Blocking - no longer a viable option (CC: @Securly)

A recent survey to 2000 parents of children aged between 11 and 16 has found that 56 per cent felt that using parental web filters could damage their relationship with their children.

The general feeling was that they wanted their children to develop the self-discipline to control their own internet use. What’s more, many parents feel unable to make children study by blocking internet access, as homework often requires online research.

The research also found that 63 per cent of parents said confiscating smart phones and tablets was futile. 70 per cent feared social media could distract children from their work.

"What am I supposed to do? Stop her when she says it's essential for her homework. But when she's meant to be working, she's actually on social media on the computer," said the mother of 15-year-old Elly, from Worcestershire.

The parent of a 12-year-old said an attempt to block the internet had resulted in rebellion: "She just sat there and didn't do her homework for the whole time the internet was blocked."

Siobhan Freegard, co-founder of the parenting website Netmums, said parental internet filters could be blunt instruments, signalling "a total lack of trust and understanding" between parents and children.

Dialogue was better, she suggested, along the lines of: "Come on, let's get this homework done," but she admitted it could be difficult.

One particular parent commented that they now use software that allows their daughter to set her own homework targets, block the internet for the time she needs to achieve these targets and award herself success ratings when she completes her homework in time.

"She's in full control. She loves it. She writes down her goals, puts in the social media sites she wants to block and the amount of time," said Elly's mother.

You can read the full article on the BBC website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-29550335

Kidsmeet

The Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy recently played host to a special event showcasing digital excellence among pupils. The event entitled ‘Kidsmeet’ saw First School pupils from Frome Valley, Damers, Milborne St. Andrew, Cerne Abbas, Cheselbourne and St Mary's Middle School students join together at the Portland Academy.

Host, Academy Director for Digital Learning and Innovation, Gary Spracklen explains how, ‘The event was an opportunity to celebrate and share how Digital Technology is being used to engage, innovate and inspire learning. For over a year now we have been working with schools from the Dorchester Area Schools Partnership to prepare for the new Computer Science Curriculum, together we have shared best practice as teachers and sought effective methods of introducing assessment and moderation into this new curriculum area. The Kidsmeet event today was a celebration of that partnership and an opportunity for our learners to share exciting tools they use to support their learning’.

Speaking about the event, Y5 pupil Finley Short said, ‘It was a fantastic day! We got to share all the exciting work we are doing here at IPACA with other children from around Dorset. My group shared how we can invent imaginative solutions to problems using a ‘Makey Makey’ board. Mr Spracklen explains further, ‘A Makey Makey board is a device which can turn everyday items into an input device. Today you can see how the children have turned fruit into a working electric piano. This technology can be applied in lots of different circumstances to solve an array of problems and when linked to coding can support A-Level and Degree-Level studies and research'.

Bob Duffin, Headteacher of Cheselbourne First School and Leader of the Dorchester Area Schools Partnership ICT Group said, ‘We want to thank Gary Spracklen and his team at IPACA for all their efforts to organise the Kidsmeet today. Everyone has said what a fabulous day it was and it was great to see more of what happens down at IPACA. We look forward to welcoming IPACA students to future events in Dorchester’.

#BYOD Pilot

I am excited to announce that we are planning a BYOD pilot for pupils here at the Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy. This pilot will start in January 2015 and will be focused on our West Base and West Base 2 superclasses at our new Osprey Quay Campus. The pilot will involve 120 learners aged between 6 and 9.

Last night, we hosted our first parent information session about the pilot, a recording of this session can be seen below -

I look forward to sharing the results with you through this platform.

Miss Heppell selected for Google Teacher Academy

Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy educator, one of 50 Global Educators to be selected for 'Google Teacher Academy'. 

Miss Melissa Heppell, who teaches in a superclass of 90 children at the Portland School's Osprey Quay Campus, said she was  ‘honoured’ to be selected. Miss Heppell is the second educator from the Portland Academy in two years to be selected for the unique opportunity which sees teachers from around the world presented with 'Google Certified Teacher Status'.

The Google Certified Teacher program was launched in 2006 and has since held several academies across the USA, Australia and the UK, expanding the ranks of Google Certified Teachers to over 800 educators worldwide. Miss Heppell is looking forward to attending the two day intensive program that recognises educators who are doing innovative and exciting things in their classrooms with technology. Speaking about the event she said, 'I cannot wait to connect with like minded educators who shared my school's passion for seeing digital technology transform learning'.

Academy Director of Digital Learning and Innovation, Mr Gary Spracklen, speaking about Melissa's selection for the Google Teacher Academy explains, 'For any schools to have a Google Certified Teacher in it's ranks is a significant achievement, to have two represents IPACA's position as a world-leader in the use of Digital Technology to support learning. The transformation we are seeing through the appropriate use of technology to engage, innovate and inspire learning is incredibly exciting and I am so pleased Miss Heppell will have the chance to share this with a global audience at the Google Teacher Academy while continuing to develop her skills'.

