Educational initiatives have come and gone, created mayhem with our teaching resources and cost a fortune. Yet we still languish in an educational programme that is beset with games rather than strategy.
Estelle Morris has always been a heroine in my eyes. As Secretary of State for Education she had the immense strength of character to resign in October 2002 saying that the job was too much for her and it did not deserve second-best. This statement was made despite her significant credentials and teaching experience. In these days of overpaid chief executives whose competence comes into serious doubt, yet hang on in the post, Estelle Morris created a landmark for honest and true people to follow.
Regrettably very few have had the courage to make the same declaration.I include in this category a number of subsequent Secretaries of State for Education who have been appointed, sometimes on a very short tenure, who failed to leave a lasting mark on the educational programme for the UK.
My opinion of Estelle Morris was confirmed by the recent publication of her thoughts and opinion on the negative effects of competition in schools and especially the development of free schools in the UK. Granted free school will enlist the talents and enthusiasm of a new breed of school governance but no one knows how or if this will last. This new development in the alternative operation of schools smacks of a policy that is far too open to the whims of enthusiasts whose commitment to the school could disappear as fast they appeared. Because they are single units aiming to improve the schooling opportunity in a particular catchment area they could be devastated by changes in population or social change. As Estelle Morris points out no one will be a position to plan any expansion needs. Schools will open and close far more readily as this FAD evolves or is replaced.
The educational system of the future in its various guises could fragment with schools pursuing options that are advantageous to their operation and abandoning national themes. I believe there are startling precedents that free schools and the Department for Educational should consider. When care for the elderly passed as an option to private companies a significant number of nursing homes were rapidly established. In theory, with a captive market they could not fail. The growing aging population would present itself at the door of the homes as customers. Yet behind the scenes lay an operational nightmare.
Staffing levels and competence became their Achilles heel. Getting the right number of qualified and experienced staff for the salaries being paid proved their downfall. Staff turnover became phenomenal. Care homes opened with a flourish and closed after a few years operation as costs rose and profit fell. Individual home were at as much risk as the slick multiple homes operations. As profits fell the payroll was adjusted downwards to balance the books. Staff turnover became even more horrendous. Staff left to seek better wages; training suffered as staff were needed operationally and could not be spared for development. The service level plunged and the many tales of horror started to emerge from many nursing homes.
A similar situation could occur in free schools. They will have to be competitive to survive and this could be their downfall. Staffing ability and moral will be crucial but without a national pay scale and an interrelationship with other schools to exchange academic ideas the better staff will leave to develop their career, inevitably seeking the highest reward. This could inject a teacher churn rate that will leave any school floundering. Standards could drop and place a free school in jeopardy as parents seek to relocate their children.
The introduction of academies, commercial operations and free schools has invoked an element of market forces previously only seen by independent schools. Although Independent schools have a reputation for high standards they also have to function as a commercial operation. In the current economic climate many have suffered, some terminally as parents move children to lower cost state school option. Estelle Morris’s believes the new school structure could invoke issues previously not seen in the state education. Free schools with their isolated structure could be at the greatest risk. And with the ebb and flow of suspect initiatives from the Department For Education she may be proven horribly right.
When I was at school, several millennia ago, I cannot recall a single day the school was closed; unfortunately. Not for Baker days, inset days or because it was snowing. The modern manifestation of risk assessment didn’t exist, all teaching resources held amazing respect, lived locally and parents’ contemplating the need of cover for children away from school was miniscule.
Education is all about preparing children for adulthood. High on the agenda should be self-preservation, versatility and how to cope in an emergency. Better still is the knowledge of how to make decisions and manage themselves in unusual circumstances. Key to learning is experience and what better way to prepare children than with a practical experiment. Recognising learning retention is greatly enhanced through practice surely we can use the current cold snap to let children experience the essentials of learning to deal with inclement weather. This opportunity is completely lost by closing the school. Obscurely the example set by doing so promotes avoidance rather than surmounting the issue. Mankind’s ability to climb mountains, “because they are there” would be lost if a zero risk policy is enforced. Instead of introducing children to metaphorically climb the north face of the Eiger we will educate them to take the train that burrows its way through the mountain towards the summit. It’s quicker and safer but the spirit of adventure and resilience is missing. We will systematically breed a nation that relies on others to resolve issues.
Significant changes in our lifestyle have not helped. Gone are the days when most parents worked a stone’s throw from where they lived. Teachers who lived round the corner now suffer the fate of the dreaded commute from distant affordable residential areas. The journey to school previously achieved by children using Shanks’ pony (walking) rather than the school bus or SUV has reduced our national resilience to solve problems. Couple this to an overreliance on health and safety, risk assessments and operating targets it is no wonder that Head Teachers opt for the safe ground and close the school when it snows.
A closed school becomes more acceptable than the risk of children being snowed in during the day, or the loss of OFSTED points due to absenteeism by children who couldn’t get to school. Or be short staffed by teachers who also failed to get to school. Instead we have a mass of children who are missing out on a key element in their education. In addition to the academic content where lost lessons could impact on exam performance, children are missing the learning process that is associated with overcoming hurdles; the commitment to achieve in the face of adversity. Maybe overstated but many employees cite a key problem with many school leavers is their work ethic, commitment and punctuality. This can leave many school leavers misplaced in employment and many employers frustrated with new recruits.
In this great wide world in which we now live jobs can migrate overseas at an alarming rate and speed. Modern communications have increased the flexibility open to many employers. A lack in the availability of good staff scores highly in a company’s decision to move a function or complete process overseas. And we are not helping by giving children the soft option of staying away from school when it snows. Snow happens; deal with it.
The educational journey never ends. Whole life learning is a reality now greatly supported by the internet. Access to knowledge, once the significant domain of libraries is now online at the touch of button. With smartphones and the latest tablets the technology in classroom teaching resources,which provides information in just a few seconds could leave some teachers behind.
Following this augment begs the question why do we need conventional schooling? Should our teaching resources be completely reconfigured to utilise the internet in a more substantive manner. Despite information being on tap, thanks to modern technology, students aren’t achieving the same paradigm shift in their learning achievement. It seems teachers, having been subjected to countless educational initiatives, and honed to produce targeted exam results rather than depth of education. This myopic approach leaves both teachers and students frustrated. The fun of learning, experimentation and breadth of knowledge lost in the clamour of meeting deadlines and targets.
