Evaluation Summary 2011-12
Teachers' responses to the project were very positive, with all feeling that the project had extended and enhanced what the pupils learned. An additional planning session was identified as being a potential improvement to the project.
Generally, trainees' evaluations were similarly positive. Differing approaches to school-based training in the schools/settings meant that trainees did not receive a uniform experience. Some schools/settings provided a more teacher-led experience, while others placed much more onus on the trainees. This led to contrasting experiences, but all trainees appeared to gain knowledge, skills and understanding from the work, whether they were observing excellent teaching or being facilitated to do excellent teaching themselves. The following are the main ways in which the project enhanced knowledge and skills in relation to excellent teaching of ICT:
Generally, trainees' evaluations were similarly positive. Differing approaches to school-based training in the schools/settings meant that trainees did not receive a uniform experience. Some schools/settings provided a more teacher-led experience, while others placed much more onus on the trainees. This led to contrasting experiences, but all trainees appeared to gain knowledge, skills and understanding from the work, whether they were observing excellent teaching or being facilitated to do excellent teaching themselves. The following are the main ways in which the project enhanced knowledge and skills in relation to excellent teaching of ICT:
- Experience of ICT to support children with Special Educational Needs;
- Breaking down ICT activities into engaging, challenging, yet manageable steps;
- Reflecting on the pedagogy of ICT, even when using familiar software.
Suggestions for improvement from the trainees included:
- Matching trainees to specific teachers/settings to address areas of weakness;
- A University-based follow-up session to share experiences, ideas and reflections;
- Fewer trainees in each class;
- All schools/settings adopting the same approach to the project;
- More time to gain confidence with the software.
All of these suggestions will inform preparation of the next stage of the project. Responses to the evaluative questions are presented below as raw data. Please note that I have abridged some of the comments to avoid repetition.
Teacher Evaluation
Below are responses from the participating teachers to the question: Did the project lead to improved teaching with technology and extend and enhance what pupils learn?
The class teacher was able to participate, with support from the four students involved in the project; in turn, she was able to support the students through the day to ensure that the children gained fully from the experience. This partnership was excellent and benefitted all. The animation project took the children out of their comfort zone enough to make them feel challenged with the project, however, it was pitched at such a level that all the children could give their input. The software was ideally suited to the children as they were all able to become familiar with it very quickly and make good progress in their learning. The children used the knowledge of what animation was to construct their own stories, gaining quite an insight into the technicalities and time involved in the process. I hope the next time they watch an animation, they consider all the work that goes into creating it!
Taking part in the project meant that I focused on that aspect of ICT (Control - Scratch) for the whole day. This meant that the children benefitted from the experience by having extended time at the task. They also benefitted from the additional support that the four students provided. The students were very interested in what the children were doing and their enthusiasm was then passed on to the children, which was lovely.
Yes, most definitely. With the extra adults the children hugely benefited from extra attention and input. Also, the expertise of the students, particularly in downloading and editing, really enhanced the children's understanding.
The trainees worked really hard with the children on the morning and were really good with the children.
I hadn't actually used the children's microphones before, so doing this project made me find out about them. The children thoroughly enjoyed using them and they were able to do so independently. Putting the recordings into a program, such as Photostory, is also fairly straightforward and as a result of the project, I will now be planning to use the microphones in other areas such as Literacy when retelling stories and for SEN speech and language support. The
students were great, worked very well with the children and have given the children a sound understanding of Photostory.
students were great, worked very well with the children and have given the children a sound understanding of Photostory.
The project allowed the children to explore new software, developing more advanced ICT skills. It allowed us to explore new ways of using ICT to explore, develop and extend cross curricular links, in this case Literacy and PSHE. The children, as well as significantly developing their ICT skills, worked collaboratively, patiently and creatively. Having additional adults, with great ICT skills, in the room allowed the children to work in a more focused manner. They produced results far greater than if there had only been me!
Below are teachers' responses to the question: How could the project be improved?
Another planning meeting, after the initial one would be really useful. About one week ahead of the project so final ideas could be shared. There was quite a lot to discuss this morning prior to starting, especially as filming started as the children arrived in school. I was very impressed with the three trainees from Chester. They were so enthusiastic, used their initiative and put their knowledge to good use.
If I took part again, I think that the students would probably benefit further from following up the first visit with a second one in which they take a turn in planning and delivering that second session.
