North Lanarkshire Code-Alongs

Following on from the Education Scotland live code-alongs and reflecting on the participation and engagement of young people, we wanted to build on this momentum and give learners in North Lanarkshire an opportunity to code along with their peers and dive further in to Computing Science. Knowing this needed to be fun and memorable to engage young people and staff, we planned for a space theme.

Pedagogy is at the heart of North Lanarkshire’s Digital School, and therefore the Code-Alongs, also needed to be planned in line with Curriculum for Excellence, providing learners, and teachers, with a taster session of what computing science could look like in the classroom. We know that Computing Science can be perceived as a challenging area to teach, with staff unsure where to start in planning and skills development. We issued a Microsoft Forms survey to staff in North Lanarkshire, to evaluate how confident they were teaching Computing Science. 15% of teachers in North Lanarkshire who responded indicated that they were confident teaching Computing Science and over 90% of teachers were interested in taking part in a North Lanarkshire code-along.

We planned live sessions for First and Second level, with a further session for those who are confident at Second level to ensure all learners from P4 to P7 had the chance to join. A key consideration was making sure that everyone who wanted to take part, could take part. We chose to use Scratch during the code-alongs as it is easily accessible, and learners are not required to have a login to code. To support continued access and any technical issues all Code- Along sessions were recorded. A Teacher Support Pack was created to prepare staff to support learners with step-by-step instructions and images to ensure everyone was able to complete their project. The Support Pack also contained suggested next steps to inspire teachers to continue their Computing Science journey.

There was tremendous enthusiasm and feedback to the code-alongs. We asked teachers to complete a post code-along survey and found that 40% of teachers were now confident to teach Computing Science.

Moving Forward

The code-alongs were a great success, with over 4000 learners joining over ten sessions and engaging with Computing Science. In our own reflection the following points were a success or would have been helpful for us to include:

1. Create a Teacher Support Pack with step-by-step instructions. This helps teachers prepare in advance, improve their own understanding of block coding and support their learners through the code-alongs.

2. Team up! Make sure you have one or two people involved in the planning and delivery of the code-alongs. A team of 3 is ideal! This means one person can deliver the code-along, another can provide any technical support whilst a third person can engage with classes through the chat bar.

3. Record the code-alongs in advance. This lets teachers join in at a time that suits them and re-visit the code if any technical issues occur.

4. Keep the benchmarks in mind when you are planning your sessions to ensure they are at the right level for the learners taking part.

5. Looking back, one thing that would have been really useful is a learner help sheet. This would have helped learners be more independent in debugging their code and rely less on their teacher’s support.

We’d like to thank everyone who helped us plan, promote and deliver the code-alongs and of course, the learners and teachers who took part. We thoroughly enjoyed coding along with learners across North Lanarkshire and look forward to seeing how North Lanarkshire schools continue on their coding journey.

The CPD Award in Computing Studies for Teachers

The CPD award in Computing Studies for teachers was created for primary teachers and secondary teachers for 1st and 2nd year pupils to give the confidence and skills to teach computing to pupils. More than 50% of our current cohort are primary school teachers. The course is open to any teacher with the relevant entry qualifications (degree and existing teaching qualification) who have an interest in computing.

There is normally a weekly lecture and support session that lasts for approx. an hour, or more if required, with further e mail support available. The sessions are certainly beneficial as they allow you to ask questions there and then. However, the course is designed to be taught when is convenient for all the students and all lectures and tutorial session are recorded for viewing at your leisure.

There is only one module delivered each semester with no time off required during the school day. The lectures are recorded for students unable to attend in person. All activity is carried out online the majority of which happens asynchronously. The modules have a notional 200 hours per module over the semester. It would depend on your previous experience on whether you needed all that time. If you were able to set aside a day at the weekend or a couple of evenings for study, you would not be far off what is required for achieving the award.

The Coding and Web technologies module will be delivered over 14 weeks and the semester will start Week beginning 29^th August 2022 with an online induction with the course commencing week beginning 5^th September 2022.

You can apply to join the course HERE or searching for the Computing Studies for Teachers CPD award at https://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/ under courses.

The price is £215 per module, and this can be paid on a module-by-module basis. As the modules are 20 credits each if you were to do two in an academic year you may be eligible for SAAS funding. It is suggested contacting SAAS directly if you are planning to start next semester and confirm whether you would be eligible for funding.

