Teacher's Blog
James’ involvement with the Innovative Teachers Network is fairly recent. He joined a local network created by Alessio Bernardelli, a former Innovative Teachers Award winner himself. The goal of the network is to establish the Innovative Teachers community throughout comprehensive schools in Torfaen, South Wales. Like many teachers (myself included) who first engage with such a network, he didn’t realise how valuable an experience it would be to himself, his school and his students.
James, is Head of Geography at Croesyceiliog Comprehensive school, an 11-18 mixed school that serves the town of Cwmbran. He gave himself some clear objectives when he undertook this project. He wanted to ensure that this was not just an ‘ICT’ project, but included other aspects of how the school is transforming learning, such as student peer teaching.
He encouraged his students by coaching them in the ‘mechanics’ of newly introduced software and allowed the opportunity to create a sequence of lessons in which this software was employed. The software he introduced his students to was Microsoft OneNote, PhotoStory and Deep Zoom. This gave students the opportunity to ‘peer teach’ coach fellow students in using the new software. As a result they were able to work collaboratively to produce high quality pieces of work. These students went on to act as ‘coaches’ to others throughout their peer/year group, in order that the outcomes of this project were shared.
For James and the others teachers he involved, their role was to guide -- rather than instruct -- their students in using the ‘new’ software and discuss its possibilities. They worked with students to identify how such software could enhance their learning.
The project needed to address the curriculum area of ‘Volcanoes and Earthquakes’ (I am sure there is a better geographical term that involves the word ‘tectonic’, but I am not a geographer!). James placed this in the context of the 2004 Asian tsunami disaster. He began by using Deep Zoom to reveal a picture of the disaster, as he zoomed out of the image, it revealed more of the impact of the disaster. James said that using the image in this way had a profound effect on the way his students thought about their work.
Using their recentl-acquired ICT skills, students worked collaboratively (using OneNote) to share their thoughts and ideas and to produce scripts that would be used as commentary in videos produced with PhotoStory.
This is an example of the work that the students produced. Not only does it contain facts about the subject, but it also indicates the students emotional response to such a disaster.
You can access James’ award winning Virtual Classroom Tour on the Innovative Teachers Network by following this link.
As mentioned, James will be joining us at the European Innovative Teachers event in Vienna in March where he will be presenting his work to teachers from all over Europe.
Last Friday was perhaps one of the best days I have had working for Microsoft. We brought 12 award winning teachers from the many projects submitted on the ITN to Microsoft headquarters for the UK Innovative Teachers Forum. Kristen and I had reviewed all of these teachers' Virtual Classroom Tours before inviting them to the forum, and we had a pretty good idea of who we were going to meet before the event even began.
Meeting these teachers in person re-affirmed a few things for me. First, teaching is still a great and rewarding job (I may even be tempted to return!). Second, teachers are already very successful in engaging children through technology. And being part of an active professional network also contributes to a teacher’s success.
But what of the event, what did these Innovative Teachers get to experience? Thursday night we met at a hotel in Reading and had a wonderful dinner at a nearby restaurant. The evening was a great example of what happens when you get a group of teachers together -- they talk about teaching. Loads of ideas and experiences were exchanged. That set the tone for the next day at Microsoft headquarters. Each teacher presented their VCT to the group, and it became immediately clear that all of their projects were not isolated, classroom activities, but rather all of the teachers are part of wider school transformation projects.
Teachers then participated in an interactive workshop to develop classroom resources using some of Microsoft’s newest free technologies, such as AutoCollage and the Learning Content Developent System (both of which I will be blogging about later). They also heard a keynote from Guy Shearer, former Innovative Teacher and current Head of Enterprise and Innovation Networks for the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust on innovation in schools, teaching and curriculum. Guy asked some thought provoking questions that not only had an impact on myself and Kristen, but on the teachers themselves. You can see the response of one them, Ollie Bray from Scotland, who has blogged his thoughts and responses. It is well worth a read at www.olliebray.com
At the end of the day, Microsoft’s Director of Education, Steve Beswick, presented awards to all teachers who attended and presented four teachers with invitations to Microsoft’s European Innovative Teachers Forum in Vienna in March. The end of the afternoon culminated with the official presentation, Microsoft’s Director of Education, Steve Beswick, presented awards to all teachers who attended and presented four teachers with invitations to Microsoft’s European Innovative Teachers Forum in Vienna in March.