The debate over whether a child’s learning capacity is nature or nurture becomes clouded. Ask any teacher if they would prefer greater freedom in the curriculum and the answer is a resounding positive. The rote approach breeds restricted learning in turn leading to frustration, apathy and shallow foundation in the application of leaning. To light the fire in a child’s development needs an enjoyable and fun format for both teacher and student; the question “what if” becomes a common preface to discussions in the classroom.
The substantial leaps made in the technological world can dramatically change the way we learn. Tablet computers and smartphones introduced into the classroom suffer the same fate as their commercial application. The rate of change known as Moore’s law which predicts that computer power doubles every two years can overwhelm both the consumer and educational markets. Nokia, once the world’s leader in mobile phones were caught out by Apple with their iPhone, and who in turn have been caught by Samsung. Technology is evolving by the month provides a great sales opportunity combined with huge risks.
As key players juggle for market position there is a hidden impact on schools. As competitive forces drive the retail price down and the performance up; at what point should a school purchase new computers, and in what format. Normally amortising the purchase costs over five years holds some degree of false accounting as the worth of the equipment can now be devalued overnight. Perhaps the greater educationalist’s concern is the relevance of the equipment in terms of what can be taught versus the reception of students whose wishing to be in vogue find last year’s model iPad anathema to effective learning.
Pity the poor teacher attempting a lesson plan using techniques the students have already superseded with their later model. The pedagogy may hold firm but the delivery will lose impact. The very nature of schooling could be caught out. How do we provide an effective education to future generations of children whose technical ability may well surpass the capability of their teacher? And how do we make this development socially fair and not only open to those who can afford the technology?
The continuing recession has defeated an army of often-overlooked additional teaching resources. Following the maxim that the greatest element in learning is gained through practice, this critical educational function is suffering a huge drop off due to the current market financial impact on parents. The highly beneficial repetition of classroom lessons in fun educational games at home is at risk.
Accounting for a boost in the retention in learning approaching 75 per cent (National Training Laboratory) this at-home effort supplements the normal 50 per cent retention of learning achieved by children in classroom lessons. The squeezed middle classes are showing the greatest impact. Economic constraints have reduced the investment in the tuition support provided by many parents at home.
The ability of parents to buy the same educational resources used in class and replicate the lesson content at home is under pressure. Family budgets are under considerable pressure and this enjoyable and highly productive mutual activity is suffering. Parents supporting their children through these fun educational games become more intimately aware of their child’s ability and achievement. This provides a hidden benefit from the contact between parents, children and teachers which allows parents to adopt a rewarding role in the learning programme. “The proactive learning actions at home provide a significant boost to a child’s confidence back in class” said www.keen2learn.com managing director Alistair Owens. “Our range of educational games and teaching resources are matched to the curriculum and have a fun application both in class and at home. The support of the 7.5 million parents with school aged children can have a massive impact in our overall schooling achievement” he said.
The changes which abound in the educational sector are numerous. The disruption created as each initiative is adopted; from improved exam results; revised targets, academy status and free school can take its toll on teachers within a school. Now more than ever parents, grandparents and family members can help to bridge the gap and by getting more involved you never know how much they will learn as well.
One of society’s keys objectives is to educate the young. An objective established thousands of years old, yet we still fail to achieve the base criteria in providing progressive schooling that has tracked with advances in technology. Our educational and teaching resources are suffering terminal decay. In the same time we have developed systems to communicate globally in an instant for little or no cost and have achieved dramatic improvements in medical science, and can microwave an instant meal in minutes, the UK primary and secondary schooling standards have stalled.
They say change is here to stay and we have certainly seen changes in the form of teaching and educational resources in schools. The National curriculum has come and almost gone having shown little real benefit during the 25 years it has been around. Its real success perhaps has been to absorb vast tranches of cash along with teacher’s time and energy as countless educational initiatives have been introduced to shore it up. Perhaps the greatest failing of the system is, like the emperor’s new suit of clothes, no one in authority could decry its role. It has been controlled by central government under the auspices of the ever changing Educational Secretaries of State for Education. A high ranking ministerial position in the cabinet perhaps, but the number of champions who have handled the role has been its downfall. As each government is formed, or each cabinet reshuffle effected, the top job in schooling is reviewed. The Educational job is almost as a game, to be played in short bursts before someone else is tagged and takes over the lead. The tenure is short and inevitably the incumbent attempts to make a name for themselves by sorting out the problem resulting in the subsequent initiative. Long before the results can be analysed a new educational minister takes over and the process starts again. Head Teachers, teachers, parents and children become disillusioned, schooling standards falter and the UK slips another step down in the OECD world educational league table.
Currently we are in a typical state of flux. The National Curriculum is wobbling and GCSE exams are to be replaced by the English Baccalaureate, essentially reintroducing the GCE “O” level abandoned 27 years ago. Performance targets have resulted in teaching standards being manipulated through gamesmanship manoeuvres to gain the greatest number of points. No wonder if your salary and job security depends on it. Teachers have been of accused of teaching to test to focus schooling on how to answer exams rather that broadening the academic spread for children. This has spurned the enjoyment and subject interrelationship children and teachers gain from a wider curriculum. Subsequently many children have left school with exam passes but lack the benefit of a wider knowledge base.
An unacceptable level of schooling has negatively impacted employment, further education institutions and career development opportunities. The process has ill preparing students for the next educational or career stage. Secondary heads complain of the inadequate achievement of many children moving up from primary to secondary school. Their substandard ability results in an overload for secondary teachers attempting to bring such children up to specification, at worse these children will fail to thrive and slip beneath the waves.
If a child manages to successfully dodge the pitfalls of our educational system, or have the luck to be educated at a good school they could gain further education within our top universities. Historically the teaching standards and educational content at our universities have had lesser academic influence from the government; possibly reflected in the global standing of their quality. But this was of course was before tuition fees were introduced. We have yet to see if government funds which track attendance levels that are now falling will create a financial ripple in university operations. The resultant paradigm shift could create fatal disruption in the quality and standing of our academic institutions.