Great promotion from Google

New schools purchasing 20+ Chrome licences between the 1st October and the 31st December 2014 from an authorised Google reseller will be able to benefit from a day long Transformational Planning Workshop. The workshop will help school leaders build a practical plan for integrating technology in their classrooms in order to improve learning outcomes.

Description

The workshop is a one day interactive session for a maximum of 2 people per school, facilitated by an educational technologist with extensive knowledge and experience spanning deployment, change management, technical areas and pedagogy. It will be delivered either at your school or a local school and will walk attendees through considerations and practicalities around implementing a technology strategy in their school.

Attendees will get an overview of what a connected classroom could look like and gain a greater understanding of what is possible in this environment. Google’s supported classroom and workflow will be explained, along with what is required to make this a success. Attendees will create a future plan document as part of the workshop which will detail achievable tasks, ideas around how these can be measured and include a list who would be involved in the delivery. A project presentation will also be developed by attendees enabling them to share their learnings with stakeholders in their school.

Audience

The Transformational Planning Workshop is targeted at the senior leadership and management team members including any key decision makers involved in technology purchase or those with roles supporting and enhancing teaching and learning.

Attendees will benefit from:

• A greater understanding of the possibilities of technology in teaching.
• A thorough overview of Google’s Education Solutions with guidance on how to establish an effective Google supported classroom successfully
• The development of a practical future plan document with clearly articulated, realistic and achievable goals for technology in their school. This plan will be an invaluable tool to gain the buy-in and support of teachers, parents and stakeholders across the school community.
• An Implementation project presentation which can be communicated to other staff for their feedback and consideration.

How to take advantage of this offer

• Please contact your authorised Google reseller. Once your purchase is confirmed, the reseller can sign you up for the Transformational Planning workshop.
• You will then be contacted by Google’s training partner, Trilby, who will arrange the workshop to take place at a mutually agreeable time, date and venue.

Requirements for school to qualify for this offer

• Transformational Planning Workshop incentive is only available for new customers who purchase 20+ Chrome licenses from a Google authorised education reseller.
• Only purchases from schools, academies, colleges or universities that have not bought Chromebook licences or Chrome units previously will be entitled to this free workshop incentive.
• Management console orders must be confirmed by Google between 1st October and 31st December 2014 to qualify
• The Transformational Planning Workshop must be scheduled to take place before 1st July 2015.
• The promotion is only open to educational institutes in the UK

Disclaimer:

This offer may be removed at any time without notice.

Further questions please contact your authorised Google reseller.

Triss Rossin - Tute, Head of Pedagogy

Just read this great blog post from Triss Rossin who is Head of Pedagogy for Tute (pioneering company providing live online teaching into schools to support learners needing highly-targeted intervention). In the post, Triss explores the changing landscape of education and pays particular attention to 'online-learning'.

He concludes, 'Learning online satisfies an ever expanding cohort because learning can exist anywhere. The world is so vast but so close to learners now that a classroom may be more a collective of their peers rather than a traditional environment for lessons. Flipped learning promises pupils an education they can shape and pace, yet central to the ethos of any independent learning, and indeed any exploration of the world, is the requirement to know what to seek, where to find it and who to share it with'.

At IPACA Sixth Form we are using Tute to deliver three A-Level courses this year, Law, Further Maths and Polish. All three students taking these courses are loving their experience so far and I hope to use this blog to tell you more about the process in the near future.  

Flipped #IPACALearn

Broadcast on Wednesday 1st October, 2014, BBC Radio 4's 'The Educators' focused on Salman Khan, the man behind the world-famous Khan Academy.

 In the programme, full episode available here, Salman Khan talks about how and why he set up the not-for-profit organisation. He tells Sarah Montague why he believes lesson time in school could be spent more effectively if the explanation of new ideas is done at home, with students watching video lectures, in a process known as 'flipped learning'.

 The programme features a lesson at the Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy taken by one of our Joint Interim Principals Mr. Marklew. In the lesson, Mr. Marklew uses Khan Academy to support his Year 8 pupils understanding of the 'Nth Term'. See below for a short extract -

   

Why I am at @CEFPI2014?

I am currently in Portland, Oregon for the CEFPI Annual Conference 2014 to present at a Super Seminar on Saturday morning. The visit which has been fully funded by UK Learning will also see me visit a number of innovative schools both in and around Portland and Seattle.

In my Super Seminar session I will be joined by Terry White of Nova Co-Design and Director of UK Learning and Gary Overton of AHR Architects. Together we will explain explain why the vision and approach to learning that is being developed at IPACA is critical for successful  learning for students, teachers and local learning communities irrespective of global location.

We will be joined by Google Hangout by IPACA Patron Stephen Heppell who will identify the need for more collaborative working and team working for both students and staff and demonstrate the value and gains of“real” and empowered student engagement in the design and use of learning spaces. 

I will be discussing how technology is a key enabler for learning and its use and design implications for the organization of individuals and group work activity.

