Category Archives: Learner

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

Linnvale PS: Learning outside of school with Minecraft

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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!

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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.

Aberdeenshire, Apple, Critical thinking, Curriculum, Learner, Sharing devices

Mackie Academy: The learners’ perspective

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Working with the stylus on the iPad

The iPad pilot at Mackie Academy in Aberdeenshire has been situated in the Expressive Arts faculty. The staff met to identify where the iPad and the apps they had access to would best suit their needs over the course of the academic year. This agreement led to the creation of a rota that would enable effective sharing of the devices across year groups.

We met with some S3 learners in their art and design class to hear what they thought of using the iPads in their learning and interrupted Jessica and Kirsten who were using a stylus to paint in a specific app. They both felt that the contact point of the stylus and the iPad was too thick and that it did not allow enough control when they were creating their work.

They liked the fact that the app allowed them access to a range of digital materials to draw and paint  on. They felt that this was a good way to explore a wider range of materials, even though they were in digital format.

MackieArtPupils Interview with Jessica and Kirsten

It was interesting to see that there were definitely some critical judgments being made by the learners in this class about when it was and when it was not appropriate to use an iPad in their learning in art and design. The learners said that they preferred non-digital materials at times and that their decision to use the device depended on what they were trying to do, what the brief was or what they felt was the best medium to suit a particular task.

East Lothian, Impact on learning, Learner, Trusting learners

Preston Lodge HS: Learners leading learning

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Are you on Twitter?
Preston Lodge HS: Are you on Twitter?

At Preston Lodge HS in East Lothian  you will see a progressive yet considered approach to ensuring that the digital world is used to best effect to ensure better outcomes for learners. This can be seen in the way that the school is developing a learning culture with independent  learning at its heart. Calum Stewart (depute head) explained to us that there had been a focus on developing their learning to learn programme in order to help nurture learning attributes such as learner resilience, resourcefulness, responsibility, reasoning and reflection. He explained that such approaches were designed to help all learners and educators reflect on the idea that learning was not just about knowing content but equally about learning how to learn.

This focus on learning to learn has been embraced by many of the learners at the school and none more so than the head boy Jamie Halvorson. We were keen to chat with him about how he and his peers had begun to use Twitter to help build a pupil learning community but we found out that he had left the building and was heading home. The DHT sent him a Direct Message (DM) on Twitter and asked if he wouldn’t mind returning to speak with us. The message was received and Jamie duly returned in order to meet with us!

Preston Lodge HS: Pupils using Twitter to support learning Jamie Halvorson (Head Boy) discusses the potential of Twitter as a learning tool

Jamie explained to us that he thought Twitter was  a very powerful tool to help support the learning culture in a school and so he and his peers decided to come up with a mechanism by which learners throughout Scotland and beyond could share their perspectives on their experience of school. He wanted the pupil voice to be heard and for it to give formative feedback to school about what was working, what was good, how things could be improved and how learning could be widened and shared, but fundamentally he wanted to ensure that such a mechanism could help ensure that:

…all pupils benefit from the system (school) as much as possible.

Inspired by the #pedagoofriday hashtag used by many teachers in Twitter he decided to begin a #pupilfriday hashtag. This means that learners who have Twitter accounts can Tweet a comment about school on a Friday and include the #pupilfriday hashtag. This allows all the comments to be pulled together so that anyone who wanted to follow this thread of discussion could easily to do that by filtering for this phrase in Twitter.

Jamie told us that the response by pupils had been immense and that there had been no evidence of abuse of the hashtag. He was also delighted to see that other schools in Scotland were contributing to the growth and life of this particular digital learning community.

It was clear that the school’s focus on developing a thriving and contemporary learning culture had an effect on Jamie because he stated that he and his peers wanted to use these tools and exploit them in order to change the way we learn. He said that school had to be more about learning and not about getting an A in your exam. He felt that once this was achieved there was nothing beyond that – that you don’t develop your learning anymore. He agreed that the continued updating of the Neil Takes on Science site that he and his peers jointly created was an example of how they have continued to learn beyond success in exams.

School needs to be about more than just getting an A in your exam.

Social media and their potential to support and enrich learning are tools that schools across Scotland are exploring. There are undoubted issues and challenges for us to consider in relation to how misuse and abuse of such well-intentioned channels can possibly derail the vision that schools may have for the development of a digital learning culture, but what we can learn from Preston Lodge HS is that a cohesive, committed and considered strategy that embeds digital tools at the heart of learning can help nurture and grow a thriving learning culture inside and outside of school.

