Computers in Classrooms Back to School Briefing April 2009

ISSN 1470-5524

22 April 2009

Practical advice for colleagues who use, teach, lead or manage information and communication technology (ICT) in schools.

This newsletter is © 2009 Terry Freedman. Contributors own the copyright of their own articles.

Home Page: http://www.ictineducation.org Updated virtually daily.

Email: terry@ictineducation.org

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Hi Subscriber

I know that this follows quite soon after the last issue, but I thought it would be useful for folks to have some hints and tips for the start of term. The articles have been adapted from the Leading and Managing Educational Technology section of the ICT in Education website. I hope you find them useful.

We’re also looking into redesigning the ICT in Education website, and we’d really appreciate your views on that. We’ve put together a very brief questionnaire, details of which are below. Thanks to everyone who has responded so far.

We’re also running an experiment in which we have asked a teenager living in the USA to give her views on ICT in the curriculum, digital citizenship, and other matters. If you would like Miller to answer a question, please see the Ask Miller! item below. And again, thanks to those people who have already submitted questions. I think it’s always interesting to hear what youngsters think of educational matters, and there is also an interview with Miller and, in the editing stage, an interview with an English schoolgirl called Edith. In the planning stage is an interview with an English schoolboy as well. Your views on these ideas would be most welcome.

Best wishes

Terry Freedman

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Is your school getting the most from its technology?

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In this issue…

Ask Miller!

Miller will be running a column called Ask Miller! for a few weeks. If you would like to ask her a question, please click on the link to the survey.

The Ask Miller! column will appear every Wednesday or Thursday for around 6 weeks, until the 19th May. The first one will appear later today or tomorrow, depending on how well I catch up with some other work. There have been some very interesting questions so far. Do let us know what you think of this experiment, and how you made use of Miller's answers.

Over to you?

If you or your pupils would like to contribute to the ICT in Education website or Computers in Classrooms newsletter (or both), there are lots of ways you and they can do so. Get in touch!

Changes to the ICT in Education Website: Your Opinion Needed

We’re preparing to have the ICT in Education website  redesigned, and would very much appreciate your views. Please take a few minutes to answer a very brief questionnaire. Please click on the link to the survey.

Times Educational Supplement Awards

The shortlist of schools entered for this award has been published on the TES website. I have a slight vested interest in mentioning this: I was heavily involved in the E13 Learning Community initiative in the Personalised Learning category. I wrote the bid for the grant in the first place, and am just putting the finishing touches to a formal report and a case study about the project.

Involving portable technology such as Edirol voice recorders and Flip video recorders, the project has really highlighted how such technology can be integrated into the curriculum to make it exciting and relevant – and meet all the targets concerning personalised learning, keeping children safe, and so on.

Shock tactics

P1030688.JPGIf you're in charge of teaching information and communications technology, what can you do in order to inject even more life into the subject? Here are 12 ideas to get you started.

  1. Do the unexpected. For example, show how you can do modelling with a word processor.

  2. Delegate the responsibility. Ask the teachers in your team to each take a unit of work and be responsible for creating a package for it: lesson plans, resources and in-service training for the rest of you.

  3. Do a different unit. For example, if #2 already happens, don't do the same unit this year as you did last year.

  4. Collaborate with other teachers (1). For example, ask a business studies teacher to come up with some ideas for teaching copyright protection. They're bound to have a different -- and therefore refreshing -- take on it.

  5. Collaborate with other teachers (2). Put together an ad hoc team from a couple of subject areas, take a theme, and see where it leads you.

    In one school I taught in, a group of us from the English, Economics, Geography and History departments put together a unit of work dealing with the origins of some common words in the English language. It was fascinating, and the students loved it. We all brought a different perspective to the topic, which served as a vehicle for teaching a whole range of things. The main thing we all had in common was that we all worked on crosswords in the lunch break!

