Digital technologies provide opportunities for us to design unique learning spaces for the children. Bringing resources and experiences virtually into the setting can lead learning well-beyond what was originally planned. For example, in response to a children’s interest in sharks, digital technology can extend learning through watching how real sharks move under the sea. Children then get a better understanding of size and speed and so on. This helps us draw on children’s own knowledge gained at home or outwith the setting to spark possible lines of development and a response to children’s own interests.
The micro:bit is a pocket-sized computer that introduces you to how software and hardware work together. It has an LED light display, buttons, sensors and many input/output features that, when programmed, let it interact with you and your world.The new micro:bit with sound adds a built-in microphone and speaker, as well as an extra touch input button and a power button.
Wednesday 30th August, 4 – 5pm Workshop 1 – Getting started with the micro:bit
This section outlines the essential digital skills required by teachers in Scotland. These skills are in line with the UK Essential Digital Skills Framework and also meet the SQA Digital Literacy Level 3 award, ensuring teachers can support learners to this minimum standard for leaving school.
There are short, step-by-step tutorials in PowerPoint, Slides and video playlists. This content can be used independently by teachers or to deliver training to colleagues.
Teachers using alternative platforms, should seek support from their school or local authority digital lead.
These short videos explain how to open your browser, log in to Glow and use the launchpad.
Web search: basic search and validate search results
This video explains some of the essential skills for effective web searches – find out more on our information literacy page with this link: go to information literacy page
Accessibility: use settings menus to change device display to make content easier to read
Accessibility features can make your devices and platforms easier to use but will vary depending on the device and platform but also your school or local authority settings. Start finding out what’s possible on these platforms:
Make It Happen are running free digital literacy and computing science activities over the summer in Glasgow, North Lanarkshire and East Renfrewshire. See the dates below or check their twitter for latest updates: Make It Happen Club on Twitter
4th July
Riverside Museum
Stop Motion
(P1-S2)
10:30am – 11:30am
1pm – 2pm
6th July
Riverside Museum
Stop Motion
(P1-S2)
10:30am – 11:30am
1 – 2pm
7th July
Neilston Library
Stop Motion
Introduction to Coding
(P1-S2)
(P4-S2)
10:30 – 11:30am
12 – 1pm
10th July
Chapelhall Library
Introduction to Coding
(P4-S2)
11am – 12
10th July
Moodiesburn Library
Introduction to Coding
(P4-S2)
2pm – 3pm
11th July
Busby Library
Stop Motion
Introduction to Coding
(P1-S2)
(P4-S2)
11am – 12
12 – 1pm
12th July
Gorbals Library
Digital Creator Workshop (Stop Motion, Hour of Code,Spheros, Coding)
(P4-S2)
10:30am – 11:30am
12th July
The Bridge Library
Digital Creator Workshop (Stop Motion, Hour of Code,Spheros, Coding)
(P4-S2)
1 – 2pm
13th July
Giffnock Library
Stop Motion
Introduction to Coding
(P1-S2)
(P4-S2)
11:30am – 12:30pm
1pm – 2pm
14th July
Thornliebank Library
Stop Motion
(P1-S2)
11:30am – 12:30pm
17th July
Knightswood Library
Digital Creator Workshop(Stop Motion, Hour of Code,Spheros, Coding)
This is early level Digital. Spotlight on: Making Data Visible.
Via Forms and Excel within Microsoft Office.
Do you have access to Microsoft Forms and Excel within your ELC setting but are unsure how they can help you to gather, visualise and analyse data? Please join us in this 60-minute practical demo session, for beginners, where we will focus on how you can use Microsoft Forms and Excel to gather data more easily, better understand what the data you are gathering is telling you and how you can share this visually with children, colleagues and families.
In this session, we will demonstrate how to create a Forms Survey, how to view responses and how to export the results into an Excel file, where you can drill down deeper to interpret and analyse the data you have collected by exploring charts, pivot tables and slicers.
The demo session will be a take place within Glow, however you do not need a Glow log in to join this session.
*Please check with your local authority digital team or organisation lead officer for Information Security on protocols for gathering and storing data.
This session is for ELC practitioners working across a variety of settings in Scotland.
