Six ideas!
Yours will be a rare school if one of these does not have some mileage in it for you.
The idea for "six ideas" has hatched slowly over the last year and represents a distillation of what schools have been asking for the most coupled with my own interest and enthusiasms.
Have a look below and see if any of these chime with what you think your school needs to do next.
- Idea 1: The self-review framework
Following through the Framework will allow you to review all aspects of ICT in school; since ICT underpins all aspects of school life the review will affect the quality of what happens in all areas of the school.
How deeply you get involved depends on the school priorities. If ICT is an identified area for development then it is difficult to argue against it.
If ICT is not a priority for the current year then there are still compelling reasons to engage with it at some level.
- Idea 2: Get a blog!
You hear a lot about blogs now but how can they be used in school?
You may want to promote the school, support writing or give gifted children a stage. The possibilities are endless and you remain in full control.
With a blog you have a vehicle for publishing to a wider audience, and getting feedback.
It is important for a school to be accessible to its community but empowering children to communicate with the wider school community, parents and carers and the world beyond is wholly worthwhile.
- Idea 3: Get a peripatetic ICT Co-ordinator
Who is promoting your ICT and supporting your staff?
Many schools are struggling to keep this vital ball in the air.
You could solve the problem by buying in the occasional or regular support from a highly experienced coordinator.
- Idea 4: Develop visual learning
Much has been made of different learning styles recently but it is very clear that for many learners, images, video, animation and games are a huge and under utilised learning resource.
Developing this area of learning and teaching is fun, and very worthwhile.
- Idea 5: Get more from interactive whiteboards
Now that interactive whiteboards have become very widely installed it is worth asking the question: are they little more than a white surface for the projector?
Now is a good time to take stock and get some of the interactivity back into the board.
The good thing is that most teachers are far more receptive to this than when the boards first arrived.
- Idea 6: Control- but not as you know it!
Control boxes still on top of the cupboard?
There is often a falling off of support for control technology after early experiences with programmable toys.
Enter “Scratch”! Free of charge (but you might need some support), exciting and motivating for both teachers and learners this will tick all the boxes for Y4 to Y6 and beyond.