The course does not carry any GTCS accreditation.

Please get in touch if you have any further questions

Gordon.macpherson.ic@uhi.ac.uk

May 31, 2022

Additional Teaching Qualification in Computing Studies CPD Award

The course is designed to allow you to teach computing within secondary schools as it has the required numbers of credits stated by the GTCS. The programme is designed to be a roll on roll off programme as each of the units are separate although designed to encompass what is involved in the computing curriculum by the end of the course.

The module, Computer Systems will be delivered over 14 weeks and the semester will start Week beginning 29^th August 2022 with an online induction, with the course commencing week beginning 5^th September 2022.

The courses are open to any teachers with the relevant entry qualifications (degree and existing teaching qualification) who have an interest in computing or cyber security.

To gain accreditation with the GTCS you need to teach a certain number of hours in computing, and you would need to discuss that with your local head teacher, as we only provide the academic requirement. This equates to 0.42 teaching or 100 teaching days.

You can apply through the university web site located HERE or searching for the Additional Teaching Qualification in Computing Studies CPD award at https://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/ under courses.

Please get in touch if you have any further questions

Gordon.macpherson.ic@uhi.ac.uk

May 31, 2022

Introduction to Cyber Security for Teachers – Funded places available!

The CPD award Introduction to Cyber Security, jointly funded by Education Scotland, was created for ALL primary and secondary teachers and designed to give background knowledge and understanding related to teaching basic cybersecurity and configuring an environment suitable for cybersecurity education.

The module allows you to get a basic practical understanding of cybersecurity and cyber resilience and the relationship between these two areas of security. This will enable you to have the awareness and confidence to support pupils and create practical activities and content. The module content is levelled at SCQF 7 however is appropriate for teachers delivering to BOTH primary and secondary pupils.

The module will be delivered over 14 weeks and the semester will start Week beginning 29^th August 2022 with an online induction with the course commencing week beginning 5^th September 2022.

With the support of Education Scotland, we have funding for teachers to enrol on the module. The usual cost of the module would be £215. It is recommended you apply as soon as possible as the funding will be allocated on date of application.

The courses are open to any teacher with the relevant entry qualifications (degree and existing teaching qualification) who have an interest in computing or cyber security.

No time off will be required during the school day. The lectures are recorded for students unable to attend in person. All activity is carried out online the majority of which happens asynchronously. The modules have a notional 200 hours per module over the semester. It would depend on your previous experience on whether you needed all that time. If you were able to set aside a day at the weekend or a couple of evenings for study, you would not be far off what is required for achieving the award.

You can apply for the course with this link:
https://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/courses/cpd-award-introduction-to-cyber-security/

Please get in touch if you have any further questions:

Gordon.macpherson.ic@uhi.ac.uk

May 26, 2022

Schools Challenge for International Women in Engineering Day – 23rd June

The Civil and Environmental Engineers at Abertay University are running a video competition for INWED22 (International Women in Engineering Day – 23^rd June). The challenge is open to students at Secondary Schools, Colleges, Universities and Graduates.

The challenge is to create a 2 minute video which highlights: a female engineer; a structure designed by a female engineer; &/or showcases the impact of the inventor or her innovation or how it could shape future developments. The winner will receive a £50 amazon voucher. The finalists and winner will be announced at an Abertay event on INWED day (23^rd June).

Deadline for entries 20^th June 2022.

April 21, 2022

Scottish schools to receive 20 micro:bits

Every primary and secondary school in Scotland will receive 20 V.2 micro:bits, in a partnership between The Micro:Bit Education Foundation, Nominet and The Scottish Government. The roll out of these devices started in May 2022 and is still continuing. Alongside this there is free comprehensive teaching resources and professional learning for all educators. Primary schools will be the first to receive the devices followed by secondary schools.

The BBC 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, built-in microphone and speaker, and many input/output features that, when programmed, let it interact with you and your world.