So who will be joining myself and Kristen in Vienna in March? James Kent from Croseceiliog Comprehensive school in Torfaen, Wales. His VCT about the Asian Tsunami, not only combined some great uses of OneNote and Deep Zoom, but involved his students in designing and creating the lesson objectives for this piece of work. Mandeep Atwal, from Shirelands Collegiate Academy will be joining us with her VCT called ‘Young Voices’. She has been able to utilise her school’s SharePoint platform to developed web spaces for her students to discuss cultural awareness and sensitivity within the school and local community. Students are able to share their work with their parents at home.
Chris Henderson from Saltash.net Community School continues the school’s success with his VCT about developing Interactive Revision resources for his students. Chris used applications such as Photosynth to motivate his students in creating support materials for their exams. Finally Ollie Bray from Musselburgh Grammar School will represent Scotland with his VCT that uses the Xbox game Guitar Hero as stimulus and context to create a wide range of successful and imaginative transition projects.
These are four fantastic projects and I am sure they will make an impact at the European Innovative Teachers Forum in Vienna. We’re hopeful that they may even receive further accolades.
A big thanks and congratulations to all the teachers who attended the event; it was pleasure to spend time your company. I would also like to thank all the teachers who submitted a VCT to this event and helped make it the most successful Innovative Teachers event we’ve held in the UK.
Stay tuned for more information in coming posts about the VCTs and technology showcased at the event
After receiving the highest number of entries ever for a Microsoft Innovative Teachers Forum, I am pleased to announce the 10 Virtual Classroom Tours that will be celebrated at the awards event at Microsoft Ltd headquarters in Reading. The judging proved to be a very difficult and challenging exercise, with every one of the 36 entries having more strengths than weaknesses, thus making it very difficult to chose only ten award winners. But, thankfully Kristen took on the ‘Simon Cowell’ role and managed to identify 10 fantastic projects.
The selected Virtual Classroom Tours are:
You can download all these VCTs on the Innovative Teachers Network site from this community.
So we have 10 great VCTs and 12 teachers. Yes, I couldn’t work that one out, but Kristen, being an English teacher, perhaps she can be forgiven? You can see from this list that saltash.net community school have done exceedingly well. Their teachers made a major and valuable contribution to the forum. This is down to the way school has adopted the concept of Innovative Teachers and placed it at the core of their professional development. They also have Dan Roberts who won an award at the Worldwide ITF in Hong Kong and I suspect his success has had a motivating influence.
These 12 teachers will be attending an awards event at Microsoft Ltd headquarters next week. They will take part in an Innovative Teachers workshop and listen to a keynote from Guy Shearer, Head of Curriculum Design at the Special Schools and Academies Trust. We will also be announcing the four VCTS that will represent the UK at the European Innovative Teachers Forum, being held in Vienna in March. It promises to be a great event and we will share the outcomes with you in future posts.
Thank you to all of the teachers who participated, and we hope you all take a look at their projects on the Innovative Teachers Network.
Hardly a day goes by anymore when I don't hear or read something about personalising learning or putting pupils at the centre of their learning. If I had a Euro for every person who uses these buzzwords without having a clue as to what they mean, I'd be a wealthy lady (notice that I'm asking for Euros at this point, and not Pounds).
What I'm realising is that while a lot of people can drop the phrase 'student-centred learning' into casual conversation, not many actually know what it is or how to do it. This is for good reason; changing the traditional model of teaching and learning that we've all grown up with -- and that our parents and grandparents grew up with as well -- is not easy.
Futurelab, the Bristol-based education research institution, spent three years working with teachers in two schools to create an enquiry-based curriculum and teaching model that actually works. The project, called Enquiring Minds, was funded by Microsoft as part of the Partners in Learning initiative that Stuart and I both work on.
