By Teachers for Teachers (4).... and Thank You – to Pitmen Painters and Tech-savvy Teachers

There are many amazing teachers in our schools who make a difference in the lives of the children they teach everyday. There are many amazing teachers who would love to use technology more effectively to help them do this, if only they had someone to give them a few tips or ideas about how to use it. There are many amazing teachers who know they’ve seen someone, somewhere show them how to use something …… but the memory is filed away in their brain and they just can’t seem to quite remember how.  So how can we keep learning? Keep being reminded?

There was a documentary on the television at the weekend about the Pitmen Painters. A group of miners in Yorkshire learnt about art appreciation – not by reading lots of books about the art and it’s meaning, but by actually DOING it, by getting “inside the head” of the artist by trying to emulate what they had done.  This could equally apply to the teachers who have learnt how to use a technological tool by creating a 2 or 3 minute instructional video – an innovid.  There were some lines in Lee Hall’s play, which featured in the documentary that stuck in my head:

“Real art is something that’s shared.”

Just as the miners shared their pictures and learnt from each other,  the innovids have been shared on the Innovativeteach YouTube channel. Check out the latest additions below!

“Real art is for everyone.”

So is learning. So is technology. So is learning using technology. What one person has learnt and developed into an innovid is there for everyone else to share and learn from. A constant reminder of those tips and tricks we file away at the back of our minds and a constant source of inspiration.