding of the computing science context in local authorities and in schools.  Workshop presenters did a superb job and the level of ‘interactivity’ in the sessions was impressive. 

The following comment is one that we should finish on

‘Absolutely fantastic, we need more of these to get up to speed.’ 

It may be worth considering following this conference up in May 2015 to cover other aspects of the new higher but also have a focus on the new ‘Advanced Higher’.

Next steps

The following suggestions have been made as to how we build on the success of the conference

–          Work with the CompedNet practitioner network to identify the features within Glow that will support what they are doing through their professional on-line community.  This will focus on the added value Glow brings that is different from what’s on offer already through CompEdNet e.g. Glow TV, Glow Meets etc

–          Create user stories (identifying practice that’s worthy of sharing)

–          Monthly Computer Science update (publication, 2 sides A4)

–          Host a series of regional events to roll out the information from the conference

–          Host an online national conferences.

Education Scotland is aware that more support is required for computing science and this will continue over the next academic year.

Midlothian Moscars 2014

It a special night which will live long in the memories of the young people and their teachers who attended the first Midlothian Moscars ceremony. Last Tuesday Lasswade became the movie capital of the world as 300 specially invited guests, many dressed glamorously for this red carpet event, gathered to find out which films had been nominated for the 14 prestigious gold statuettes.

The Moscars, challenged primary pupils to come up with a great idea for a film and then demonstrate their creative talents by writing screenplays, acting, filming, editing and directing. The project integrated a range of CfE experiences and outcomes covering literacy, technology, art and design, drama, and music and involved more than 1,500 Midlothian primary children in a range of activities including:
· Researching about film genres
· Writing a screenplay or narrative
· Auditioning for parts – performers and production team
· Creating a production plan
· Storyboarding
· Filming and production
· Creating a score or soundtrack
· Editing

The connected nature of these themes provided an excellent context for interdisciplinary learning as well as opportunities for pupils to apply knowledge and skills in new and unfamiliar situations.

Between February and May 48 films were produced, including dramas, thrillers, comedies, documentaries, animations and even a musical! The entries included films about zombie invasion, ghost stories, time travel, and superheroes, as well as dramas based on WW1 and WW2, the Scottish Wars of Independence and the Midlothian Mining disaster of 1890.

The judging panel, which had the almost impossible task of deciding the winners of the first ever Moscars awards, was impressed by the high quality of the films submitted. Midlothian Schools Group Manager, Alan Wait, said: “The judges were amazed at the film-making skills demonstrated by children. It wasn’t just about the performance of the actors, it was the overall quality of production and direction that made films really stand out. Some films had great stories, whilst others had memorable performances, but things like costume, make-up, special effects and the musical score also contributed hugely to the overall impact.

There was drama, tears and even an emotional acceptance speech from Strathesk pupil Ellie Wotherspoon, whose team took the Best Film award for their wonderful anti-bullying story, Pig. It might be too early to say if the next Leonardo DiCaprio or Cate Blanchett has been discovered in Midlothian, but the 2014 Moscars was an unforgettable evening, enjoyed hugely by all those who attended.

There will also be an opportunity for the general public to view the movies at a film festival which will take place in September.

For more information about the Moscars Project contact:
Alan Wait, Schools Group Manager – Alan.Wait@Midlothian.gov.uk

Higher Computing Science Conference

Computing Science – support for new national Qualifications

Education Scotland organised and delivered a conference to support learning and teaching around the new Higher Computing Science on 29 May 2014.  The main aims of the conference were to

  • Examine a range of appropriate approaches to learning and teaching
  • Exemplify a significant amount of new course content
  • Continue to build a successful learning community for computing science
  • Examine other areas for development to be addressed over the next academic year

Gerry Docherty, Chief Executive of Smarter Grid Solutions, who leads on the implementation of the ICT and Digital Technologies Skills Investment Plan was the keynote speaker.  He did a tremendous job setting the scene for the conference and many of the issues he raised in the morning were discussed again in the closing plenary.

It was a really great day and gives us lots to build on.  If you have any suggestions as to how Education Scotland can further support this area of the curriculum please contact jim.lally@educationscotland.gov.uk.

Software to support server-side development for Higher Computing Science

The new Higher Computing Science has a clear focus on modern technologies and development for the Web.  Server-side scripting and online databases are the building blocks of the large information systems that we all use today.

