Creating a school Facebook page

I get asked how to do this a lot, and I normally just direct people to other blogs- but this one is the best I’ve seen as it’s a step by step video

 

http://frogphilptech.posterous.com/creating-a-school-facebook-page

 

School Facebook pages are superb for parental engagement- I often find primary schools struggle set up really good, lively, well designed and ‘living web communities’ and even when they do the parents don’t remember to visit them.

 

Facebook is so much more sensible- to quote Tony Parkin it’s a case of ‘fishing where the fish are’ as the parents are already on Facebook and the school content can find them. It is so good for getting lots of positive news to parents and in emergencies like snow closures it really comes into its own. It can also be a way of driving web traffic into the school web site by making all the news link to the full article on the school web site.

 

For teaching and learning it needs a bit more thought but I know of several schools now using Facebook as a learning  platform- so it can be done, but don’t have the teachers interacting via their personal Facebook accounts!

Help! Should we get every child a mobile device to carry and use in lessons?

Dear Paul,

On the subject of technology to improve learning generally can I ask your advice?  I'm chair of governors of a school of 900 pupils.  We are actively considering the possibility of giving a tablet computer to each pupil, and making use of it in teaching and learning.

As Chair I am keen (desperate actually) to avoid the technological trap of investing in technology that goes out of date quickly; that distracts management attention; and that turns out to have little impact on learning.  But the opportunity seems huge too.

So my question is a rather vague one: where can I find best advice about this area?  Do you know of schools that are using tablets (or other per-child devices) in a creative way? Is there any research to look at?

I'm sure you have far too much to do, but if you had any "oh yes, you should look at X and Y" thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks

Bob

Hi Bob

I've lots of anecdotal experience from supporting schools through this from a delegation from Catalonia last year (where they bought every child a lap top and nothing much changed) down to a schools in the UK like in Hull where there is an interesting story to tell of success in getting poor children home access and other schools where the devices are now as normal in classrooms as books and pens.

The overall message is swamping the students with the devices before the virtual e-learning infrastructure is in place pedagogy well on the way to changing (obvious chicken and egg argument here) has often led to a flop- the teachers don't ask the children to bring and use the devices, the children stop bringing them, the teachers can't ask them to use them and the downward spiral continues.

We've held back on getting every child a device (whether that be us buy or help parents buy) and gone for a hybrid system of our school devices and policies/ technical set up to let children use their own devices but I see this as a stepping stone to each child carrying their own rather than unsustainable hardware refreshes for computers not used in evenings, weekends and holidays. This is because we have normalised the place of the virtual school in many areas of the school to the lack of access to 1:1 is now holding us back not the harder issues to crack of virtual infrastructure, staff confidence and pedagogical change.

The other big issue is the choice of hardware- I've met with Apple resellers who have shown me clever software for managing a school wide fleet of iPads but obviously they are expensive and a departure from the largely windows/ PC architecture of most schools. We feel the new generation of netbooks, perhaps with flip over screens, ultra fast boot to browser etc have the flexibility to serve curriculum area who all want something different. The tablet market is moving fast though...

Paul

My blog post for The Guardian on becoming a Teaching School

Teaching schools revolution

The leader of one of the first teaching school alliances on the inspirational collaborations that are having a huge impact on education
 "The more we helped others, the better we got"

Read it here http://bit.ly/teachingschoolsblog

 

An example of the emails I'm getting

From: Sarah
Sent: 25 January 2012 19:57
To: Haigh, Mr P
Subject: Help
Dear Paul, can you give me some advice
Our head has taken Gove at his word and is axing ICT as quickly as he can. On the back of that I suspect that having a head of what will be a very very small department is not going to be seen as sustainable. With that in mind I want to get to him to give him alternatives for my role!
I hear you are masterminding the concept of "digital literacy". Could you let me into your plans for the future of ICT in schools and any ideas of what i could morph my role into. Our school is backward with technology with a head with who thinks only traditional subjects should be valued so i will probably need to move on but want to do it from a strong position!
Help!!
Sarah

