Educational games, toys and puzzles are being used to overcome one of the biggest drawbacks of teaching; how to quickly grab the attention of the class at the start of the lesson. Boys tend to take much longer to settle down and some children are notoriously late. Ten minutes of the class can be lost before teaching really gets going. But now there are options.

A daily dose of maths computer games can boost maths attainment according to a study carried out in Scottish schools.
Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) – the main organisation for the development of the curriculum – analysed the effect of a “brain training” game. It also found improvements in pupils’ concentration and behaviour.

Less able children were found to be more likely to improve than the highest attainers and almost all pupils had an increased perception of their own ability.

LTS worked with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education and the University of Dundee to see if the pilot results were replicated on a wider scale. Researchers found that while all groups had improved their scores, the group using the maths game had improved by a further 50%. The time taken to complete the tests dropped by five minutes, from 18.5 minutes to 13.5 minutes. The improvement in the games group was double that of the control group.

The study also found reduced absence and lateness in some classes. Derek Robertson, LTS’s national adviser for emerging technologies and learning, said the results offered the first independent, academic evidence that this type of computer game could improve attainment when used in an educational context.

He said: “Computer games help flatten out the hierarchy that exists in schools – they are in the domain of the learner as opposed to the domain of the school. This intervention encouraged all children to engage and get success in a different contextual framework; one in which they don’t know their place.”

The educational games used in the trial were one of the growing numbers of computer games developed with education at the core. Modern technology harnessed to present a platform that is interesting and appealing to the young mind sets the challenge. A form of learning in disguise acceptable to a wide range of ability, age and both girls and boys is paying dividends in accelerating learning.

The games can be played in class and at home. They are having a marked effect in settling the class at the start of the lesson, and the number of late arrivals has noticeable reduced.

Technology in the form of a chemistry game or physics games generates  the practice activity essential to learning retention. Compared to conventional text and exercise book activity that can be one dimensional, computer games have the major advantage of capturing peer support. Children also learn from other children. How else do they pick up the detailed operation of a mobile phone? Certainly not from their parents or the school national curriculum. So the next time you see a child buried in a computer game on a PC, laptop or Nintendo take comfort this is a great way to help them learn.

Settling the class down can be eased with lesson starters; computer games that set a quiz based on the subject, or a combination of questions and clues to open the next level of the game. Some games even let the player design the next portion of the game.

The help of parents is fundamental in supporting the teacher to enhance the schooling of their children. Educational games are the easiest  entry point. Playing the same game or puzzle at home as in school is the most effective way to help. You do not to need to be proficient in the subject background and you never know how much you will enjoy the challenge.
Alistair Owens keen2learn

Our modern lifestyle can sometimes mean that children at school lack the self confidence which comes from positive self esteem. Now there are educational games  and a government initiative that can turn building self esteem into a fun exercise that parents can join in. But how do children lack this self confidence in the first place?

The educational journey can be fraught for children who feel isolated amongst their peers.  There is much to support a proposal to introduce lessons into the school syllabus on how to be happy.

Dramatic changes in society have created knock on problems in our children.  Their assiduous onset often remains unnoticed until a crisis point is reached. The unhappy child withdraws, fails to thrive in the busy classroom and is a potential target for the bully.

Two generations ago the average family life was remarkably different. The majority of mothers were based at home, generally referred to by the most inappropriate title of housewife. They performed a more hands-on role in the development of their children.  Mothers were more readily there to collect children at the school gate, and probably walk them home, or to greet them as they came home through the front door. The mothers that asked how their day went, answered questions raised, enthused, pacified, cajoled.  The child re-entered the bosom of the family able to offload and gain immediate support from the family.

But the world changes. Today the majority of mothers need to return to work to provide financial support for the family or continue a career. Children, reluctant to use public transport or walk, need a lift to school where the advent of the iPod, mobile phone and games gizmos provide a constant distraction during the journey. And the pressure mounts. Concerns remain unaired, problems unresolved, opportunities missed. A by-product of our modern lifestyle, it looks unlikely to change. The current economic situation has possibly extended the influence.  Mortgages, fuel bills, transport and food costs mount preoccupying parents and aggravating the isolation effect.