The new Higher requires learners to provide “exemplifications and implementation of coding to create and modify information systems including the use of: … scripting (database/web pages), server-side scripting…”

This means that every learner studying Higher Computing Science should have experience of using these technologies.  To support the introduction of the new Higher Computing Science, Aberdeen City Council have created and deployed a number of open source software packages.

We have deployed EasyPHP to provide each learner with a dedicated web and database server. This open source software provides an Apache Web Server, MySQL Database Server, PHP language plug-in (to allow for server-side scripting), phpMyAdmin (a web based database management tool) and Xdebug (to provide full debug information for learners as they develop programs).  These servers are hosted locally on each computer where this software is deployed and the servers are controlled via a small application that learners can manage to start/store the servers as required.

This solution provides a full suite of technology that our teachers can now deploy in the classroom. We have modified the software so the data that a learner creates is stored and moves with the leaner in his/her roaming profile.  No matter which computer he/she is using the required data is available. 

As the solution is deployed locally on each station, the web pages are viewed using the localhost (http://localhost/) URL and the server is not broadcast to the wider Internet.

To assist with the development of programs, we have also deployed the open source NetBeans web project editor which supports development using a number of technologies that feature in the new Higher:  Javascript (client-side scripting), PHP (server-side scripting), MySQL (database queries), HTML, CSS and others.

In tandem with this software deployment, we have also provided training to support this technology, which all our Computing Science teachers have been involved with. 

If you would like additional information about this solution please contact Charlie Love at Aberdeen City Council.

Scottish Engineering – Special Leaders Award 2014/2015

Leaders Award for STEM is a fun and rewarding way of finding out about careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). We also play host to additional Special Leaders Awards which run throughout the year, each having a particular focus.

If you could be an engineer in Scotland – what would you do?

We challenge Primary and Secondary school pupils in Scotland to research and interview inspiring engineers!

This award is a great opportunity to engage pupils with real engineers who will convey the importance of STEM in their daily working lives. Schools will be able to develop relationships with industry, both local and worldwide, giving pupils a unique perspective of professions and their significance in the wider world. Our website contains resources and lesson plans which can help pupils get their research underway. Just visit the ‘Downloads’ section of our website at www.leadersaward.com. All successful participants will receive a certificate and winning entries will be exhibited to the public at the Barony Hall, University of Strathclyde (date TBC).

Closing date: 10th February 2015.

The Challenge

Pupils are asked to research engineering and interview a practicing engineer to interpret the statement “if you could be an engineer in Scotland – what would you do?”

Primary pupils are asked to illustrate their response, accompanied by 100 words.

Secondary pupils are asked to illustrate their response, accompanied by 350 words.

Register your school via the website www.leadersaward.com. Once registered, you will receive an application pack and further guidance on completing the award.

For more information about the Scottish Engineering Special Leaders Award, please visit www.leadersaward.com

S3–S6 NATIONAL ICT AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES CAREERS DAY

 

11th June 2014

Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh

 

 

10:00 – 10:25 am –        Registration 

10:30- 11:15 am –          Welcome to Big Ambition Scotland

11:20 –  Learning zones:

  • Expert Zone – join us for opportunity to ask industry experts questions like
    • What it is like to work in ICT and Digital Technologies?
    • How do I get in to the sector?
    • What sort of skills are you looking for in employees?
    • What the jobs of the future are likely to be? 
    • Opportunity Zone – learn from employers and education providers about the different entry routes into the ICT and Digital Technologies sector.  You will be able to hear about the different job opportunities that are available, college and university courses and other options such as Modern Apprenticeship
  • Interactive Zone – an interactive session led by industry to teach you about programming in coding languages. Hand on session giving you an important insight into the world of code

13:45 – 1405 – Lunch break

14:05 – 14:15 – Closing session

Register via the BigAmbition Scotland website:

http://www.bigambitionscotland.com/news/events/national-ict-event-2014/

RSE Young Academy of Scotland – Numeracy Counts

Part of the remit of The Young Academy of Scotland’s Excellence in Education Working Group is to “draw upon YAS expertise to develop teaching resources that enable teachers to make full use of the interdisciplinary possibilities of CfE [Curriculum for Excellence].” 

