MANAGING ICT


In the final article in our series looking at new technology


in schools, Kieron Kirkland from education innovator Futurelab looks at social software


S


OCIAL SOFTWARE is becoming increasingly popular. Whether it is chatting on Facebook, or promoting your band on MySpace, providers are working hard trying to make sure there is something on the market for everyone. But, whatever the logo at the top of the


screen, what potential does social networking have to transform education? In understanding social media, it is worth bearing


in mind a few points. First, most of your students will be using social media of some description already. It is certain, for example, that at least some of your students have swapped homework on Facebook at least once. Second, social media is likely to continue to be part


of your students’ lives long after they have left school. So if we think at least part of our duty as educators is to prepare students for the future, social media should fit into education somewhere. Third, social media does not mean Facebook. If we


want to exploit the potential of social media we need to look behind the marketing, understand the skills that social media can develop in students, and look for which of the many tools is best suited to do this. Social media can offer students the opportunity to


share their work with a wider, real-world audience. This can be hugely beneficial, offering a different avenue of feedback and making work in school feel more authentic. Foreign language teachers in particular have used blogs and other social media, like Voicethread, to connect learners with other students from around the globe. Writing and sharing online can help develop digital literacy skills in students, as they are required


Social software in education


to critically analyse what they see. Leon Cych, a consultant on emerging technologies in education, has said: “If you create a culture of taking knowledge and looking at it, reflecting on it, you will get a higher order of thinking and processing,” whereas if pupils are used to simply receiving material “you will get people who cut and paste”. Writing blogs or Wikis are just some of the ways to


do this. Miles Berry, formerly deputy head of St Ives School in Haslemere, showed his pupils how to use the school wiki which can be edited by anyone within the school. He explained: “The first few times, they were


freaked out by the idea that someone could not only copy, but delete their work.” However, by trusting classmates to respect each other’s work “there was a big social benefit that I wasn’t expecting”. Away from pupils’ use, Mr Cych believes that teachers can benefit from writing their own blogs,


as it allows the sharing of ideas and the building of networks. If you are looking for tools to help students research


there are social bookmarking sites such as Delicious – which allow users to share their internet favourites (or bookmarks). Users can “tag” sites with keywords, which you


can then search. This can help to cut down hours of searching online, and if you find people who are reliable sources of information, this can help to “socially mediate” the web. “Microblogging” sites like Twitter where users


post short messages online are also gaining value. Some primary teachers are using it to support parental engagement through sharing what students have been doing in class. Other educators are using it to support their CPD by sharing practice with other teachers as well as getting inspiration from industry and academia. As with any tool, there are obvious things to


safeguard against when using social media, and introducing any tool into the classroom needs time for planning and to integrate it into practice. However, whatever we feel about social media, many


pupils are using it outside of school and will continue to do so whether we ignore it or not. What we need to be exploring is how these tools can be used to support effective learning and teaching, and how we can support students to be critically aware of their use.


SecEd


• Kieron Kirkland is a learning researcher at Futurelab. Futurelab is dedicated to transforming teaching and learning, making it engaging to 21st century learners by using innovative practice and technology. Visit www.futurelab.org.uk


Further information


• Voicethread: http://voicethread.com/ • Delicious: http://delicious.com/


Win ICT resources worth £2,000


SECED’S FINAL ICT giveaway of the academic year is offering one lucky school the chance to win a package of innovative STEM-subject resources from Texas Instruments (TI) worth around £2,000. TI is a provider of a range of advanced classroom


tools that enable learners and teachers to interactively explore maths and science. Having worked closely with teachers in the UK


for nearly 20 years, the company has developed a portfolio of learner-focused curricular and supplemental materials for the classroom. TI resources have been created to put


learning in the hands of the individual, to enable exploration of the subjects, inspiring young people to discover the mysteries and influence of maths and science. The prize will include 30 TI-Nspire handheld


devices, the Teacher Edition software, TI Connect- to-Class kits and data-logging devices, along with tailored professional development for a teacher from the winning school.


Innovative maths lessons


TI-Nspire is a parallel learning suite of software and handheld devices which help to unlock the power and potential of mathematics for its users, enabling exploration of mathematical concepts and enhancing pupils’ understanding of how the different areas of mathematics relate to one another. Employing a document structure, TI-Nspire lets


learners and teachers save and edit their work, share documents between handheld devices, and enables teachers to upload and download documents from the computer to the handheld. Upgraded features include the responsive


Touchpad which facilitates easier navigation and manipulation, a simplified Home screen allowing quicker access to documents, and a Scratchpad for quick calculations and graphs. Additional data logging probes and sensors


enable cross-curricular exploration, assist mathematical modelling and can enhance scientific teaching by providing learners with tools to extend their observations, encourage experimentation and prediction, and link theory with experiment.


Time-saving features


TI-Nspire Teacher Edition software brings together classroom projection systems, the learners’ handhelds and the capability to help teachers prepare lessons and project concepts in vibrant colour. The built-in TI-SmartView emulator features a


resizable emulated handheld device view that can be used to project in the classroom. Other features include the Question Application,


which enables integration of questions in a TI- Nspire document for assessment, such as open response, multiple-choice, true/false, yes/no, agree/ disagree and always/sometimes/never. The TI Connect-to-Class teacher software provides


document transfer between the teacher’s computer and multiple TI-Nspire handhelds, saving time and enabling exploration of TI-Nspire documents.


Professional development


TI supports the world’s largest professional development organisation, T3 (Teachers Teaching with Technology) focusing on the appropriate use of educational technology in the teaching and learning of mathematics and science. A busy schedule is often the biggest barrier to CPD so if a twilight session suits the winning teacher’s calendar more than a daytime visit, T3 will accommodate this. After the training has taken place, the teacher is


further supported by the Nspiring Learning website; a virtual mathematics resource centre offering free classroom-ready resources created by teachers. The site provides tried, tested and ready-to-use classroom activities and lesson plans, in addition to software downloads, video tutorials and online support. Fully searchable by age range, curriculum area or


keyword, the activities offer the chance to implement new ideas and techniques without the need for time- consuming pre-planning.


How to win For your chance to win, answer the following question:


What do the three Ts stand for in the professional development organisation T3?


How to enter


To be in with a chance of winning these prizes, email your answer, including your name, school and contact details, to Pete Henshaw, the editor of SecEd, on pete. h@markallengroup.com You can also post entries on a postcard to SecEd


Competitions, St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, Herne Hill, London, SE24 0PB. The deadline for entries is July 16 and the winners


will be drawn at random from the correct entries and announced in September. All entries will be passed on to TI. The competition is open to all UK secondary schools, but is restricted to one entry per school. Normal SecEd terms and conditions apply.


For a copy of these or for further information, email Pete Henshaw, editor of SecEd, on pete.h@ markallengroup.com


Further information


For more on T3 visit www.education.ti.com/uk and for TI itself, visit www.ti.com


10


SecEd • June 17 2010


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16