This week we were working with the programme ActivInspire. ActivInspire is a tool used by teachers and pupils to enhance a lesson with interaction on interactive whiteboards/laptops. You are able to create numerous flipcharts which each hold as many pages as you want. ActivInspire also includes many features such as: being able to add text and photos, have moveable objects (such as coins) and audio.

Today, we were given the task to get comfortable with how to use the programme and then attempt to create a flipchart with a few pages which can be used to accompany a lesson.

Additionally, our attempt had to be multimodal as multimodality is important in the classroom, as stated by Beauchamp (2012, p.8) “The multimodality of technology is another reason to use it, as it allows teachers to present an idea in a variety of different ways to help pupils understand it.” A text can be described as being multimodal if it combines two or more semiotic systems. There are five semiotic systems: linguistic, visual, audio, gestural and spatial.

Initially, I felt that working with this programme was going to be fairly simple and would not take a lot of time to create a lesson. However, once I started to experiment with the programme I realised that it was going to take more time to get used to working with it, than I expected due to the variety of features that were available. It was also advised that we worked in pairs for this task, personally, I felt that working in pairs was extremely helpful as many of us had not used ActivInspire before. Therefore, we were able to help each other.

My partner and I decided that we were going to create a money lesson through ActivInspire. We started out with a cover page with the title and learning intention. The learning intention was, ‘I will be able to use a variety of coins to create different totals and explain what change is required.’ Then, we included an introduction page which was titled ‘Let’s discuss money…’ and below was the eight different coins which the teacher would be able to use to discuss the order of said coins (1p to £2), how to distinguish the coins by their shape and size as well as discuss the value of the coins and give real life context, such as a shopping trip. This page was a set background choice which we altered slightly to fit our purpose. We then included examples of how to use the coins to make an amount, we included two very different totals, 62p and £3.40. The children were given the task to move the coins needed to make the total, to the opposite side which had a piggy bank (as an example of real-life context as many children have piggy banks). Our last page was an example of how to work backwards and be able to explain what change is required. Therefore, meeting our learning intention.

Our lesson included the semiotic systems: visual, audio and gestural. Visual; as our slide was rather colourful and included images. Additionally, our flipchart theme was blue with yellow writing as, generally, this combination is easiest to read for most people. Audio; with the different money totals we included an audio recording of that amount being said to so that the children would be able to read it off the board as well as hear it if necessary. Gestural; this is probably the most prominent semiotic system in our lesson, as the children are able to press firmly on all of the coins and move them to where they desire.

The use of ICT in the classroom can be extremely helpful when delivering a lesson and bringing it to life. This can be achieved by programmes such as ActivInspire. As further discussed by Beauchamp, “The ability of ICT to present ideas in a variety of ways can help to structure new experiences but only if you as the teacher have sufficient understanding on the area yourself.” (Beauchamp, 2012, p. 100).

I feel that this programme is very useful to help make a lesson more interactive in comparison to using a different programme such as PowerPoint. However, I find that PowerPoint can be easier to use with both having a similar amount of features. Therefore, depending on the lesson you are planning, decides which programme would work best.

In conclusion, I feel that getting experience of using this programme will be useful for me as a developing student teacher as I can use it in the classroom. Initially I felt that this programme would be fairly easy to us, however, it required more practice than I anticipated. I soon discovered that once I got my head around it that I became more efficient and became easier to work with. Therefore, I look forward to using ActivInspire in the future to help enhance the children’s digital technology skills which are becoming increasingly important as, “Digital technology can enrich the learning experience for all of our children and young people.” (Scottish Government, 2016, p. 8).

Practicing with ActivInspire

Starting to create our lesson

Page one

Page two

Page three

Page four

Page five

References

• Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice.

 

• Scottish Government (2016) Enhancing learning and teaching through
  the use of digital technology, A digital learning and teaching strategy for Scotland.[Online] Available:https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/publication/2016/09/enhancing-learning-teaching-through-use-digital-technology/documents/00505855-pdf/00505855-pdf/govscot:document/?inline=true/ [Accessed: 8 January 2019]

This week, we learned about programming. Specifically, working with programmable toys that are used in the classroom to enhance learning. This was an assessment task where our end product was evaluated by our lecturer. We focused on beebots and their importance in the classroom. Beebots are programmed to follow up to 40 instructions, they are able to go forward, backwards, turn right and left, with a ‘pause’ button and a ‘clear’ button; all of which, when pressed, induce a click which can be heard and felt. Beebots are programmed to travel 15cm per instruction, therefore, the mats that beebots travel on are made up of boxes 15cm by 15cm. Many of the beebot mats used in the classroom incorporate different curricular areas such as mathematics with different topics, for example, money or addition and subtraction. In my digital technologies class this week, we were given the task to create our own beebot mat where we can demonstrate the use of beebots.

