Twitter

The Innovative Technology in Education Booklet

January 28, 2013 Leave a comment

Back in May 2012 I created a booklet to present to the SLT of the school I was working at at the time.

Somehow I did not share this on Twitter or my blog, so better late than never…

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxjDg20K1J2KTUJicGE4dTd5ODA/edit

This has not been updated since May, but I do hope that you find some of its contents useful. I plan to update this booklet over the Easter holidays.

Any feedback would be welcome!

The PGCE

August 26, 2012 1 comment

After a great 3 years working in a school, I am finally going to be starting my PGCE at Loughborough University in September. Despite being slightly nervous, I am heading back to University full of confidence in my own ability to teach. Why? Well the opportunities I had over the last 3 years, from teaching PE and Geography to a Head of House role and DofE Coordinator has prepared me for the teaching profession.

Anyone wanting to get into teaching – I strongly recommend that you work in a school before you start your PGCE. Too many of my friends who went straight into Teacher Training after graduating and are no longer in the teaching profession as they were not fully prepared or ‘in the know’ about being a teacher.

Twitter has also taught me so much about teaching and being a teacher; actually more specifically, the other educators on Twitter have inspired me! I know that over the next 11 months of my PGCE, it will be you, the Twitter community that will provide me with that extra support and guidance, and I thank you!

I will continue to blog good practice via this blog as I have done in the past, but I will also be keeping you up to date on the highs and lows of my PGCE.

Innovative ICT in Education: Twitter

May 22, 2012 1 comment

The latest ‘Training Tuesday’ for staff CPD was on the use of Twitter for professional development.

Aims:

What is Twitter?
Sharing the benefits of developing your own PLN (Personal Learning Network)
Who to follow…
#Hashtags

You can find the PowerPoint by clicking here to download.

Before I get started, I must thank @ICTEvangelist, @IaninSheffield, @CreativeEdu and @teamtait for sharing the resources that helped me put this session together.

1) What is Twitter?

In Twitters own words, that I believe sums up the social networking site perfectly – ‘Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest stories, ideas, opinions and news about what you find interesting.’

Click here to view a ‘how to sign up’ beginners guide for Twitter.

Here is a blog post from @Kathleen_Morris on Twitter with a great video on how Twitter can be used.

‘The Power of Twitter’, a Guardian article.

Some facts about Twitter:

Social media
Messages – Protected/not protected
140 characters
Not just celebrities
Twitterati
Education ‘tweeps’

2) Sharing the benefits of developing your own PLN (Personal Learning Network)

I have come across a quote from @IaninSheffield on numerous occasions now, a quote that describes the use of Twitter for CPD.

“Formula 1 CPD or what” – @IaninSheffield (2011)

I believe that this was made one day during a #ukedchat late 2011 (let me know if I am wrong), but what a summary of such a great resource for teachers to take full advantage of. But what are the actual benefits of Twitter for CPD?

There’s a fantastic exchange of ideas
It breaks down social barriers
You can find the information you need fast
You can get input from all over the globe
It keeps you up to date
You can ask all those silly questions
It keeps you motivated
You can take part in free CPD
It’ll open doors
You’ll have thousands of mentors

@TeamTait created an fantastic infographic using Piktochart to share information on Twitter – ‘To Tweet or not to Tweet’.

3) Who to follow…

Now this list could be endless, I would happily recommend my whole PLN to anyone on Twitter, but as newbie to Twitter I would highly recommend these hand picked tweeters to get you started, to help YOU develop your own PLN.

These are the tweeters I originally started to follow that has now ballooned into the people around the world that I now share good practice with everyday.

4) #Hashtags

The official Twitter definition: ‘The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.’

There are a number of educational #Hashtags to follow and they completely depend on your interests/subject, the best thing is to get out there and find the ones that interest you, but here is a quick shortlist of #Hashtags that can get you started.

This blog post by @Kathleen_Morris helps explain how #Hashtags work on Twitter.