If finally a student manages to gain a good degree from a good university we should be able to relax in the knowledge that such a achievement will benefit the UK economy. But here the final irony occurs. Around 30 per cent of top graduates are leaving the UK to seek employment overseas where the top jobs, salaries and career progression is seen to be significantly better that the UK. And after all they have endued in our schooling system – who can blame them.
We live in a fascinating time for revolutionary technologies of all kinds, but the technological innovations going on in the realm of education teaching resources are perhaps the most notable. Not too many years ago, students in elementary school through college classes learned their material from textbooks and teachers. Lessons about complex subjects—such as organic chemistry, astronomy, and foreign language—were relegated to mere paper and pencil study. Even the days of the rudimentary personal computer didn’t offer much in the way of progressing traditional education.
But now all that has changed. It’s 2012, a time where any student with an internet connection can look up a video or read an abstract on coursework as complex as the examples I gave above. Students studying French can actually talk with people in France via video chat and practice their conversational skills. Aspiring organic chemists can read iBooks and study tablet applications that not only explain complicated subject matter in text but will also illustrate key concepts by instructional videos and interactive diagrams. The future of education is here, and it looks brighter than ever.
Perhaps one of the most astounding feats of educational technology is the educational game, particularly the educational games available for mobile devices. Savvy developers have learned how to put a child’s fascination with the games on smartphones and tablets to good use, channeling their curiosity for educational development rather than idle time.
There are any number of educational mobile games out that cater to all age categories, from kids just learning to read to college students wanting more intellectual stimulation in their games . Games like SUPER WHY! help children just learning to read and write how to do so in a friendly and pressure free environment. The game is designed to be a fun learning experience, so most kids playing it on an iPad or a smartphone won’t even realize that they’re gaining knowledge even as they enjoy themselves.
Other games like ArithmeTick are a little less subtle in their approach to education, but that hasn’t stopped them from becoming hugely popular with educators and students. ArithmeTick is basically a math game whose interface looks like a classic school chalkboard, but the developers have designed the game in such a way that solving problems on it doesn’t feel like homework.
Part of the success of these apps probably has to do with the fact that they’re on mobile devices. Any excuse to play with a tablet or a smartphone is good enough for some kids who can’t keep their hands off them. But what they don’t realize—and what parents love—is that these kids are really learning new concepts through these devices. As time goes on, the apps and the lessons that they teach will only become more complex and engaging. The future of educational technology looks bright!
Guest article by Kate Wilson; a freelance writer currently writing Kate tends to cover topics related to higher education and mobile tech innovations, especially when both of those topics intersect. Feel free to send some comments her way!
As the world progresses in technology, science, engineering and medicine, why do we consistency learn of the failure to advance education. Over the last ten years the UK has progressively slipped down the OECD world educational league table. Industry, commerce and higher educational institutions complain of the inadequacy of school leavers and undergraduates to meet the ongoing demands to be placed on them. The chairman of Poundland recently lamented the numeracy skills of school leavers seeking employment in a retail environment where every product costs one pound.
Secondary head teachers cite the poor academic standards in literacy and numeracy skills in children leaving primary school. Not only does this place a huge burden on the secondary school teaching resources but also leaves such children with an almost impossible deficit throughout their secondary education. And this ignores the sea anchor affect that such children have on the rest of the class.
But this is not a new phenomenon. In 1991 the CBI complained of inadequate preparation of school children leaving secondary school. This comment made fours years after 1987 when schools endured the massive change over to the national curriculum and the introduction of the GCSE. Replacing the GCE “O” and A-level syllabus this promised life changing quantum leap to improve educational standards has proven to have failed, badly. The recent announcement by the department for education DfE of the introduction of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) marks the effective return to GCE. But is this a good solution? A highly disruptive return to a doctrine abandoned 23 years ago or the start of the road recovery to improved educational standards. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, who have not adopted to change, wait and watch on the sidelines. Let us hope that history does not repeat itself and the comments of the CBI back in 1991 are not repeated.
The legacy of the Teach First operation has had a uneven past. Aiming to recruit top graduates into teaching literacy and numeracy in schools, Teach First may achieve the primary objective seen by the number of recruits but the subsequent churn rate of these new teachers ultimately abandoning the educational path is phenomenal.
The focus of Teach First is laudable. We certainly need top-flight teaching resources to turn our schooling process around. But the role of teaching is not easy. A brilliant mind in English or maths does not necessarily make a good teacher; something the recruits find out the hard way. Of all the trainees involved in the Teach First programme the vast majority have left the profession within just three years. Many used the experience as a career holding platform before launching their careers elsewhere. Some found the teaching role too arduous. Either way the real losers in this scenario are the children in school.
The recent announcement by the Minister of State for Education that the GCSE syllabus and exams are being replaced by the English baccalaureate will place an even greater strain on the teaching resources needed to support the programme. Many teachers welcome the move away from the manipulative and restrictive GCSE. But the new syllabus, giving greater scope and learning enjoyment to both teachers and students, will need a huge amount of preplanning to adopt the new regime.
Whereas one might assume teacher training courses provide the recruit with the skills to teach a particular subject syllabus, the main thrust is to prepare them in how to handle a class of 30 + children. The subject area is secondary. This is resulted in an amazing mismatch of skills. Consider a potentially good teacher who has little skill in the subject area, and a brilliant mathematician who is a hopeless teacher. Both situations can be a disaster to the both the teacher and the students.
The prevailing market conditions have had a reactionary influence. Teaching is initially seen as a safe job attracting many more recruits in the last couple of years. Indeed Brett Wigdortz, founder and chief executive of Teach First said recently many graduates are turning away from careers in the city since the financial crisis of 2007. Last year around 7,000 applicants sought the 1,000 places for Teach First opportunities.
Whether this reflects a truly altruistic move amongst graduates looking to teach in poor schools is yet to be proven. If it proves to be a success we could see the standard of teaching improve to reassert UK in the world educational league tables along the lines of Singapore and Scandinavia. These countries require teachers to hold a Masters degree in the subject area being taught. But perhaps the real challenge is to recruit the teachers of tomorrow who can replace the battle scarred battalions of existing teachers who have suffered endless changes in government policy and educational initiatives that have come and gone and mostly failed.
Maybe Teach First should be given the central remit to establish the credentials of the ideal recruit and train all teachers. There will be generations of children who would then be guaranteed an education they can be proud of, which is far from the current situation.