It would be wonderful to involve more class teachers in the project. If there is anyway that the students could then return to school to work with staff in a staff meeting to explain the process they used with the class, show the outcomes of the work and train other staff in a similar project, this could be a very good way of sharing good practice. I thoroughly enjoyed being part of this process. It was great to be involved with the University again. I was delighted to be able to offer the students the opportunity to work through the project in my school; I know the children highly benefited from the experience, and I hope the students took much away from it. Please consider my school again for any such projects in the future.
I cant think of any improvements as the students I had were great. They kept in contact prior to the session and all did their 'homework' which meant the session ran well.
It was great to work with the university and I feel that time in school is beneficial to the students. It might be useful to know in more detail what projects are covered in the University groups and to allow the students to pitch certain ideas they might wish to try out. The planning meeting was particularly useful and allowed us to set out certain expectations. We really enjoyed the project and hope that the students got as much out of it as we did.
Trainee Evaluation
Below are responses to the question: Did the project enhance your knowledge and skills in relation to excellent teaching of ICT in the core subjects?
The project gave me some practice at using certain technologies in the classroom. The class had a great time with the cameras. We had some great experience of using these but also it was a little difficult to get everything filmed and edited in one day.
The project definitely enhanced my knowledge and skills: I learned about the use of SPLICE software to add sounds to 'ICAN ANIMATE' animation software. I learned about how the use of ICT can be tremendously enriching and rewarding for children with SEN - during the workshop the children were totally engaged and animated, and when they saw the finished product they were really happy and you could see that they had learned how to make a good quality animation. I also learned how to accommodate the needs of SEN children with ICT. WIth a few adjustments, they were able to fully participate and use the iPad without knocking it off focus. A very rewarding day and one which I shall remember for a long time.
I worked alongside a year 5 class using the "Scratch" program. Having very low abilities within ICT I learnt a lot from the day regarding the program and how to break down learning points and structure a dedicated ICT lesson.
I observed excellent teaching practice for ICT. Key for me was the breakdown of the lesson into stages, to slowly construct the pupils knowledge I.e for animation the teaching followed the following path: discussion around animation/prior experience and knowledge of animations seen, ideas for storyboards, creation of storyboard using scaffold with 6 'scenes', creation of background props and scenery, view good & bad examples of previous animations using the software, evaluate for good and bad points, develop top tips or 'rules', practice with software/explore, film, add music and text, edit, watch animations the evaluate with two wishes and a star model. This practice placed the children centric to all learning and exploring.
The project very much enhanced my knowledge and skills in relation to first rate teaching of ICT subjects. It was great to see how an excellent teacher handled what was essentially a three and a half hour ICT lesson and broke it down into manageable pieces for the children and had them fully engaged from the start. The children found it incredibly exciting and after being given the basic tenets of using Scratch were then allowed to let their imaginations run wild and experiment with the program - which I believe is very important within this setting. Indeed, the lesson worked well cross-curricularly, with the children using complex mathematics (in the creation and design of shapes and the use of space within the animation), art (in the design of their animation) and literacy (in the storytelling and creativity).
It was useful to see how to link ICT with ongoing literacy work. The thing that I found most useful, however, was picking up the difficulties Y1 children have with typing. This is something I will take forward and try and find solutions for in my next placement. How our class teacher linked the ICT work and had planned to prepare for it using paper drafting was also excellent.
I thoroughly enjoyed the day and learnt a lot from the experience. The school and class were very welcoming and the children really liked the animation task. They were competely engaged all day and were sufficiently challenged by the tasks set. However it was not what I thought we would be doing! It was a case of us teaching all day, rather than us learning from excellent ICT teachers. Having said this, it was a very enjoyable day despite the extra workload.
Yes, it did enhance my knowledge and skills. I was impressed by the variety of tasks that could be accomplished in a relatively short space of time. I liked the way in which an important personal experience was used to contextualise the Queen's Jubilee celebrations and the way in which children's writing (blogs) could be transformed into a speaking exercise. The teacher modelled the tasks very clearly and so the children needed relatively little support once underway. The fantastic ICT resources at the school are clearly used imaginatively, with great software used with relevance to the Jubilee project.
The project was useful in that it was good to work with a focus group of four children from the start of a project right through to the end, this is something I have rarely had the opportunity to do whilst teaching whole classes on placement. I don't feel I observed any better examples of ICT teaching than I have on other placements during this ICT project. Also a number of ICT issues arose throughout the day which added to the potential of children becoming distracted whilst the computers either froze or crashed.
