Improving Access and Inclusivity One Step at a Time

Microsoft Education is one of the giants leading the tech revolution in education. Our editor caught up with Chris Rothwell, Director of Education for Microsoft in the UK during January’s Bett conference. In this interview, Chris talks about what he sees as the most important issues facing educators today and talks about some of the ways Microsoft is addressing these challenges.

As the world is becoming digital, every industry is changing, and the employment landscape is changing. You know the people that are in school today are going to enter a workforce that is very different than the one today. And so we know that we have this skills gap in the area of digital. And really we wanted to try and understand how that was impacting teachers. So we initiated some research to try to connect with teachers and really find out how it is showing up in education and maybe start to try and look at what what what might we do about it.

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      string(5588) "virtual reality world , where teachers and students could create and test out physical experiments that could be replicated in real time.The software tools let them analyse forces, mass and paths etc. before, during and after the experiment.The authors noted: ‘We consider the analyzing functionality an important strength of a virtual laboratory like PhysicsPlayground. It offers possibilities that are far superior to what can be done in a real physics lab.’For other science experiences take a look at:Another case study of a virtual reality physics simulation at a junior high school, Virtual Reality Simulations in Physics education. Jong-Heon Kim, Sang-Tae Park, Heebok Lee, Keun-Cheol Yuk, Heeman Lee, Feb 2001 Will Virtual reality Drive Deeper Learning, Holly Korbey, July 2017 Cellscape: A virtual Reality Journey Inside a CellAutism, disabilities and virtual realitySome of the most interesting examples of VR lie in the field of special education.A recent noteworthy example is V.O.I.S.S (Virtual Reality Opportunities to Implement Social Skills) headed by researchers at the University of Kansas. This has attracted multimillion-dollar investment from the United States Department of Education. It aims to help students with high functioning autism and low incidence disabilities to improve recognition of social cues and emotions that often they do not understand or pick up on at the same rate as their peers.There are many projects such as these designed to provide training and supported rehearsal for people who need to develop life skills, communication and other essential skills for life. Some applications have provided training for work in warehouses, factories and supermarkets.Virtual reality lets people with disabilities, neurodiverse or mental health conditions, learn skills or develop different behaviours in an environment free from pressure and anxiety.There were some notable early adopters of the technology in the UK. In the mid 1990s, Dr David Brown, currently Professor of Interactive Systems for Social Inclusion at Nottingham University, and David Stewart OBE, then headteacher of Shepherd School in the city, worked together on a project called LIVE (Living in Virtual Environments). This was focused on finding innovative and visual methods to teach basic life, communication, personal and social skills.Many of the children at Shepherd School had profound disabilities and /or life-limiting conditions. The project set out to offer environments for children to use their Makaton symbols. According to Brown and Stewart, ‘…some students are so disabled they may only ever learn the meaning of ten symbols in their entire school life. Even if it were proven that the VE method didn’t encourage the students to learn the meaning of more symbols or at a faster rate, they still provided a stimulating and alternative teaching method, especially important for both teachers and pupils.’Subsequently, they developed a range of virtual environments – city, house, supermarket and, most memorably and with the help of engineers, skiing. The purpose was to provide real world experiences, for students who could not take part, because of ‘physical disability, logistical constraints and well-meaning but overprotecting parents and teachers’.See An emergent methodology for the design, development and implementation of virtual learning environments for a full account of their ground breaking early work as presented at the European Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality and Associated Technology 1996.For more on the impact of VR on the education and lives of people with disabilities or mental health issues, see:How VR is Being Used to Help Children with Learning Disabilities and Autism, Emily Gera Dec 2018Director of Education for Microsoft in the UK talks about his VR app that helps with Dyslexia and discusses how to improve the access to improving technology in Schools, Chris Rothwell, Improving Access and Inclusivity One Step at a Time, Digital Learning, Aug 2019More on the impact of VR on learning and using a virtual classroom for teacher training, Reimagining the Teacher Experience: Improving Training Opportunities with VR Classrooms, Upping the Ante on Teacher Training: The Virtual Classroom That’s Just for Teachers Lorna Burrows Nov 2018 Applications and SoftwareImplementing a functional VR classroomThe major drawback is obviously the high price point associated with VR headsets and computers. There is no standardised headset for use in schools. Prices range from:About £30 for a headset designed to incorporate a smartphoneTo £400 for the Oculus Rift S considered to be the best all-around affordable headset for use with a PCAround £500 for the standalone Oculus Quest, which does not need a pc at allAbout £1000+ for a top of the range ultra-high quality headset such as the Valve indexHowever, workarounds do exist and Google has already started a free program that donates its simple cardboard headsets, which can incorporate almost any smartphone to function, to schools along with a free piece of software called ‘Expeditions’. This offers over 100 simulated school trips, from the streets of Verona to help better connect with the characters from Shakespeare, to the offices of the Lehman Brothers to give a ‘crash course’ in financial crisis management.For more guides on implementing VR, have a look at: Jory Debenham’s 8 Apps for Enriching your Geography Lessons Shawn McCusker, Learning by Doing: The Power of Immersive Learning ExperiencesA comprehensive Guide"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy Of Edtech