  6. Put the students to work. Ask them to devise a lesson package for some of the work. For example, ask them to produce 2 lessons on the effects of technology in society. The reward for them would be for it to contribute towards an accredited project, or be included in their e-portfolio.

  7. Teach a different age group. If you usually teach 10 year olds, do a swap with a colleague and take their 14 year olds. Having to teach the subject to a different age group will force you to rethink your approach.

  8. Use a different medium. If most of your resources are text-based, change the balance: can you find a few podcasts and video clips that could form the backbone of the unit instead?

  9. Use a different approach. Instead of teaching unit 1, unit 2, unit 3 etc etc ad nauseum, try devising a really interesting scenario that can form the basis of a project spanning several units, and several weeks.

  10. Give a different kind of assignment. For example, ask the students to work in teams to produce a game designed to teach people how to keep safe online.

  11. Get out more. That's right: see what other schools are doing. It might give you some ideas.

  12. Read more. Sometimes, for example, the school reports published by Ofsted, the English inspection body for education and related services, highlight good examples of using or teaching ICT. Read educational journals, both print and electronic.
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Formalising meetings

Introduction

Meetings should be run in a professional manner. I've written quite a bit about how to make meetings more effective and purposeful, but mainly from the perspective of the whole team. There are, however, more personal reasons to make meetings more formalised.

 

What is a formalised meeting?

A formalised meeting has these characteristics:

Reasons for making meetings formalised

Expectations? Paperwork? That doesn't sound like much fun. Nevertheless, there are good reasons to make departmental meetings more formalised:

Ways to formalise meetings

Formalising meetings is not difficult. This is what you must do:

1. Fred apologised for absence as he is on a field trip.

2. Minutes from last meeting were approved.

3. Joan to look into latest Becta report about Web 2.0, and give us a summary in our meeting of October 10th.

4. David reported that the new after-school computer club was becoming very popular.

...

8. Any other business: Debbie asked if staff could be reminded to switch the printers off at the end of lessons.

9. Next meeting: September 5th, 4 pm, Computer Room 2.

So where does the "personal reasons" come in?

Part of leading a successful area of the school is to do with personal benefits. The sort of personal benefits that can come from formalising meetings are as follows:

Special meetings

There are good reasons for making some meetings different from the norm. I've given 29 suggestions for special meetings in a separate article.

Getting off to a good start

Introduction

So, you're about to start a new job as leader or manager of educational ICT. Just over a year ago we published a list of things you could do in order to make an effective start. This tied in with a series about making a good impression, by Alison Skymes.

Here's another article on the same theme, with 21 suggestions.

Ask for some space on the staff noticeboard

Having an ICT section of the staffroom achieves two things. Firstly, it's a very practical way of making information available to your colleagues. Secondly, it serves as a reminder to everyone that ICT exists.

Write an entry for the staff bulletin

How often you do this, and what sort of entry, will be determined by the nature and frequency of the bulletin. If it's a weekly sheet informing staff of current things they need to know, an occasional entry like "The printer in room 4 has been replaced. If you'd like any help with using the new one, please see the ICT technician, Freda Bloggs" would be appropriate.

However, if it is more of a magazine-type publication that comes out once a term, offer to write a regular piece under a heading such as "Computer Corner" or "Tony's Tips".

Get to know your team

If you have only just joined the school, you don't know the members of your team, and they don't know you, so in your first team meeting ask each person to say who they are and what they do. For example, one of them might be the Child Protection Officer, or in charge of the stationery cupboard.

I would advise against giving anyone more than 2 minutes at the most -- including yourself. Quite frankly, nobody is interested in your career history: they will assume that, as you have got the job, you must be able to do it.

Find out who's doing good stuff in ICT

Not just in your team, but in the school in general. Ask your team. Maybe, for example, one of the science teachers has a penchant for databases. That was my experience once, and she not only promoted the use of ICT in science, but also ran staff in-service training sessions for me on how to use the database application we had in school.