The session will be repeated 5 times throughout the year with morning and twilight options.
Do you have access to Microsoft Teams within your ELC setting but are unsure how it can help you? Please join us in the 60-minute practical demo session, for beginners, where we will focus on how you can use Microsoft Teams as your one stop digital shop with your ELC team, for organising, sharing and collaborating on content and for assisting communication. For example, you can all work together, in real time on planning documents, staffing rotas, risk assessments and shared calendars.*
You can communicate via audio calls, video calls, private chat messages and Team posts, and start conversations centred around a particular document.
You can also utilise Teams with practitioners from other settings, to support children’s transitions and to plan and work together on community events.
In this session, we will demonstrate how to create your own Staff Team and how you can use it to connect with your fellow practitioners to distribute information, communicate and work collaboratively on documents.
The demo Team you will see in the session will be a Team within Glow, however you do not need a Glow log in to join this session.
*Please check with your local authority digital team or organisation’s lead officer for Information Security on protocols for file sharing.
This session is for ELC practitioners working across a variety of settings in Scotland.
The session will be repeated 5 times throughout the year with morning and twilight options.
This course consists of four webinars, each examining a theme of planning, teaching, learning and assessment. Attendees are required to participate in discussions, share examples of practice and will receive a certificate of completion from Education Scotland for completing this.
Participants are required to be digitally literate and confident in applying digital technology in their class. Ideally, but not essentially, having achieved Microsoft Expert, Google Educator level 2 or complete Apple Portfolio.
This programme focuses on what is ‘effective use of digital technology’ and how this can enhance learnign and teaching, instead of focusing on the wide range of novel digital technologies available to teachers.
This is because teachers in Scotland are required to have an enhanced and critically informed understanding of digital technologies to support learning and the skills and competencies that comprise teacher digital literacy and know how to embed digital technologies to enhance teaching and learning; as well as being able to consistently demonstrate the enhanced skills and abilities working both individually and collaboratively to ensure that every learner has access to and are enabled to select from well-chosen/designed resources including digital technologies. – GTCS (2021)
What can I expect?
This programme has been designed using Rosenshine’s principles of instructional design: smaller steps, revisiting prior learning, models of success and questions to check understanding.
Each webinar is underpinned by research and focused on one of the four themes of planning, teaching, learnign and assessment. Participants will be asked to share their thoughts on the theme and then the presenters will offer ideas and a model to scaffold participants’ understanding. The webinar will finish with a ‘call to action’ for participants to identify an idea form the webinar that they will test in their practice.
-Back to This is Digital page Reading and watching This episode of CLPL focuses on the rationale for using, or not using, digital technology in learning. An Education Endowment Foundation… …
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-Back to This is Digital page Reading and watching This episode of CLPL focuses on the elements to consider when designing and delivering lessons with digital. Creativity in the classroom… …
-Back to This is Digital page Reading and watching This episode of CLPL focuses on the elements to consider when assessing learning and providing 'feed forward'. Using digital technology to… …
What do I need to do or know?
Participants are required to take an active role in sharing their current practice, as well as their own personal successes and failures. The aim being that we build a community of support and guidance, helping everyone involved reflect upon where they are now, where they need to be, and how they will get there. It would be expected that some practitioner enquiry take place as evidence of the professional development you have undertaken with us.
If you missed Computing Science Scotland Week, we have (most!) sessions available for you to view again! (Unfortunately the tech gremlins appeared in a few recordings!)
All links and descriptions of our recorded sessions are below, but first we’d like to say thank you to all of you that participated in #CSscot23 and made it the success it was!
For You and Your Learners
Inspiring Sustainable Behaviour with micro:bit #CSscot23
Making a difference in the world around us can seem a little daunting but there are lots of easy, individual and local things we can do to help. Using the accelerometer on the BBC micro:bit, we will code a random sustainability activity picker to inspire us all to make a difference and to have fun doing it.
This session is suitable for learners first – 4th level.
This session is based on the activity picker project – https://microbit.org/projects/make-it-code-it/activity-picker/
Monitor and Encourage Sustainable Behaviour, micro:bit #CSscot23
This session for you to watch with your class at your own leisure. The video will be made available from 17th May at 11am within the Curriculum Live Channel.
