Bromley ICT Forum Blog

Naace Annual Strategic Conference: The Future of Learning

The International Riviera Centre, Torquay, Tuesday 4th March - Friday 7th March 2008

The theme of the conference is “The Future of Learning”, where ICT and modern technologies are inherent within the learning process. The conference has three sub themes centred on future learning, leading learning and current learning. These have been designed to explore the challenges and opportunities offered by current educational change and developments for strategic leaders and leaders of learning. We intend that the conference will stimulate debate as we explore potential futures, current opportunities and good practice focused on supporting learners and learning.

For the Strategic Conference 2008 we will be using an online booking system for conference and exhibition registration and the system which is currently in development will go live from 12 noon on Friday the 9th of November. We are giving advance notice of this date to enable those colleagues who will have been on holiday over half term or who need to agree finances in advance with their employer, may not be disadvantaged.

The programme for the conference can now be downloaded from www.naace.org/events and further information on sessions, speakers and hotels along with details of booking options and prices for delegates and sponsors/exhibitors will added shortly. We hope you will find this helpful in your planning before the conference and that the information will help to inform your booking choices for when the site goes live on Friday the 9th of November.

Information and updates about the conference will be posted regularly on the Events pages of the Naace website and we will also keep you up to date through the weekly Naace Newsletter.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to give the Naace office a ring or email the Naace Events Manager, events@naace.org

Becta highlights the fact that primary pupils can gain 2.5-7.5 months progress (in a period of somewhat over a year) through use of an interactive whiteboard (IWB) in maths, English and science. Rates of additional progress depend on the subject and level of attainment of pupils, with high achieving girls doing better in KS1 maths, while low attaining boys benefited more in KS2 writing. Further benefits (quoting):

“The report also highlights how interactive whiteboards have very positive effects on the attention, attitude and motivation of all pupils and produce a co-operative, ‘community of learning’ ethos in the class.

“Additionally it shows how interactive whiteboards help with the teaching of difficult, abstract and complex ideas - visual tools help pupils concentrate for longer and understand more fully and more easily what they are being taught.

“Also interactive whiteboards give teachers a tool to enhance interaction with learners, increasing discussion of ideas and concepts between teachers and pupils.

“Another benefit, specifically for younger children, is the drag-and-drop function which enables children to demonstrate their level of knowledge more easily before they have acquired writing skills, improving self-esteem and enabling teachers to assess learning potential.”

Becta press release http://news.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?resID=34253&page=1658&catID=1633
Original MMU report (via Becta) http://partners.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=rh&catcode=_re_rp_02&rid=14422

(Reprint from NAACE Newsletter)

Extracts from the speech by the Chancellor of the Excheque [sic]:
Britain’s future success will depend not just on investment in physical capital but also skills, innovation and intellectual property.

I can now announce the final figures for education will be higher than originally proposed.

The Budget proposed that investment in education and skills will rise to £74 billion in 2010, increasing education spending as a share of national income rising from 4.5 per cent ten years ago to 5.6 per cent.

Today I can also announce, in addition, further investment providing a quarter of a billion fund to ensure all children at school are ready to learn and benefit from personalised support.

I am able to raise the inheritance tax allowance and invest more in schools and hospitals for all the British people.

This means in education to help build a new primary school in every local area by 2010.

The full speech (as planned) is at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/pbr_csr/pbr_csr07_speech.cfm

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Hi Folks
We are in the process of putting the agenda together for the next meeting which will be held at the Education Development Centre on Thursday 1st of November.

Agenda Items
1. Advice on developing or refining your school’s ICT Procurement plan.
2. Using Google Sketch Up (Workshop)
3. ICT Project Adventures Update
4. Other items

If you would like to see any other items added to the list please let me know via the comments section for this blog entry.

Special congratulations to Clare House Primary School for gaining the prestigious ICT Mark Award. The school now joins Warren Road, Darrick Wood Junior, Highfield Infants, Darrick Wood Secondary College and Valley Primary School among successful Bromley schools enjoying the professional recognition that the ICT Mark bestows as best class schools in the use of ICT.

Current Becta research shows  that ICT Mark accredited schools are

• four times more likely to be rated as outstanding in the overall effectiveness of the school category. (ICT Mark Schools: 40%, national primary: 9%, national secondary :10%
• three times more likely to be rated as outstanding in Achievement and Standards category
• three times more likely to be rated as outstanding in the Leadership and Management category
• four times more likely to be rated a outstanding in the Teaching and Learning category.

The first step towards achieving the ICT Mark for your school begins with registration on the BECTA Self Review Matrix.

For further information please contact Andrew Ferrier  (0208 461 6224) or email him at andrew.ferrier@bromley.gov.uk

For those of you out there interested in generating surveys and analysing responses, there is a great online tool called Surveymonkey.

Surveymonkey will create online surveys for you. You can choose between multiple choice reponses, rating scales or open ended text. The basic package is free but you are limited to 10 questions and a 100 responses per survey. The survey is published as a web page with a specific address that can either be included on a web site or added as an email.

I have already enrolled and have used the survey to gather information from schools and I certainly recommend the program.

You can access Survey Monkey at the following website http://www.surveymonkey.com

Protect your pupils from online bullying – and stop ICT misuse.

Normally I am not into commercial promotion but I thought that Securus is definitely worth considering especially for schools concerned with protecting pupil safety. 

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As part of the discussion on the agenda of personalised learning, there is a conference for primary school head teachers and curriculum leaders at the Earles Court  Centre on Wednesday June 20th.

If you are contemplating jumping on the Managed Learning Environment Bandwagon, attendance at conferences like these should be mandatory as they provide a conceptual framework to help you decide the direction you should be taking. The implementation of commercial VLE systems, even the LGFL endorsed Fronter solution is not cheap. Without having a sound conceptual framework and pedagogical plan in place, you may not be getting the best value for your planned investment.

A flyer about the conference program and the costs is enclosed.

If it is a good as the Personalised Learning conference for secondary schools, it will be worth the money! The conference may not give you all the answers but at least they will help you formulate the questions that you need to ask!!

No doubt you are aware of the current issues regarding wireless networks and health risks which has been raised in the media last week. Panorama (BBC1 ) will be running a program on this tonight. 

Becta has provided some guidance on this issue.

 Visit their web site  for more information.

The HPA have issued a statement saying that the comments attributed to Sir William Stewart in the Independent on Sunday (22/4/2007) are not his.
See  http://www.hpa.org.uk/radiation/default.htm .

The articles in question were:

Wi-fi: Children at risk from electronic smog

Danger on the Airwaves: is the wi-fi revolution a health time bomb?

Today we have completed our final round of the SLICT program. The participating schools included Crofton Infants, Mottingham Primary School, Burnt Ash Primary , St Antony’s RC School, Rectory Paddock School, Biggin Hill Infant School,St Mary Cray School, St Philomena’s RC School,Parish School and Perry Hall School.

The program covered issues focussing on Leadership and Management of ICT throughout the school. Members of the team were also urged by presenters Neil Hopkins and Richard Rule to explore strategies for implementing innovations back at their schools.

Neil presented some interesting ways of using Social Networking Technologies (Web 2 Technologies) within the school curriculum program. These technologies are highly effective and won’t break the school’s tight budget. For the benefit of those who attended the session, (and the rest of you schools out there in Bromley), the links are listed below. (Click the Continue Reading Link folks!!)

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