Although I enjoyed the day and thought it was good as we were able to do some teaching; it didn't enhance my knowledge/skills in relation to excellent teaching of ICT as we did all the work.
The lesson had been well planned out by the teacher and the whole class really understood the task ahead.
I enjoyed working with such a flexible classroom teacher who gave us and the children enough room to format the film in the way the children took it. The learning was focused on the whole production of the film rather that just on completing a polished finished product. Overall, I thought the day was a valuable learning experience.
I enjoyed working with such a flexible classroom teacher who gave us and the children enough room to format the film in the way the children took it. The learning was focused on the whole production of the film rather that just on completing a polished finished product. Overall, I thought the day was a valuable learning experience.
The project I was involved in was planned and led by myself and the other three students so as such we were not learning through observation and support of an experienced teacher of ICT. Nevertheless, the experience did enhance my knowledge and skills as we had to build on the knowledge and skills gained in the university animation session and become the 'experts' in using the animation software. It was an interesting and enjoyable day and the class teacher, classroom assistant and children were enthusiastic throughout. I enjoyed the experience of team teaching alongside trainee teacher colleagues which also enabled some useful reflective discussions. The project has increased my confidence in running similar ICT projects and I'm looking forward to creating opportunities to use animation in SBT 2.
I learned a lot about how to embed ICT and how to use it as a form of communication between the school and the wider community. It was good to have a whole morning dedicated to ICT and all the children having a clear role in the production if the school film. Also became more familiar with editing techniques.
The project didn't enhance my knowledge and skills in relation to excellent teaching of ICT as I have used the program previously. The class teacher delivered the lesson effectively and dealt with any misconceptions that may hinder progression. However, I felt that I would have delivered the session in a similar way prior to the ICT day.
My teaching of ICT has been improved by the project because it allowed me to consider what the children needed to learn from the task and whether the focus was on the ICT skills or the subject it was being used for. It also reminded me of the amount of time and the pace required to complete sessions in ICT. I now consider the final result less important than the process of achieving it on the computer.
The project enhanced my knowledge and skills a little, but it was necessary for the project to be introduced to and prepared for by the children the day before, so I feel that I missed out on some of the 'teaching'. Having said that, the way the teacher explained concepts to the children was very clear and thorough and I will certainly draw on this process in my teaching of ICT in the future.
Very much enhanced my knowledge in terms of how to break down the work and which skills you might choose to develop first. We saw lots of examples of modelling methods. Gave me ideas about how to differentiate and extend too.
Although this was a "pure" ICT lesson, I can see how this could then be used within other subject lessons.
Although this was a "pure" ICT lesson, I can see how this could then be used within other subject lessons.
The project enhanced my knowledge and skills of teaching ICT in relation to PSHE and English. Using discussed subject matter from PSHE lessons as a stimulus for creating an animation around it.
The project did enhance both my knowledge and my skills when teaching ICT, in particular the Scratch program. The teacher gave us all a lesson plan which showed us how to logically break the lesson into steps that the children could follow and build on. She also showed us how to effectively deal with children that are gifted and talented in ICT.
Below are responses to the question: How could the project be improved?
Possibly a little more structure, e.g. we could be given a group to take and work with exclusively. It sometimes felt like we were just wandering and watching but on the whole was really informative and interesting. I've learn a lot!
It might be an idea to match trainees to schools and teachers by a particular area in ICT they consider a weakness to enhance these areas.
Perhaps a University follow-up; it would be good to share experiences in a group session, so everyone can see the software we've used and share any lessons learned.
Possibly smaller groups of PGCE students in a school. I feel that four of us in one class was a lot.
I felt the children engaged with the task for the most part, however groups of two or three would have led to pupils having a more active role throughout. I was assigned to a group of four children and minor disputes occurred as there were too few jobs within the group. There was also a networking issue due to the high volume of users between the two classes, which resulted in screens freezing and some work being lost.
School and trainees' expectations are matched.
Perhaps, if we had known the editing software we were going to be using, we could have had a little practice before hand. But the software was fairly easy to use, once we had worked out how to download the film.
Due to two classes performing an animation activity during the same day, the school server was struggling because of the number of computers, therefore 'I Can Animate' repeatedly crashed resulting in each group having to save work on very regular intervals, otherwise there was a high risk of losing work. Just one class performing the activity may have avoided this issue.