Hi Sarah
If your head is taking all that Gove is saying at his word then the future is bright- new technology is central to delivery of all subjects and key to running a 21st century school. If he's picking and choosing and sees the opportunity to ditch a subject he doesn't get then not all is rosy. Make sure he's reading http://www.education.gov.uk/a00201823/digital-technology-in-schools to understand the breadth of the DfE ideas.
Around taught ICT then yes I think now you should think about digital literacy for all- think KS3 and the skills students need to be 21st century students, independent learners, safe online, able to manage online identities and don't forget those office applications as professional and personal life skills, but don't be a slave to traditional locally installed applications, reflect the shifting landscape with web apps like Google apps and also get up to date with things that have happened since the old programme of study was written- web2.0, social media, mobile devices, smart phones, tablets, e-book readers internet access from range of devices- digital TV, games consoles, iPod, Kindles etc
This could be delivered as discreet lessons/ and or by embedding into other subjects (I'd argue both)- if he goes for the latter then the challenge is the CPD for the subject teachers and the mapping and tracking that it is done- a job to be done by someone and it needs to stay up to date in a fast moving field. If he sticks with discreet lessons then you are liberated from long projects flogging applications spreadsheets or databases that most computer uses only need an introduction to and you can bring in some fun like designing mobile device apps or design a web2.0 social media campaign-you can argue that by delivering digital literacy well the students will be better equipped to learn independently in the 'traditional subjects'. If the head is stuck on traditional subjects tell him how cuts at universities mean increasingly more of courses are delivered through independent and online learning, as is professional CPD in the workplace not to mention the jobs the kids will have require digital literacy- remind him of the world your school is preparing the kids for.
As for computing aim to give all students the chance to experience coding in KS3- look at extra curricula clubs to engage the geeks as well as giving everyone a taster in lessons and then use this as a way in to a KS4 computer science option and market it based on UK heritage in computing/ our future economy means we should be taking computing as seriously as maths and science as the foundations of a UK knowledge based economy. Work with the maths and science departments to give computing the gravitas- even get history on board- see reference to WW2 below.
Then have a good GCSE in computing option in KS4 and use the student/ parent voice to tell you if traditional ICT isn't required, perhaps business options can cover that market?
Get your Head to wake up and smell the coffee by showing him the passage in Gove's speech that if the exam boards come up with the right specs he'd like computing to be part of the Ebacc- computing is a new traditional subject (and not that new, since modern computing started in the 1940s with the war time code breakers and Alan Turing et al)
Finally your ace card is Silicon Fen- Cambridgeshire is a world hot spot for new tech companies so you should be preparing school leavers for jobs in them, use your freedom to strike up partnership with local IT companies to design an engaging curriculum that trades on your regional pride and their needs for future employees, get some business partnerships and sponsorships to give the kids some real career aspirations.
Finally tell your head to buy http://bit.ly/haighybook and you get networking with the people shaping the future via twitter and their blogs e.g. this http://jimanning.com/2012/01/putting-my-money-where-my-mouth-is/ has just flashed by on the #tag #futureteched (also follow #codingforkids and #ukedchat) so you know what people are up to and can copy them.
And yes, if you can't change your head's mind and he's not 58 years old take your talent elsewhere- all other right minded schools are looking to a renaissance in the role of new technology and the place of computing, those who are seeing it as a chance to ditch ICT are missing the point and will end up running schools that aren't fit for 21st century purpose.
Paul

Hallam Teaching School Alliance - Teaching & Learning Programmes

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tel: 0114 2302536 Ext 264
web: http://htsa.notredame-high.org.uk/

Every teacher a blogger? every teacher a tweeter?

It's something I've written about and spoken about for a while but it might be starting to happen.
If you are reading this you already know about the benefit blogging teachers can have to share ideas between schools. If you linked to this blog via Twitter you know how powerful Twitter is for pointing you to the web spaces where the inspiration is to be found. You might find this from my LinkedIn page, in which can you are just more into grown up Social Networking!

My dream is all teachers have ideas worth sharing, but they can't all be published authors or conference speakers- they can all tweet and facebook their ideas and it's not much of a step to run a simple blog- like this one where my posts come up with no technical skill, I post by email.

Teaching School work is now bringing this dream to reality. Certainly my Teaching School Alliance (http://htsa.notredame-high.org.uk/) is already promoting professional networking through social media but the agencies like the National College, TDA, and several large universities are also talking about it. It's not that one person had an idea others have listened to, some of the best ideas pop up simultaneous from all sorts of places independently because they suddenly look really obvious- although I hope I've seeded it a bit myself.
Teaching Schools are aiming to turn themselves, and hopefully the schools their work with, into laboratories of teaching with everyone in them being at least a reflective practitioner who thinks about what they do and how it could be improved, but many actually more formally studying their own practice and doing research- increasingly with masters level credits from a university partner and the teaching schools being tasked to take on more formal Research and Development roles with the National College.

