Monday, August 15, 2016

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Modern Learner

Meet The Modern Learner

I thought I would share this interesting analysis of a 'Modern Learner' sourced from Twitter. Distracted, Impatient, Untethered, On-Demand, Collaborative and Empowered.

What do you think?


Thursday, May 26, 2016




FREE DOWNLOAD - Experiential Learning


This was included in a recent LinkedIn article and is a 30 page free downloadable manual on suggestions for using experiential learning in training and development. The author, Ann Alder, from RSVP Design; in response to a request from someone looking for activities centred on 'getting to know you' and 'communicating skills, says




"I've created a manual of ideas and suggestions about using experiential learning activities such as the ones you describe. It is completely free and you can download it via the following link. You may find something of use in there!



The free download of facilitator notes is available at - not sure how long it will be there for though

















Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Picking the right e-learning tool

The world of technology for education is a pedagogical minefield with so many existing and new technologies available. Trying to pick the right one to integrate into learning sessions can be as equally baffling, especially if you are not overly familiar with technology as a whole.

The use of technology should be planned carefully and I would always advise a traditional alternative should the tech enabled method not quite come off. For example if you are using a tool such as Padlet this could be replicated in part using post-it notes on flipchart paper.

A good place to start is what pedagogy or method you want to use and then see what technologies can help suit that. Below is an easy to read table that highlights some of these and scores their usage with the Top Ten Tools. Click on the image below to see more.

Monday, May 23, 2016

Thunks









If you attended one of the Bradley Lightbody sessions on training day (Monday 11 April 2016), you may remember him mentioning using 'thunks' as a way of engaging students in discussion and debate, for use as starters or plenaries, or just for fun.




A 'Thunk' is described as  a 'beguilingly simple-looking question about everyday things that stops you in your tracks and helps you start to look at the world in a whole new light'.  http://www.thunks.co.uk/.




If you sign up for a free account at TES (https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/) you can access a range of resources that can be downloaded to support your teaching, learning and assessment - including a dedicated PowerPoint of suggested 'Thunks'. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/thunks-6022495




These are all based on Ian Gilbert's Little Book of Thunks.

















Friday, May 20, 2016

Collaborating in teams with 'Slack'

Slack is an excellent tool for communicating in teams. Users create channels based around a topic, a team or a shared idea and which allows everyone using to organise interactive conversations.
https://slack.com/is
Users can share a range of documents instantly from a variety of different devices. Both private and open channels can be created allowing teams or group to interact in different ways depending on the sensitivity of the topic. Furthermore it can be easily integrated with other tools such as Google Drive and Drop Box.

Slack is an ideal tool for tutors to communicate with other tutors to share ideas, messages and discuss on-going work and projects. Its can also be used with students working on assessed projects allowing an on-going dialogue with the tutor and fellow students sharing ideas, problems and solutions.

Sign up to Slack for free here: https://slack.com/ Or watch the video below to find out more.




Monday, May 16, 2016

Training Day Mon April 11th North Lindsey College





North Lindsey College Training Day 11-4-16

What a fantastic development opportunity for staff at North Lindsey College.
146 staff took advantage of the opportunity to attend some great sessions.

The star of the show was Johnny Ball who inspired us with his key note delivery on Inspirational Maths
A range of other sessions/workshops were available for all staff to choose from, many of them delivered by external speakers, and some by our own NLC specialists. They included;

Emergency First Aid, Managing your Digital Identity, Prevent, Kloodle, Drug awareness, Embedding, English and maths, Outstanding Teaching and Learning, Dealing with confrontation, Autistic Spectrum Awareness, L2 Child Protection, Use of the Confidence Course


         Feedback was very positive. Comments made included;
The session helped to develop team work, was fun and active.

 
Thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon using the confidence course.

Excellent awareness raising for all staff. Needs rolling out further so that all college staff and students are aware

The session was interesting and I left with some new ideas of how to promote and develop English and Maths within sessions.

