VIEWS & OPINION
The search for Edtech 50 Schools starts here! Comment by TY GODDARD, Director of the Education Foundation
Edtech 50 Schools is a UK initiative to find the 50 schools that are using education technology to make the biggest difference to pupils, staff and parents. Last year we launched the first Edtech 50 Schools focusing on people,
products and projects and this year the spotlight is on digital leadership. Accompanied by Mark Anderson, aka @ICTevangelist, I have been going round the UK in a campervan visiting schools as far afield as Middlesborough, Cardiff, East Kilbride, Belfast, and Birmingham. We’ve looked at developments across schools, individual departments or projects that make good use of technology. What we’ve learned is that it’s not about gadgets and gizmos or
'disruption' to quote a buzz word. And it’s certainly not about revering technology or talking about how much you spent on robots. It’s about tools to improve practice; it’s about infrastructure and using technology for a clear purpose. Jon Tait is principal at Acklam Grange in Middlesbrough, where they are
using Microsoft Learning Tools and the Microsoft Translator app to break down barriers for new arrivals to the UK. These are not just being used in classes but right across the school, so reception staff can communicate more confidently with parents who do not speak fluent English and teachers have richer conversations during parents' evenings. Jon has also been using flipped learning, not just with students but also as
the basis for CPD and staff meetings. Now staff are given content to watch or listen to or read before the session, so they come prepared to discuss and
engage in group work instead of playing catch up. He told me: 'We are saving money because we are not printing out reams of data for staff to skim through in a meeting and we are saving time because we make decisions more quickly.' It's about adapting to the needs of learners. At Olive Tree Primary School in
Bolton they have improved pupils' progress quite dramatically by implementing a one to one iPads programme but are not using laptops or interactive whiteboards. What’s interesting is that at Acklam Grange it’s the reverse. They are concerned that young people are experienced iPads users but perform less well when required to do pen and paper exams, so their focus is on using technology for creating exciting and enjoyable lessons. This shows that context is essential, there is not just one edtech blueprint. We were knocked out by Seaview Primary School and Nursery Unit in
Belfast where technology was totally embedded in early years and primary. We saw music technology but also simple solutions such as a teacher using a quiz app to create differentiated tests and challenges for children in spelling and maths. Now we want to hear from you. We are looking for technology to make a
difference, to save teacher time, to improve teaching and learning. Your school could be what we are looking for. You can nominate a school for the Edtech 50 Schools by visiting
http://bit.ly/Edtech50. Nominations close on Friday 18th January 2019. Following this, an independent judging panel will select the top 50 schools, which will be announced in April 2019.
Why should we encourage pupils
to ask their own questions? Comment by RHIAN SELLIER and VIRGINIA MCLEAN, Directors at Learn2Think Foundation
Why does an outstanding school ticking all the right boxes - with exceptionally well-trained staff, using all the latest in technology - still fail to engage pupils with their own learning? This was the question we were asked by a
school we worked with recently, whose SLT had shadowed individual pupils for a week, hoping for a new perspective on their classroom culture. The teachers noticed one skill absent from their superficially capable cohort: they were not asking questions. Why does it matter? What is so important
about students asking questions? Looking at the latest cognitive science, it
appears that the act of asking a question not only plays a valuable role in the brain’s learning process, but is also a measure of engagement and depth of thinking. The wonderful thing about a question is that
it is generated from personal curiosity: to find out more about something new and interesting, to fill in a gap in understanding, or to challenge something that conflicts with an existing view. Ashwin Ram, computer and cognitive scientist, calls a question a ‘knowledge goal’, a personal
driver and engager of a pupil’s short-term memory. Curiosity has been shown to have its own neural signature and occurs in the ‘zone of proximal learning’ or when we think we almost know something. Competing for attention in the pupil’s
potentially overloaded sensory register is the first hurdle many teachers face. Can your topic stimulus win the day against the day-dreaming, the pencil fiddling and the stomach rumbling? The more dissonance we create, the more surprising, the more heart-racing the stimulus, the more likely the brain is to begin processing it in short -term memory. The next step for learning is the active
processing of information, as the short-term memory can only hold something for 30 seconds before it is lost and your fabulous stimulus has gone to waste! Information needs to be filed in long-term
memory, otherwise it will not be available for later recall and use. This filing happens when the brain is actively engaged in thinking. This is hard and requires effort. It is only through the interplay between a students’ short-term and
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www.education-today.co.uk
long -term memory (prior knowledge), that learning occurs. And it seems that generating their own questions is a powerful way of facilitating this interplay. On the non-cognitive side, questions also
have considerable psychological value. When examining student motivation, Columbia University Teacher’s College identified intrinsic factors, coming from within the student themselves, as far more powerful than external factors such as praise, grades or rewards. Amongst the main motivators they found were autonomy and purpose. A question is a marvellous thing.
It
guarantees our attention, rewards us and then helps us make connections and lay down and reinforce neural pathways. In cognitive science terms it ticks all the boxes for effective learning. In psychological terms it is highly motivational, being personal to the asker, and showing purpose in the asking. So why aren’t we cultivating and teaching
questioning as a skill in its own right? Felicia Jackson will be back next montha
December 2018
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