Researchers from Futurelab spent a great deal of time in these schools, trying out ideas, listening to teachers, and examining what worked and what didn't. What they ended up with is a set of research-based, tried and tested resources for any school or teacher wanting to try enquiry-based learning. Most recently, Futurelab has produced a set of professional development materials containing enquiry-based learning activities for teachers who want to try this approach in their classroom.
I'm not going to go into too much detail about the what/how/why of this, as all of this information can be found in the following documents in the special Enquiring Minds community on the Innovative Teachers Network.
I've seen Enquiring Minds at work at Ashton Park school in Bristol, and have spoken to teachers and pupils who are using it. What struck me in those instances was how engaged students are when they actually have input into what they are learning. Teachers spoke of children who were never interested in school until they were able to shape their learning around something they cared about - a pet lizard, a question that intrigued them, a role model. They're still learning the same concepts and skills, but because the learning takes on a new relevance in their personal lives, pupils are more motivated than they were before.
I encourage everyone to check out the Enquiring Minds resources on the Innovative Teachers Network. The new professional development materials provide the perfect opportunity for you to try out this kind of teaching in your classroom tomorrow. Let us know what you think about it.
At our Innovative Teachers events around the world, we're seeing more and more teachers guide their pupils on a journey that takes them beyond their classroom, school - even their country - by connecting them with another school somewhere else in the world. I've seen a school in Sweden connect with a school in Madagascar to study animals and the environment, a school in Germany and a school in Greece link their English classes through MSN Messenger, and I've even seen two schools in far-flung corners of Australia set up a distance-tutoring programme. In every instance, this kind of work motivates the learners and manages to teach them much more than the original lesson ever intended.
I imagine it must be hard for teachers to set up this initial connection with a school halfway around the world - especially if the teacher hasn't been there herself. And once the connection is made, how do you insure that your pupils have a safe and secure experience, and that something productive happens from this interaction?
The Canadian organisation Taking IT Global has made all of this a lot easier for you, with their resources for teachers (called TIGed). Taking IT Global was launched in 2000 with the vision that "Youth everywhere are actively inspired, informed and involved in shaping our world." The online community provides opportunities for learning, skills-building, cross-cultural awareness and self-development using the latest Web 2.0 technology. In their nine years of existence, TIG have reached over 10 million young people in every country in the world.
The educator-focused resources at TIGed give teachers ideas as to how to harness the power of this vast student community for use in the classroom. There are country-specific communities (there's one for the UK), lesson plans created by teachers using TIG in school, case studies describing how teachers have connected their classrooms, and more. Partners have created "Thematic Classrooms" around topics like global food issues, tobacco control, and HIV/Aids where you can connect your pupils to classrooms in other countries to discuss these issues. With nearly 1000 schools and 1500 classes from 72 countries around the world on the TIGed site, you're bound to find something that works for you.
Let us know what you find and how you're using it.
In 2007, Microsoft held our Worldwide Innovative Teachers Forum in Helsinki. It was a fantastic event, and one of the highlights was a keynote speech by Danish educator Dr. Ole Lauridsen. Dr. Lauridsen is director of a new learning styles lab at Aarhus University and as part of his work has looked into OneNote and how it is able to adapt to different learning styles.
Stuart and I have both sung the praises of OneNote in this blog. And on the Innovative Teachers Network, you can find Dr. Lauridsen's original guide "OneNote and Learning Styles - a perfect match" in the Office and Learning Styles community.
Now there are even more resources available. Dr. Lauridsen visited Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, USA last year and gave this talk, recorded and viewable online for anyone who wants to learn more.
Mike Tholfsen, test manager for OneNote in Redmond and Microsoft's biggest advocate for OneNote in education also posted Dr. Lauridsen's paper on Office and Learning Styles in its entirety on his blog. Here is an excerpt:
There are many learners at all levels who know about their learning styles strengths, but are not familiar with an adequate ICT platform that supports these strengths. For these learners the Miscrosoft application OneNote is the solution. Conversely, there are OneNote users who tend to get lost in the many features and the flexibility of the program; their use of the program can be much more focused and efficient when they use their learning styles strengths as their points of departure.