The day at school begins.  The teaching resource honed to meet the exacting standards of the national curriculum, the inquisitive eyes of Ofsted; the need to hit targets, has little time to deal with the social needs of a child in a class of 30. Teachers are not uncaring. The job content has changed, and the opportunity to act as a proxy parent diminished. Children inadvertently find themselves in between the rock and a hard place.  The tendency for some parents to offload some of their historic duties creates a backlog. A vicious circle begins. Children suffer in silence or rebel.

Children who feel good about themselves with positive self esteem view the world differently. An open receptive mind can boost the learning curve dramatically. Something or somebody has to break the cycle and the proposal to teach children personal wellbeeing as part of the Social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL) in the national curriculum a substantial breakthrough.  Psychologists have prepared the way. There are number of educational games to help the teacher and parents – as this should not be a loan crusade at school. Presented in a fun game entices children to join in, breaking hidden barriers and exposing fears that many children feel are unique to them.

If you can get children to open up, reveal their concerns about themselves, or how they relate to others, they will learn how to deal with the negatives by seeing the many positives they had previously masked. A positive frame of mind is receptive, seeks development and is willing to absorb. Moreover the happy child is infectious; a joy to be around developing a personality and resolve that will set them up to deal with the odd knock that life will throw at them. They can also learn to repel the effect of the bullies that lurk well beyond the school days.

Alistair Owens Keen2learn

The ability to read is the single most important factor in a child’s education. It is one of the easiest areas in which a parent can help at home using one of the reading games now available to help. Yet 67% of all parents don’t bother reading aloud with their children. Only 33% read with their children daily and the majority are mothers. Dad’s have given up or never started to help in the first place.

These startling figures have been revealed by Booktrust, a charity that promotes reading. They also established the drop off rate is alarming declining from 43% to 37% in the last two years.

Almost 25% rarely or never read with their children. And in the place of reading is TV. A further oddity is that the older the parent the least likely they are to read to their children. 75% of mothers aged 25 – 34 read to their children but this drops to 60% with mothers aged 35-44 and down to 33% if they are 45-54 yeard old.

In order to excel in school reading is an absolute must. Practice helps significantly and the easiest way is with your parents at home. There are some great online books  that feature animations to help with the reading.

The Exams That Need To Be Examined

The last thing any child wants, after the trauma of completing an exam, is to find out that the SAT assessment against the UK Key Stage 3 in the National Curriculum itself has failed.

The SAT key stage 3 system recently imploded in a spectacular fashion taking the hopes of 1.2m children with it. Despite effective teaching resources, Britain paid £156m to contractor ETS to handle the marking of key stage 3 SAT’s over a five year period. The initial shock from the amount of the fee was quickly followed by fury that the exam marking process had failed, the contractor sacked and a partial refund demanded.

And now the fight. Understandably due to the size of the contract ETS has lodged a counter claim. They say that the National Assessment Agency ( NAA), a division of The Qualification Agency (QCA), withheld information, delayed decisions and changed the terms of the contract.

You couldn’t write the script!  But more importantly we have government departments that seem either remote or so aloof of the facts they appear to fly in the face of common sense and the views of the professionals involved.  How can a body such as of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) be completely ignored?  This august body has the brief to develop policies, proposals, ideals and solutions based on years of hands on experience.  They identified a solution to the current crisis five years ago. And appear ignored.

The ASCL stated that SAT’s can only be a fair judgment of a child’s ability if this were assessed over the whole syllabus. The ASCL deemed a wide range of questions and activities more relevant than a short test. It would also overcome the “Teach to Test” syndrome that has infiltrated the teaching role to “big up” the results – on which teachers and schools are judged. The ASCL concept introduced the role of Chartered Assessor, drawn from experienced teachers externally accredited in a similar way as other chartered professionals. A child’s performance would be based on the accumulation of marks over long period rather than a single test. The assessors would control, advise, review and measure the performance of school grade through liaison with the school at ages 7, 11 and 14 years old.