One of the biggest educational debates for decades looms on the horizon. Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education plans to reintroduce “O” level exams at the end of secondary school. This latest initiative is one of his many measures to attempt to stem the decline in UK educational standards. Last used in 1988 the anachronistic “O” levels portray a sense of retrenchment. Will going backwards be seen as a positive move and reveal that GCSE’s after 25 years use are an abject failure.
To revert to an educational system abandoned a quarter of a century ago seems a travesty to millions of school children who have passed through the GCSE system. The immediate reaction from teaching resources appears negative. Having endured manoeuvres such as “teaching to test”, the manipulation of the syllabus to achieve targets, restrictions in the flexibility of the curriculum, lowering of exam values and the general criticism of standards by commerce and academia; it is no wonder.
The subsequent increase in stress and pressure on head teachers has diverted their attention from teaching to survival. Will the future herald Michael Gove as the courageous Educational Secretary who recognised that the current system is not fixable. Throwing out GCSE’s is an extraordinary audacious move that will inevitably receive condemnation, and hopefully, accolades. Nick Clegg has already stamped his foot over the lack of involvement in the policy even though the document hasn’t yet been published. Coalitions are not necessarily joined up politics. The labour party have also indicated their extreme displeasure with this “retrograde step.”
But is this the right move? Can we really say the UK educational programme has failed so radically that it should be replaced by a previous system abandoned 25 years ago? Technology, social networks, global markets, have invoked paradigm shifts in education and commerce, so is Mr. Gove right to go backwards. Certainly a change is needed. Successive educational secretaries for education have tried to patch up our schooling by throwing money at the problem. Countless, and predominately useless initiatives costing millions of pounds have burdened teachers and failed. With this background Gove’s plan at least demonstrates he has the right kind of balls unlike his predecessor (yes, I know!)
A fundamental move is absolutely vital. We have slipped down the OECD world educational standards league table to such an extent it is now an international embarrassment, and demonstrates an almost criminal neglect of our duty to our children. This demise will be paid for through the quality of young adults entering employment or higher education. Competing in an international market is growing increasingly tougher. Our children will pitch into the fray against international students who have had a manifestly better education. It bodes ill for our future economy.
Doubtless the storm from opposition leaders, teaching unions and liberal democrats will rage. They will see it as an injustice to have been excluded from the debate. Inevitably we should not expect a reciprocal idea as to how they would have solved the problem. Gove’s plan maybe radical and in this form turns the clock back rather than establish a complete new system. Our educational system was definitely broken and needed fixing, let’s hope the Gove plan to turn the clock back is the answer. We would adopt a system that worked up to 1988 let’s hope that it can metamorphasise into a 2012 success story.
The importance of renewable energy in the national curriculum can now be strengthened with the new Clean Energy Trainer teaching resources from Heliocentris and keen2learn. Exploring the benefits of wind, solar and fuel cell technology this classroom resource helps children explore the components of the energy chain including, generation, conversion, storage and supply.
The learning objective of this comprehensive approach to modern science in school allows children to understand the scientific processes involved in power conversion. The physical, chemical, biological and environmental concepts and processes are explored through practical experiments to heighten awareness. The Clean Energy Trainer reinforces the lesson content within the curriculum in a series of enjoyable and memorable hands on practical exercises.
The equipment and lesson plans allow each area to be explored in isolation before being merged to capture and distribute energy. The wind generator allows the number of blades and angle of attack to be adjusted to explore and plot efficiency curves. Wind speed is measured by the anemometer supplied as part of the kit. The solar panels power the electrolysis process allowing students to measure efficiencies and produce hydrogen as a key process in power storage. Variable fuel cell stacks generate electricity from the stored hydrogen and oxygen and allow power characteristics of fuel cell to be observed.
The Clean Energy Trainer is supplied with a comprehensive series of experiments and lesson plans to meet with the curriculum. Students will have great fun exploring the interrelating source of green energy whilst measuring the performance of the processes through experiments that controlled and recorder on a data logging computer program.
The great teaching resource can be used with the supplied software-based simulation of different weather conditions and load profiles. The program also allows manual and automatic generation of characteristic curves and supports measurement and experimentation based on the extensive lesson support and experiment instructions.
See a demonsration of the Clean Energy Trainer:
Green renewable energy is becoming a crucial feature in our daily lives. The concepts may have been around for decades but the commitment to its use is growing and children in school will have the task of making renewable energy ever more efficient. And the Clean energy trainer is just the start to whet their appetite.
A question on most parents’ lips; what are academies realty trying to achieve. Teachers resources in school tend to view them either as the ultimate cure by the Department for Education (DfE) for poor performing schools or a get out card for better performing schools to avoid DfE control. If academies have profound benefits, as claimed by the DfE, why are they playing educational games with our children’s schooling by also using them as a threat? Ask the average teacher or Head teacher and they inevitably flinch at the thought of converting to an academy. So why is the government promoting academy status as a confusing combined threat and benefit?
If academies are the positive development that schools should aspire to, why are not all schools realigned as academies. The DfE would have us believe academies, with their enhanced autonomy from central control, benefit from the subsequent influence from third parties operations that result in improvement in the schools performance. If this were categorically true, teachers who claim an extremely stressful existence within the state system would surely welcome the relief the move to become an academy would achieve. But this is not the case.
The average school being transferred to become an academy view the move as a distasteful reflection of their performance. Not perhaps the positive vibes intended by the DfE. Academies can therefore kick off their existence with a despondent teaching resource perhaps akin to the football team that has just been relegated. The threat is complex. The outcome scorned. Schools that are turning themselves around, showing positive improvements to clear their OFSTED “special measures” classification have been summarily pushed into becoming an academy as if this was the intention all along. They have little hope of resistance. Schools faced with this eventuality are told if their governors do not apply for academy status they will deemed as having “weak leadership.” Something odd here; resistance which can normally be deemed a strength becomes the antithesis of strong leadership.
Birmingham has become embroiled in the Academy battleground. As the largest local authority in the UK the incidence of conflict would be statistically larger. Currently there are 60 primary schools who believe they will be caught by the switch or die syndrome. Some Birmingham schools and members of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) say this is a stealth policy to inflate the number of schools transferring to academy status that will be used by the DfE to present the programme as a success story.
