{"id":508,"date":"2020-07-03T17:40:41","date_gmt":"2020-07-03T15:40:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/glowblogs\/miescot\/?p=508"},"modified":"2023-04-17T17:00:17","modified_gmt":"2023-04-17T15:00:17","slug":"digital-learning-in-maths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/glowblogs\/miescot\/digital-learning-in-maths\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Learning in Maths"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Hugh Wallace<\/strong><\/p>\n

Teacher of Maths<\/p>\n

Kyle Academy, South Ayrshire<\/p>\n

Twitter @MrW4ths<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u00a0\uf109<\/span> Waking a Digital School<\/span><\/h3>\n

As with all schools in Scotland, Kyle Academy<\/a> closed our doors on Friday 20th<\/sup> March with very little warning, and quite literally, no time to prepare.\u00a0 The final week was spent ensuring that those who were still able to attend school, had a note of their Glow login details and knew how to access Microsoft Teams.<\/p>\n

For some staff, they had already been using Teams with a handful of classes, but for most, they hadn\u2019t logged into Glow for a very long time!\u00a0 This was going to be a challenge!<\/p>\n

As the ‘Digital Champion’ in school, and the only MIE Expert, I knew it was time to step up and offer support to the school community.\u00a0 This has been a huge task, but I feel very proud of where we are now!<\/p>\n

One of my first tasks was to establish a Staff Team for Digital Support rather than sending out yet another email.\u00a0 This has proved invaluable as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for colleagues.\u00a0 A place to find out more information, ask for help, highlight problems and share examples of good practice.<\/p>\n

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Thinking of the wider school community, one of the main tasks early on was to provide additional support to students and parents who were new to Microsoft Teams.\u00a0 To help with this, I put together a couple of guides which were shared by parental email and twitter.<\/p>\n

Feedback for these guides for computer and mobile users has been positive and has since been tailored by other schools.\u00a0 You can view the original sway here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0\uf005<\/span> Digital Learning in Maths<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Regular use of Microsoft Teams was already embedded in my own classroom practice and colleagues in the department were supportive.\u00a0 It’s often difficult to deviate from traditional teaching methods in Maths, but it is possible as long as the tasks are both relevant and accessible.\u00a0 Despite working in a department where you are the only one below the age of 50, who says you can\u2019t teach old dogs new tricks?\u00a0 Huge respect for Donna, Sue, Joyce, Karen and Sharon and very proud of what they have achieved this term.\u00a0 Well done!<\/p>\n

\u00a0\uf0b1<\/span> Setting up Teams<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Teams were setup for all our students, but classes working on the same level were added to one Team.\u00a0 This reduced the need for duplicating tasks and lessons.\u00a0 All our Teams were setup with a consistent use of channels.\u00a0 We wanted to make it as easy as possible to navigate, particularly in the junior school where pupils may be a member of 15 subject Teams.<\/p>\n

Here is an example of our S2 Maths Team comprising 4 classes of 33 students each.<\/em><\/p>\n

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General <\/strong>\u2013 Where weekly tasks are set alongside important announcements and all assignments.\u00a0 Only staff could post in this channel which prevented instructions getting lost.<\/p>\n

Online Classroom<\/strong> \u2013 Where the live lessons are delivered for all students in the Team, each Monday.<\/p>\n

Ask (Mr Wallace)<\/strong> \u2013 For students to collaborate with their own teacher and peers.\u00a0 Teachers would ask students to post a photo of their work if they needed help then provide feedback.\u00a0 We held smaller live tutorial classes in our own channel.<\/p>\n

Technical Difficulties<\/strong> \u2013 To ask a technical question or report a fault with ICT.<\/p>\n

Weekend Challenge<\/strong> \u2013 A bit of fun for our S2 students!<\/p>\n

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We had a similar picture for Higher Maths, with 3 classes added to the Team.<\/em><\/p>\n

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General <\/strong>\u2013 Worksheets and core tasks are posted on a Monday and a Tuesday, immediately after each live lesson.\u00a0 We also post assignments on a Wednesday, due for the Friday.\u00a0 All solutions are also provided in a sway in this channel.<\/p>\n

Online Classroom<\/strong> \u2013 Where the live lessons are delivered for all students in the Team.<\/p>\n

Ask (Mr Wallace)<\/strong> \u2013 For students to collaborate with their own teacher and peers.\u00a0 Teachers would ask students to post a photo of their work if they needed help then provide feedback.\u00a0 We held smaller live tutorial classes in our own channel.<\/p>\n

Extension Tasks <\/strong>\u2013 To distinguish between the core tasks and extra material for students who would like to deepen their understanding with more exam level questions.<\/p>\n

We received very positive feedback from students early on, advising us that Maths was one of the easiest Teams to navigate.\u00a0 I then continued to liaise with departments to review their own Teams and adapt a similar format for consistency across the school.\u00a0 Where staff adopted this, the results were very positive and students appreciated it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\uf08d<\/span> Setting <\/span>Weekly Tasks<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

For most classes, we found that Sway offered an excellent tool to provide easy access to short video clips, worksheets and extracts from textbook resources.\u00a0 Sway does most of the work for you in terms of presentation, you just need to concentrate on collating the content!\u00a0 The Sway was setup with tasks for the week, presented in small manageable chunks.\u00a0 Given the nature of the content, we agreed that we would then share a link to the Team using the option for ‘anyone with a link’ to view.\u00a0 Th<\/span>is also allowed us to email the link directly to parents of students who were not engaging in the Team.<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/em><\/p>\n