I’m so used to reading negative press reporting on education - especially now that the national papers all read the TES on a Friday, to see what newsworthy cases of disrepute are up in front of the General Teaching Council – which then make it into Saturday’s papers. So it was a surprise to open the magazine in this Saturday’s Daily Telegraph and find a positive article about changes happening in schools up and down the country.
And this wasn’t just a news item relegated to a dusty page in the paper – it was a four page story in the magazine which was overwhelmingly positive about schools today. It was called “Revealed: new teaching methods that are producing dramatic results” , and the sub-heading stayed on the positive theme:
Innovative headteachers at schools around the country are abandoning traditional chalk* and talk teaching methods in favour of widely differing visions of an educational future. Judith Woods enters a world of spaced learning, praise pods, flexible Fridays and sixth-formers in business suits.
The lead school featured is Monkseaton, in Whitley Bay, where the head teacher, Paul Kelley continues his decades-long focus on educational improvement through researching and monitoring the impact of changes made within the school and curriculum. I first met Paul over a decade ago, when he was experimenting with video conferencing to remodel the school’s foreign language teaching. Now the school is at the forefront of curriculum change with a concept known as 'spaced learning'. As the Telegraph reports:
Based on the latest neuroscientific research, short sharp lessons are interspersed with an entirely different activity and repeated at regular intervals. And high-speed learning is proving far more effective in helping children improve their concentration – and their grades – than conventional lessons. The mechanics behind spaced learning are straightforward: the teacher gives a quickfire Powerpoint presentation, of about three slides a minute, and the pupils listen and read the screen, effectively taking in the information twice. After a gap, the same presentation is run, but there are missing spaces where the children have to fill in the missing words and repeat them aloud, which keeps their minds active and thinking. At this point they can also ask questions. After a second break, a similar presentation takes place.
Based on the latest neuroscientific research, short sharp lessons are interspersed with an entirely different activity and repeated at regular intervals. And high-speed learning is proving far more effective in helping children improve their concentration – and their grades – than conventional lessons.
The mechanics behind spaced learning are straightforward: the teacher gives a quickfire Powerpoint presentation, of about three slides a minute, and the pupils listen and read the screen, effectively taking in the information twice. After a gap, the same presentation is run, but there are missing spaces where the children have to fill in the missing words and repeat them aloud, which keeps their minds active and thinking. At this point they can also ask questions. After a second break, a similar presentation takes place.
You read much about spaced learning, and the school, on the Daily Telegraph website (or in Saturday’s magazine, especially if you’ve got a hoarder in your household!) - and the stories of the other schools featured.
You may also be interested in watching Monkseaton’s progress in the TES Schools Awards, where they’ve made it into the 6 finalists for the “Secondary School of the Year”
* I used to wonder about the phrase “chalk and talk”, thinking that blackboards didn’t exist any more, but came across a school last week looking for somebody to repaint their blackboards, so there are obviously plenty out there still being used in classrooms – and not just because you can get a pupil’s attention with a small piece of chalk in a way that a whiteboard pen won’t ;-)
This is a really interesting video showing how Surface can be used to aid learning. Whilst this is clearly a Primary School, I’m sure you’ll get the idea of just how Surface can transform some learning processes.
It is a great video showing how both Students and Teachers can engage and use Surface within Education. Without prompting they talk about the interface, collaboration and interactions and what it means to them. Are we really tricking them into learning!
Please get in touch if you want more information.
I’m pleased to introduce the following webinar for later in April which I hope will be an illuminating event and something you may wish to attend.
Discover Microsoft CRM for Education - Free Webinar, Thursday April 24th, 10:00am
Pythagoras CRM for Higher, Further Education, Schools and Learning Academies provides the tools for easily creating and maintaining a clear picture of the information that educators and administrators need. This solution developed with Microsoft Dynamics helps drive consistent, measurable improvements in daily work processes, promotes more effective cross-departmental collaboration, and enables new levels of efficiency.
Our free webinar will take you through Pythagoras’ offering and introduce our unique approach to the sector. Register here to take part.
The pressure is growing on educational organisations to perform with the efficiency of a for-profit business. A customer relationship management (CRM) solution enables you to build closer relationships with your students, tutors and lecturers. It helps you improve your student recruitment and retention rates and, by combining data sets, lower the administrative burden. This Student Relationship Management (SRM) solution combined with all the usual features of Microsoft CRM creates a cost effective and flexible solution.
The above image represents the classic student journey at UK Education establishments. But typically how many systems do you use to track this crucial journey ? The chances are there are many, but a Pythagoras’ SRM solution provides a single point of reference for the whole student lifecycle.
SRM – Managing the full student life-cycle
Life-cycle
SRM
Value
Acquisition
Targeted Communications
Effectively manage your data to ensure consistent and targeted communications
Campaign Management
Plan and run campaigns and events to targeted audiences and measure the results
Enquiry Centres
Respond quickly and consistently with all enquiries and maximise acquisitions
Maintenance
Student Record Management
Consolidate your existing student records data into meaningful, holistic information
Interventions
Proactively deploy Interventions to maximise student success
Process Deployment
Automate processes and drive change through Outlook, Web and Mobile tools
Post-Academia
Event Management
Plan more successful events with your Alumni and measure the results
Revenue Generation
Generate more income from major donors by understanding your targets
Social Networking
Build a 21st Century network and communicate your brand
The latest version 4.0 of Microsoft CRM is ideal for the Education sector. The new version allows you to help streamline vital processes around the organisation. Microsoft Dynamics CRM fits the way you work. CRM integrates easily with your existing systems, including the Office system software your users rely on, and has the flexibility to wrap around your processes. And through Academic license pricing, the upfront cost is significantly lower than any off-the-shelf Education CRM solution.
Alan Enfield, Vice Principal at New Line Learning Academy, said: “We chose Pythagoras because they listened to what we wanted, and they set up a working model with our data. The fact that they have a dedicated educational business unit showed us that they were serious about what they do and not just after adapting a standard sales model to get a quick financial return. They were interested in our approach to the problem, and we felt that they wanted to produce a good working solution almost as much as we did.”