a presentation about how to support colleagues to use digital technologies across the school

1. Digital Futures in Education
Michael Payton-Greene
Wales High School
http://whsteachingandlearning.wordpress.com

2. Some context . . .
• MA APSE at the University of Sheffield, exploring digital
literacy
• Dissertation accepted that social networking and the
collaborative phase of the internet (Web 2.0) could
change the way we think, learn and behave.
• The study aimed to explore if social networking could be
used to help the way students learn, enabling them to
make learning easier and help them make better progress.
• The study worked on the assumption that the way we
are literate is increasingly important; in particular,
the need to be digitally literate is increasingly important for
the current market place and to be socially active as a
digital citizen.

3. The Dissertation
• Teachers at WHS participated in a pilot focussed on
sharing and reflecting on good practice.
• VI form Economics and English Literature students
were set and submitted homework on Facebook,
contributed to online dialogues with their
peers/teachers, shared their own content and read
articles/watched clips that contributed to further
discussion in lessons.
• The study found that Web 2.0 platforms had the
powerful potential to:
- enhance communication
- increase engagement
- use cognitive processes that were enabled by
being ‘digitally literate’ in a digital space.

4. Designing a case study
- Digital Literacy
- OERs
- What about a teacher
focussed case study?

5. WALES HIGH SCHOOL
• Outstanding 2006 – no OFSTED inspection since
• Senior Management Team - Chief Executive 20yrs, Head
teacher 42yrs, Deputy Heads – at least 12years service, 50% of
staff 20 years + service at WHS.
• Key Measure – 5A*-C (inc. English and Maths) = 58% 2012 –
compared with 80% with neighbouring schools with similar
cohorts.
CONTEXT
• Departments work independently
• No mechanisms for sharing good practice across the school
• Outstanding and Good practice in areas of the school, but not
seen by those outside the department.
• SCHOOL PRIORITY – Improving Teaching and Learning

6. What DfT wanted:
- Digital Literacy
- OERs
What WHS wanted:
- Improved teaching and
learning
- Professional Dialogues
and sharing good
practice
- Foundations for a system
of collaboration

7. THE SPACE

8. THE SPACE

9. ‘The class seemed to
THE SPACE
enjoy
experimenting with
different equations
and it made a dry
topic a little bit
more fun’

10. THE SPACE

11. QR CODE GENERATORS
• Write information about your area of
school
• On a laptop create a QR code
• Test it using an ipods
• Print it
• Try them out!
Group 1: PE / Group 2: Reception / Group 3:
Library / Group 4: Dinner Hall / Group 5:
HOY / PSA Group 6: Learning Support
Group 7: Digital Day / Group 8: Digital Day

12. Student tasks :

14. HOW WILL
WE BE
SUCCESSFUL?

15. TODAY
YOU WILL
CREATE
AN ESSAY

17. • Easy to use – similar to a normal website or
Open Educational Resource already used by
staff.
• Professional Dialogues take place which
enable and encourage the sharing of good
practice – the collaborative element enhances
cognitive approaches to pedagogy and practice.
• Easy to access resources using the drop down
menu. The ability to ‘categorise’ and ‘tag’
resources is key – resources are easy to use and
find.
• The benefit of comments attached to resources is
valuable; it enhances the resources with
guidance about how it may be used, and,
enables different perspectives that make
the outcome of the resource clear.
• Enables teachers to explore the benefits of
digital literacy themselves.
• Provides possibility for wider access – i.e.
primary schools, learning community partners,
Universities etc

18. • Difficult to initially get signed up to.
An external website, separate to the
main VLE and website.
• Not placed in a prominent place to
enable more traffic to the space. The
majority of users will be those directed
or encouraged to go to the site.
• Any resources or videos etc need to be
on a separate share filing website – i.e.
slideshare. This is problematic in terms
of being re-directed if items need to be
printed etc. There are also issues
related to aspects of safeguarding.
• Student work, videos and pictures are
not currently on the space, but it
would make the sharing of good
practice much more fruitful.

19. TO BE DEVELOPED FURTHER AT WALES . . .
• to widen participation so that every department has a representative to
contribute towards the blog;
• to have half-termly ideas/strategies/policies posted on to the space and
used/reviewed by departmental areas;
• to work with NQT/ITT students to help their professional practice via the online
space;
• to enable the blog to be used as a performance management / coaching tool,
as required;
• to share student work and lessons using photos/videos;
• to focus content on school priorities and important moments i.e. literacy, T&L
policies, creative approaches during Arts Week, drama approaches during
school performance period, lesson observation week resources, 6th form teaching
strategies etc.
• to create a termly magazine in paper and electronic format highlighting good
practice to share with staff, highlighting best practice.
• to explore ways to improve the digital literacy skills of students and staff
through workshops and INSET exploring digital learning tools and
applications.