The incentive to manage an improvement programme is now at risk. One primary school in Birmingham, whose head teacher has been working hard to improve the school standards, sees all her hard work being wasted. Despite the achievement the school is now being forced to become an academy. When the transfer is complete the management of the new academy have carte blanche rights on the future employment of the teachers involved. The warning bells are ringing in all schools in the danger zone. To them Ofsted inspections have taken on a new level of anxiety. But is this really the best option. If the government truly believe academies are the way forward and not a convenient option to get struggling schools out of their hair why play educational games with the staff, pupils and parents. The manoeuvers do little to instil faith in the system that is detracting teaching commitments from the students who desperately need it.
After a multitude of delays due to the relocation of manufacture Thinking Dice are due in stock from 16th May 2012. These much sought after educational games get children to think laterally and develop a higher order evaluation and creative thinking through their use as an English game teaching resource.
The dice are 5cm foam cubes with a different question on each face. The set comprises of six dice in three colours to break the question into areas of higher thinking to let children develop ideas on the following topics:
Remembering and recalling information,
Understanding ideas and concepts,
Applying information in order to explore and understand relationships
Evaluating situations and creativity.
The dice can be used in a huge range of subject areas and age ranges. They can be used in the classroom as a teaching resource or at home at any point in a lesson to get students to use their thinking skills:
Introduction of lessons.
Throughout an entire lesson.
Plenary and reflection of learning.
Managing differentiation of thinking skills.
Circle Time and Hot seating
Assessment of thinking skills (Informal teacher assessment)
The popularity of the games has been huge with many teachers seeing the benefits of the fun approach to learning paying dividends in a short space of time. The students look forward to “playing the game” which is helping them delve into greater depths in understanding a subject area. Educational games are after all “Learning in Disguise” – the adopted theme of www.keen2learn.co.uk which follows the advice of Plato 2000 year ago ”
“Do not, my friend, keep children to their studies by compulsion, but by play.”
Many parents aware of the struggles of the educational system; academies, free schools, classroom disruption, strikes and demoralised teachers, may wonder how effectively their children are to be educated. Add the increasing possibility that more children are not going to get into schools of their choice and the gloom increases. But there is an alternative that many initially feel is beyond them. Home school education of children is not new or for the faint hearted but is a real and present option. Modern teaching resources and educational games add a fun dimension to learning at home. Take a look at an article written by Dr. Bethany Gardiner who decided to home school her children and enjoyed very minute. More…
Although developed a few years ago Bounceback 7 educational software featuring a comprehensive range of games for maths is still high on the list of teaching resources used in schools and now at home.
Maths is a critical subject area especially now Ofqual and the government are reviewing the subject areas able to be taken at GCSE. Claims that exams have become dumbed down, teachers coerced into teaching to test and exam boards caught coaching teachers on how to increase pupil’s marks have conspired to force the purge. Using Bounceback 7 as bedrock to learn and practice maths has led to a resurgence it is popularity.
Simple to operate the program covers 15 key areas of maths through a of series games that can be played in the classroom and at home. Multiplication, division, subtraction and addition etc. (see below for a summary) are supported by lesson activities and ideas for homework with printable homework sheets. The CD ROM includes teacher’s notes that include teaching objectives, key vocabulary and notes on teaching points.
The lesson activities include demonstrations of concepts and calculation techniques. The games are interactive to give the student and teacher instant feedback. The tests results can be printed to give the pupil and teacher a record. The homework sheets can be completed and marked on screen, or printed for use as a traditional homework exercise
The maths games ask questions on the area of maths being tested and then marks the answers. It provides a fun base to learning maths for the child and a good indication of their progress to the teacher or parents. A really great feature is just how simple it is to operate. The menu leads straight to the game which includes advice to teachers on the choice and printable worksheets.
Bounceback 7 includes:- Number sequences, Negative numbers , Square numbers, Factors, Fractions, percentages and decimals, Ratio and proportion; Mental and written calculation methods for addition; subtraction; multiplication and division; Calculating with money; Solving word problems involving numbers in “real life”; Units of length; mass and capacity; Perimeter and area; 2D and 3D shapes; Time; Triangle; Coordinates; Line symmetry and reflection; Naming, estimating, measuring, and drawing angles; Interpreting information from tables and lists; Bar charts; Line graphs; Pie charts; Mode and range; Probability.
Letter cubes is a new teaching resource pocket word dice that helps with English literacy in an educational game that can be played by any number of players or teams. It consists of 12 letter dice, each with a score value. Each player takes a turn to throw the 12 dice then composes one or two words from the letters on the upturned faces. The score is added up from the points on the letters used. For the more advanced game points can be taken away from unused letters.
The class-pack is supplied as 6 packs of 12 dice and has the advantage of variations on the game that allow you to choose to allow players to compose words crosswords-style, by crossing words. When adding points, letters used twice are counted twice. OR After throwing the dice, each player writes a list of words using the letters. The player with the longest list wins the round. OR having chosen a topic such as animals, countries, makes of cars, roll one die or several dice. The first player to call out a word starting with the letter or one of the letters on the dice gets a point. OR after throwing the dice, each player composes a sentence or poem using words starting with the letters available. All letters must be used.
The list is growing and can be extended with your own ideas. The fun helps stimulate children to learn.
The ever popular Talking Dice series from keen2learn has been extended to include a new selection pack. This range of teaching resources is designed to stimulate talking, discussion and story writing in children and adults. A real benefit is this can be achieved in any language.
Developed by teachers as a quick and enjoyable way to get students practicing their language skills. A simple throw of the picture-based dice gets your students instantly speaking, thinking and listening. You can add more dice based on the ability of the group. The dice can be used to teach any first or second language in a variety of ways. The range extends across a wide selection of curriculum based topics. Students roll the dice and say what they see in the target language. There is no other product that matches Talking Dice’s Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic properties. Talking Dice are used by thousands of language teachers, primary school teachers and speech therapists worldwide. Talking Dice can fit into your current lessons plan in minutes and the variations are almost endless.
Could it be we are about to witness a paradigm shift in educational technology as Apple announce a new main stream teaching resource.