Find out about technical support

Who does it? Are you in charge of them, or is a completely separate department? What do you have to do in order to get technical support?

Depending on the answers to these questions, you will not only find out some useful practical information for yourself, but they may flag up some issues that you may want to take up at a later time.

Start or streamline an equipment loan system

I've been into quite a few schools where non-ICT staff were either not aware that they could borrow equipment, or the system for borrowing equipment was either noon-existent or convoluted. If part of your job involves promoting the use of educational technology across the curriculum, this is something that will need sorting out.

Wall displays (1)

If you're allowed to, use the wall space outside the ICT rooms to display useful information and pupils' work.

Wall display (2)

As above, but inside the rooms. Don't take the easy way out by using some poster that appeared in an educational magazine 7 years ago.

Start a review of the scheme of work

Does it reflect your aims for the students? Does it need updating? Is it so dated that it needs replacing altogether? You don't have to answer these questions straight away, of course -- the important thing is to start asking them.

Start a review of the department's resources bank

There's not much point in having  a great scheme of work if the resources look dated or simply won't do the job. If you liken this to a home decoration project, you may have a brilliant plan on paper, but if your paintbrushes are past their use-by date you will find it much harder to do the plan justice.

Start a review of security arrangements

This broad heading covers a whole range of things. Where are software licences kept? Where and how are staff and student passwords stored? How accessible is the server room? Are the rooms and laptop trolleys kept locked or otherwise secure?

Who has the keys to the computer rooms and other equipment?

If it's you or a member of your team, that is a recipe for real inconvenience for both the keyholder and anyone wanting to gain access. How about asking the school receptionist to keep them instead?

Identify the staff who wish to get involved

Is there a member of staff who is passionate about computer graphics and would run a club? Are there teachers who would welcome the chance to teach a lesson a week of ICT? It's a good idea to keep your eyes and ears open. One of the best teachers who ever worked in my department was a PE specialist who wanted to have a go at teaching ICT. She was later joined by a history specialist.

Develop a basic introduction to the department

This does not have to be War and Peace; in fact, it will be more effective if it is very short and to the point. How do people book a slot in the computer room or a laptop trolley with a class set of laptops? How do they borrow a digital camera? What should they do if they forget their password? Who is who in the department, and in technical support? This is the sort of information that new staff and students want to know.

Carry out an equipment audit

What hardware does the school possess, what are the serial numbers, where is it, and how old is it? This information is crucial both for planning the best way of allocating resources between areas, but also for planning for equipment replacement. Serial numbers will be needed should you have equipment stolen in a break-in.

Carry out a software audit

What applications are on the school's network? What is each one for? What age ranges are they suitable for? How can a teacher access them? As well as informing staff where programs are that they may wish to use, this sort of information can also help to prevent other teachers from buying programs that the school has already.

Develop a booklet (or booklets) of what's available in school

Drawing on the two audits just described, such booklets can be really helpful in getting newcomers to the school familiar with what they can make use of, and where they have to go in order to do so.

Have a suggestions box or book or wiki

Perhaps it would be a good idea to state in writing that you will consider all suggestions, but not necessarily implement them! It would be good to let people know that you have seen and considered their suggestions, because people like to feel that they have been listened to.

Putting a suggestion box in place can be a good thing to do if you have a particular problem that is proving difficult to resolve. Sometimes people come up with really good solutions that you will probably not have thought of for yourself because of being too close to the issue.

Create a booklet or poster describing the procedures for using the room

Eg whether all computers should be switched off when the lesson is over. (Sometimes it's better to have them left on until the end of the morning session and the end of the afternoon session, as that can save time at the start of the lesson -- and may use less energy in some circumstances.

Get on top of your finances

What's your annual spending allowance? How much is left? What has the money been spent on? What should it have been spent on? Is there a separate allowance for capital spending, eg replacing computers after three years?

Explore the staff facilities

What do the staff have for their own exclusive use? Is there a computers and printer in the staffroom, for instance? Are all teachers given a laptop as soon as they start? What is the quality of the facilities for staff use?