These assessments would be more accurate, providing a fairer outcome for the students who applied themselves over the whole course.  This approach is modelled on universities’ assessment of degrees.  The system could be introduced at Key Stage 3, key stage 4 SAT’s. It could be extended to handle GCSE’s where secondary schools currently spend £700m per annum on examinations.  The ASCL believe this could be halved through the new approach.  But there would be a further benefit; the chartered status would give teachers a qualification to aspire to.  A chartered assessor (Teacher) would gain professional recognition as a just as a chartered engineer or accountant.  An authoritative voice from a recognized professional able to advice the system and also provide a career progression that might help stem the flow of experienced teachers leaving the job. This new career path would offer an additional route to seniority rather than the Head teacher role that many are unwillingly to take.

The scheme would introduce a practical solution for child and school.  It would also overcome the sometimes crass judgments made by government departments who maybe a little too remote from the coal face.

Perhaps the Schools Secretary position in the cabinet should only be appointed from a “time served teacher.”  All too often this vital position is occupied by a minister with 18 months tenancy in a role with implications over the lifetime of a child.

In the meantime the new academic year kicks off with a new key stage 3 syllabus, changes to GCSE’s, “A” levels and the introduction of 14 to 19 diplomas.  Some say this will induce a meltdown caused by too much happening all at once.  Be afraid, be very afraid!

Alistair Owens is not a teacher but believes that teachers are largely ignored in developing the solutions to many of the problems that beset our educational system. He writes regularly for a teaching resources and educational games web site www.keen2learn.co.uk

Posted by Alistair Owens at 08:40 | Permalink

To broaden our education we have a new unit measure of force. The Times announced that the protons that are to collide in the new CERN facility will do so with the force of two aircraft carriers colliding head on at 11 knots. This possibly explains  the MOD’s recent announcement why they are to buy two new carriers. Physics teaching resources  will be updated with the details of the new unit once the name has been decided.

Wise words from President Bush;
” One reason I like to highlight reading is, reading is the beginnings of the ability to be a good student. And if you can’t read, it’s going to be hard to realise dreams; it’s going to be hard to go to college. So when your teachers say, read- you ought to listen to her”

Could resist adding this to the blog. Yes I know he holds the most powerful position in the world…..for the moment
Nalle Elementary School; Washington DC ; Feb 9 2001

They say change is here to stay. Therefore the announcement by Ed Balls that the Department of Children, Schools and Families are to change the assessment of children by replacing the current form of SAT’s should not come as a surprise. Operationally is a huge change and not without some peril.

Teaching resources in the UK are already stretched as tight as a drum.  Many teachers claim to be stressed by an educational system introduced 11 years ago that has failed to achieve its intended objectives. Teachers, understandably, are reluctant to take on more work, revealed by a staggering number who opt out from seeking promotion to head teacher. The pinnacle of their career is in a job that nobody wants. The classroom is a combination of frustration, emergent social trends, sound pedagogy and a range of ability spread across an average class of 30.  Targets hover over the process as a sword of Damocles inducing a resultant “teach to test” phenomena. This horrifies the purists who believe education should be an enjoyable all round experience.  Lessons should be fun and supported by educational games  to stimulate the learning process to last a lifetime that now appear to has become battle scarred.

The future of a teachers’ career and indeed an entire school lies  squarely in the sights of Ofsted. Maintain performance against the target and you survive to fight another day. This quantitative approach does not always include quality. Self preservation rallies the defences and diminishes the adventurous who could challenge the system. Despite an abundance of educational games developed to bring fun into the classroom, the resources for teaching are limited, relying on the residue of an operating budget focussed on the prime objective to pass exams or tests.

We have streamlined a child’s education such that it is now a veneer; a glossy covering with no depth over a rough substrate of indifferent quality. A child’s learning journey is manipulated to hit a target.  Just as pate de-fois-gras excels as a foodstuff, the maltreated geese have little additional scope, reared as a freak of nature their destiny is a travesty.

The news that the DCSF is to scrap best SAT’s is welcome providing that they think it through.  Curtailing the teach to test syndrome is  positive, although the staggered assessment timed when a child is ready, is a potential logistical nightmare.

