Best of Bett 2020

London’s annual BETT Show – the long-running exhibition of new educational technology – took place in late January, highlighting the massive array of hardware, software, platforms and products on offer for schools.

The show is amazing, but can also be overwhelming, and it can often be difficult to figure out which of these new objects of desire will actually solve a real educational problem, and which are the latest shiny solutions in search of a problem.

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      string(4472) "Sir Linkalot is my award-winning app that is transforming how spelling is taught in schools and at home. It is brilliant for all common exception words all the way from was, two and they up to accommodation, manoeuvre and even onomatopoeia!It uses a hugely powerful learning tool that is often overlooked. This is the mnemonic – a really tricky word to spell – which simply means a link to help you remember.What Sir Linkalot does is to take the word off the paper and bring to life with short, beautifully crafted, animations. Have a look at this little video clip to see Sir Linkalot in action. The Future of Spelling – I just love the children’s honesty!The animations, combined with the voice-overs of Sir Linkalot and Lady Lexicographer (played by Susie Dent from Countdown), make sure that even the trickiest spellings get lodged in the long-term memory bank. Susie is especially good on the etymology of words. So many everyday words have an interesting story to tell as this example of a ‘Susie Story” shows. Ocean – OriginImpactOver the last 10 years I have presented to 150,000 children (4 to 18 year olds) and 15,000 teachers at 500 schools. The app is not just about spellings. It covers all aspects of literacy: vocabulary, homophones, punctuation, grammar, rules and patterns. So, it is useful for secondary school children too and helps you meet the DfE requirements.It has been my mission to spread the joy of linking and to sell my two books to staff and parents so the good work can continue at home and at school.I started a daily online show a while ago called Sir Linkalot Time with twice weekly appearances from Susie. It involves lots of audience participation with children creating their own links and posting them on social media. Schools are having daily 15 minute spelling sessions calling it ‘Sir Linkalot Time’ where the teacher assigns a child to be the Sir Linkalot monitor who plays the 4 or 5 animations, freeing them up to walk around the class to help children on an individual basis. Independent learning – you’ve got to love it! Parents are given a unique code ‘gratis’ so their child can practise at home.Why Sir Linkalot is differentLinking is a very different approach from phonics but it reaches those learners who have struggled for years with the conventional methods of learning spellings.All too often they would learn the word for the test but it never reached their long-term memory so the next time they wanted to write it down, they would get the spelling wrong.No one has ever tackled tricky words before and this is why it’s getting a lot of attention. Ruth Miskin CBE, founder of the UK’s number 1 phonics programme ‘’Read, Write Inc’’ tunes in to the show every day and thinks it complements her work perfectly as she has nothing, by definition for non-phonetic words, e.g. done, one and some. She was an advisor to the former Schools Minister, Nick Gibb MP. When I met him, he even volunteered a couple of links of his own!It’s been proven that visual learning is the most effective way to retain information as the current method, rote-learning, simply doesn’t work for many students, especially those with dyslexia. Alison Walters, a teacher with dyslexia, said: ‘I am absolutely blown away by this spelling technique! As a dyslexic teacher, I know this is going to be absolute gold for my pupils. The best thing I’ve seen in years and I can’t wait to share it with them. Thank you Sir Linkalot for this wonderful gift.’The fine detailsEach bundle of 20 words (level 1 to 5) contains two types of test: a multiple choice, to ease them in, that has a couple of gimmicks on the Results page to encourage re-testing and a crossword challenge – a much more robust test as every letter needs to be correct.The annual subscription for a parent is £49.99 and monthly is £6.99.. Schools can buy an annual licence (£2 to £5 per child, bulk-order discount – so schools can team up) to enable them to use it in class on their whiteboards (the browser version is app.sirlinkalot.org).The app (850 App Store ratings, averaging 4.6) is achieving incredible results (case study of 1,400 children), in particular, for those students (children and adults) who find spelling an issue or those whose first language isn’t English.Catch me and Susie in action. Hope you enjoy it – even the dad dancing! (Sir Linkalot highlights reel’) https://www.sirlinkalot.org/"
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Digital Learning