 
Would have liked a whole day session




Blended Learning Consortium

We are pleased to announce we now are part of the  Blended Learning Consortium as one college of over 50. For our subscription we get access to bespoke online learning materials designed by FE tutors as well as a an equal voice in deciding what content is created for the year. The content is structured as a series of 1 hour interactive learning objects, per topic, that include videos and activities that can be used alongside or as sole resources for Blended Learning.

As these become available I upload these objects to our content server and add the links to the E-Learning Resources course on Moodle. That way all staff need to do is copy the link into their course and structure appropriately to enable students to access the resources. The course can be accessed by clicking HERE and all you need to do is login to Moodle and click self enrol to join this course. Please enrol now!

Not all content is available immediately but will be by September 16. I will keep you all updated! Below is an introduction video to the consortium and a digital guide can be accessed HERE

If you require any further clarification or would like some further support please don't hesitate to ask me!











Friday, May 13, 2016

The Review Wheel

































Again coming from the Sports Department at NLC (shared by Alex Bromley), the Review Wheel is an interactive PowerPoint which allows students to 'choose' their own way of reviewing a session. Including such options as 'tweet it', 'explain it', 'post it' and 'map it' (to name a few), this allows for a fun and engaging end to any session.


http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/bkingsnorth-1752158-review-wheel/










Monday, May 09, 2016

PowerPoint timers








In December 2015, I shared a PowerPoint presentation of countdown timers (courtesy of Alex Bromley in Sport). Just in case anyone missed out on these (example of a one minute sand timer below), please take a look at the following link to A6 Training where the timers are available free of charge.




As well as the timers, there are other resources that can be easily adapted to suit your session content - well worth a look.

Gamification



Gamification is not a new concept but it has increasingly made a significant shift from the world of business, retail and enterprise into Education. You may argue it has always been present in Education but with the increased use of games in society as a whole it is now beginning to have positive impacts on the way we learn.

Gamification can be described as:
“Gamification is the concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals”

So, in essence, what we are doing as Educators is using the way games are conceived and designed and applying this to our teaching methods. Learners now have opportunities to explore learning as they would missions in an online game, or earn points and experience for completing tasks and sometimes hidden bonuses. Games use rapid feedback loops to help players learn from their mistakes, something that with careful planning can be embedded in teaching and learning to develop greater learner independence and self-reflection.

So….have I wet your appetite to find out more? For more info on the use of Gamification in Education see the links below and watch the video attached.



Links:

Monday, April 25, 2016

Supporting Teachers Using Technology

A new app is now available from the Company Portal for staff to download onto their iPads. the app is called Supporting Teachers and has been developed by Portsmouth College to find a practical way to help support, guide and train staff in using iPads in the classroom.

The app contains short videos on a range of topics that can be accessed as and when with direct links to the app on the iTunes store, many of which are also available from the Company Portal App. To access the company portal and download the app watch the short video below. Further information about the app can be found here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/supporting-teachers-portsmouth/id903352390?mt=8



Monday, April 18, 2016

Google Classroom: Top 10 Tech For Teachers


As part of the Top 10 Technology For Teachers i am please to present Google Classroom!

Google Classroom is a great alternative to Moodle in many ways. It adds some great collaborative features and allows great interaction with external tools. If you find that your Moodle is being used mainly as a repository for files and lacks student interaction Google Classroom might be the solution.

Check out this short video walkthrough on setting up a Google Classroom. Keep a look out for Top 10 Tech toolkits coming soon!


Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Top 10 Technology Tools For Teachers



Picking the best technology to meet your learners needs or match your teaching style can be hard! There are so many amazing tools and technologies available making picking the right one even harder! And then you have to learn how to use them correctly to ensure maximum impact on learning! Well....never fear! The Top 10 Technology Tools For Teachers is here!

Browse the resource below for some ideas of some of the best tools about with some practical guidance and ideas on how to use them successfully. Spend a few minutes looking at each one, then set yourself the challenge of mastering one at a time. Please let me know how you get on and if there is any further support you need.