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Saturday 9 November 2013

Edinburgh 1:1 Mobile Learning Evaluation Published November 2013

Sciennes Primary took part in a National Pilot of 1:1 Mobile Learning with seven other schools from across Scotland which was evaluated in this report from Hull University. Sciennes also took part in City of Edinburgh 1:1 Mobile Learning pilot with three other city schools.

In August 2012, the City of Edinburgh Council commissioned Hull University to evaluate the impact and potential of mobile technologies for learning across the four 1:1 pilot schools. These schools were Sciennes Primary School, Broomhouse Primary School, Forrester High School and Gracemount High School. The evaluation took place over academic session 2012-2013 and was conducted by Dr Kevin Burden and Dr Trevor Male from the Faculty of Education at Hull University. The evaluation focused on the impact of mobile technologies on teaching and learning, challenges to traditional patterns of teaching and learning and leadership, logistics and infrastructure.
The evaluation is now complete and is available from City of Edinburgh's Digital Learning Team website by clicking here.
Some of the key findings of the evaluation:
  • Levels of engagement and motivation amongst students rose across each of the pilot schools
  • Student autonomy was considered to be an immediate benefit arising from the allocation of mobile devices
  • Leadership and visible support from the senior management team was identified as a critical factor in the success and sustainability of the project 
  • The use of personal mobile technologies engaged staff in wider CPD opportunities and activities which changed their attitudes to the use of technology in learning
  • There is evidence that teachers are shifting their practices in ways which might prove to be very significant. These include different patterns and means of communicating with students to support their learning beyond school; changing relationships between students particularly in regard to the traditional knowledge giver role of the teacher; and new models for organising learning such as the ‘flipped classroom’
  • All four schools in this project remain positive and optimistic about the benefits and opportunities to be gained from using mobile devices on a personal basis 
This evaluation will be incredibly useful for any school or establishment interested in, or already implementing, 1:1 mobile learning.

Dozen Decades at Sciennes Published in iTunes Sept 2013






Our commemorative eBooks, celebrating Sciennes' 120th Anniversary, are now available to download from iTunes and the iBookstore. Created using iBooks Author and published in six instalments, they can now be viewed on an iPad.

Thank you to all former and current pupils, staff and friends of Sciennes for their contributions and to Sciennes' parent and author Mary Turner Thomson for all her endeavours in bringing the school's history to life in these digital publications. She has worked tirelessly on our behalf to reproduce all the material collated during our anniversary celebrations in interactive formats on the iPad and we hope you enjoy the timelines, quizzes and videos featuring Sciennes pupils. Thanks also to Andy Nagle from Apple for his suggestion to release in instalments.

We still welcome memoirs and photographs which will continue to be added to our Google Doc Online eBook. Please contact lucy.gallagher1@btinternet.com with any contributions.

CLICK ON THE PICTURES BELOW TO LINK TO EACH INSTALMENT













P7C Digitial Learners September 2013


Six pupils from P7C were invited to present at an Apple Leadership Event at the George Hotel on Friday 6th September and were outstanding ambassadors for Sciennes, demonstrating incredible confidence in front of an audience of educators. Kim, Katie, Tea, William, Robert and Derry worked with Ms French throughout the day creating a presentation on what it means to them to be digital learners. We were glad to have Kim's expertise in helping us sort out some technical difficulties! P7C have now had 1:1 school and home use of a personal iPad since they were in P5 as part of a National and City of Edinburgh pilot scheme. It was lovely to meet pupils and staff from St Joseph's Academy, Kilmarnock and from Dalry Primary in Ayrshire at the event.




Education Scotland 1:1 Case Study Published June 2013

Derek Robertson, National Adviser Emerging Technologies and Learning at Education Scotland, has worked with schools across Scotland who are engaging with a range of tablet devices such as iPads, Windows 8 tablets, Android Tablets, Kindles and Chromebooks to help effect better outcomes for  learners and to help enhance and enrich learning in Curriculum for Excellence. He has published case studies on this Learning with Devices website, including a case study of the National 1:1 Pilot at Sciennes.