We were given the option of working individually or in groups of two or three, I decided to work on my own for this task as I felt it would be beneficial to me so that I could express my ideas and make changes easily. I looked through different Curriculum for Excellence (CFE) outcomes with different curricular areas and began making a list of different ideas for my beebot mat, such as, telling a story, spelling, use of money, adding, or French translation and narrowed it down. During my time on placement, I saw the use of these beebot toys being used during a mathematics lesson as well as seen different lessons where beebots would have enhanced a lesson. I decided that I was going to incorporate French at first level (roughly P2-P4) into my mat. My mat covers the outcomes below:

‘I can explore and experiment with digital technologies and can use what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts.’ – TCH 1-01a

This outcome relates well with my beebot task as the children will be able to explore and experiment with digital technologies such as the beebot programmable toy itself. The children will then we able to use said beebot to enhance their learning in different contexts, such as, another curricular area; for example, French.

‘I can work on my own or with others to demonstrate my understanding of words and phrases containing familiar language.’ – MLAN 1-08b

This outcome relates to my beebot task as during this task they need to work on their own as well as in a group as they need to work individually but take turns to do so within the group. They are also able to demonstrate their prior knowledge of their understanding of different French words and phrases that contain language is familiar to them.

Furthermore, I researched the different topics that are explored in first level French so that I could incorporate key words and phrases from said topics into my mat. These topics included: basic sayings, food, colours, weather, days of the week, family, numbers, etc.

I came to this decision as modern languages are becoming more and more important in the classroom, as explained by Davinia Hardwick, who works for The British council (2015) “Immersing your students in the target language helps them use it more independently and this can lead to increased confidence and better vocabulary.” (Hardwick, 2015)

I decided that I was going to have a mixture of French words and English words laid out on the mat and have those words translated on separate cards which the child would pick from. For example, I would have the word ‘Hello’ on a separate card and the child would have to translate it and then find the translation (Bonjour) on the mat. I made my mat four by four squares with an extra box at the top which was title ‘aller’ which translates to ‘go’.

Robots in the classroom has many benefits within different curricular areas as stated by Lydon (2008, p. 1) “We have found our nursery children have improved their problem solving, thinking, numeracy and literacy skills whilst using robots and whilst having FUN!”. Lydon also goes onto discuss how engaged the children were during this task and how they were able to pick it up easier than she anticipated. Overall, Lydon found that the use of beebots (programmable toys) in the classroom seemed very effective and useful for the children as it incorporated work and fun.

Additionally, Pekárová Janka (2008, p.112) states that “definition of digital technologies as devices which provide interactivity, response or communication.” This relates well with beebots as they are interactive as well as contrive a response and also require communication at certain times. Therefore, this shows the importance of beebots within the classroom as the use of programmable toys can have a positive impact on curricular areas as well as skills such as communication, which in turn can help them in life.

The process of making the mats can be broken down into 5 steps.

1. Plan out the mat and its content.
2. Measure out the squares 15x15cm with a pencil and include as many as you require on A3 paper (or larger). Personally, I needed 16 squares. And test that the beebot works well with the measurements and adjust accordingly.
3. Begin decorating the squares as desired and outline with a black felt pen.
4. Create the corresponding cards.
5. Explain the game to the children in the classroom and learn whilst having fun!

Additionally, the teacher would explain to the children the rules of the game before playing and ensure they had a sound understanding of how to play and how use the beebot. The rules are laid out below:

1. Shuffle the cards and turn them upside down
2. Select a card and translate the word on that card
3. Find the translated word on the beebot mat
4. Make sure you ‘clear’ the beebot
5. Programme the beebot using the forward, backward, left and right buttons to where you want the beebot to go on the mat and press ‘go’
6. Once the beebot arrives where you want it to; say, aloud, the French word and its English correspondent to the other class members in the group (this incorporates outcome MLAN 1-08b)
7. Press ‘clear’ again

Personally, I feel I have some improvements that I could make. I feel that I could have selected a more interesting title for my game and I could have also divided my time better to ensure that I was able to put my all into each section of this task.

In conclusion, I feel I have carried out this assessment task successfully as when I tested my mat with a beebot it worked well, and I feel that it is fairly easy to grasp an understanding of how to play. I have also gained a sound understanding of the importance of programmable toys and their place in the classroom. Therefore, I am looking forward to the future where I will be able to use programmable toys in the classroom to help enhance learning.