By getting teachers tweeting, facebooking and blogging with each other ideas can flow, debates can happen and expertise can be found and quizzed in person. You all know this, otherwise you wouldn't have found this, but now the educational establishment is looking at how we bring all members of the profession into this, so far, secret paradise we all benefit from.

It wouldn't take much; if every teacher who sees the benefit of social networks and web2.0 tools for professional networking convinced 2 colleagues to join in it wouldn't take long to infect the whole workforce, but I can see how a short workshop with all ITT participants as part of their course would formally train the workforce and set of a new generation of teachers who study their own work and publish their own findings.
So, while it's good news that someone is planning to promote this in a big way, in the mean time tell two friends at work about the blogs and tweets that have been inspiring your work recently.

An email conversation about mobile technology

From: Paul
Sent: 01 November 2011 09:51
To: Haigh, Mr P
Subject: mobile technology
Dear Paul
My colleague, Chris, contacted you a while back regarding your work with mobile phone technology at your school. I have been asked to follow this work up and was wondering if you could tell me of what impact the use of mobile phones have had during lessons at your school?

I appreciate that you are a very busy person and I have read your blogs, thoughts and ideas online, but I would really like to know the impact that it has had and if it has had any measurable impact on exam results or Higher Order Thinking opportunities.
Many thanks
Paul

From: Haigh, Mr P
Sent: 01 November 2011 21:29
To: Paul
Subject: RE: mobile technology
Hi Paul
Yes, what a shame we are so far apart- good news is my parents-in-law are about to move to your neck of the woods so calling in to see you one day when I'm visiting them isn't impossible.
I've just been chatting to people on twitter about this tonight- here are a couple of blog posts people are chatting about

http://www.ictsteps.com/2011/10/byod-it-makes-a-lot-of-commonsense/
http://www.cunniman.net/?p=1079

I was asked for my advice and it was this. Firstly don't expect a BYOD (bring your own device) policy to replace your ICT- kids will have all sorts of difference devices, some none, but by opening the door to 'run what they brung' you allow, in a very natural way like 'real life' ICT in to add an extra dimension to what is happening in the classrooms already.

So think evolution not revolution, you get the acceptable use policy right so you feel confident to 'un-ban' mobiles then you incentivise innovation with the keen staff and give those not keen the power to say to their class I don't want to see them in my lesson. The message gets out that they aren't a problem and they are quite helpful and they get used more.

Can I claim impact on exam results? We'll we've gone up another 10% this year (5A*-C inc E&M 82%) but I can't claim it's down to mobiles- most kids in most lessons are not using them most of the time, there's no need, but sometimes they are too great a resource to ignore:

1. photograph a flip chat/ whiteboard/ card sort the kids/ results in an experiment teacher have made but can't take away in any form or in these hard pressed times the page of the text book they have to share but can't take home to use for homework
2. Produce e-portfolio content in D&T including sound/ video and photos of projects being completed and products being tested
3. produce work in new media- e.g. rather than write an answer make a video in a group or record voice and email the file to the teacher to hand in, then the teacher plays these to the class to share the learning
4. allow students to use Google/ wikipedia as an on the desk reference tool just like they'd use a dictionary or periodic table (or even as a dictionary- far faster to look up and spell check words)
5. allow students to check timetables/ emails/ notices
6. allow students access paperless resources on the VLE and resources on the VLE that could never be on paper- e.g. video teacher tutorials 'how to clips'
7. allow students to improve personal organisation- putting deadlines into phone as calendar reminders, school journals don't shout that there is work to do from inside the kids pockets on a Saturday! (look at the InClass app on itunes) This could be the biggest single thing in terms of impact for kids who struggle with personal organisation and forget books/ equipment/ PE kit/ food tech/ homework.
If you haven't already do a survey like this, I'm not excited about mobile phones- too limited, too many distractions and too varied in what kids have, but look at this- 50% of our kids have iPod touch so in the average class I've got 1 between 2 http://twitpic.com/3w44qg and not got any worries about kids texting/ phones ringing/ kids browsing unfiltered 3G web (not that this ever had been a problem, people will predict it will be)

And then table the graph at SMT and say what is our position on this?? Pretty quickly people realise we can't ignore what's in their bags.

I hope that's helpful. Have you got a copy of http://www.optimus-education.com/new-technologies-handbook-schools-maximising-impact-ict-transform-learning-511 it's all in there and, as they say, much much more!
Paul
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