Category Archives: West Dunbartonshire

Impact on learning, Learner, Teacher, Trusting learners, West Dunbartonshire

Linnvale PS: Learning outside of school with Minecraft

June 27, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

portraitimage — Discussing animation and Minecraft

At one point during our visit to Linnvale PS in Clydebank we stopped and chatted to three children who were out in the corridor editing a movie they were making for a presentation about the planet Jupiter. The chat was very interesting but there was one pupil in this group, Laurie, who it turned out had her own iPad at home and who was a rather expert Minecraft player. We chatted with her about this and then asked her if she would be kind enough to chat again so that we could record it.You can hear that discussion below:

lvale_minecraftgirl Discussion with P.7 pupil Laurie and Mrs Thomas (HT) about Minecraft

At a number of the schools we have visited in recent months one of the main areas of discussions and excitement with learners has been around the game Minecraft. Some schools have managed to enable collaborative working by hooking up their iPads via their wif-fi networks whilst others have been using it as a stand alone resource. Laurie from Linnvale PS was able to talk to us about a number of complexities of Minecraft including what a Mod is. She was also able to articulate what she does when she builds world and where she goes online to develop her skills as a Minecraft player.

In the audio file above you will hear us discussing with Mrs Thomas the nature of digital contexts that have cultural appeal and that resonate with learners – ones that they generally use outwith school. Much of the work that has been carried out with computer games and learning by Education Scotland is very much linked to this approach and thinking and is one that we think has great merit and potential in exploring further. It is an aspiration to explore the possibility of being able to offer a Minecraft type environment to Scottish learners via Glow but in the meantime and while we envisage such an opportunity we have a Minecraft related learning Experience on offer for learners this Autumn.

Contexts for learning such as Minecraft are becoming more accessible as a result of their ability to be installed on tablet devices. Opportunities to use tools as this are becoming greater as devices become more common in schools. If you are using Minecraft in your school on any platform we’d love to hear from you.

Apple, Learner, Sharing devices, Trusting learners, West Dunbartonshire

Linnvale PS: Learning ‘nothing’ but learning so much!

June 27, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

LVpost3large — What are you learning when you create an animation?

We met with a number of the learners from Linnvale PS during our visit to the school and we were keen to get their perspective on how learning with devices such as iPads and iPod Touches were helping them as learners. Our first discussion with one P.7 learner, Josh, proved to be quite thought provoking. He was working away on the computer creating an animation that he was looking to publish on his school’s Radiowaves site. As it turned out he had become really quite skilled in the use of animation tools and was using a variety of them, including I Can Animate, to create his animations. When we asked him what he thought he was learning by creating these animations his response was, “Nothing.” We attempted to tease this out with him but he was focused on creating the next series of frames in his animation..totally focused on his creation. Have a listen to our discussion with him:

lvale_pupilperception Discussion with skilled animator Josh from P.6/7

This exchange gave us some food for thought about the nature of learners and learning, about the expectations now placed on learners to articulate their learning journey and what it means to be a Confident Individual and a Successful Learner. This learner was particularly skilled in creating his own animations. He created the characters, devised the plots, he knew how to use the stop motion animation software, how to edit it, how to add sounds and how and where to publish his finished piece of work. This was all done without the intervention of the teacher or the skilled adult in the classroom and yet he thought he was learning nothing. He clearly is learning, he clearly is skilled in this area, he is more than able to accommodate new skills and to share his expertise so why is it he thought he was learning nothing?

Is it the case that we need to keep helping learners articulate their own learning journey or is it maybe that he there is some implicit message about the nature of tasks such as animation that leads learners such as this to think that what they are doing is not something that is related to the learning that schools value or place the greater emphasis on – or is it something else?

Your comments or thoughts on this would be most welcome.

Apple, Impact on learning, Sharing devices, Teacher, West Dunbartonshire

Linnvale PS: Sharing Devices and Impact on Learning

June 27, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

LVpost1large — Sharing devices at Linnvale PS

Linnvale PS in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire has been using sets of iPads and iPod Touches to support and enhance learning across the school. Their experience has been similar to the one at Dalreoch PS in that they have a limited number of devices and as a result these are shared by the learners. We spoke with Linsey Thomas (HT) about her school’s experience in using the devices and we asked her to discuss the methodology that she wanted to see employed when the devices were used in her school.

Mrs Thomas didn’t feel that her school was in any way disadvantaged by not having what may be seen as the gold standard of having enough devices to deliver 1:1 provision. On the contrary, Mrs Thomas saw the limited numbers of devices that she had access to as an advantage because she believes that devices such as the iPad are great tools to help facilitate collaboration. She describes seeing groups of 4 children sharing an iPad and there being a genuine sense of sharing and participation around a device that is so portable and flexible. Mrs Thomas expressed some concerns about what might happen to the collaborative nature of group work should all her pupils have their own device.

lvale_devicemethodology Mrs Thomas discusses the methodology for sharing devices at Linnvale PS.

The issue around shared devices in school be it due to lack of resource or a preferred methodology as opposed to 1:1 provision is very much one that is open to debate. The perspective from Linnvale PS is one that contrasts with the setting and perspective from colleagues at Sciennes PS. What is your take on this? Is sharing devices or 1:1 provision a preferable option? What do we collectively know about the benefits of either? Can both work equally well? Comments and thoughts welcome.

lvale_impactlearning Mrs Thomas discusses the impact on learning that the devices are having at Linnvale PS.