This resource, working within the Numeracy curriculum area, utilised the broad multi-disciplinary nature of the YAS membership to show how numeracy matters in the everyday lives and work of Scotland’s emerging leaders from the disciplines of science and humanities, the professions, the arts, business and civil society.

Through this YAS resource learners can find out how Cardiologist Marc Dweck uses numeracy in the diagnosis and treatment of heartattacks, discover how astrophysicist Catherine Heymans uses spread sheets when buying a new mobile phone and, most importantly, find out why ‘Numeracy Counts!’

Access the resources here – http://bit.ly/MqEQrJ

GLOW TV Session Introducing circular economy of textiles

CPD session 

 28th May from 16.00-17.00

Lynn Wilson, Key Accounts Manager (Textiles), Circular Economy Team at Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) will deliver a GLOW TV session introducing circular economy textiles and clothing industry models and how examples could be applied to class project work. It will also cover ZWS current work with the clothing industry – Sustainable Clothing Action Plan 2020 and the consumer side of this work – Love Your Clothes (www.loveyourclothes.org.uk) as well as Circular Economy Business Models in clothing retail.

ZWS is commissioning a series of master classes for textile and clothing industry experts, academia and education practitioners to up skill in areas such as zero waste pattern design; assembly for disassembly; fibre processing and dry dyeing and printing, to be delivered from January – December 2015. Four places per master class (there will be 16 in a class) are offered to teaching staff responsible for national curriculum development. Those wishing to attend must apply by preparing a proposal identifying how it will contribute to their professional development and how they will disseminate the learning. An introductory one day event introducing the topics will be hosted by the Scottish Textile and Leather Association in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland in September and the date will be announced shortly.

This session and the master classes proposed will be of interest to teaching professionals across disciplines from Science to Design and Technology as well as more traditional textile and clothing curriculum areas such as Home Economics and Art and Design.

Click on the link below to sign up for this session.

Sign up here!

NESTA Primary One Day Digital Creativity CPD event

Nesta are running a one day digital creativity CPD event for primary school teachers. Find out more about digital activities you can introduce into your own classroom. Choose from four workshops on website creation, animation, Scratch and Kodu. No previous experience is necessary.

Date: Saturday 10th May

Location: University of Glasgow

To book go to onedaydigital.eventbrite.com

One Day Digital Workshops

Web development with CoderDojo

CoderDojo is a global movement inspiring young people to get involved in coding. At a CoderDojo you learn how to develop websites, build apps, design games and more. CoderDojo makes development and learning to code a fun, sociable, kick ass experience. This workshop covers the history of the world wide web, and how it is fast becoming the most exciting platform for digital making. The workshop will give participants the chance to learn about coding for the web, and build their own digital creation using the latest web technologies including HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript.

This workshop is suitable for those with a little experience of using a computer.

Creating, Editing and Sharing Content on the iPad

The iPad’s not just for capturing content; it’s an editing suite and means of sharing on the move. This session will give you a taster in photography, film-making, animation and audio, as well as manipulating, editing and sharing.  While you can share this content with the world, more importantly you’ll leave equipped to share your knowledge with your class!

This workshop is suitable for complete beginners.

Scratch

Scratch is designed especially for ages 8 and over but is used by people of all ages. With Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations and share your creations with others in the online community. This workshop will focus on the importance of computational thinking and how to deliver these within the Curriculum for Excellence for upper primary school classes. The workshop will first look at the background issues followed by an extended hands-on session using MIT’s free Scratch software – an entertaining and engaging graphical programming environment for learners.

This workshop is suitable for those with a little experience of using a computer.

Kodu 

Kodu is a visual programming language from Microsoft specifically designed for the creation of games.  It can be used to teach creativity, problem solving, storytelling, as well as programming. This workshop will introduce you to the different Kodu tools that allow you to build engaging 3D worlds in which to situate your game, as well as learning to code the different objects in the world. The workshop will be very much hands on and you will make a range of worlds/games that will develop your confidence to take Kodu into the classroom.  You will also be able to use the materials provided in class and how to deliver these within the CfE.

This workshop is suitable for those with a little experience of using a computer.