15 Jul 2020

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      string(4459) "In August of this year, Education Secretary Damien Hinds put forth a challenge to the tech industry to ‘launch an education revolution’.1 Along with promise of funds to get more schools connected to ultrafast broadband, he placed a call for educators, government and technology innovators to forge a strong partnership which will ‘ultimately support and inspire the learners of today and tomorrow’.  Hinds’ desire to improve educational access and inclusion, create efficient assessment practices, reduce the burden of administrative work on teachers and to help those outside of the formal education system access online learning systems is reasonably laudable, but his ultimate aim of allowing teachers to ‘focus their time and effort on the pupils in the classroom’ is hardly revolutionary. His examples and his vision for the future lack all sign of inspiration and creativity, and leave us to wonder which of the technology leaders could possibly be interested in taking up such a mundane challenge.  This is yet another example of how the extremes of the positions held by policy leaders and technology leaders are growing further and further apart. Tech companies like Microsoft and Google are developing incredible educational initiatives worldwide, from inexpensive AI wearables to ‘mixed reality’ initiatives and a comprehensive Digital Skills Programme. They have also become the leaders in funding and promoting evidence-based research on the impact of technology on learning. The UK government, meanwhile, is barely registering the developmental potential of educational technology and is instead focusing on safeguarding regulations and administrative efficiency.What does it mean to educate students effectively in 2018 and beyond? We know that technology permeates all areas of existence, yet its role in the classroom is not clearly defined. Should schools spend their budgets on technology infrastructure and take on all the headaches that go along with regular upgrading, troubleshooting and safeguarding issues? Or do we need to protect our children from digital overload and the increasing levels of mental anguish young people are experiencing as a result of digital connectivity? Is technology proving to be a time-consuming distraction to students or is it bringing new depth to the curriculum that is expanding their minds and future possibilities? With these questions in mind and the understanding that the complexities of modern education cannot be easily resolved, we decided it was time for a rebrand and reconfiguration of our e-Learning Update magazine to better align with our strengths and the needs of our readership. Within the pages of Digital Learning, you will still find our same commitment and dedication to exploration of current trends in teaching and learning with technology. However, there will be a more critical look at the tools on the market and a deeper focus on creative and innovative approaches to teaching and learning with technology. In this issue, EdtechTeachers Shawn McCusker and Tom Driscoll  show how to bring the history curriculum to life with great tools that support students in developing critical analytical skills and using resources to construct a narrative to decode the past (p. 36). Andrew Shenton explores what information literacy issues many Sixth-Form students are encountering in their independent study projects (p. 74), and Common Sense Media (p. 48) offers their latest research on some of the dangers of technology use and offers tools for helping young people navigate its perils. In addition, we highlight some of the latest blogs, tools, initiatives and apps that are helping classrooms connect learning to technology.  There is a common belief being put forth that education technology should free students and teachers from the utilitarian need of content mastery and that it should involve developing learning and skills that also transfer to authentic contexts. This is nothing new. Progressive educators have been calling for contextualisation and creation of meaning for students in learning now for centuries. And, as it has proved successful in the past, it is necessary to employ and develop nuanced pedagogy that incorporates technology in a meaningful and transferable manner. We look forward to continuing to inspire and promote creative solutions to this end. Jory Debenham Editor"
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Digital Learning