On January 19th at the Guggenheim museum Apple will unveiled a new approach in the role of text books in the classroom. The Apple in the ” Big Apple” appears to be the core theme! (I know) And typical of any manufacturer with new product news the content is embargoed until the 19th January. But it is thought it might be a new platform to allow text book material to be held on an iPad. The content needs reconfiguring such the text books will need conversion to become an ebook, or iBook in Apple parlance. Rumour has it a mass of text book writers with bleeding finger tips are thumping the data into data banks as we speak.
School budgets will be transformed as they ditch the printed text book material and switch to downloads. Apple has presumably taken this route fuelled by the amazing success of the Amazon Kindle ebook reader. It certainly seems a good fit for the iPad except you have to own one to read the text book and therein lays the strategy of Apple. Get schools to convert to the new technology and groom your future customers to regard Apple as the prime must have equipment.
The market dominance of the iPad has been tested by competitors such as Acer and Samsung. The feedback is there isn’t a market beyond Apple for tablets. Competitors are now looking to redevelop the Netbook computer, which only six months ago was destined to be phased out. The next generation of netbook will be thinner, lighter and more powerful in order to present a real alternative to the iPad at a much reduced price. If I were a school I might be tempted to wait until this occurs before committing to an iPad fleet for the school.
Poor schools face the sword of Damocles; buck up or become an Academy. If this is the salvation why aren’t the majority of schools operating as academies and why is there such a fuss over the conversion? The department of education seem hell bent on switching as many schools as possible over yet the teaching resources at affected schools tend to resist the move at all costs.
Michael Gove, secretary of state for education is to brandish a new sword and forcibly remove school governors based at a failing school who resist the conversion to become an academy. Around 200 schools are in his sights. And he is not stopping there. He also intends to take on 10 local educational authorities who have a high number of failing primary schools.
The transfer of education into a quasi-commercial standing holds some merit. If bound by the need to make a “profit” through the achievements of the school the convention of religiously following the dictat of the DfE could be tempered by the mission of the individual school. How long have we heard of educational initiatives which have introduced operational chaos before being abandoned.
Maybe the reluctance of some schools reflects the nervousness of teachers to convert to the isolation of independent management. The real world operates in the face of growing competition and a primary function of our academia is to prepare children for adult life. Greater freedom for schools in this quest must be a good thing. It generates the features and benefits of the school that will attract the future client base through the brand image of the Academy.
Teaching staff must also match the task presenting the opportunity to maintain quality by weeding out poor teachers. Unfettered by over protective terms and conditions this must grant the Head teacher the ability to hire and fire staff. Maintaining the employment of a poor teacher is a dreadful slight on the children he or she is teaching.
Michael Gove may not be the most popular Educational secretary. But his proposals, providing they are part of a well thought out strategy; a first for someone in this position, could be a real winner. Breaking the mould takes a brave man. If future academies and free schools prove to be the making of our educational system, and not just a recessionary cost cutting exercise, we could see a remarkable boost to our schooling in a hugely competitive global market.
The popular BBC science clips TV series of simulations has been turned into eductaional software allowing it to be used as very effective teaching resources. Teachers can include the series as art of their lesson plans to present science experiments in biology, chemistry and physics to children aged five – 16 years old. The three CD ROMs each contain seven areas of science activity aimed at five to seven year old’s, seven to eleven and 14- 16 year old children. The beauty of these fun educational games is they can effectively simulate the outcome of an experiment without the need for apparatus. The animations are highly effective in putting the subject across and can be shown on whiteboards and PC’s.
There are several license version available including a home version that allows parents to get involved in the science learning games with their children.
The active role of parents supporting the teaching resources in school has been frequently reported in the press. Each year a child spends 196 days in school and 169 days at home. Importantly the actual time spent learning during lessons can be surprisingly short. Time lost moving between classrooms, that needed by the teacher in settling the class down and moving teaching resources out and away depletes the day at an alarming rate. But there is a hidden army that can dramatically change things for the better. The secret army is called parents.
If teachers are considered to be the learning manager parents could effectively become the troops that provide the one to one support with children – either in the classroom or at home. The combined effect would dramatically increase the learning time and retention making the schooling process far more productive. more…
Whilst our teaching resources work throughout the school day the real truth is they can only apply their full skills to children for around 50 minutes a day yet whilst at home schoolchildren could see their parents for several hours. The downside is that parents are equally busy and the majority of this precious time is lost. Anyway how many children really want to slog away at lessons at home -it’s their free time after all.
This easy conclusion is reached by many families. Schooling is for the school to provide, that’s why we pay taxes. The trouble is we are missing a trick here. Learning retention is massively improved through practice but is extremely hard to achieve during the busy school day. More time spent at home at the individual learning pace of the child would allow performance back in class to move ahead significantly. Parents night meetings between teachers and parents could become a tactical management programme rather than an historic one way summary of a child’s performance.
The breakthrough is to get the home work to become fun based and get parents mutually involved. This generally does not work with conventional homework long seen by children as a slog that interrupts television or Wii activities. Yet there are a massive selection of educational maths, English and science games matched to the curriculum that are entertaining for the whole family. Playing games for maths for example helps to focus families who can look forward to mutual learning instead of conflict. It provides the child with a huge additional resource to their learning scope. Bringing parents into the learning equation also helps them to witness progress and perhaps some pitfalls that can be overcome on a dynamic basis.
Some great new teaching resources have been added to the keen2learn range. Omingraph is the highly successful maths graphing software designed to let children see the graphical results of maths equations. There are over 150 starting points that have been developed by teachers who see the educational software as a huge benefit in letting children see graphs of their results. There are three versions of the software license. The single user license is designed for home use and for a small group in school. The other licenses are for primary schools and secondary school. Both of these are for unlimited use.
Omingraph is a learning game that is a huge benefit in the maths lesson plans – perhaps why it is in such wide use.
As we hover near the precipice of recession keen2learn believes education be ring fenced from further cutbacks. Looking to the future children currently in school will be required to generate future prosperity and ultimately lead the country. On this basis we should be increasing the investment in education to groom those whose vital role will be to outperform their predecessors.
