It’s been a long time since attending school consisted of hauling in a large pile of books and sitting still looking at the teacher all day. Students these days are online, connected and digitally savvy. But are we making the most of this? One Hertfordshire school certainly is.
Back in 2013, Hobletts Manor Junior School in Hemel Hempstead received its Oftsed report. Though it was very good, the report suggested the school could be outstanding if its pupils were able to use their ICT skills in more subjects. At the time, the school had a similar IT setup to most other UK primary schools: one ICT suite with limited pupil access. This, says head teacher Sally Short, made it difficult to embed technology across the curriculum in the ways they would like. But with the help of the school’s ICT coordinator and year 4 teacher Alice Baker, the local authority and PC World Business, Mrs Short came up with a shortlist of requirements to bring the school and its teaching style properly into the digital age.
From ordering to installation, the process took just four weeks and at the end of it the school had a whole host of innovative tech, including an interactive 70inch Smart table, which works like a giant iPad. Miss Baker devised an interactive activity about the Egyptians and, she says, things like this have made a huge difference to learning. Because more than one person can interact with the Smart table, Mrs Short says her own teaching style has changed: “Before, lessons were purely teacher-led. It’s opening doors we didn’t even know existed and having an amazing impact.” The students were also each given their own Windows 8-enabled tablet; one child was so excited about this that he even burst into tears. The digital natives needed just one session to experiment and they were off. Miss Baker laughs: “They even teach me how to use the kit sometimes.” It might seem as though increased technology decreases concentration but, says Miss Baker, “Pupils are so much more engaged when they’re using the tablets, even if they’re just checking their answers on them.”
The tech has also allowed the children to be more independent in their learning, but there are security measures in place to ensure Miss Baker has control over content and activity. Miss Baker has Acer Class Management software installed on her tablet. This allows her to see what all the students are doing on their tablets, and also enables her to share slideshows and websites. Handily, she can even lock their screens. At the same time, the entire school network has been upgraded. Pupils and teachers can now access a Wi-Fi connection in the outdoor learning area and there are plans afoot to allow them to use their tech in the nearby woodland and garden. The school is carefully monitoring the impact of the new technology, and has been making careful comparisons on the students’ progress. The teachers hope, too, that the tech will have a positive impact on attendance as students become increasingly engaged in lessons. “Following the installation, we surveyed pupils to gauge their perceptions on technology, ” says Miss Baker, “Pupils who have been able to take advantage of the tools provided by PC World Business said that they felt technology was really important and that they will use it when they grow up. Perhaps most importantly, all the students in the class agreed that the technology has helped them learn.”
(Available in: www.telegraph.co.uk. Adapted.)