Below are some pictures I captured whilst creating my mat.

                                                    

 Initial idea plan

Progress picture one

Progress Picture two

Finished Product

 

Corresponding Game Cards

 

 Reference list

• Education Scotland () Experiences and outcomes. [Online] https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/Experiences%20and%20outcomes[Accessed 17thJanuary]

• ICTopus Article (2008) Sharing Good Practice: Robots in Early Educationby Alison Lydon. [Online] http://moodle1819.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/39830/mod_resource/content/1/Reading Programmable Toys/ICTopus – Sharing Good Practice – Robots in Early Education .pdf[Accessed: 17^thJanuary 2019]

• Janka, P. (2008) Using a Programmable Toy at Preschool Age: Why and How?[Online] http://www.terecop.eu/downloads/simbar2008/pekarova.pdf [Accessed: 17 January 2019]

 

• The British Council (2015) Essential tips for teachers of modern languages by Davinia Hardwick. [Online] https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/essential-tips-teachers-modern-languages[Accessed: 17^thJanuary 2019]

Hello, my name is Jodie Nelson and over the next 12 weeks I am going to be discussing my experience of digital technologies as part of my BA1 primary education course. Personally, I think that this will be useful for me to be able to reflect back on my time and experiences as I learn about digital technologies which I can use in the classroom. As nowadays digital technology is very important as recently stated by the Scottish Government,“Digital technology can enrich the learning experience for all of our children and young people.” (Scottish Government, 2016, p. 8)

Today we were given an introduction to the digital technologies module and gained a good understanding of the different areas we will be covering. This, for me, solidified the reasons I wanted to participate in this module as overall it looks interesting with the wide range of useful topics. Additionally, I am looking forward to the interactive and practical side of the module including: games-based learning, animation and use of e-books as well as programming and coding; as these topics are all becoming important learning tools in school. As the importance of game-based learning was recently highlighted by James (2014), “Computer games are the most powerful learning tool of our age.” (James, 2014). Therefore, I feel that these will be useful topics to use in the classroom in the future.

On the other hand, it appears that it will be a lot of work which will require motivation each week to keep up with the work given. Currently, I have a good understanding of digital technologies. I have a Higher administration and IT qualification as well as a higher media qualification. However, I realise I have a number of areas that could be improved or will learn about all together.

In today’s lesson we set the foundation of what digital technology is and its place in Scotland. As Education Scotland (2016) stated digital technology describes digital applications, services and resources which help find, analyse, create, communicate and use information in a digital context.

Education Scotland (2016) also stated that digital technologies is to be placed at the heart of learning for age 3-18 and beyond. The emphasis that is being placed on digital technologies in the classroom is down to a number of reasons. These include: raising attainment and achievement, focus on ‘closing the attainment gap’, engages learners, develops the young workforce as well as fosters creativity, ambition and interest in life-long learning.

In 2016 the Scottish Government released ‘The National Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy’ (2016).  This discusses the four key objectives of digital technologies in the class. Firstly, develop the skills of our educators. Secondly, improve access to technology. Thirdly, enhance curriculum and assessment delivery, and fourthly, empower leaders of change. Which, when all four are combined, has many benefits. The importance of digital learning and teaching was further developed by the Scottish Government (2016) who stated, “It will also provide the stimulus, inspiration and environment for all our learners to develop the increasingly sophisticated digital skills which will be vital to them in later learning, life and work.” (Scottish Government, 2016, p.14)

In conclusion, as I continue in this module, I hope to develop the skills and abilities of my current digital technology knowledge, which was gained through my time at school in classes such as Computing, Administration, and IT and Media in S1 to S6. I am also intrigued to see how much digital technology has changed since this time and how it enhances learning and teaching nowadays. I would like to welcome you to join me in the forthcoming weeks as I experience the digital technologies module.

 

Reference list

• James, H. (2014). Games in school.[Online] Available: https://www.europeanschoolnetacademy.eu/web/games-in-schools[Accessed: 8th January 2019]
• Scottish Government (2016) Enhancing learning and teaching through
  the use of digital technology, A digital learning and teaching strategy for Scotland.[Online] Available:https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/publication/2016/09/enhancing-learning-teaching-through-use-digital-technology/documents/00505855-pdf/00505855-pdf/govscot:document/?inline=true/ [Accessed: 8 January 2019]

Welcome to blogs.glowscotland.org.uk – Glow Blogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!