Friday 27 February 2015

My projects so far

This is a brief outline of the projects I've been working on and where I am with them so far.






Thursday 26 February 2015

Update from Sue

As previously planned I use opportunities to raise the use of social media in lessons; for example, if the topic lends itself I will ask the class what Face Book status would this character put or, what Tweet would this character put?  I have found this really interesting as the responses from the pupils are often varied, but always in line with the character we are studying.


In addition, I have held a series of mini focus groups in preparation for my main Student Voice project.  These were informal 'chats' mainly with KS 3 and the topic was simply 'Social Media'.  I wanted to keep the topic open to see where the pupils took it and to see their baseline understanding of what social media was to them.  They mostly participated in Facebook, Snap Chat, Instagram and YouTube.

Interestingly, they took this platform of communication as the 'norm' and took it for granted (if that is the right word). The majority of pupils participated daily, mostly on smart phones or tablets.
The questions we discussed were: How they  use social media?  Why the use social media? Are there any dangers of using social media? Personal responsibility on social media; public persona (did they understand the open and public platform?)  and Are their parents aware of their usage?

Although the answers were varied, as expected, there were themes.  Social media is definitely an acceptable and widely use platform of communication with our youngsters.  They use Face Book a lot for private messaging and group chats, often creating a chat for a specific reason - e.g. gathering, team sport and even school based projects or home work!  They all like the fact that it is an instant mode of communication and widely accessed where ever they are.
When asked about the dangers of using social media, I was greeted with mostly blank faces... it hadn't really occurred to them that there could be any real dangers.  An area that did come up was cyber bullying, and 'gossiping' about people via a status.  One or two pupils were aware of 'cyber stranger danger' and we discussed tactics for them to use if this happened (as prompted by previous Digital Leader sessions).

I found these focus groups to be very insightful, they have given me focus to develop the idea further and move forward with the Student Voice Project that I will be starting soon with a colleague.  The outcome for this project is to develop the themes that were raised in more depth. to create a video and to then show the video in an assembly format.

Projects at Pontllanfraith Comprehensive School

Digital Leaders
I have created a Digital Leaders group that has been given the remit of being role models in the school in their use of ICT and delivering training sessions to pupils and staff. Each Digital Leader has their own twitter account, blog and meets on a weekly basis for training and planning purposes. Digital Leaders have been selected from years 7 and 8, and come from all socio-economic and gender group. In the first instance, expression of interest and attendance of the meeting was enough to secure a place on the DL team, but in future an application process will be implemented.

Digital Citizenship
I have included a series of lessons based around the 'Look up', 'Socialnomics' and 'Ronan's Escape' videos. These activities range discussions on blogs, discussion forums and the use of iPads to write and film a response to 'Look up'.

Training
I am part of a PLC with a group of local primary schools working on digital inclusion and upskilling staff in the use of ipads and specific apps. The group

Role Modelling ICT
In-class displays use interactive elements like AR triggers and QR codes, including an 'App of the week'. I try to run my department as paper-light as possible, and to share good practice during whole-school INSET sessions.

I haven't made the progress on these that I anticipated, for a variety of professional and personal reasons, but hopefully will make better headway once the school's set of iPads have been properly setup for pupil use.

Update on Digital Leader Project - Kyla Honey


My update

Hi all,

I've set up a Digital Ambassadors club and have set up a blog for pupils to post comments etc on it. We meet on Mondays and have a range of boys and girls, mostly from year 7, 8 and 9. We mostly talk about internet safety but many boys are keen on gaming and all things tech so we try to incorporate that in as well. Some of the students have set up You Tube channels where they review games, software etc, they are very keen.

We have also tried to get involved in whole school digital citizenship by creating a 'Thought of the week' presentation for all year groups to use during internet safety week. We are still working on assemblies and I am looking to work with the PSE coordinator to include digital citizenship in the PSE POS. All ICT teachers also put on activities on Safer internet day for all the year groups we taught.

I have also been making use of Twitter much more, but really want to expand this after seeing lots of good practice from primary schools.  I have also been using the HWB with most pupils for a variety of tasks including emailing and setting up their own Wikis for ICT revision purposes. I am hoping to get a class to make a wiki for digital citizenship.

Off the top of my head I cant think of anything else.... just wish i had more time for this kind of stuff..... See you all tomorrow.

Wednesday 25 February 2015

Digital Leaders at RCS - Project Update

Please find below a little summary of where I think we are at the moment.


I am looking forward to Friday and quietly optimistic about some of the recommendations that were highlighted today in the Donaldson report with regards to digital competence.  If time allows and Sangeet agrees I feel this may be an opportunity to discuss how these may aid/hinder our own attempts at raising the profile of digital literacy/citizenship...



Project Update

Digital Champions

For this project I have focussed on developing the pupil voice and contribution to developing digital literacy in the school. Four digital champions (two from Yr 12 and two from Yr 13) have been appointed following a selection process involving letters of application and interview. Among the ideas raised through this process, a few stood out as potential developments. The champions wanted to support the pupils in their homework clubs with responsible use of technology (eg advising on the latest Facebook security settings and how to safely set up a new mobile phone). They were also keen on setting up a coding club and a Minecraft club.

To date, the champions have established their own page in the school magazine in order to begin with the work of launching the initiatives noted above. They have also created a game using Greenfoot in Java (I'm assured!) to mark Safer Internet Day. This involved the player gathering key phrases or terms across three levels (1. creating content; 2. Communicating effectively and 3. responsible use of technology). All pupils in the school were encouraged to play the game as a starter activity during lessons on Safer Internet Day. Some are still sneakily having a go when they can!

In order to ensure some sustainability with the digital champions, we have opened applications up to KS4 pupils. This will be followed by KS3 pupils in the not too distant future. We are about to formally appoint our KS4 champions (although I can say that a fellow digital leader's recommendation following a successful work experience placement at a neighbouring school has proved very useful - thanks Liz!).

So, seemingly small steps but it must be noted that working with the fellow digital leaders under the capable stewardship of Sangeet has proved invaluable in promoting a balanced outlook within the school in terms of digital literacy - considering content creation alongside effective and responsible use of technology.
Thanks
Lloyd