Encouraging those around you to make better choices in their sustainable behaviour is hard. One important thing to encourage change is to convince them with data. Using the data logging feature on the BBC micro:bit, we will build a manual data logger to allow you to gather data for your local area. You could look at transport on the way to school or the types of litter in your local environment. The choice is yours but remember collecting the data is only the first step. Then you need to think about how you will present and share that data in order to make a difference.
This session is suitable for 2nd – 4th Level learners.
MITCH RESNICK creator of Scratch, Live Assembly & Sustainability Challenge #CSscot23
Join Mitch Resnick, LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab, as he explores and shares how he develops new technologies to engage educators and learners in creative experiences.
His Lifelong Kindergarten research group developed the Scratch programming software and online community , used by millions of young people around the world. The group has also collaborated with the LEGO Company on the development of new educational ideas and products, including the LEGO robotics kits.
There will be an opportunity to ask Mitch questions at the end of his talk and learners across Scotland will be invited to take part in a national Scratch sustainability challenge. Projects developed will be showcased globally on the Scratch website!
This live assembly will be relevant for learners in the upper first level – senior phase.
Technology to Protect our Planet – Live Assembly, Tech She Can #CSscot23
Are your students interested in technology and how it can help us protect our planet? Could they see themselves working in a green career in the future? Join us on Tuesday 16th March at 2pm, when Tech She Can Learning Design and Development Officer (and experienced primary school teacher), Poppy Patel, will deliver a live virtual 30-minute Tech We Can assembly for children aged 8 – 11. Poppy will highlight the role technology plays in helping us to protect our planet and fight climate change – and also show some of the green careers within tech that students could pursue in the future.
CLPL Sessions for Educators
ELC Practitioner Code Along, with Scratch Jnr #CSscot23
Celebrate #CSscot23 with the Education Scotland Digital Team, by joining a short 30 minute evening ‘Code Along’ session to explore the free online block-based coding app Scratch Jnr.
Scratch Jnr provides an introduction for early level learners to experiment with programming their own interactive stories and games through block-based coding, with endless opportunity to problem solve and express themselves creatively.
This session is suitable for all practitioners working with early level learners across a variety of settings.
Please download the app prior to the session and ‘Code Along’ with us.
The app be downloaded here. For more information about Scratch Jnr, please click here.
ELC Practitioner Play Along, with Barefoot Computing #CSscot23
Celebrate #CSscot23 with the Education Scotland Digital Team, by joining a short 30 minute evening ‘Play Along’ session to explore the free resources from Barefoot Computing
Barefoot Computing allows you and your learners to explore computational thinking using simple practical activities.
Esports Scotland: The Journey into Education
Join Esports Scotland to hear about their journey into education and their future plans.
Over the past 18 months Esports Scotland have been working within education in Scotland. Today’s session will talk about our journey into education and our future plans. -Overview of partnership and Esports projects
-Project wins and hurdles partnerships helped overcome
-Esports Scotland and education
-D&A college and Esports progression
Artificial Intelligence – Exploring Opportunities for Scottish Educators #CSscot23
Join Education Scotland for a short session exploring Artificial Intelligence and it’s potential in Scottish Education. This session is suitable for educators in Scotland. In this session we will explore…
What is artificial intelligence
What is generative AI and some examples
Prompt-craft
How might you use generative AI tools to support your work
The Teacher Toolkit programme aims to provide practical training in using the most essential skills and knowledge required to use Microsoft365 or Google Workspace in Glow. The skills and knowledge are based on the Scottish Teacher Digital Literacy Framework but reduced to just five skills, ensuring that it is manageable and achievable for busy teachers who need time and space to practice using them.
This programme is split into two sessions, offering practical hands-on guidance in using Microsoft365 or Google Workspace in Glow and covers these skills:
create, store and share resources using the cloud
communicate with peers
create and manage classes within a digital learning environment
share and distribute resources to learners
accessibility tools
Attendees are REQUIRED to be able to join in with the tutorial activities using their Glow account.
This YouTube playlist contains short how-to videos for each of the skills on this list:
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