The Primary Objective of this “Portland to Portland” workshop,  will be to demonstrate the importance of a strong vision and pedagogy driving the design and organization of learning. There will be a strong focus on the importance of an integrated design team working with and on behalf of the learners teachers and educational clients and stakeholders. 

We believe this workshop will appeal to a wide range of delegates and place practical examples of   innovation around learning at the heart of what we are creating day by day at Portland UK, Portland, Oregon and internationally. 

The session is intended to be interactive throughout share and building on the contributions of all delegates.

UNLIMITED STORAGE FOR EVERYONE - #DriveEdu

Following Google's amazing announcement today I have shared the following with all staff here at the Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy -

If anyone had any doubts about the use of Google Apps for Education, there has been a HUGE announcement from Google today that from this Autumn all Google Apps for Education Users will automatically have UNLIMITED STORAGE (previously users were limited to 30GB each).

Full announcement here - http://googleforwork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/announcing-drive-for-education-21st.html

I personally believe this is a game changer for Education.

When you couple this with the following -


- Microsoft Office is available now on a Chromebook - http://www.omgchrome.com/microsoft-brings-office-online-chrome-web-store/


- SMART Notebook (Whiteboard Software) is available now on a Chromebook - http://digitalipaca.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/smart-notebook-for-google-chrome.html


- Photoshop will soon be available for Chromebooks - http://www.geek.com/news/adobe-and-google-bring-photoshop-to-chromebooks-1605633/


These announcements serve to highlight the strength of our decision to go 1:1 with Chromebooks last year.

As we move forward and look towards Maritime House, Chromebooks will be an even stronger feature. I urge you where possible to move ALL YOUR FILES to Google Drive and manage your digital life through this platform.

I also encourage you to continue to share practice with each other, there are some amazing things going on throughout IPACA (check out the Twitter feeds for examples). Attend the Engage, Innovate and Inspire workshops (new timetable coming very shortly) and catch up on those you may have missed at www.youtube.com/DigitalIPACA.

Google Apps for Education really is the future and we are at the cutting edge in the UK.

Exciting times!

Guest post from James Penny

In the below James Penny, shared his thoughts with me about what makes an outstanding school -

1. Teachers and Leaders are key

Teachers and leaders are the most significant actors in reform. In reforming organisations teachers and leaders are not abandoned or left alone without support and challenge. Teachers are encouraged to work with each other and to ask questions about what was effective and why. Social media is becoming a critical tool for sharing and exchanging ideas on what works. Complacency is not tolerated and there are no assumptions that the personal circumstances of a learner should dictate outcomes. There is no acceptance of a local ‘ripple in the gene pool’ so comments like: ‘This is the best our kids can do’ are not tolerated. The organisation sees their remit extending beyond the physical site into the surrounding community.

2. Professional Rigour

The organisation focuses on high quality outcomes. Difficult questions, like teacher effectiveness, are not ignored. They are tackled head on, quickly and with professional rigour. Organisations ask challenging questions about how resources are deployed, utilised and implemented. Every resource is reviewed from staff to buildings to books to technology. Nothing is assumed and nothing is ignored.

3. Leaders are critical

High quality education leaders are strong and purposeful, they enthuse their organisation with a compelling vision, share insights and expertise, hold people to account, celebrate success and tirelessly focus on Learning, Teaching and Outcomes.

4. It’s All About Learning – Not technology

The organisation understands the difference between technology to run back office systems and technology that is applied to the teaching and learning process. They do not conflate the two. They do not question the role technology has in providing high quality support systems like HR, Payroll, email, communication systems, data tracking, monitoring and analysis. They do not look at the technology to improve outcomes but they do understand that technology is part of the process of achieving outstanding outcomes. They do not allow an individual or personal obsession with a particular technology to dictate the use of technology, instead they evaluate and share the effectiveness of technology on a wide range of activities and outcomes and as part of the other resources they have at their disposal. They do not confuse the process of education with outcomes and they ask reflective questions about why they should use technology BEFORE they ask What technology should be used. Decisions about technology are made by senior leaders, the technology support function implements the decisions. Learning drives change not technology, but the potential for technology to support alternative approaches is considered, understood and embedded into the organisation.

5. Use what works best

‘Physical’ and ‘virtual’ are indistinguishable. Where virtual works best it is used, where traditional works best it is used. Organisations recognise the complexity of the system they inhabit but create simplicity. They are happy to make changes to any part of the system. None of them see technology as a magic bullet, although to curry favour with technology companies they will make statements about the effectiveness of technology if this leads to support or additional resources for less cost.

6. Facilities matter

Buildings and surroundings are important but are not considered to make a difference on their own in the same way that technology on its own is not the key.

Where possible the design of the facilities is carefully considered with an eye on creating spaces where circulation is easy and facilities are well laid out. Buildings are an integral part of the learning environment but success can still be achieved if buildings are not perfect. Attention to detail is paramount with small and cost effective changes being implemented to provide clean and well maintained facilities where people like to spend time.

James Penny is Solutions Director at European Electronique - read James' full biography at - - http://www.allaboutlearning.org.uk/biography/