Conclusion

Are there any that you think I've left out? Please let me know what you think of this list, and of any you think are missing.

Getting a meeting with colleagues at the start of term

Here in the UK, the first day of term for teachers takes place a day earlier than that for students, and is spent in whole staff meetings, departmental or other smaller-group meetings, and some in-service training. If your remit is to ensure that ICT is taught either solely through other subjects, or by numerous people who teach just one lesson of ICT a week, getting colleagues to come to a meeting on that first day, or in the first week back, is virtually impossible.

And yet, if you're to ensure consistency of standards, and high ones at that, it is essential that they do attend. Or is it? Here are seven techniques that have been found effective.

  1. Admit to yourself that it is unreasonable to expect someone who spends just 5% of their week teaching your subject to spend much more than that proportion of their first day preparing for it. By my reckoning that amounts to about 15 or 20 minutes. This "technique" won't help you get more people to your meeting -- but it may help you cope with the frustration of their not doing so.
  2. Following on from point #1, think about whether you really need a meeting at all. Being realistic, even a whole day's meeting is not going to solve all the issues to do with consistency of teaching standards and assessment grades in ICT throughout the school. So a brief note in the pigeon-hole or email in-box of everyone concerned may be a much better approach. And what should the brief note say? It should inform people where they can find the resources they need to do a good job.
  3. There is no doubt that in many respects a meeting is better than just a note in someone's pigeon-hole, which they may or may not read. So, if you decide that you must have a meeting, be sensible and keep it short: no longer than 15 minutes.
  4. Other subject leaders will no doubt be somewhat aggrieved if you arrange your meeting at a time that cuts across their own meeting. One way around this dilemma is to negotiate with the senior management a specified slot in the day. This can be arranged at the last minute if necessary. For example, perhaps the 15 minutes before lunch could be designated as "ICT teachers' meeting or familiarisation with the school's learning platform".
  5. Do you have to have a meeting as such at all, as opposed to a series of one-to-ones? Given that you will want to spend much as possible of the day in your own area of the school, why not simply invite staff to drop in at some point so that you can give them a 5 minute briefing -- and that memo? If you want to avoid being continuously interrupted, you could ask them to come along within particular time slots, eg between 10 and 11, 2 and 3, and for an hour after school.

    Whichever approach you take, make sure that you have a list of teachers you're expecting to see, so that you can cross them off as they arrive, and chase up the no-shows.
  6. Another approach, which needs  a bit of advanced preparation (but not much), is to mail-merge your note to staff so that each one is personalised with their name at the top, and ask staff to drop by your room at some point during the day so that they can pick it up. That gives you the chance to engage in a conversation with them if you both want to, and also indicates to you who has collected their "briefing".

    In a way that is better for you as well, because it means you can spend more of the day on other things you may need to do.
  7. One thing you may wish to do is to arrange a meeting with your colleagues some time after the first day, but within the first week. You could use that meeting to emphasise the really essential points they need to know and understand, and to check whether they are experiencing any difficulties.

One thing to bear in mind is that as professionals, your colleagues will want to do the best job they can, so their reluctance to give an hour of their first day to an ICT meeting may not reflect anything to do with that. Your responsibility is to ensure that they have the tools and guidance throughout the school year needed to do a good job. Their responsibility is to ensure that they do do a good job, and to come to you for guidance if they are having difficulties. So, although it would be nice to be able to have a "proper" meeting with your colleagues on the first day, it is not the end of the world if that cannot happen.

Information about this newsletter and its editor

What others have said about my services

http://www.terry-freedman.org.uk/db/pressroom/doc_page7.html.

Contributions

To contribute, please get in touch: terry@ictineducation.org, with the subject header “Contribute” (or just click on the link). We are also always interested in hearing young people’s views, so if you have a pupil, son or daughter who would like to write an article or a review, please start a conversation with us about it!

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