What are these Ninjas all about then?

Digital Ninjas is a good idea. Well, we think so, anyway. Our ‘digital natives’ pupils have grown up with computers in a way that their teachers and parents did not. We all know of toddlers who can swipe a touch screen and select a smartphone/tablet picture, video or app. This techie stuff is so natural to our children and young people that it is not unusual to see a two year old swiping the TV screen in an attempt to reach additional content.

Teachers are busy

There aren’t many jobs where you have to meet with 30 clients at a time for a full day. Most jobs have some desk time and a chance to grab a coffee or a chat with a colleague. Teachers are busy. All of us at Our Cloud are, or have been teachers in the recent past. We know what it’s like to get new initiatives arriving at our CPD sessions week after week and feel unable to imagine having the time to begin most of them. CfE has brought its challenges and you are finally beginning to get your head round that and now you are expected to become a tech-geek IT whizz and transform all your Powerpoints into You Tube videos and screencasts…really?

Not just another initiative

The thing with digital and mobile technologies is that they aren’t just another shiny new concept that will disappear in a few months to be replaced by something even shinier. These devices are now so universally embedded in our daily lives that we cannot afford to ignore the benefits they can bring to school life. Think of the shopping you order and track online and the old friends you Skype and Facebook with. What about the homes you don’t have to trawl estate agent windows for because you can see them on S1 homes or Right Move and then look them up on Google maps? Or the dwindling bank balance that you can monitor via the bank’s mobile app? We could go on and on, couldn’t we?

So here’s the good idea

If we think of secondaries for now, we have 4th, 5th and 6th year pupils with a no fear attitude to, well, pretty much everything, but especially gadgets and computers. You will all know young people who run their own websites and can sort out most technical issues that happen with audio, video and computers with an ease that you marvel at. These young people are in all of our schools and they can help.

Scenario

Michael is in fifth year and studying Chemistry. He has a great relationship with his teacher, Mr McDonald and decides to become a Digital Ninja for Higher Chemistry working alongside Mr McDonald. Mr McDonald shares all his present course resources with Michael and gives guidance to and monitoring of all Michael does with the resources. Michael is studying the course anyway and works throughout the term to transform the paper resources, presentations and homework tasks into digital resources and courses fit for display on the very shiniest of tablets.

Mr McDonald gets so enthused by the way things are going that he allows Michael to use his smartphone in class to film experiments and upload them to the Our Cloud You Tube channel. Heck, Mr McDonald even finds himself recording audio podcasts onto his own smartphone instead of creating revision notes in Word for the upcoming exams.

The result?

If this comes off two things will happen. Firstly, Mr McDonald will have a fully-digital Chemistry course for next year’s classes (they might be doing different exams, right enough but the core stuff will be the same!) Secondly, and perhaps most exciting, Michael will have spent a lot of time focusing on his Chemistry course content and turning it into lessons for his peers’ revision and next year’s students. Imagine the deep learning that Michael will benefit from? We might just see an impact on attainment as well and Mr McDonald is bound to be convinced of the benefits. Next year, he will ‘flip’ his classroom and give core information as homework via You Tube video, allowing his class time to talk to students and guide and shape their learning.

Sounds like a good plan?

• We will be in touch with schools soon to launch this project.
• If you would like your PKC school to take part in our pilot, please get in touch via the comments filed here
• We will start with secondaries and are looking into offering SQA qualifications in digital media to those who sign up.
• We will need support from schools in monitoring progress but we will do our bit with that too.
• We will try to get some useful devices in place for those who become Ninjas.
• We aren’t promising iPads but we will see what we can do!
• We will provide support and training to all Ninjas at the start of the project and will meet regularly via web conference
• All Ninjas will receive recommendations via reference to add to their e-portfolio/ Linked-in profile and, ultimately, employability credentials

We want to make life easier and not more difficult. We are passionate in our belief that digital technologies will make a teacher’s professional life easier and can imagine a not too distant school day that might just involve chats with colleagues.