Impact on learning, Learner, Sharing devices, Strategic vision, Teacher, Trusting learners, West Lothian

Balbardie PS: Learning with any device

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Balbardie PS: learning with any device
Balbardie PS: learning with any device

Balbardie PS in West Lothian has been working closely with their Local Authority development team in order to develop a learning strategy to ensure that their Anytime Anywhere Learning channel can have real impact on the life of learning in the school. Greg Welsh (headteacher) took time to explain that after consultation with staff and pupils it was decided that a focus on numeracy and literacy would be a main target for their learning strategy. This curricular focus was complemented by the determination to establish a learning culture in the school that would enable learners to be comfortable with any connected device that they could access and use to support their learning.

…a huge focus on not teaching around a device. The device is there to support the learning that is taking place.

Mr Welsh pointed out that he and his staff did not feel that there was any real need for the children at the school to be trained in the use of any of the devices that were available.

Balbardie PS: Impact and vision Mr Welsh discusses the vision for the AAL channel and the impact that he is seeing

The school has a range of devices for use to support learning and teaching  including netbooks, laptops, iPads and Nintendo DS. These devices can be seen to be in the same class at the same time in a mixed economy style. Mr Welsh took us to visit to a P7 class to see this policy in action and during this time he again explained the rationale for encouraging the use of a range of devices to be used across the fabric of learning in his school.

Balbardie PS: Mixed economy of devices Mr Welsh discusses the rationale for having a mixed economy of devices

We visited a number of other classes at Balbardie PS to see the school’s policy on using a range of devices being put into practice. In one of the classrooms we visited we saw the children in groups where there were netbooks and iPads available for use. This discussion with them shows how at ease they are in using any device to assist them with their learning and it helps to show how the school’s aims are becoming realised by the way learners are confidently using any device to help support their learning.

Balbardie PS: Learners and a mixed economy of devices Learners discuss their experience of a mixed economy of devices at their school

Similarly, this short interview with a P7 learner who is using the Pictochat facility on a  Nintendo DS gives us an insight into this confident attitude and ‘at ease’ nature of learners with devices that appeared to permeate the classrooms that we saw during out visit to this school.

Balbardie PS: Learner with DS in a mixed economy device classroom Discussion with P.7 learner using Nintendo DS in a spelling lesson

Some food for thought on how such an approach to using a variety of learning devices in your school and helping to develop the associated learning culture can be planned for and nurtured.

Chromebook, East Lothian, Impact on learning, Learner, Trusting learners

Preston Lodge HS: The learner perspective

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Preston Lodge HS: The Learner's Perspective
Preston Lodge HS: The learner's perspective

Hugely motivated and empowered by the learning, teaching and assessment approaches used at Preston Lodge HS Higher biology learners have collaborated to create a website ‘Neil takes on science‘ to support others in attaining this qualification. They then purchased a domain and created additional content during the summer holidays. They felt that creating videos about biology concepts was a great way to learn and to help others learn. East Lothian has allowed access to YouTube for practitioners and learners since November 2008. S5/S6 learners use YouTube to access learning content, publish content and post events. It is a fundamental tool and they felt that there would be a ‘massive’ barrier to learning if it was blocked. They rely on online resources during study leave and made reference to Khan Academy and accessing their teachers’ PowerPoint presentations online.

Learners spoke sensibly about the choices and decisions they face as individuals. They respect the view that with ‘great power comes great responsibility’. They compared behaving irresponsibly online with swearing in class. You could swear in class but you don’t, it isn’t appropriate. Individuals have to make a choice not to behave inappropriately or access to devices and tools is removed. Practitioners commented that ‘we are in the business of educating people to use web resources responsibly and it shouldn’t be the case that resources are blocked or filtered so that we don’t have to’.

With support and experience learners are using tools effectively and responsibly for successful learning but also to make a very effective contribution to their learning communities and beyond. There have been instances of inappropriate use of tools and resources but these occasions have been used as learning opportunities and are rarely repeated.

Tools from the Chrome Web Store are also used to add fun to lessons and the webcam toy has been used to great effect with customised login icons appearing for each learner on devices they have used.

Listen to our interviews with the team behind Neil takes on Science:

The Neil Takes on Science team discuss how the idea for their site started to grow and how the Chromebook and the learning infrastructure they experienced helped them enhance their learning by writing for the web. They also discuss the importance of YouTube to their learning.

Preston Lodge HS: Neil Takes on Science team no.1 Interview 1 with the Neil Takes on Science team

The Neil Takes on Science team discuss other ways in which digital learning is happening at Preston Lodge HS. They also talk about the nature of learning and how the process of building their site has not only helped them get to know the subject material but, more importantly, develop as learners.

Preston Lodge HS: Neil Takes on Science team no.2 Interview 2 with the Neil Takes on Science team

1:1 deployment, Android, Edinburgh, Impact on learning, Learner, Trusting learners

Forrester HS: The learner perspective

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Forrester HS: Learners with Android devices
What do learners think about the learning with devices?