Mnemonics, animation, etymology - and even Dad dancing - help children remember spellings

12 Jun 2020

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      string(5654) "Is it that there’s something about the sense of audience: something about learners being on show that makes them work so well? Or is it that, now information technology is no longer in its infancy, that the novelty (so-to-speak) has worn off and we want to revert to the visceral, instinctive action of picking up a pen and making a physical mark on a surface? Whatever, it seems that dry-wipe surfaces are back, they’re here to stay and they now can be much much more sophisticated than the hand-held boards learners simultaneously held up to show the teacher their answer. “We know that when we ask learners to do presentation work, they do their best work” commented Juliette Heppell at London’s BETT in January, “so why wouldn’t we want all work to be like that?”.  And if you think once students walk out of the learning space the work is lost – wiped off and gone for ever – then think again. With the camera on a mobile phone or tablet it’s recorded and can ultimately be uploaded to a digital portfolio. Dry wipe surfaces typically fall into two formats – vertical (which we’d traditionally recognise as wall-mounted but which are now equally available as freestanding, mobile panels), and now horizontal (tables) too. There’s something about the physical space the learner takes up with vertical surfaces that puts a single person ‘in charge’ but horizontal surfaces absolutely change that dynamic: when you’re gathered around a table, a much more collaborative approach is evident, one where everyone participates on an equal footing.But whilst it’s relatively easy to create an impromptu dry-wipe surface (pretty well any gloss surface will, to some extents, work) what is it about surfaces that make the best dry-wipe – ones that will remain stain-free for years – and which should you avoid at all costs? IKEA’s Lack gloss white coffee tables for example at, depending on where you live, kr59, US$14, A$20 or £8 (well it had to be cheapest in Sweden!) work perfectly well for a while, but in time they’d doubtless stain (although at that cost, arguably you could replace them). Nobody would claim that they’re designed, manufactured or advertised as dry-wipe, (it’s no more than a quirk of what was selected as an aesthetic treatment) and are manufactured using a gloss melamine foil – a material that just isn’t the most durable for a horizontal worksurface. In a learning space, they’ll inevitably have more than a coffee cup put on them, so it’s therefore unlikely they won’t, over time, get at least a little scuffed and scratched. For what they were originally designed for, this isn’t an issue – it’s simple aging. But when you’re then writing on them, it would represent a real problem. What makes them, and many other gloss finishes stain (it’s frequently referred to as ghosting) is ink becoming trapped in the porosity of the surface. Even glass – one of the least porous of materials – will trap some ink in its surface (only much less so than a surface that is more so) to the extent it’s pretty well imperceptible to the naked eye. And it is this that makes glass, or alternatively vitreous enamel (the same chemical composition) when you judge them by performance alone, probably the best dry-wipe surfaces that are widely available. You’d like to think there were a series of formal standards for dry wipe surfaces to enable you to determine what’s good and what isn’t, but despite searching we could only find the 2010 European standard, EN 14434 and this we understand is being revised. But even with the best dry-wipe materials though, without an appropriate cleaning regime, the surface will deteriorate, and it has to be said that a piece of thick felt glued to a chunk of wood is, despite the popularity of the traditional board rubber to do the job, not the best way by far. Because over time the felt simply becomes impregnated with ink and it therefore becomes more of a case of redistribution than cleaning, with old ink being pushed around the surface, whilst it gets more and more ingrained into both the surface and the rubber. And whereas proprietary school supply catalogues boast that their liquid spray cleaners for dry wipe surfaces are ‘alcohol-free’ in truth, the ones with alcohol tend to give far superior results: the alcohol mixes with the ink and evaporates quickly out to the surface where it can be wiped away, preferably with something like a microfibre cloth (that should be regularly washed) or alternatively, although clearly not as environmentally friendly, with a disposable wet wipe. In all cases, what you’re trying to do is to remove the ink, and to keep whatever you’re cleaning it with, ink-free too.Whilst there are some great glass vertical surfaces commercially available, the trouble with using glass as a table surface in learning environments is, and forgive the pun, clear to see: it’s vulnerable when it suffers impact, and if this did happen, the result inevitably carries significant danger. 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ECO Friendly Design