Compare 30 children wishing to pass their driving test. Each student will be at a different point in their progress, and only take the test when their instructor deems them to be ready. This staggered approach requires the test to be taken with an individual examiner. Moreover those that have passed need further stimulation to maintain momentum whilst waiting for the balance of the class to catch up.

Potentially the spread of ability will increase. Although this must be seen as a positive, with brighter children gaining further stimulus based on their learning ability, we run the risk of demoralising such children if they have to wait for others to catch up. The demands on a teacher from this emphasised spread of ability will be a nightmare.

Alarmed by the chaos caused by the marking fiasco earlier this year, Mr. Balls, the Schools Secretary, has announced he is considering abandoning SAT’s as part of an overhaul of the education system. The jury is still out and the exact nature of the implementation of the replacement scheme has yet to be revealed.  We can only hope it will be thought through and developed jointly with head teachers.  The worst outcome is another 10p tax or Home Information Packs debacle; reviled by the professionals in the market yet introduced to cause confusion derision and ridicule. But this time it could thwart the learning journey of children who now awake to find themselves competing in a global market.

In a unique collaboration, educational publisher Ransom has teamed up with Portsmouth FC and ChildLine to launch Goal! – a series of 48 football-themed books especially written for high interest age, low reading age students., now availiabe from Keen2learn.

The series desinged for priamry schools children who are reluctant or struggling with reading which launched at a special event at Fratton Park, uses a synthetic phonics approach, and closely follows the ‘Letters and Sounds’ programme produced by the UK government. Inspiring, credible and ‘cool’, Goal! will motivate older kids who have never got to grips with conventional reading schemes by offering them material that indulges their interests while catering for their reading ability, however low that may be. Progressing over five levels, the series can also accompany other reading schemes at KS1, while the higher level books are perfect for boys who just want to read about football – whatever their age!

The series includes fiction and non-fiction titles covering a wide range of football-related topics, and also features books written by Portsmouth and England goalkeeper David James, Portsmouth’s Nigerian winger John Utaka and top women’s footballer Rachel Yankey.

England Goalkeeper David James, who attended yesterday’s series launch and is one of the National Literacy Trust’s Reading Champions, is in no doubt about the importance of his role in promoting literacy.

“I’m not a politician or an educationalist. I play football for a living,” said James. “But I can still see that we are failing kids in terms of basic skills like reading. Every day I meet kids at the training ground and it becomes obvious to me that so many aren’t achieving what they are capable of. I’m in a privileged position so I use my position to do what I can. Kids look up to me, and so many kids love football, so it’s the obvious way to get kids reading.”

“We were delighted to become involved with the Goal project when it was suggested to us,” he continued. “Our study centre here at the club does a fantastic job with the kind of kids who will benefit most from these books, so it is great to contribute something to the important work they do. I get asked a lot of questions by kids, so I know these are books they’ll find interesting and want to put the effort into reading.”

The powerful alliance of football and reading is widely recognized and has generated a wide range of initiatives that target underachieving pupils with significant results. Since 2002, The National Literacy Trust’s Reading the Game initiative has worked to promote literacy through the medium of football and has achieved particular success in reaching an audience of particularly stubborn reluctant readers, many of whom risk leaving primary school unable to read at all. Similarly the Department for Children, Schools and Families ‘Playing for Success’ scheme has established study support centres at football clubs that provide out of school support to underachieving pupils. The problem remains however, that despite their enthusiasm for football these pupils are a notoriously difficult audience and there is very little reading material out there catering for them. All the indications are that schools, teachers and parents will welcome the Goal! books:

“At last a publisher has recognised that children want to read when the material is relevant to them.  The Goal! series has taken on children’s interests and reaches older readers, usually boys, who have not yet mastered reading. It is a real challenge to engage these pupils and material like this is hard to find. By starting right at the beginning, the Goal! books give low achieving students another go at learning to read, as well as shifting their attitude away from ‘reading is boring’ or ‘not for me’,”  comments Margaret Coleman, Head Teacher at Manor Primary School in East Sussex.

