Please see press release below, this release was recently send out to editors to showcase the developments I have been leading on the Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy. Big thanks to everyone involved.
UK First in Digital Learning
The
Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy (IPACA) has become one of
the first schools in the UK to give 1:1 Google Chromebook provision.
Students at the Dorset Academy are each given a Samsung Chromebook at no
charge to support their learning both at school and at home.
Principal
Mrs. Alison Appleyard explains how the programme is all about “what is
best for the learner”, and adds that “this environment supports students
and teachers to implement transformative uses of technology”. She
believes that the use of Chromebooks “will enhance students’ engagement
with content and promote the development of self-directed, responsible
lifelong learners”. The 1:1 programme builds on existing trials of the
devices which have happened throughout the Academy catering for learners
from ages three to sixteen.
A Chromebook is Google’s version of a portable computer, smaller and slimmer than a laptop. It
has built-in virus protection and use a ‘cloud’ network over the
Internet to access its programs and save files. Assignments done on
Chromebooks can be accessed from any other computer with Internet
access.
A Chromebook is also less expensive than the average laptop, at about
£200 to £300 per device. At IPACA, over 800 devices have been purchased
to support an engaging, innovative and successful approach to teaching
and learning. Already the Academy, which has only been open for one
year, is gaining a reputation for applying the best educational practice
from around the world, embedding cutting edge digital technologies,
innovation, entrepreneurial attitudes and their own new thinking. It is
because of this that IPACA has become the fastest improving school in
Dorset. This was reflected in the stunning GCSE results, Portland’s best
ever and more is promised to come with a new state-of-the-art campus
being sought at Maritime House.
Speaking
about the groundbreaking initiative, the Academy's Director of Digital
Learning and Innovation, Mr Gary Spracklen, told us that “Getting a 1:1
computer initiative started means so much more than just handing out a
device for students to type their homework on.” He explains “It is about
encouraging a whole-organisation to re-think learning and to develop
pedagogy that reflects the 21st Century skills that successful learners
require. He adds “it is not the type of device that is important,
although we are very happy we have chosen Samsung Chromebooks, it is the
way we are using them alongside other developments.” Examples of the
’other developments’ Mr. Spracklen refers to include the use of
one-hundred minute lessons in the secondary phase to extend learning
opportunities; shoeless learning in the new Osprey Quay Campus, to
foster a homely and comfortable feel in learning environments; the use
of vertical tutor groups maintains the strong sense of family that is
so important at the Academy. Mr. Spracklen believes that it is “because
of an Academy-wide holistic approach IPACA is seeing the difference
being made even after one year.” He believes that “what the Academy
needs now is our Maritime House Campus to ensure every Portland child
has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.”
As
well as investing in the Chromebook devices, IPACA has also made
large-scale investment in the infrastructure and systems that lead to
the successful use of technology in learning. Mr. Spracklen explains
further, “As well as Chromebooks, this summer we have undertaken a range
of works to further support the engagement with and enrichment of
learning. This has included moving each of IPACA’s five sites away from
slow local authority procured connectivity to super-fast fibre optic
broadband. This builds on the Olympic-legacy data connections that
connect Portland to the wider-world, something that until now was under
utilised on the Island. We have worked very closely with our preferred
supplier BT to make this happen and already we are seeing the benefits.
On top of this, we have added world-class Cisco Meraki WiFi at both our
Osprey Quay and Royal Manor Campus sites, this allows for hundreds of
devices to connect at once without any delay or downtime. New phone
systems, managed print services, new information systems and a bespoke
virtual learning environment mean the Chromebook devices are well
supported to make the difference in the classroom.”
Speaking
about the successful use of Chromebooks in the classroom, IPACA’s Head
of Faculty for Communication Studies, Mr. Chris Wadley said, “It is very
powerful when students can be automatically connected to the Internet
without any delay. Chromebooks always turn on in less than seven seconds
and this is unheard of for traditional desktop or laptop devices in
schools. In English we are using this new technology to bring about
better collaboration and feedback. Students can now easily collaborate
on documents through Google Docs, whether that be in lessons or at home
for homework. Teachers can also provide immediate feedback and thoughts
or critiques on students’ writing, this all leads to better outcomes for
our students. This feedback now doesn’t haven’t to be written with
built in functionality for multimedia recording - you can get so much
more of a message across with an audio recording. This is quick and
simple with Chromebooks and makes home learning fun for our learners.”
Mr.
Wadley explains how, “IPACA sees home learning as a really important
skill for students to develop and refine.” He add that, “this is why
Chromebooks are taken home each night so students are not confined to
accessing learning materials just within school hours. If a student is
inspired in a lesson they now have the individual technology to foster
this inspiration at home and turn it into meaningful learning.” Building
on this, Mr. Spracklen explains how, ”the use of Chromebooks at home
means that IPACA has become one of the first schools in Europe to offer
‘take home filtering’. Normally schools tell families that they are
100% responsible for filtering adult content on school devices at home.
We wanted to be different though and provide help to parents with this
new technology. This is why we opted to work with a small startup in
California ‘Securly’ who build ‘Web
Filtering 2.0’ for schools. Working with Securly couldn’t be simpler
and now means that we have a filter system that reflect the 21st Century
demands in a classroom. Teachers can ‘whitelist sites on the fly’
meaning that content that is needed to support learning is always
available.” Principal Mrs. Appleyard adds “Securly are working closely
with us to solve the “over blocking” problem that many schools face. We
want our teachers to safely use Google, YouTube and Wikipedia in the
classroom without subjecting students to inappropriate content, videos,
search results, and so on - with Securly’s help this is now possible
both at school and at home. This is transforming learning and leading to
better outcomes for all our students.”
Speaking
about the use of Chromebooks at school, Year 9 student Jack Pollard
commented, “this week in Geography we have been using the Chromebooks to
record the results of our field work. We have been able to incorporate
photographs, make graphs and embed maps. Before we had the Chromebooks
most students would struggle to get access to IT when they needed it. We
also use to get really frustrated waiting for sites like Google maps to
load”. Fellow Year 9 student Kyle Creasy adds, “I love using my Samsung
Chromebook because it’s so simple to use, good for our learning and
doesn't take long to load. Everything is on the device, so we can check
emails, research our subjects, collaborate with our friends and other
people from around the world and hear instantly from our teachers about
how we are getting on with our learning”. Year 7 pupil Jamie Davis
adds, “now that we have the Chromebooks, I cannot imagine school without
them. They are helping us learn in every lesson and providing us with
the tools we need to do the best we can at home.”
Mr.
Spracklen explains how the use of Chromebooks is only the beginning for
IPACA which he believe is an organsation that, “embraces innovation for
the sake of it’s learners.” He promises that, “Chromebooks will come
and go” and says IPACA is, “agnostic with hardware. This is why we are
building a third-millenium learning environment for our learners in the
cloud with the help of our preferred IT supplier, European Electronique.
This is all about providing students and teachers with the files,
resources and applications they need when they need them. By approaching
things differently, it means that it doesn’t matter what device you as
user are using, as long as you have a web-browser you have access. For
now, many will use the Chromebooks web-browser, but in three, five
or,ten years time, is it is impossible to say what browser they will
use. The important thing is that learning will always be central, we are
really passionate about ensuring that".
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