Write Wipe Write Wipe

3 Oct 2018

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      string(5619) "Boris Johnson has confirmed the government expects secondaries to start to provide face-to-face support for year 10 and 12 pupils, from June 1 to June 15.On 10 May the Prime Minister announced a roadmap towards recovery, outlining the phased return of some pupils to education settings from the week commencing 1 June, including that secondary pupils facing exams next year will get some face-to-face support from their teachers this term, subject to the government’s 5 tests being met.This guide is designed for mainstream and alternative provision secondary schools (including those with a school sixth form). Thee government is asking all schools to adopt a range of approaches and actions which can be seen as a hierarchy of controls that, when implemented, create an inherently safer environment, where the risk of transmission of infection is substantially reduced. This includes:minimising contact with individuals who are unwell by ensuring that pupils or staff who have coronavirus symptoms, or who have someone in their household who does, do not attend schoolcleaning hands more often than usual – pupils and staff should be encouraged to regularly wash their hands thoroughly for 20 seconds with running water and soap and dry them thoroughly, or use alcohol hand rub or sanitiser ensuring that all parts of the hands are coveredensuring good respiratory hygiene by promoting the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approachcleaning frequently touched surfaces often, using standard products such as detergents and bleachminimising contact and mixing, as far as possible, by keeping pupils in small groups for face-to-face support and keeping those groups as consistent as possible whilst in school (e.g. for arrival, lunchtime, breaks and departure) and altering the school environment (e.g. changing classroom layouts so desks are further apart or dividing groups into different classrooms).As well as the measures above, secondary schools should ensure that only a quarter of pupils in year 10 and year 12 are in school at any one time, including vulnerable children and children of critical workers in those year groups who are still encouraged to attend full-time. This is in addition to vulnerable pupils and children of critical workers who might be in full-time attendance from other year groups.Main Points:25% of pupils at a time. The guidance states that schools are able to have a quarter of the year 10 and year 12 cohort (for schools with sixth forms) in school at any one time. This includes vulnerable children and children of critical workers in those year groups who are still encouraged to attend full-time. However, the 25 per cent is in addition to vulnerable pupils and key worker children in other year groups ages who are already allowed to attend. The DfE has also set out a clear expectation that remote education will continue to be the predominant form of education delivery for these year groups and that this should be of high quality.Schools flexibility. The DfE has told secondary schools they have the flexibility to implement face-to-face support for year 10 and year 12 pupils in the way that best suits their circumstances. The guidance acknowledges there may be issues around staff availability and workload, and says it is up to schools to decide how they want to use face-to-face support in the best interests of their pupils. There may be some pupils who would particularly benefit from more face-to-face support, such as disadvantaged pupils or pupils who have not been engaging in remote education, says the guidance goes on to say. These pupils may attend more frequently than others as long as schools ensure that only a quarter of the year 10 and 12 cohort are in school at any one time. This should be alongside full-time attendance of vulnerable children and children of critical workers in all year groups. Schools also have flexibility to determine how best to provide full-time provision for vulnerable children and children of critical workers in year 10 and year 12, alongside the support for others in those year groups. Vulnerable children and children of critical workers in other year groups should be accommodated as currently or if currently in a hub then schools should explore how to bring them back to their normal school, subject to risk assessments.Avoid split days Unlike primary schools, secondary schools have not been told by the government to avoid the use of rota systems to keep pupil numbers low. However, the guidance states that secondary schools should avoid split day rotas within the same day and ensure that only a quarter of children are ever in the school on any one day. Morning and afternoon rotas should not be applied. If rotas are used, vulnerable children and children of critical workers in all year groups should still be encouraged to attend full-time and appropriate risk assessments should consider how this could be managed.Minimise the use of public transport Schools should ensure that the use of public transport for school travel is minimised as far as possible. 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Leadership Briefings