We spoke with some of the S1 pupils about their experiences of the Android device pilot at Forrester HS. They were generally excited and positive about having access to a tablet device all the time in school and at home.  They talked about how everything was now much easier with the device! When asked to elaborate on this they talked about how it had enhanced the way they now edited their writing and how good it was to access tools that enabled them to respond differently to tasks rather than solely using pencil and paper. They talked about how some teachers are using Edmodo to help support homework and WordPress for blogging and about  how they were able to access and download resources such as worksheets. The fact that there was instant access to their device and to the information they were seeking was much much better than having to wait to get their booked slot at the ICT suite. Finally, some of the learners talked about the fact that they come from a world where technology is part of their everyday experience and to have it in school was very appealing. They agreed that these initiatives, such as the Android device pilot, were about helping to develop an appropriate learning culture that met their needs.

First interview with learners from Forrester HS:

Forrester HS: pupil interview 1 Interview 1 with learners from Forrester HS

Second interview with learners from Forrester HS:

Forrester HS: pupil interview 2 Interview 2 with learners from Forrester HS

Aberdeenshire, Android, Learner

Mearns Academy: The learners’ perspective

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Mearns Academy: The learner's perspective
Mearns Academy: The learner's perspective

At the time we visited Mr Fleming’s S6 class he was in the process of teaching them about the past three Prime Ministers of the UK. The Android tablets had been booked out for this lesson and they were being used to access the relevant pages of a website their teacher had created.

We interrupted Mathew and Helena to get their initial perspectives on what having access to the Android tablets meant for them. Mathew felt that:

  • it was great to have a device that let you immediately access current information and not just have access to a textbook that might be out of date
  • the touch screen and the immediacy of the tablet device was really appealing and that this was much better than the access to computers was before the pilot.

Mathew acknowledged that the pilot was still in its early days and that they had been mostly been using the browser up until now. He was aware that there were subject-specific apps that could be used to support his learning but he felt that the school’s start with the pilot was a good one. Interestingly, Mathew was of the opinion that in school he still preferred using paper and pencil to help him learn to the digital surfaces and tools that were becoming more and more prevalent!

Mearns Academy: S.6 Mathew Interview with Mathew from S.6 at Mearns Academy

Helena was also happy to be involved with the pilot and she felt that having access to such a flexible tool and not being stuck at a desktop was a good experience as a learner.

She too acknowledged that the pilot was in its early stages but she looked forward to having access to a device where she could save her own stuff and have all her material in the one digital place.

Mearns Academy: S6 Helena Interview with Helena from S.6 at Mearns Academy.

Apple, Critical thinking, Edinburgh, Impact on learning, Learner

Sciennes PS: The learner perspective

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Sciennes PS: The Learner's perspective
Learners talk enthusiastically about learning with the iPad

Some of the pupils from Sciennes PS talked with us about how helpful some of the apps that they use to support their learning are. They gave examples of how they have helped them with timestables and spelling. In many cases they choose to use these apps in their own time in order to make progress with their learning. One child commented:

…I can’t even imagine school without iPads now. It’s so helpful in every day….I used to really hate maths before the iPads but once we started using them and apps like Cloud Tables it’s helped me with maths and now I enjoy maths. I never used to be good at my time tables but within one week of using this I knew my times tables up to the 10x table.

Sciennes PS: Kids learning with apps

Some of the pupils from Sciennes PS talked about how having access to a device had improved their productivity in writing. Instant access to editing tools makes writing so much more enjoyable and is making them ‘want to do their school work’ now.

When I used to write on paper I would write maybe 100 hundred words, but now I am writing 1000 words, and my writing’s really improved because I’m writing more, I’m writing at home and before I was more reluctant to edit it because you have to rub it all out and it just makes a mess but with this it takes two seconds and you’ve got a very good piece of work.

Sciennes PS: Learners discuss story writing Learners discuss story writing with the iPad

The discussion continued and the size of the impact on learner perceptions that this device pilot was having became increasingly apparent. When learners were asked if they thought the pilot had been beneficial one response was:

Oh yes, it has completely changed my life at school, and at home too, because I feel that although I already had an iPad at home I just really played games and stuff but now I use it for… I’m actually wanting to finish off my school work and wanting to do more school work.

To bring the discussion with the pupils to a conclusion we asked them what having their own connected device meant for them as learners and what
they would say to adults who may be of the opinion that devices such as those might be getting in the way of learning. They talked quite openly about how they believed the device has helped them learn and how access to technology such as devices should be part of modern teaching strategies in schools. Comments included:

I’d say with it improving our maths and storywriting and stuff they should think maybe that it’s really helping us and that we should keep it.

and

If people think that we should still be writing on slates and that school should be the same [as it was] then we wouldn’t have learned as much as we have. Technology and modern teaching strategies help us to learn every day and I think that if any adults who are a bit sceptical would come in to the classroom and see how much it helps us on a daily basis.

Sciennes PS: Why have a device? Learners discuss the benefits of having a device

Apple, Learner, West Dunbartonshire

Dalreoch PS: The learner perspective

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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.