I think there needs to be a little more communication between the university and the school about the expectations of the trainees.
The experience was good and I gained a lot from it, but perhaps it would be good to have two days - one where trainees observe excellent practice and the other in the same school where trainees deliver the lesson with feedback afterwards.
More differentiation across groups .... as another group was doing animation, we had to split resources which meant we had few plastic figures to use for the animation. Experience with most current software .... the software we used in Uni was an older version and although some of the principles were similar, it had a different look and feel, and we were all unsure how to add audio/text, which led to a mad scramble at lunchtime!
I feel the project could be improved by including students in the teaching process. I understand this would involve work on the part of the students, but at times I felt surplus to requirements during the day.
Perhaps it would be beneficial if each project was organised on the same basis - an initial meeting to get to know the specific computer program itself and practice together as a team, and then maybe design the lesson plan together as a team (with the teacher) and divide the class up into groups to make it more manageable and beneficial to all
students. Overall it was a very worthwhile experience and beneficial to both students and the children.
students. Overall it was a very worthwhile experience and beneficial to both students and the children.
Children's Evaluations
I thought it was amazing, I enjoyed the comic strip because it was really funny and the student who I was working with, she was really nice too. Also, I completed everything in one day.
I thought it was brilliant, it was bit of a challenge but everyone got through it. I wish we could do that every ICT lesson.
It was a very fun day and I wish we could do it again. I had some problems and I got lost at one point but I liked it.
The day was amazing because we got to make our own comic strips and go on the mashcams and we got to read out our memorable moment. It was amazing!
I thought it was really exciting and fun, although I had a few problems with the computers. It was really fun to make the comic strip (even though it wouldn’t print).
I really liked the day and I think the students would make great teachers. I especially like the part where we had to write a letter to Queen Elizabeth but my favourite part was when I got to make a comic strip and colour it in!
I really enjoyed the day, I hope we can do it again. My best part was when we read our memorable moment using microphones.
I really enjoyed it when the students came, they were really nice and kind. They helped me with the things we did and I hope they can come again soon. I liked it when we talked through the mikes.
I loved the day, it was so good. I really liked the collage because it was FUN, instead of writing we got to put pictures on. I liked our teacher Mr Mcintire he was a big help to me because I did not get how to do the cartoon.
I really enjoyed yesterday and I think the students will become great teachers soon! My favourite part of the day was when we got to use the cameras on the touch screens and then write a letter to Queen Elizabeth about my most memorable day. !!!
I really enjoyed the afternoon it was great. My favourite thing was writing my letter to the queen as I got a stupid photograph, and I had to make my head bigger. Everyone else in my group were on touch screens but I was on a laptop. I thought it was funny when I had the voice recording, I messed up a lot. That is how the day went for me.
I thought it was brilliant, it was bit of a challenge but everyone got through it. I wish we could do that every ICT lesson.
It was a very fun day and I wish we could do it again. I had some problems and I got lost at one point but I liked it.
The day was amazing because we got to make our own comic strips and go on the mashcams and we got to read out our memorable moment. It was amazing!
I thought it was really exciting and fun, although I had a few problems with the computers. It was really fun to make the comic strip (even though it wouldn’t print).
I really liked the day and I think the students would make great teachers. I especially like the part where we had to write a letter to Queen Elizabeth but my favourite part was when I got to make a comic strip and colour it in!
I really enjoyed the day, I hope we can do it again. My best part was when we read our memorable moment using microphones.
I really enjoyed it when the students came, they were really nice and kind. They helped me with the things we did and I hope they can come again soon. I liked it when we talked through the mikes.
I loved the day, it was so good. I really liked the collage because it was FUN, instead of writing we got to put pictures on. I liked our teacher Mr Mcintire he was a big help to me because I did not get how to do the cartoon.
I really enjoyed yesterday and I think the students will become great teachers soon! My favourite part of the day was when we got to use the cameras on the touch screens and then write a letter to Queen Elizabeth about my most memorable day. !!!
I really enjoyed the afternoon it was great. My favourite thing was writing my letter to the queen as I got a stupid photograph, and I had to make my head bigger. Everyone else in my group were on touch screens but I was on a laptop. I thought it was funny when I had the voice recording, I messed up a lot. That is how the day went for me.