Guidance For Secondary School Provision From 15 June 2020

2 Jun 2020

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      string(4822) "most of my career, and witnessed its success for others who manage systems, staff, students and projects. Giving a multi-step or complex assignment to students can be most successful when the teacher actively check-ins with them. Meeting with students in real-time and receiving communications about progress on a regular basis is critical. Teachers can best support their learners based on the information they have about work status and comprehension levels. The worst situation is to not check-in until near the final due date and discover that students are stuck on the first few steps.Note that in the student scheduler, the teacher included a required check-in before starting step 4. This is to ensure academic progress is sufficient or if coaching is needed. Also included is an optional check-in that is controlled by the students in case they decide support is needed sooner. The required check-ins are important to have, especially early on in developing student agency. Those learners who show skill in self-monitoring effectively may need fewer required check-ins then others.Next Steps: Begin with the End in MindMany teachers are gaining experience with virtual learning than ever before. The results can be very successful as shown by a study of some of the best online teachers.vi A benefit of implementation is that, like our students, we learn and improve our skills with reflection. A good virtual class places student engagement at the forefront. If they are active and leading the work, they can be held accountable for what is accomplished. Reflect on how the checklists below can help your colleagues make their students’ virtual learning experiences even better:Realtime Learning ChecklistDo student voices and actions make up of at least 60% of the real-time lesson?What activities can be revised to raise student voice and action over teacher airtime?Identify which lectures can be recorded and become an offline assignment?Identify points in a lecture (every 5-8 minutes) to insert a reflection activity for students to process that chunk of content.For office hours, evaluate and groups learners based common skill support.For office hours, setup a support structure that includes a mix of live conversations, emails, and text message apps. The goal is to make contact at last once a week, with live conversations happening once a week or once every two weeks depending on student roster size.Offline Learning ChecklistMake all assignments interactive. Embed links to resources to support content and/or for collaborative learning conversations (flipgrid, padlet, or discussion boards)Provide 2 or more ways for students to demonstrate their learning, such as recording their screen, audio threads, and/or visual presentations through powtoons or Adobe SparkProvide a suggested schedule with fixed content and space for students to plan their schedule for completing each part.Include check-in times between teacher and student.Create checklists based on chunking large tasks into smaller steps, which helps show progress.About The Author John McCarthy is an educator, author and consultant. He. Supports  schools across the globe, he shares a perspective for effective practices that work for teachers and students everywhere. Author of So All Can Learn: A practical guide to differentiation, he also writes many articles on topics concerning the needs of educators and student success with learning. ReferencesMcCarthy, John. 100+ Tools for Differentiating Instruction Through Social Media. Edutopia. 2016. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-social-media-tools-john-mccarthy Evans, M.D.R., Paul Kelley, and Jonathan Kelley, Identifying the Best Times for Cognitive Functioning Using New Methods: Matching University Times to Undergraduate Chronotypes. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. April 19, 2017. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00188/full Callan, Roger John. Giving Students the (Right) Time of Day. Educational Leadership. ASCD. December 1997/January 1998. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec97/vol55/num04/Giving-Students-the-(Right)-Time-of-Day.aspx American Time Use Survey. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. December 20, 2016. https://www.bls.gov/tus/charts/students.htm Sleep in Middle and High School Students, Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 2018. https://www.cdc.gov/features/students-sleep Teens and Sleep. SleepFoundation.org. 2020. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/teens-and-sleep Swapna Kumar, Florence Martin, Kiran Budhrani, Albert Ritzhaupt, Award-winning faculty online teaching practices: Elements of award-winning courses. Online Learning Journal. 2019. https://olj.onlinelearningconsortium.org/index.php/olj/article/view/2077"
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Digital Learning

Growing Successful Virtual Learners Requires New Teaching Styles

25 Jun 2020