Professional Learning Offer

Resources and professional learning to get you started with microbit.org/primary
Professional learning courses from micro:bit – Micro:bit Educational Foundation (thinkific.com)
New 3 part course, This is Micro:bit, which can be found on the webinars page of DigiLearnScot. This course will be offered again in the new academic year 22′-23′.
DigiLearnComputingScience provides a comprehensive overview of the micro:bit V1 and V2 and you can also access our watch again webinar on Getting started with micro:bit.
The Micro:bit Education Foundation provides extensive access to learning resources, ideas, and support to help get practitioners and learners started using the devices or to move onto more complex projects using the micro:bit.
Barefoot have created lesson plans to support outdoor learning with the micro:bit for ages 7 – 11.
Request free micro:bit posters and stickers for your school here.
Join our national computing science glow teams community for ELC & primary educators here.

March 25, 2022

Save the Pacific Northwest tree octopus activity

Welcome

We want to alert you to our very important activity this week: we want the learners of Scotland to help us save the Pacific Northwest tree octopus!

This website has lots of great info about the octopus and ways for you to help it:

Octopus website

Once you’ve read a bit more about the octopus – have a think about how you could use your digital literacy skills to find out more about it and use this info to create some posters, slides and websites to raise awareness of the octopus’ plight and help save it!

tree octopus

Let’s get started!

Wait a minute, though… tree octopus?

Before you go making any resources we want you to check some things:

Who created the page and wrote the information?
Does it have pictures or video that show you the tree octopus?
Are there links to other sites about the octopus?
See inside the page

Teachers click here

What next?

Hopefully, you spotted the clues that the tree octopus isn’t real pretty quickly and pointed this out to your teacher!

We think that by learning some of the skills used to make the fake info on this website, you’ll be better prepared to spot other info like this and know how to check it for accuracy.

We want you to create your own fake animal awareness campaign. You’ll need to think of an animal and then imagine it living in a biome, or habitat, that isn’t it’s natural home… like a mountain-dwelling narwhal or Arctic elephant!
Then you’ll need some facts that sound believable, even though they’re not true – so things like what your imaginary animal eats, where it sleeps and how big it is.

Finally, you’ll create some online content, maybe using slides, websites, blogs or even a video.

You can share these with us on twitter: @DigiLearnScot

Activity 1 – fact finding and note making

Use your web browser to find out three (or more) facts about an animal
Then pick a biome it wouldn’t normally live in and find out three facts about that place and how animals normally survive there
Make notes of this info as you go – it’ll come in handy later

teachers might want to use some of these ideas to expand upon the features of fake news and unreliable sources:
Digital Media Literacy: The Blur Between Facts and Opinions in the Media (gcfglobal.org)

Digital Media Literacy: What is Fake News? (gcfglobal.org)

Activity 2 – photo manipulation

The photos on the octopus site were faked and so are many other photos online and in newspapers and magazines too.
Read this page to find out more about manipulated photos

You don’t need fancy software to edit photos, here are some tips:
PowerPoint – remove background
Keynote – instant alpha

Start with a background photo of the place your imaginary animal is going to live – add it to your app
Then add the photo of your animal
Now, use either the remove background in PowerPoint or instant alpha in Keynote, for example, to cut out any background on your animal picture
It should now look like your animal lives in the place you have as the background

Here’s my mountain-dwelling narwhal from earlier:

Activity 3 – making fake news

You now have an imaginary animal, some facts about it and a photo proving its existence – now all you need to do is put it together and share it with the world to convince them of it’s existence!

You could have a look at these:
https://www.beano.com/games/random-animal-mash-up
https://switchzoo.com/newzoo/zoo.htm

There are lots of great tools for creating and sharing content online, here are just some of them:
Sway

Glow blogs

Slides

Sites

We can’t wait to see your fake news imaginary animals on twitter!

ALL CREDIT FOR THE OCTOPUS CONTENT TO THE SITE’S OWNER: Save The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus (zapatopi.net)

March 23, 2022

Cyber Resilience and Internet Safety Activities

Welcome to our cyber resilience and internet safety learning activities. Use the activities below to check your knowledge and understanding of today’s session.

Activity 1: consume create communicate

Activity 2: cyber resilience

Activity 3: internet safety

March 8, 2022

TLP enquiry posters for assessment and feedback

These posts have been selected from the PLL TLP as they focus on assessment, feedback and tracking. You can view the original images on the TLP flickr site by clicking on them. All credit to the post authors.

Interested in participating in the PLL Teacher Leader Programme?

Find out more

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