Not an easy situation to manage. Billions of pounds have been invested over the past decade to achieve this Utopian state. “Education, education, education” has been the mantra echoed by the many political leaders who rummaged through our educational portals yet achieved nothing. Investing in add-hoc schemes that ultimately became disruptive damp squids the waste of funds and impact on our teaching resources has been phenomenal. Comparing 2011 with 1987 science, technology and medicine have witnessed huge advances whilst education has struggled. The ability of teachers to teach and children to learn have maintained a disrupted approach to achievement. The countless initiatives have been launched with tumultuous fanfare to resolve an issue in maths, literacy or science that have quietly slipped, unloved and unmissed beneath the waves. Disastrously they each managed to leave a scar. Cohorts of children have been taken along paths, viewed by teachers as a waste of time and effort, from which they may struggle to recover.
And so our overall ranking in the world OECD educational league has slipped badly. We now languish in the mid 20’s position when we used to be in the top 10. Countries in the Far East having become the global manufacturing and commercial hub are not unsurprisingly supported by children enjoying a far better ( although not perfect) standard of education. But why is that despite the ongoing development of society and the changing demands of commerce and industry we predominantly struggle to move the barriers forward. Our pedestrian approach maybe directly linked to the ponderous approach of national control. Would a fully independent schooling system influenced by the need to make a commercial profit directly supported by results provide the approach needed. The concept works with current independent schools, ignoring their financial constraints precipitated by the current climate, why cannot this be rolled out? Could Michale Gove’s Free School approach be taken to it ultimate conclusion. The waste of government spending being transformed into value for money.
Clearly this would remove the need for the department of educational and its myriad of support outposts. More essentially it would transfer the scope and control of education that would have to match the demands of the modern world. It would remove the inflexibility of national curriculum, the unhealthy concentration on exam results and league tables. It avoid the intervention of countless “temporary” Secretaries of state for Education who have a dabble to try and make their name, then move on having collectively, archived nothing.
Technology could surely play a significant role in the teaching resources of the future although this needs careful handling. The charge into interactive whiteboards over the past 10 years has resulted in investment programmes that never achieved their objective. Due to technical issues or inexperience by the user a huge majority of whiteboards ended up with the power switched off . Used as white blackboards that boosted the sales of dry wipe markers rather than achieve the interactive content. Indeed even when a success story emerged and the whiteboard was used efficiently, some teachers noticed whenever a child was asked to contribute the concentration of the rest of the class switched off until it was their turn.
Careful analysis is required before the technology path is pursued. And this involves the use of laptops, netbooks and tablets. A brave school, Mounts Bay Academy in Penzance is investing £300k to provide iPads for each of its 900 students. A key element of the plan is to reduce costs of textbooks and improve the pupils learning potential. Although Apple, who are supporting the programme and the teaching staff at the school believe it has potential this is early adopter territory. It will take a few years to to prove the efficacy of the project and allow teachers to adopt a teaching style tuned to tablets. We need to avoid another whiteboard “white elephant” and see if the tablets are robust enough, have the desired battery life, effectively support lesson plans and do not present the pupils as a target for muggers.
Keeping quiet in the classroom can boost children’s exam results a researcher from Stirling University’s school of education has claimed. Silence can also improve a child’s self-esteem and cut down on bad behaviour. But perhaps the greatest result arises in the bottom line; silence in class can boost exam results.
The results compiled by Dr. Helen Lees of Sterling University implied that getting children to remain quiet allowed them to concentrate on the teaching resources before them. Importantly it also removed the element of stress associated with noisy and disruptive classes allowing the children to concentrate and experinece behavior patterns that would be beneficial in adult life. “There is no educational reason why silent practices in some way should not be an integral part of a child’s education,” said Dr Lees. “In fact, when we take various strands of research on school settings and put them together, what we see is that education without silence does not make much sense. In areas of better learning outcomes, better interpersonal relationships, better self-esteem and well-being measures, silence in a person’s life and an individual’s education is shown throughout the relevant research literature to be a benefit,” she added.
Dr Lees is due to present her research at a conference – Just This Day – at London’s St Martin-in-the-Fields church on November 23.
A lead article on Huff Post Education states that online education has some critical failures and could be replicating previous failures in pedagogy. In the conventional class teachers have the ability to adjust the learning style to suit the educational ability of the children, whereas critically, online courses cannot. The advent of online education has instigated a review of the technique by teachers. Rather than accepting the technique as gospel, teaching resources at many schools are reviewing the pros and cons of the technique to formulate a better fit from early learning to learning games that will supplement the classroom activities. Clearly a range of learning styles is required to suit the variety of children’s needs. Read more….
One of the greatest issues facing education are the number of experts, consultants, authorities and research investigations that issue confusing statements and data. A frequent bone of contention has been the size of the class, thus a class of 15 students per teacher would always have the edge over a class of 30 children. But latest research indicates this may be wrong.
Parents have long sought the smaller class and good teacher. Indeed Independent schools consistently promote class size to teaching resources as a key performance indicator. This critical ratio of teaching focus on children appeared paramount in any measure of achievement but surprisingly the effects of class size are not that clear. Our assumptions that a child in a small class learns more is refuted by research that highlighted the crucial influence in learning is the skill of the teacher and the way the curriculum is taught.
The classroom with 15 students seems little to benefit compared to the a class of 30 children with a great teacher. Yet a further influence often overlooked is the level of parental involvement that is more prevalent in the smaller class size. The teacher has more time to liaise with parents, who in turn do not feel they have to join a lengthy queue to speak to the teacher. But the research rates teachers prowess as the key feature in any learning programme. Structured teacher training, a clear and well-sequenced curriculum, regularly evaluated and solid teacher support are four of the “seven pillars of wisdom.” For decades, class size was largely a function of a community’s population. Class size grew as more children were crammed into existing schools.
As we move within economic recession and the inevitable cancelled school rebuilding programmes we will need to cram more children into existing facilities. Around 300,000 additional primary places will have to be found over the next 10 years to meet population expansion. If the research on class size is correct we will have no option but to invest in improving the quality of the four pillars of educational wisdom and especially concentrate on the skill of teachers. This may improve their overlooked standing in society, give children a better chance and, hopefully, through more effective education make the recent riots in the UK a one off event.
Invention Stimulator does exactly what it says on the tin. An education game developed to inspire children to work alongside the national curriculum to learn to design electronic circuits that could lead to a great new invention. Teachers love the hands on practical approach and have seen some brilliant projects in ICT, PSHE, science and D&T emerging from children in key stages 1 to 4; 7 to 16 years old.