To book go to onedaydigital.eventbrite.com@onedaydigital

Issue 5 – Switched On Scotland

Issue 5 of “SwitchedOn Scotland” – Computing At School Scotland’s newsletter – has been released.  This edition gives an overview of the recent Digital Skills Investment Plan announcement, an update on the PLAN C Professional Learning programme, advice on how SQA standard pseudocode can be used and exciting news from Universities regarding their recommendations for Computing as an entry requirement for courses.

The newsletter can be viewed online at http://www.casscotland.org.uk or on ‘issuu’ at http://bit.ly/casscotissue5

Power Politics – teaching resources exploring Oil and Development

Power Politics is a new education learning resource for schools, community groups, and anyone interested in global learning. 

The resources were developed by the Living Earth Foundation as part of a three-year project funded by the European Commission. They were designed to meet the need for engaging development education materials, providing resources to teach with confidence on a broad range of issues relating to international development and global citizenship.

The resources explore issues including the Millennium Development Goals and the environmental, social and economic impacts of the oil industry, enabling pupils to compare and contrast the different contexts of Scotland and Nigeria.

Teachers, pupils and members of community groups in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Port Harcourt, Nigeria, were involved in a range of creative exercises and workshops, and were at the heart of developing the resources, which is clear to see in the final products.  They created films and comic strips to bring to life the differences and similarities in their day to day lives, and to provoke debate and discussion about the opportunities and challenges that living alongside the oil and gas industry can bring. 

The Power Politics pack includes:

  • Comic text books
  • 9 short films introducing the key issues
  • Exercise packs with activities to suit a range of abilities
  • A user guide for teachers giving background information and additional support.  

 

Power Politics is aimed at S1-S3 and the learning activities can easily be tailored to suit any age group.

The learning pack, with comics and exercises for entire classes is available free to use. You can borrow them from the Montgomery Development Education centre www.montgomerydec.org.uk. or access and download from the website www.powerpolitics.org.uk.

Skills Fusion – VFX film careers outreach programme.

Skills Fusion is a VFX film careers outreach programme. Funded by Creative Skillset (http://www.creativeskillset.org/) , the Sector Skills Council for the Creative Industries, its aim is to highlight the skills shortage that the UK film industry faces in this sector and the opportunities, particularly in the more technical specialist roles that rely on strong educational foundations in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), and computer science subjects, available to students.

Young people concentrating on these areas very often do not know, or realise that rewarding careers based on STEM subjects are possible in the creative industries, nor that many of computer generated imagery (CGI), that they see on the big screen, have been created here in the UK and not Hollywood. 

It is recognised through the landmark report published by NESTA – The Next Gen Report – http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/next-gen, that there is a knowledge gap between the classroom and jobs, and that without an intervention such as Skills Fusion, the UK film industry will not be able to maintain its position as a leading country to do business in the global marketplace.

The intention of Skills Fusion through its resources, attending conferences, working with schools, participating in career fairs, engaging STEM orientated school clubs and cascading information through career advisor networks, that it can inspire and spark that initial interest to potentially fully fledged careers, career paths, which they might not have otherwise considered.

If you would be interested in copies of the specially commissioned careers resource or have opportunities for someone to come to your school to talk about Skills Fusion, participate in an event/teachers CPD session or present a film careers talk to students, please get in touch with yen.yau@intofilm.org (Talent Development Manager, Into Film)

GLOW TV – Meet the Engineer – Roma Agrawal

Meet Roma Agrawal
Date: 25th April
Time: 9:30 – 10.30am
Sign up here:
http://bit.ly/leaderswardforstem

 

 Roma Agrawal (www.romatheengineer.com) , an Associate Structural Engineer at WSP, will be talking to students about her career and her role in designing bridges, skyscrapers and sculptures with signature architects over her eight year career.  She will then take questions from the students in the studio and logged in on GLOW TV. 

Roma Agrawal is being interviewed to encourage students to engage with The Leaders Award for STEM (www.leadersaward.com).

Learning Technologies in Argyll & Bute Council

Over the last year the learning technologies team in Argyll and Bute have been providing additional exciting, computer science related learning opportunities for young people at primary level.

The long-term goal of this project is to capture the imagination of young people, to showcase what can be created and inspire through technology.

Before commencing this project we were very aware that our young people had excellent ICT skills and made very good use of technology.  However, this project is about equipping young people at primary level with skills and knowledge to turn computing ideas into concepts, improve their understanding of how technologies work and gain some understanding of the concepts involved in computer programming. 

