Collaboration – West Lothian Digital Learning Team

We went on an Elf Hunt… and over 4500 West Lothian students found them all!

We were delighted to continue our annual tradition of a live reading of a Christmas Story by Greg Welsh, Head of Education (Primary, Early Learning and Resources).

Over 200 teachers joined us on Microsoft Teams, from schools all over West Lothian, to hear We’re Going on an Elf Chase by Martha Mumford, followed by a chance to share some Christmas jokes.

Thank you to everybody who voted for the story and who joined us live.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Connecting Classrooms using Microsoft Teams

The Digital Learning Team recently visited Westfield Primary School to find out how they were using Microsoft Teams to enhance their curricular offerings for pupils across P3-7 in their school as well as those in Torphichen Primary School.

Connecting the two classrooms using Team’s conferencing capabilities offers learners a wider circle of peers to learn with and from, providing opportunities for cross-school peer assessment and collaboration.

Learners told us how they enjoyed sharing their learning with another school and that they found lessons were fun and engaging. Primary 7s also valued the opportunity to build relationships with each other ahead of moving on to secondary school next year.

Teachers have been using a range of digital tools, such as ActivInspire or Microsoft Whiteboard, to plan engaging learning experiences which are accessible and meet the needs of both in-person and remote learners.

In addition to the P3-7 offerings, a small group of P7 learners meet on Teams once a week to work together on Numeracy and Mathematics projects. They use a shared Microsoft Whiteboard to communicate their ideas, collaborate, solve problems and discuss their thinking.

One P7 learner shared that even when they decided to work independently for a while, everybody shared their working on the Whiteboard so that as a group they could collectively check each other’s answers. This ensured they were able to confidently move on to the next part together as a group.

P7s dive into Adobe Express at Pumpherston and Uphall Station Community Primary School

I can really see the potential for using this in class, it’s engaging all my learners in different ways.
P7 Teacher

Our Digital Pedagogy Officers were supporting at Pumpherston and Uphall Station Community Primary School this week, team teaching in P7.

The aims for the session were to:

Foster collaboration through digital tools and platforms
Enhance engagement using digital tools to present learning and information
Build confidence in using Adobe Express for creativity

The highlights of the session included:

Learners engaged and enthusiastic about using Adobe Express, and excited to discuss how else they can use it in the future to enhance learning.
Learners found the interface and usability easy to navigate, building confidence with ALL learners. Usually shy learners were excited to share their learning and the Adobe Express tools with their peers and teachers.
Learners were confidently exploring tools on their own, working out how to add animations to still images, and including buttons and links to their webpages.
Learners were excited to share their creations through Teams, and enjoyed exploring each others creations, providing feedback and next steps as ‘comments’ and ‘reactions’.

Webpage example 1

Webpage Example 2

Sparking Imagination with Adobe Express

This week, the Digital Learning Team worked with Seafield Primary in creatively enhancing learning and teaching using Adobe Express, following on from our staff input last week.

Some of the highlights from the day include:

Learners actively supporting each other to share tools, tips and ideas, such as removing backgrounds from images, or adding outlines to text to enhance the visibility.
Learners working collaboratively to create projects with real-life purposes. One fab example of this was some P7 pupils recording nursery rhymes, adding animations, sharing the video as a QR code and then creating a bright, attention-grabbing infographic to share the QR code.
Learners able to confidently articulate the purpose of learning and able to discuss the benefits of using Adobe Express.
Learners able to draw upon their previous knowledge and learning, to share detailed information, demonstrating their depth of understanding.

One class explored the video, animation and graphic features to share learning. They identified some key features of a successful and informative poster as needing bright, bold colours, large text, short statements, related images and animations or eye-catching features.

“I like making videos in Adobe Express, because it’s fun and interesting. It’s quicker to use, and more fun than PowerPoint, because there’s more things to learn, it’s newer, you can draw and add animations.”
P7 pupil

“I like when we could add my voice to my character”
P4 Pupil

Adobe Express is accessible through the tile on your school Glow launchpad.

Click here for more information.

Unleashing Creativity with Adobe Express

Recently, the Digital Learning Team joined Education Scotland on a visit to find out how schools were integrating Adobe Express into their classrooms. We found some very exciting lessons going on across P5-7 at Bankton Primary School in Livingston.

What made the lessons stand out was the seamless integration of digital tools that enhanced the high quality teaching and learning which was already going on in the classrooms.

Highlights included:

Each lesson featured clear learning intentions and success criteria.
The environment allowed for learners to collaborate, support, and share ideas freely.
The projects had a distinct purpose. Most learners articulated, in their own words, the reasons behind their video or poster creations and their intended audience. This understanding guided their choices of creative elements within Adobe Express, allowing for thoughtful and intentional design.
Learners drew upon their research and discussions from previous lessons, weaving this knowledge into their projects, which showcased not only their creativity but also their depth of understanding.

“I think Adobe Express is great because it helps you to create an image. You can choose what you want it to look like and you learn a lot. It’s fun making things and I like it. There’s still so much to learn on it. It’s easy to delete it if you don’t like parts of it. You use lots of creativity!”
P5B Learner

Adobe Express is accessible through the tile on your school Glow launchpad.

Click here for more information.