Mearns Academy: The learners’ perspective

April 15, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

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have a device that let you immediately access current information and not just have access to a textbook that might be out of date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

April 11, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

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, Edinburgh, Impact on learning, Parental

Sciennes PS: Initial parental perspectives

April 11, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

Sciennes PS: Parents convinced learning is happening — Parents convinced learning is happening

Relationships with the parents and carers is a priority at Sciennes PS. The school is committed to ensuring that information is communicated effectively with parents and that parental feedback is taken on board and considered.

In relation to the parental response to the iPad pilot at Sciennes PS, Lucy Gallagher (depute headteacher) believes that it has been an incredibly favourable one. The only issue that she feels there has been was that some parents had a concern about, or questioned, whether the iPad was a learning device. Mrs Gallagher feels that this initial question has been addressed through the way in which the iPad is now used by the children to access their learning at home, so that the wider life of learning, more than just homework, has increased visibility to parents and carers. This perception seems to be echoed by many of the pupils who believe that their parents/carers are now much more involved and engaged with their learning. This is because their parents/carers can now see more of what what they have been doing and as a result are even keener to get involved.

Sciennes PS: parental views Mrs Gallagher discusses initial parental perceptions of the pilot

Mrs Gallagher described this increased level of learner-parent engagement as a joyful experience.

Apple, Device workflow, Edinburgh

Sciennes PS: Workflow and the iPad

April 10, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

Over the course of our visits to schools involved in device pilots one of the issues that is always raised with iPads is that of workflow. There have been concerns expressed from colleagues in local authorities about this device’s ability to work effectively with Glow with the result that schools have attempted to make provision to enable workflow to happen more effectively. An inability to easily transfer documents and other materials from the iPad to the storage areas in Glow has been the biggest issue that has arisen in this regard.

Wendy French (class teacher) at Sciennes PS talked with us about the challenges that she faced with workflow in the early stages of the device pilot that they were undertaking in her school. Early attempts involved emailing work to and fro and then moved towards using Dropbox as the means of sharing work. This, however, proved unsustainable and it was felt that in order to access learners’ work and give formative feedback the email and Dropbox solutions were not quite good enough. Mrs French finally came across a proprietary app called ebackpack which they are now using in Sciennes PS. She feels that this is now meeting her needs much better, but she notes that it was a paid for app. What she wants to see is for the workflow between IOS devices and Glow (as it evolves) to be much easier and slicker than it currently is so that there would be no need to purchase an app to manage workflow.

Sciennes PS: workflow Mrs French discusses workflow on the iPad

We also spoke to the pupils about workflow. Interestingly enough, they were not so concerned with what was used or where any material might be stored, but they were keen to state what a difference it made to be able to access their work at any time! One pupil commented on this change in access to their school work

…before we couldn’t take out jotters home, even if we wanted to carry on with our work we couldn’t but this is with us seven days a week!

Sciennes_kids_workflow Pupils’ perspective on workflow with the iPad

1:1 deployment, Apple, Edinburgh, Impact on learning

Sciennes PS: Enhanced learning dialogue and self-directed learning

April 10, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

Sciennes PS: Enhanced dialogue around the device — Enhanced dialogue around the device

Lucy Gallagher (depute headteacher) at Sciennes PS in Edinburgh was keen to share with us her perceptions of the impact on learning of the iPad pilot that she was supporting in her school. She believed that what has been happening had surpassed her initial expectations and that this was down not to the device in itself but to the professional and informed integration of the devices by the two class teachers who were leading the classes involved. As a result of the procedures and processes put in place Mrs Gallagher said that there is now much more emphasis on talking about learning between learners, teachers and parents. She argued that, because of the way devices enable access for learners to their school work, parents are much more aware of the wider school learning experience, as opposed to just seeing homework.

Sciennes PS: Enhanced Learning Dialogue Mrs Gallagher talks about enhanced learning dialogue

Mrs Gallagher also commented on what she saw as a change in the learning culture in the classrooms where the devices were being used in relation to the development of a dynamic that encourages the learner to be the main active agent when choosing which app to use when. She discussed the ways in which the teachers involved may have had different approaches in the early stages of the pilot in relation to how they introduced apps: one teacher retained more control of what was explored by giving direction to learners while the other was more comfortable being a little less prescriptive and giving learners the freedom and autonomy to explore the device. Even though there might have been differences in approach, Mrs Gallagher has observed that both classrooms now have learners who thrive in a learning culture that actively encourages personalisation and choice of how to address learning tasks and to direct their own learning.

Sciennes PS: Self Directed Learning Mrs Gallagher talks about self-directed learning

1:1 deployment, Apple, Impact on learning, Independent Schools, Inverclyde, Strategic vision, Teacher

Cedars School of Excellence: 1:1 iPad overview

April 10, 2013 User deactivated 3 Comments

Cedars School of Excellence in Greenock is an independent school catering for children ages from 5 to 17 years. In 2009 they were inspired by the announcement of Apple’s new iPad that would lead them to become the first school to offer 1:1 iPad provision for learners and staff. Since that time they have been working to integrate the use of this technology in to the fabric of learning in their school. We visited them in October 2012 to find out what their experience with their 1:1 approach had been.

We met with Mrs Speirs (headteacher) who explained the context for the decision to go with the 1:1 iPad provision. She told us that a few years back the school was looking to move the technological experience of their pupils on a bit further from where they were. The school’s vision at the time was to increase learner access to tools that would allow them to have more access to the internet and to word processing.

The school had looked at a range of devices, but just as they were in the process of evaluating which device to go with the iPad came out, and so they made the decision that this would be the one for them. The school’s website tells this story in greater detail.

cedars_aspeirsimpact Interview with Mrs Speirs (headteacher)

Mrs Speirs thinks that that the decision has been a very good one for her learners and that the 1:1 approach fits very well with the school’s educational ethos, which is all about individualised learning. She thinks that she has seen the greatest impact on the engagement with learning by the boys in her school and that the functionality and flexibility that the tool offers has led to greater depth and detail in the feedback that her teachers now offer.