We feel that this project is important to the economy of Argyll and Bute, particularly as we want to offer our young people as much choice as possible in where they live and work.  We feel that the technology sector provides a number of remote working and company start up opportunities.  Additionally we are very aware that almost every field of employment now relies on technology, and our challenge is to prepare young people for jobs that may not even exist yet.

Our team has so far supported approximately 50 primary schools by providing expertise to assist them in commencing a computer programming related project.  We work with each school on an individual basis and the projects vary depending on the schools learning outcomes, expertise and available equipment. 

Our approach has been to offer centrally hosted CPD sessions for staff whilst working directly with pupils in schools.  We feel that technology related learning provides excellent pupil led and peer learning opportunities.  It is however interesting to note that in the majority of cases the pupils’ knowledge of technology quickly overtakes that of the teachers.  Subsequently, we are seeing teachers taking up more of a facilitator role in technology related learning. 

An important part of this project was to establish a loan bank of equipment.  This has given our team the opportunity to showcase a variety of technologies whilst allowing us to loan schools suitable equipment.  In addition this provides the school with an opportunity to try out various technologies before committing to a purchase. 

The two most popular activities in our schools so far are Kodu and Lego Wedo.   However schools have also being using Raspberry Pi, Lego Mindstorms, Scratch, PicoBoard for Scratch, LiveCode and .net gadgeteer.  

We have been very much encouraged by the enthusiasm and passion our young people exhibit towards technology.  We have found that about 97% of the young people have fully engaged with activities such as Kodu and have shown a real desire to learn the basics of computer programming. 

This project has provided a number of opportunities for the young people of Argyll and Bute to share their learning and skills.  We have seen pupils presenting and demonstrating technology projects at workshops.  Some of these young people have stated that as a result of this they feel more confident in using technology but also as individuals too.  In addition to this we have a number of schools establishing lunchtime, afterschool computing clubs and some schools appointing pupil ICT mentors.

The next step for this project is to implement a pupil self-evaluation framework in order that we can better measure the impact of learning computer programming in primary schools.

Welcome to ‘Clean Energy from the Sea’

Welcome to ‘Clean Energy from the Sea’ 

The Sustainable Learning Partnership, in association with our partners The Crown Estate, welcomes teachers, school leaders, educational professionals and learners to this progressive, interdisciplinary learning and teaching resource – the first in a planned series – founded upon the principles and practices of 21st Century Learning and designed to help young learners prepare for life and active participation in a global society that is safe, just and sustainable.

Engineering Science – Engineering Contexts and Challenges

“Engineering turnover has grown 2.2% over the past four years to £1.1 trillion in the year ending March 2012.  5.4 million people are employed across 565, 320 engineering enterprises but we need many more engineers!

Engineering companies are projected to need 1.86 million people with engineering skills between 2010 and 2020.  This mean we need double the numbers of engineering related apprentices and graduates coming out of college and universities.”

Facts from Engineering UK 2014 – http://www.engineeringuk.com/View/?con_id=441

Within Engineering Science National 4/5/Higher the engineering contexts and challenges unit is an opportunity to bring engineering to life and to deepen the learners understanding of how engineering plays a part in their local community.

We have an opportunity for one group of learners studying national 4 or 5 or Higher to work with Edinburgh Trams and to see engineering in a real world context, in and out of the classroom.

http://www.edinburghtrams.com/

This will be based on a first come first serve basis, if you are interested please contact kirsty.mcfaul@educationscotland.gov.uk for more details.

Technologies Impact Review – Williamwood High School – Using QR codes

The Technologies Impact Review (TIR) is one of two aspect reviews being conducted by Education Scotland over 2013-14.  The other is literacy and English.  Similar reports were published in 2013 on science, social studies (on Education Scotland website) – these had similar process and objectives as for TIR: “What is it like to be a learner 3-18 in Scotland?  What contribution do the technologies make to that experience, and what is their impact on young people?”

 This blog post is part of a series of blogs sharing practice that has been seen in the schools visited as part of the review.

What is a QR code?