Following on from her thoughts on the advantages of sharing devices Mrs Thomas went on to discuss what she thought she was seeing in terms of impact on learning on the children at her school now that the devices were in use. She again emphasised the enhanced collaboration between learners in her classrooms and corridors but she also remarked on what she was seeing as real learner discussions about learning as a result of having shared access to devices such as iPads and iPod Touches. The freedom to respond to tasks in a manner of the learners choosing due to the range of apps that were accessible on the devices was also seen as something to help address the personalisation and choice agenda and all of these benefits, she believed, appeared to have a motivational impact on the learners at her school.

Apple, Learner, West Dunbartonshire

Dalreoch PS: The learner perspective

April 10, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

dalreoch5feature2 — What do learners think?

Dalreoch PS pupils had already had some experience of sharing their learning about working with iPads from a presentation that they gave at the Scottish Learning Festival 2012. Our interview with them on the day proved to be very interesting and so did our follow up discussion when we visited the school.

Interviews with learners about their perspectives and feelings about how technology is used to help them learn are always very interesting and this one proved no exception. The discussion began with a question about what those outwith the school might make of iPads being used in classrooms and how it might be thought that this would get in the way of traditional school experiences such as reading, writing and arithmetic. The response from the children was one that challenged that view and that would require one to look at this context with a more contemporary eye. Responses included:

… it’s a wee bit better than just the teacher talking to you and writing stuff in your jotter.

and

… some people might like the old-fashioned teacher with jotters and everything but … it’s kind of old really.

Many of our discussions with learners across Scotland about this topic have elicited similar responses. This gives us some food for thought in relation to how our learners view the digital contexts in which they learn in schools. What was also interesting was that not only was this point made, but the children also commented on how they felt that using such devices makes it easier for them to lock in to learning when in school. They also made reference to the methodology that was being employed by the school when they talked openly of being given a choice of which apps to use when responding to tasks in inter-disciplinary projects.

Dalreoch PS: Pupil perspective Interview with pupils at Dalreoch PS

The young people that we spoke to at Dalreoch PS gave a resounding ‘yes’ when asked if the device pilot had been a positive experience for them.

Apple, Impact on learning, Teacher, West Dunbartonshire

Dalreoch PS: The teachers’ perspective

April 10, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

Learners at Dalreoch PS — Engaged and on task

During our time at Dalreoch PS we spoke with some of the teachers to get their perspective on the device pilot that they were part of. One of those teachers, Mrs Grafton, talked to us about having been involved in many ICT initiatives over the years and that this one was one of the very first that had made her feel excited and confident about really being able to use the technology to impact on learning. Having been someone who she confessed struggled to use email and who immediately thought that getting an iPad was a ‘scary idea’ she now talks about how easy it is to use, how she feels she can’t break it or spoil the work that she does with it and that she feels that she is good at it!

She also talked of how she sees the device pilot as beneficial to learning and teaching and how the versatility of having a portable and instant-on device readily available can support and enhance what she calls immediate learning opportunities. The ability to record learning via a camera, video camera or through audio is of great appeal to learners she argues. Other benefits that she saw included:

the wait for the visit to the ICT suite is now gone and with this comes increased opportunity for learning with technology to be embedded across learning, as part of the general learning process
bringing technologies that have appeal for learners and that they use at home into the learning process in school can help enhance attitudes to learning.

Mrs Grafton finished her interview by talking about seeing increasing confidence and engagement growing in the children at Dalreoch PS as a result of the device pilot – one which she describes as a very positive experience. You can hear her interview below:

dalreoch_teacherperspective Interview with Mrs Grafton from Dalreoch PS

Apple, Impact on learning, West Dunbartonshire

Dalreoch PS: Do these devices have an impact on learning?

April 8, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

dalreoch3feature — Focus on learning at Dalreoch PS

In our discussions with Sat Bance (headteacher) at Dalreoch PS in West Dunbartonshire we asked him what he perceived to be the impact on learning of the iPad pilot in his school. We were fully appreciative that the pilot had not been happening for too long, however, we were keen to hear about what he was seeing in the classrooms where the devices were being used.

Mr Bance commented that he believed that with the advent of the devices in his school he was seeing greater opportunity for the learners to engage with ICTs in a much more creative way than they possibly could have in the past. He also referred to the ways in which the device became a shared source/tool to enable collaborative group working to take place more readily and effectively, but what he thought was particularly powerful was the way in which learners could now make informed decisions about how to respond to tasks in a way that they, and not the teacher, decided. He gave the example of his P7 children being given a task where they were given the freedom to respond whatever means/app/resource they felt best suited their response. This led to a degree of personalisation of learning as a result of a task being set, but with the response mechanism being left open to learner choice. Mr Bance suggested that the technology and the way it was being used was leading to a change in the learning culture of the school; one which was offering greater personalisation and choice for the learner.

We asked Mr Bance if he had any concerns that teachers might be seduced by the highly professional finish that many apps (such as iMovie trailers) automatically offer the user to the extent that it may mask what might not be particularly strong learning, in effect dumbing down the learning. He was keen to express an awareness of this but to highlight that in his school they were equally concerned with the processes of learning that are being nurtured and grown in his school as they were with any finished article that learners may make.

Dalreoch PS, impact on learning Sat Bance talks about impact on learning