The World Bank award winning Invention Stimulator is a practical educational game that uses CD software to allow children to drag and drop components to design electronic circuits. Their program is downloaded to the micro control unit provided that is then integrated with the various electronic circuits and actuators. A range of sensors, relays, motors is provided with the game which can be extended by adding additional items sold individually.
The components and control unit are completely reusable allowing the kit to used in multiple designs. The aim is to teach children about electrical circuits and the range of possibilities that this entails. Working with national curriculum it allows teachers to use the equipment as a primary and secondary teaching resource covering science, ICT, PSHE and design and technology lessons. The comprehensive lesson plans and worksheets are just the start. The number of project possibilities range into the 1000’s limited only by the children’s imagination.
Already there have been a few patents registered such as a soap dish dispenser that squirts soap when you put your hands underneath it, and a pet food bowl that has a opening a closing lid which opens when the pet approaches it and closes as it moves away. The best recommendation comes from the teachers using Invention Stimulator who have seen their classes engrossed for the duration of the lesson. And with seven levels of projects the versatility of this highly practical teaching resource is enormous.
One of the best ways for children to learn is through trial and error, the hands on approach that boosts learning retention. And the best way to entice attention and involvement is through educational games that bring fun into learning. Keen2learn has just launched a great new teaching resource that has application in the classroom but be just as easily be used at home.
Click a Tronic is a great new way for children to learn about electronic circuits. It has easily clip-together printed circuit links that build up into an electronic circuit. Clip in the sensors, motors, fans and repays supplied with the game to turn the circuit into an operational unit. The Click a Tronic is an ideal teaching resource that covers the ICT, science, Design and Technology (D&T) elements of the national curriculum in fun exercises. Described by children as “the best lesson ever” the range of design experiments is enormous limited only by their imagination.
Already in use around the world it is a huge hit with teachers who use it in class. Importantly the Click a Tronic can be un-clipped and stored in the box provided and reused over and again. It comes with lesson plans, worksheets and instructions in a picture book with illustrations. Importantly it covers 200 learning projects in the principles and application of parallel and series circuits, electric motors and sensors. Projects can be a combination of techniques and how a project can be made to react to light, sound and moisture to activate a circuit.
Designed for children of five years old and upward the Click a Tronic is a hit in the class and at home where parents can support the projects and also see how a circuit is designed with application around the home. Probably the best present parents and relative can buy at the moment.
A new law in Maine has allowed high secondary schools to operate as public charter schools. An educational first that allows non-religious and non-profit organisations to provide teaching resources that offers students a choice.
Freed form the current schooling conventions, charter schools will have the freedom to select specific areas of the curriculum including special needs education. They will also be able to offer an educational speciality in say maths, English, science, technology, sports, environment or performing arts. The conventional teacher to student could be lowered offering a far better teacher ratio and even use different teaching techniques.
A key operational benefit will be the on-line option. Students can use the charter school as the hub for their learning programme, a substantial boon for rural students that can hook up with a distant preferred school. Critically conventional state schools will need to compete with the new charter schools. This could induce change within the state schools as they become aware of beneficial teaching techniques emerging in charter schools who will have the freedom to try new ideas.
The real thrust emerging from charter schools will be the freedom from educational authority restrictions and the unique opportunity to introduce teaching ideas developed by teachers.
Imagine the trauma of GCSE and A level students entering the examination room to find the question papers are incorrect, have missing data and the Educational Secretary is condemning the exams saying that they are an inadequate means to measure the teaching resources used. Educational Secretary Michael Gove’s recent comments urged the need for UK exams to match the world’s toughest. The content and timing of these strident comments has left head teachers, parents and students reeling. Confidence in the educational secretary and the educational system has once again been severely undermined.
For the children taking the exams having spent five years concentrating on the curriculum content, exam techniques and revision our teaching resources and pupils find the games being played by Michael Gove, who believes the exams are too easy and wildly adrift of what is required in our modern world, is a staggering blow to their confidence. In August when the results appear we will inevitably be involved in the annual debate with exam regulators and teachers on one side versus employers and universities who claim any increase in the pass rate implies a lower standard rather than students working harder or our teaching resources being more efficient. This criticism has faded all too quickly and the status quo remains largely unchanged.
Left unchanged The Department for education believes we will see a further decline in our world educational standards. Already we have sunk to the mid-twenties position in the world league table developed by the OECD. The view from keen2learn voiced many times in the past is that the curriculum and the exam standards should be controlled as entry levels to the next educational stage of the student. Primary school exams should be set by secondary school, GCSE’s set by industry and commerce, “A” level set by universities. This would remove the exam controversy and avoid children arriving on the doorstep of the next stage of their learning ill prepared for what is to happen next.
The recent statement by Michael Gove may appear strident and clumsy in the timing but seeks to address the misfit of our schooling with the needs of modern adult life. The fire from the hip approach will cause significant aggravation with teachers and the possibility of an overt rebuff that will allow the problem to still remain. Michael Gove further stated “By 2015 I want us to be on an irreversible trend to get more good teachers into teaching, more schools enjoying autonomy and all underperforming schools been taken over. I want us to refocus our curriculum to get rid of unnecessary extras and change our discredited exam system. It’s as much about modernisation as going back to tradition.”
The Educational Secretary has compared the output to the UK with the educational standards in Singapore, New Zealand, Canada and Hong Kong and believes that the route ahead lies in a mixture of old fashioned teaching resources and modern technology. This is to be combined with ill performing schools being handed over to local academies that would benefit more from a concentration of educational effort than perhaps emerged with local authorities.
Clearly the viewpoint of the Educational Secretary is paramount in the future for our schools and the education standards of our teachers and ultimately our children. The transfer to academy status may be a solution but overall it appears his strategy is being developed and released in piecemeal and in conflict with the head teachers who will be responsible to make it work. Surely the better approach would have been to take time out to develop the strategy thoroughly in association with our teaching resources and not rushed into premature statements which could imply muddled thought going off half-cocked leading to concerns, ridicule and negative reaction from teachers, parents and children.
Educational initiatives have come and gone, created mayhem with our teaching resources and cost a fortune. Yet we still languish in an educational programme that is beset with games rather than strategy.