#ff – follow Friday
#UKedchat – UK educational chat
#edchat – USA/International educational chat
#iPaded -iPads and the use of tablets in education
#edtech – Technology in education
#GTChat – Gifted & Talented chat
#mLearning – Mobile learning
#PEGeeks/#Physed – Physical Education
#MathsChat – Maths
#SciChat – Science
#EngChat – English
#ArtEd – Art
#HistoryTeacher – History
#GeographyTeacher – Geography
#SpedChat – Special Education Needs (SEN)
#musedchat – Music

This blog post has the potential to go on and on. To stop that from happening, please check out this document created by the folks at Creative Education, it gives the beginner and experienced Tweeter something to think about.

Primary Head Teachers – iPads in Education

May 15, 2012 3 comments

On Friday 4th May I presented to the Cluster Primary Heads on the use of innovative I.C.T in education, specifically highlighting the use of iPads in schools.

This blog post is a quick summary of the content I covered during that meeting, although not exhaustive, it was an introduction to a set of curious Primary Heads that are looking into the purchase of iPads for their schools.

I would appreciate any feedback and/or clarity on any issues that may be highlighted throughout the post.

iPad’s – Administration:

Buying Apps: we discussed purchasing apps for numerous devices, and there appears to be conflicting advice. From further research there appears to be different rules in the USA and UK and at present there is no barrier in purchasing one app for multiple devices.
Security: Apple’s iCloud allows you to track your devices from another devices or website using it’s CPS capabilities. If you download the ‘Find iPhone’ app this will allow you to externally track.
Storage: Although I do not know of any specific product, there are hundreds on the market designed to store a number of devices.
Internet Safety: If the device is using your schools Wireless network that has restrictions, it will not allow the user to access blocked websites through the device.
I have been recommended www.KRCS.co.uk for schools looking at purchasing iPad’s/iPods, however there are other companies out there that may offer better deals/services.

Apps for Staff:

Dropbox: online/multiple device file sharing. Gives the user access to their files across devices/platforms/locations. Possible uses: sharing resources between cluster schools/sharing cluster documents for head teachers.
Explain Everything: turn your lessons into videos for students to access from anywhere if you upload them to YouTube or your schools website.
Evernote: synchronised notes between numerous devices and computers.
Skype: invite Authors and other people into your classroom for your students to ask them questions, or link your classroom with another classroom somewhere else in the world?
Twitter: continual 24/7 CPD.
Socrative: I gave a quick demonstration of this app, great for plenaries.
VGA cable/Apple TV: used to synchronise your device to an IWB or TV. You can purchase an exchange box to allow your Apple TV to connect to an IWB. The benefit of Apple TV is that it is totally wireless and you an synchronise more than once device.

Apps for Students:

There are thousands of Apps out there! In the end it is down to the individual teacher to find the Apps that will suite his/her style of teaching and their students. However we can always introduce them to resources and apps to get started. Check out these websites with lists of Apps you may like to use in your school:

Here are the Apps that I recommend you may like to download as a starter.

PopMath
PocketPhonics
Songify
Singing Fingers
Google Earth
World Atlas
Socrative
QR Code Scanner – bring your notice boards/textbooks/exercise books to life by attaching videos/text/websites and much more to a QR code.
Educreations
Comic Life
VoiceThread

Blogging

Blogging as a class/school has proven to improve literacy scores. Heathfield CPS in Bolton (http://heathfieldcps.net/) is the example I gave at the meeting; please check out the website that is now based around the class blogs. Mr Mitchell (@deputymitchell on Twitter) introduced blogging in 2009. The stats, based on Literacy Attainment:

9% >level 5 (2009) to 60% >level 5 (2010).
2 years progress in 12 months (2010).
SEN: 3 years progress in 12 months (2010).
Improves social interactions with staff, students and parents.

The power of the audience is one of the main motivators for students to write blogs.

Helps engage students, parents and teachers
Makes learning cool
Raise standards
Breed competition
Motivate pupils
Innovative use of I.C.T.

All schools can blog safely if staff, parents and students follow simple instructions and moderate all comments. The attached ICT policies and risk assessment will help you design a policy for your school. Peter Ford (@peterford on Twitter) is a great guy from NorthantsBLT that can help your school get started with blogging.

Twitter for CPD

I strongly recommend encouraging your staff to become involved in the CPD revolution: Twitter (more information in the attached ‘Innovative Teaching.docx’ file). Please follow me on Twitter @MrWickensPE.

Twitter – a CPD Revolution?

March 28, 2012 Leave a comment

Twitter - a CPD Revolution?