In further recognition of Goal’s target audience, and the direct correlation between poor reading ability and anti social behaviour, crime and unemployment, each book also takes the opportunity to promote ChildLine on its back page. Four times as many girls as boys currently call ChildLine, and the helpline is concerned that boys may be reluctant to get in touch, perhaps because asking for help is sometimes seen as being unmanly or weak. However, it is hoped that the involvement of football stars and clubs will lead to more boys calling ChildLine, instead of keeping their worries to themselves.

To view BBC coverage of the Goal! series launch including interviews with David James and John Utaka please visit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7587047.stm

Alistair Owens Keen2learn

In the space of 10 years the world as we know it can change dramatically. The schooling content seen as essential at the start of a decade can be almost irrelevant at the end. So are we programming the right curriculum for our children as they start their 10 year schooling journey and making the best use of modern educational games in our teaching resources?

Remember Y2K ? The 1st of January 2000.  The world was scheduled to stop revolving, lifts jam mid floor, bank accounts freeze and computers implode.  The computer gurus had overlooked the implications of the date code of the new millennium. Suddenly we were desperately short of ICT personnel to rewrite operating programs and manufacturers to build new computers, servers and networks. The world at large joined in the furore, angst and paranoia.

The hot ticket career in ICT reacted to a demand that nobody foresaw. Inflated salaries, bonuses and a massive workload reflected what turned out to be misjudged panic. Thankfully Y2K passed like a damp squib. The world managed to continue to spin controlled by clocks and computers that continued to work.  But there were huge economic consequences.  Operating budgets were raided, projects cancelled as funds for replacement computers and services were rushed into place.  And then….nothing.

Hardware manufacturers had a ball. Everyone had the latest specification computer, ICT guys had earned a fortune.  But the bubble burst. The demand evaporated and the market flooded with skilled ICT professionals looking for a job.

Doubtless we have learned something from this maelstrom. Since Y2Y we have seen the centre of gravity in ICT support moving to Bangalore, manufacturing to China and possibly the Financial Services market to Frankfurt?  We need to reprogramme our teaching resources so children can meet the changing demands of a global market. Matching the future needs in the curriculum is complex, and critically, would require decisions a decade in advance.

In the meantime we see continuing conflict in the performance in the key stages of the National Curriculum. A huge number of children in primary school fall short of reaching an acceptable level in maths, English and ICT. The problem is passed to secondary school where teachers, already stressed, attempt to correct shortcomings as well as meet their own standards and targets. Perversely, success in exams is tempered with concern they have become too easy.  GCSE’s are criticised by the Confederation of British Industry that their content fails to meet the demands of the modern commercial world. The DCSF and OFSTED wail, gnash their teeth, change policy and muddy the water.

The government have announced changes to the GCSE.  Designed to encourage children and provide a better chance of success, on the surface the syllabus is to be brought up to date and coursework will become modular. But this laudable intention has met with an immediate backlash; schools claim their workload will become intolerable as they try to meet the demands of children at varying stages of progress and attainment. Critics claim it would be impossible for the children not to gain good grades. But is the final outcome for the children ideally matched to the career market they are to enter?

Change will always induce reluctance, yet if we do nothing then nothing will change. Forty years ago the pace of change was more regulated. Children had some idea of a career in mind when selecting GCSE and “A” levels. Engineers went for physics, accountants for maths, doctors for the sciences. Today the changing employment options have left children with less focus. Historic careers have vaporised or can radically change within the schooling journey – e.g. the Y2K syndrome and global market forces in manufacturing. Without specific career objectives children are bound to select subjects on their exam success potential. Maybe we should assess children for their likely career potential at an earlier stage to help programme their educational journey more efficiently.  Pundits from the respective industry should be involved in the curriculum planning such that the syllabus incorporates developing techniques.

The World Wide Web, email and computers revolutionised communications in the space of 10 years. We are intimately aware of environment issues; global warming, animal migration and climatic changes that are all in state of flux. We need to consider what teaching resources are best suited to the educational objectives that best suit this fast evolving world.

Alistair Owens Keen2learn