For those of you unfamiliar with QR (quick response) codes, they are similar to bar codes and contain information specific to an item. A key benefit of a QR code is that any amount of information can be attached to them. Creating QR codes is easy, free and you do not have to be an ICT expert to produce them. The following website contains information on how to get started https://www.the-qrcode-generator.com/. You can produce QR codes to use during lessons, using them in a variety of ways to enhance learning and teaching. To access the information contained within QR codes you will need the “scan” app. Apps are easily downloaded and installed on any mobile device.

 Example of an activity using QR codes:

QR codes have been used to enhance learning and teaching in Practical Woodworking across several topics such as, tools, processes, materials and construction. For each lesson, the format is generally the same, however alterations are made to ensure the lesson remains current. QR codes, some containing answers, descriptions and questions based on the topic being taught are produced and printed separately on A5 paper. A5 image sheets containing one picture and a QR code linked to the picture are also created. Finally, an answer sheet containing blanks linked to the answers, questions and descriptions found in the QR codes is produced. QR codes can be placed around the classroom and adjoining corridor.

 The Lesson:

During the lesson learners are placed into groups of no more than four. Learners are given instructions to find the answers/descriptions missing on their answer sheet.  Learners then work through a task using their answer sheet to identify a series of items found on their desks. For example, if the lesson focused on woods, learners would use their answer sheet to determine what answers/descriptions matched the wood samples given. In total, a timeframe of 20 minutes is given and a timer is placed on the interactive board.

 On completion, learners begin peer assessment using a carousel system, placing ticks/crosses next to answers they agree/disagree with. Once the carousel is complete, each group returns to their own desk to see how well they have done. Learners can then share their views as to why they agreed/disagreed with other groups. This informs discussion and allows learners to utilise their knowledge in teaching one another. It also allows the teacher to raise important teaching points, to ensure learners understanding is further improved and correct.

 Why was this approach taken?

This approach was taken because the theory in Practical Woodworking can be seen by learners as repetitive and they find it difficult to retain the knowledge required. There is no final exam and practitioners often find that learners do not recognise the importance of developing their knowledge and struggle to recall information when prompted or when working through tasks, tests and homework. This approach allows the development of knowledge and understanding to be an active part of the course.

 What are the benefits for learners?

Learners gain several benefits from this approach. They are given the opportunity to explore their own understanding and share this with their peers, develop their critical thinking skills and become active in revision and assessment. The approach also utilises current technologies, whilst giving learners the opportunity to bring their own technology into the classroom. The topic naturally informs group discussion amongst learners and the teacher. Learners are also given ownership of assessment enabling them to peer assess work, which deepens their understanding, whilst continuing to develop their literacy skills.

http://wp.me/p1PkAT-1S5

Safer Internet Day 2014

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR PARENTS TO ASK THE QUESTIONS THAT MATTER TO THEM ABOUT KEEPING THEIR CHILDREN SAFE ONLINE!

If you could ask Facebook, Twitter, Xbox or BT a question, what would it be?

Do you want to know what Xbox game ratings mean? Not sure how to report abusive comments on Twitter? Do you know how to set parental controls in your home provided by your ISP?

Through Safer Internet Day TV you can now ask these questions directly of the people, who make these decisions. We have a panel of experts from Facebook, Twitter, Xbox & BT who will be answering questions about keeping children and families safe on the internet on 30 January in Belfast! The film will become part of our SIDtv programme on Safer Internet Day, 11 February 2014.

We are calling parents, carers and grandparents to send in their questions to be answered by these experts, who are involved directly in shaping privacy, safety and content rating features on Facebook, Twitter, Xbox & BT in the UK.

To see your questioned answered, just tune in to SIDtv on 11 February from 3 pm or 7 pm at www.saferinternetdaytv.com

To send your question email sidtv@saferinternet.org.uk BY 23 JANUARY! Just state your first name and how old your children/ grandchildren are and we will try and respond to as many questions as we can.

SIDtv will have special programmes for young children and young people aged 11 -16 too on the day, so encourage them to tune in too to find out more about being safe on the internet! www.saferinternet.org.uk

Join the Safer Internet Day supporters list
Join the Thunderclap – register now to join the tweet campaign on #SID2014

Time for a rethink

“The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones” (Maynard Keynes)

Are we teaching industry, business, product design, materials and energy in a way which prepares the next generation for a future which is likely to take a quite different path to the present?