Derek visited Sciennes to capture the thoughts of pupils and staff on the impact of learning using mobile technology and we are grateful that he has published the case study so that we can share the information with families throughout the school, beyond the two pilot classes. We intend to hold Information Sessions for all parents and carers next session to explain how iPads are being used to enhance learning and teaching.

Celebrating Learning at the Apple Store June 2013

P6C and Mrs Barker had a fantastic day at the Apple Store in Buchanan Street, Glasgow on Tuesday 11th June. Events Co-ordinator Andy Unger met us in St Vincent Street when we arrived by coach. The children were then warmly welcomed in proper feel good style by rapturous applause from staff on both levels of the store and were delighted to receive fantastic bright yellow "Fun is in Session" t-shirts. Callum, Callum and Naomi led us on a tour of the store and introduced us to staff from the Genius Bar who gave an insight into how appointments can be made for personal enquiries and assistance. Usually the team provide workshops for schools but Andy had arranged a very special session allowing P6C to showcase what they have learned in their 1:1 pilot this year and why they love their iPads! Staff from around the store gathered to see the children's presentations and all were bowled over by their confidence and expertise. It was wonderful to see how easily our  pupils showed how they had used technology both to construct and express their learning in the array of presentations they shared. P6C were then presented with certificates and very cool USB wristbands, posing for photographs on the stairs and at the entrance to the building.

It was a fabulous trip, where our children really made us proud, and an excellent celebration of all their hard work and achievement. Thank you to Andy and all the staff for going out of their way to accommodate us and to Mrs Nowell for accompanying. More photographs on the P6 Class Blog.

Arriving at the Apple Store to a warm welcome

William gets togged up in his Apple t-shirt
Emma wonders what it says on the back.
Definitely!
Smiles all round

Touring the store with Callum
Geniuses at the Genius Bar
Elias
Kim and Aleena take their turn presenting
Ciara steps up with confidence
Ruby and Phoebe
Derry's presentation on how he has used the Dragon Dictation app for writing
Dylan with certificate and super cool USB wristband
Maisie's smile says it all - a fantastic event!
Thank you everyone!
Homeward bound

iPad Scotland Evaluation Study Published December 2012

Hull University’s Technology Enhanced Learning Research group, led by Kevin Burden (Principal Investigator) based in the Faculty of Education, has recently completed the first national evaluation to investigate the use and impact of tablet technologies (in this case the iPad), across schools and homes in Scotland.

The study was based in eight schools and six local authorities across Scotland where iPad devices were being piloted to investigate a range of issues associated with the deployment of personal mobile devices as tools for teaching and learning. P7A and P6C classes at Sciennes Primary School in Edinburgh were part of this evaluation and we are indebted to the families involved in the pilot for their participation and engagement.

The headline findings from the study show that:

• The ownership of a personal mobile device, like the iPad, facilitates many of the pedagogical aspirations set out in Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence framework.
• The adoption of mobile technologies on a personal basis significantly increases access to technology for students, both inside and beyond school, with many attendant benefits for learning which include greater motivation, engagement, parental involvement, and understanding of complex ideas.
• Personal ‘ownership’ of the device is seen as the single most important factor for successful use of this technology
• Teachers are equally engaged by the use of a device like the iPad which has a low learning curve enabling them to use it immediately as a teaching tool and a learning tool for themselves
• The use of the device is contributing to significant changes in the way teachers approach their professional role as educators and is changing the way they see themselves and their pedagogy:
• Parents also appear to become more engaged with the school and their child’s learning when the iPad travels home with the student

To read the evaluation in full please click on this link
https://xmascotland.wufoo.eu/forms/scottish-mobile-personal-device-evaluation-2012/


Further details about the pilot project can be found here: http://ipadsciennes.blogspot.co.uk/