There is a CPD revolution happening and you may not even know about it. To surprise you even further, it is on the Social Networking site Twitter.

Every day, of every week, of every year teachers and other educators are online sharing their own tried and tested good practice with other teachers/educators. This FREE source of CPD has revolutionised how teachers operate in the classroom; from introducing them to a range of starter and plenary activities, to help answer behaviour management questions, to sharing how new technologies, such as Apps, are used in the education. The best part – no more embarrassing questions with your work colleagues, you can have all your weird and wonderful questions answered through Twitter. Gone are the days of Twitter being perceived as the ‘hourly biography’, today is the day of Twitter as a tool for CPD. Collaboration, teamwork and peer support are all offspring of effective use of Social Media.

I will not spend pages and pages explaining how Twitter can benefit YOU as a teacher. What I will do though is share some examples of how Twitter can be used for CPD and the ‘Creative Education Guide to Twitter for Teachers’.

Creative Education’s ‘Top 10 Reasons why Teachers should give Twitter a go’

There’s a fantastic exchange of ideas
It breaks down social barriers
You can find the information you need fast
You can get input from all over the globe
It keeps you up to date
You can ask all those silly questions
It keeps you motivated
You can take part in free CPD
It’ll open doors
You’ll have thousands of mentors

#ukedchat

Hundreds of educators join in a Twitter ‘chat’ every Thursday night (8pm – 9pm). Why? To have a stimulating chat about all things education in the UK – and it is called, #ukedchat. A few fellow teachers have written Blog posts about how effective #ukedchat can be, what impact it can on you as a teacher – just the all round benefit of having such a stimulating conversation.

Ian Addison (@ianaddison) has written a blog post about the whole #ukedchat process.

Ian Guest (@ianinsheffield) gives a fantastic insight from the perspective of a normal working teacher through his blog.

Subject Specific Twitter #Hashtags

Hashtags are used in Twitter to search for tweets in a specific category, for example #ukedchat. As well as searching for tweets, you can also tag your own tweets to make sure you are talking to an audience of a similar interest to you; without them even following you. Any word can be tagged to a hashtag, so below there is a list of popular Twitter hashtags used by educators.

#ukedchat
UK Education. Most UK teachers tweet to this hashtag, a rich source of information.

#edtech
Tweets relating to the use of technology in education.

#mlearning
The use of hand held devices in education.

#vitalcpd
Effective use of technology in the classroom.

#gtchat
Tips on teaching gifted & talented students.

#mathschat
Mathematics

#scichat
Science

#engchat
English

#arted
Art

#musedchat
Music

#pegeeks/#physed
Physical Education

#reteacher
Religious Education

#historyteacher
History

#geographyteacher
Geography

#ecbusteach
Economics and Business Studies

#spedchat
Special Educational Needs

And many, many more!!

Here we go…

January 17, 2012 7 comments

Good evening, morning or afternoon, (depending on where in the world you are)

I have been meaning to start blogging for a long time now; infact I have tried on numerous occasions. Tweeters like @deputymitchell, @dugghall and @mrrobbo have inspired me to share the great CPD I face on a day to day basis through Twitter and my day to day job.

Who am I?
I am a 23 year old trainee PE teacher. I am currently working at a state secondary school in Northamptonshire in a number of roles. My official job title is PE Technician, as well as Head of House, Teaching Assistant and Unqualified Teacher (Geography). Yes, you could say I hold a number of roles in school, but surely I want the best teaching experience I can before I head to Loughborough University in September 2012 to complete a PE PGCE? Well, to add to that, I also have my own Yr9 Tutor group as well as co-ordinate the student voice and the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

I count myself very lucky in the experiences I have had so far in my dream to become a teacher. The people I work with on a day to day basis have supported me all the way and wouldn’t be where I am now without them.

However, I strongly believe that Twitter has enabled me to experiment and has provided me with an endless list of ideas to incorporate into my teaching. Hopefully I can repay you all by sharing what has/hasn’t worked for me, what apps I feel can improve our teaching and discuss the new hot topics in Education.

I really hope that you enjoy following this blog, and keep your eyes open for the next one.

Please follow me on Twitter (@mrwickenspe) and say Hi.

Thanks,
Ross

@MrWickensPE

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