Creating a vision for technology in education

6 Nov 2018

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      string(5578) "Osian George from Ysgol Bro Edern, a secondary school in Cardiff noted for its ‘digital excellence’The Welsh Government has invested in a central digital learning programme called Hwb that provides centrally-funded access to cloud services, digital infrastructure and digital resources aligned to the Curriculum for Wales for every learner (aged 3 to 18) in maintained schools in the country. The stats are impressive: £45     million investment in school broadband connectivity, including £18 million     for in-school connectivity£80     million EdTech digital infrastructure investment over two yearsAll Hwb     users in Wales have access to a wide range of centrally-funded digital     services and tools, all via a single username and password 600,000+     individual usersHwb is a Welsh word that means “Boost”. The fully bilingual Hwb website is the single port of call for teachers, parents and learners to find education related information.  There are literally thousands of bilingual resources covering all areas of the curriculum plus advice on keeping safe online. Welcome to Bro Edern websiteHwb also gives every user access to the latest versions of web-based software including: Office 365, Google’s G-Suite for Education and the first ever national deployment of Adobe Spark – which works on almost all modern devices.  Through a national licensing deal with Microsoft, the Welsh Government is also providing all teachers and learners with access to Microsoft Office along with Minecraft: Education Edition both in school and at home.The advantages of HwbConsistency is key to success according to aHwb spokesperson: ‘Everything is GDPR compliant. The data-processingagreements, legal requirements, educational contracts, privacy notices – welook after all of that. There are no targeted adverts and we take safeguardingreally seriously, with input from a range of expert partner organisations,including the police, providing advice on how to stay safe online, preventcyber security issues and develop digital resilience. We provide informationfor staff in schools on how to keep data secure and what to do if there is adata breach.’Having a centralised service brings peace ofmind for schools but also saves them time and money. Large scale centralisedpurchasing ensures lower prices and this has freed up money to improve theinfrastructure. There are a number of factors in Hwb’s success. It has been a game changer for Hwb who would not otherwise be able to distribute their resources so easily and promptly throughout the whole country. One recent example is Adobe Spark – a range of creative tools – which the team were able to launch earlier than planned in response to school closures. introduced into Welsh schools in the last few months. They developed localised resources and How to.. webinars, and, almost at the press of an enter key, sent the software out toall their schools. The Hwb Team developed a Spark community throughMicrosoft Teams of around 1000 teachers, who have contributed ideas andinspiration.When Adobe set uptheir Creative Education Programme, 36 Welsh educators were the first in theworld to get the creative badges. Now there are resources covering all areasfrom early years materials for two to four-year-olds through to A-levels,well-being activities and curriculum materials in science and food technology. Theyare all on Hwb in two languages and will be featured on Adobe Exchange soanybody can access them.Award winning schoolOsian George is Welsh BAC Co-ordinator at Ysgol Bro Edern, a secondary school in Cardiff with a strong reputation for its digital excellence. It was selected by Ty Goddard as one of his EdTech 50 schools, an initiative aimed at, ‘shining a light on schools that use EdTech in groundbreaking and impactful ways’. At that time, it was the only 1:1 iPad school in Wales and was producing lots of Welsh resources.  When Ty visited, he attended an art class where ‘I found students drawing insects. They used both real insects and 3D tech replicas to check their work. They could zoom in, view details and amend their drawings as needed. By adopting a technology students are familiar with, Bro Edern has seen pupils increase their depth of learning across subjects.’Playlist for home learning For Osian and the rest of the staff it was a major decision to consider moving from iPads to Chromebooks for their day to day work. Cost savings are one factor but the synergy with Hwb and Google makes it a realistic option.When it became apparent that there would be school closures earlier this year, the school conducted a survey to find out who would need support. All learners from year 8 upwards had iPads already given to them by the school. Year 7 had not received their devices and it was found that well-off families might have had some technology but not necessarily a laptop.Osian said, ‘Pupils may struggle to do their homework on a mobile phone for example, particularly if it involves extended writing and, while they might have internet access on other devices, it might be from tethering to a mobile phone.’The Welsh Government made £3 millionavailable for Local Authorities to repurpose older devices under the Hwb EdTechprogramme. They bought 9,717 software licences to upgrade devices via Neverwareand distributed 10, 848 MiFi dongles to provide internet access. Schools distributed devices or called parents in to collect them. InCarmarthenshire, parents of children eligible for a device"
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Blended Learning