High and volatile commodity prices, the soaring cost of energy, the depletion of known stocks of materials, and damaging environmental consequences are all signs of a faltering industrial economy which follows a linear take, make, dispose path.

There is a consensus for change among key thinkers about how our future should be shaped.  Paul Hawkins (author of Natural Capitalism), William McDonough and Michael Braungart (Cradle to Cradle), Janine Benyus (Biomimicry 3.8), Gunter Pauli (Blue Economy), and Walter Stahel (The Performance Economy) argue for a new industrial revolution which would be characterised by these four key points:

  • A radical rethink of how we use resources
  • A biomimetic approach, in which waste becomes food for another cycle
  • The development of new business models based on performance rather than ownership
  • The need to take a regenerative, rather than ‘less bad’, approach to how we design

The work of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in promoting a circular economy is informed by those thoughts.  The argument is that we have to find a way of using things without using them up; that we need to stimulate a design revolution; that we need to strengthen the economy, get more people in employment and prepare for a world of 9 billion + people. 

There are signs of a change underway: key institutions, like the World Economic Forum, the EU and the Scottish Government, have embraced the thinking.  Universities are teaching the model and researching the possibilities.  Remanufacturing is beginning to take off, new business models are being developed.  Technology – particular the mobile web, the internet of things and additive manufacturing – brings the circular economy a step closer.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation supports teachers to understand and teach the thinking behind a circular economy in three ways. 

Reminder – Make your booking today! Free interactive urban flood model visits and workshops.

Not to be missed! Heriot Watt University still have availability for schools interested in receiving a visit from the interactive flood model and flood experts.

For a flavour of what you can expect, see the flood model in action at: http://bit.ly/1dNfNIa

What is it?

An interactive, free workshop has been developed to explain the processes involved with urban flooding and flood prevention. It also introduces the concept of community resilience and the role that individuals can play in protecting themselves and their neighbours.

The main element of the workshop is an interactive physical model, representing a typical town with a river, houses, shops, industrial units, roads and parks. The model simulates rainfall, with water being fed to sprinklers and the river via a system of pumps. Workshop participants are able to change certain elements of the urban fabric to help reduce the severity of flooding.

Is it any good?

Since 2009, over 5000 people have participated in the workshop, most of whom were young people. Independent evaluation of the workshop “…yielded strong evidence for the learning that took place during audiences’ interaction with the project”.

Work with the Scottish Government and SEPA has supported on-going flood risk awareness raising, and again the feedback has been very positive.

Can it come to my school?

Sure. The Scottish Government have commissioned Heriot-Watt University to take the workshop to Scottish schools in 2013/14.

We can visit you to run our interactive workshop for your pupils for free; all you have to do is provide us with some space to run the workshop and some interested children. We will also leave you with a follow up lesson plan to reinforce some of the key workshop messages

Contact Grant Wright to arrange a visit (Tel: 0131 4518261, Email: g.b.wright@Hw.ac.uk)

For more information go to http://urbanfloodmodel.wordpress.com/

FREE to your school!! Urban Flooding Model Workshops

What is it?

An interactive, free workshop has been developed to explain the processes involved with urban flooding and flood prevention. It also introduces the concept of community resilience and the role that individuals can play in protecting themselves and their neighbours.

The main element of the workshop is an interactive physical model, representing a typical town with a river, houses, shops, industrial units, roads and parks. The model simulates rainfall, with water being fed to sprinklers and the river via a system of pumps. Workshop participants are able to change certain elements of the urban fabric to help reduce the severity of flooding.

Is it any good?

Since 2009, over 5000 people have participated in the workshop, most of whom were young people. Independent evaluation of the workshop “…yielded strong evidence for the learning that took place during audiences’ interaction with the project”.

Work with the Scottish Government and SEPA has supported on-going flood risk awareness raising, and again the feedback has been very positive.

Can it come to my school?

Sure. The Scottish Government have commissioned Heriot-Watt University to take the workshop to Scottish schools in 2013/14.

We can visit you to run our interactive workshop for your pupils for free; all you have to do is provide us with some space to run the workshop and some interested children. We will also leave you with a follow up lesson plan to reinforce some of the key workshop messages

Contact Grant Wright to arrange a visit (Tel: 0131 4518261, Email: g.b.wright@Hw.ac.uk)

For more information go to http://urbanfloodmodel.wordpress.com/