If you're still not sure what OneNote is all about (and really, how can you be at this point, with as much as Stuart and I drone on about it), you can view a demo here.
We have been talking to schools and teachers all over England, Scotland and Wales about the Innovative Teachers Network. We've been recruiting new members and working with teachers and partners to start new communities and post new content that we hope will be useful to all of you when you're teaching with technology.
One of the things we've been reminded of during our conversations with teachers is just how little free time you have. We both knew this, of course, having been teachers. But when you're in a job where you can go to the loo whenever you want and on most days have more than 10 minutes to cram down your lunch, it's easy to forget some of the restrictions you faced as a teacher every day.
We also know that many of you are required to log on to your school or authority's virtual learning environment each morning, and that you seldom go to any sites other than that during the day. (For those of you in Scotland, this will soon be GLOW, if it isn't already.) You may be restricted as to which sites you can search on the Internet while at school, thus limiting your search for lesson plans or learning activities you can use with your students. (Of course, this is assuming that you actually have time while at school to do any planning for future lessons...)
Taking all of this into account, we've created a Web part of the Innovative Teachers Network itself, which can fit into any SharePoint-based virtual learning environment. This enables you to log in to the ITN and search for resources, communities or professional development without leaving your VLE. (Here's what it will look like in your VLE.)
This Web part is available FREE, of course, and it can be downloaded from our partner Hunterstone's site HERE. You're going to have to contact your IT director or other person in charge of IT to make this happen, but Hunterstone has very kindly agreed to support them in this installation if they run in to any problems.
We hope this will make it easier for you to access the resources, communities, discussions and other teachers on the ITN that we talk about all the time. Let us know if your school or authority decides to use it.
NOTE: If you show this to your IT director and they are unable to download the Web part from Hunterstone's web site for whatever reason, we can send it to you on a memory stick. Please have them contact Stuart or me directly to request this.
Stuart: v-sball@microsoft.com
Kristen: kriwea@microsoft.com
I think I enjoyed last Friday's Innovative Teachers event at Microsoft just a much as Stuart did. The teachers we meet are always inspiring, and this group of 12 was quite special.
Like Stuart and the teachers, I was also inspired by Guy Shearer's keynote. I've borrowed the title of Guy's talk in the title of this post. (If you said this at one of your school's staff meetings, how many people do you imagine would raise their hands?)
Guy's talk was particularly relevant given the media attention late last week around Robin Alexander's review of the Primary Curriculum in England, in response to the Rose Review. He also introduced some of us (actually, probably just me) to the tool Wordle, which creates "word clouds" that emphasize the most-used words in any text you provide.
Here's the word cloud from the 1988 version of the national curriculum. Notice the words that stand out as being used the most - National, Key, Schools, Stage, and Stuart's favourite, Wales.
Now check out the word cloud from the 2008 national curriculum. The difference in the language used is immediate (Wales, for one, is gone). However, is the difference in the classroom as apparent?
The other point Guy made that stuck with me is part of an exercise that he uses at professional development workshops all over the England. He asks teachers and leaders to think back to the kids they went to school with and compare them to the pupils in their classes now. What are the differences between the two? When we had this discussion with our innovative teachers, we discovered that Guy's premise was correct - kids have changed. And the way we teach them needs to change as a result.
I won't steal all of Guy's talk for this blog post - in case he ever wants to speak publicly again. I will leave you with this video, which he used to illustrate the kind of decision making that is going on in schools today. In Guy's experience, schools trying to transform are making lots of decisions, one after the other, without a clear view or where they're going or why they're doing what they're doing. Where does this kind of decision making get schools? What do they end up with?
(You'll see where this process gets Bert and Ernie...with a goldfish in a hat....)
Stay tuned for the next Innovative Teachers posts, where Stuart and I will tell you about the projects that our four teachers are bringing to Vienna. We're hoping these will bring you loads of ideas for your own classrooms.