Lockdown Lessons: Wales – over 9,500 Google Classrooms and over 8,800 Microsoft Class Teams

2 Oct 2020

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      string(4018) "VLEImprove engagement and presentation of contentYou may want to create individual games and quizzes, which is appropriate for your learners. However, a good way to get started with H5P is via the Course Presentation content type. Access Course Presentation on the H5P website to view the examples of what is possible. This content type can mirror your content structure and flow as you might have in a Microsoft PowerPoint. However, you can create a variety of interactions like Interactive Video, Drag and Drop, Hotspots, Flashcards and a range of question types.To get started shaping your content, select a resource to use, preferably a Microsoft PowerPoint, Word or PDF document that has potential to be developed into an online activity. Check it has got:An appropriate amount of text (not text-heavy)Enough text to write instructions and short activitiesSome imagery (illustrations or models you can use)Perhaps videos to embed and layer some questions overWeb links to further resourcesSome tips for organising your material:Outline titles, the flow of content to appear in each section, and trim out unnecessary material – Microsoft PowerPoint is helpful for doing thisDivide learning content into relatable groups of knowledgeDescribe any activities you wish to include so that learning can be assessed and checkedBe mindful of putting too much content in as this can lead to information overload. Equally, including too many interactions can lead to user fatigueDon’t put too much text on screen as it makes it very text-based and may make the object longer. Only keep essential text and present it in small bite-sized chunks, or provide an option saying ‘read more’Use relatable images to match your textUse video and interactive elements to make content engaging and meaningfulThere is a larger process to creating interactive eLearning activities where you will sketch out a storyboard of what will happen. However, as this is rapid you can use the following quick framework that includes key instruction and assessment principles to guide your content development. This rapid approach is not about creating polished eLearning activities, but rough and ready ones based on a take-and-reshape approach. You don’t need to be an instructional designer expert, but having the understanding and skills will help.Aims and objectives (what learners will learn)Introduction/ build-on from previous learningBite-sized theory/interaction Formative assessment activitySummative assessment Aims and objectives (what learners have learned)Do bear in mind that the design and development process could take longer than expected due to the amount of time you put into learning H5P, complexity/volume of content and the level of your digital capabilities, so do consider the following:Time to develop eLearningContent design/structure/layout of your contentWriting instructional contentSourcing quiz questionsSourcing and presenting meaningful/user friendly multimedia contentPerfecting—don’t over produce it, it’s rapidAccessibilityMeeting specific needs – more in-depth guidance Technical guidance from H5P GDPR/confidentiality of contentsCopyright and Creative Commons (you could make your eLearning activity an Open Educational Resource)This topic, along with resources to support you, as well as sourcing, designing and safely and purposefully using digital technology is in the book Learning Technology: A Handbook for FE Teachers and Assessors from Critical Publishing Ltd. Join the conversations on social media following and using #LTbookFE.Daniel Scott is a digital learning specialist who won the ALT Learning Technologist of the Year award 2016.  He holds a Technology Enhanced Learning MSc and is a qualified teacher, assessor and lead internal verifier who can be reached via Twitter (@_Daniel_Scott or LinkedIn. Daniel also blogs about his experiences of learning technology and eLearning practices, ideas and challenges with learning."
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Adaptive Technology

H5P: Creating Interactive Resources for the Primary Classroom

12 Aug 2019