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/

One Year On at LTT 2013

Sciennes ltt roadshow 25.3.13 from SciennesPS

On 25th March 2013, Sciennes Primary was invited to give a presentation on our experiences in implementing a 1:1 programme, one year on from its launch, at the Learning Through Technology Roadshow 2013, Glasgow Hilton.

1:1 Mobile Learning Evaluation Published

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/

DigITal Twilights

Dave McKee, Senior ICT Development Officer and his DigITal Learning team held three twilight sessions in November for Primary schools. Anna Mitchell ICT Development Officer led the co-operative learning sessions to support schools in developing a strategy for mobile learning. They have developed a 1:1 Toolkit to assist schools and have provided sterling support to Sciennes.

http://digitallearningteam.org/

Chris Kelly DHT from Broomhouse Primary shared information on their successful Android pilot, along with their cluster secondary Forrester High School. Gracemount High School have been piloting use of netbooks and Sciennes provided information on our iPad pilot. We are extremely grateful to City of Edinburgh Council to be included in the city's 1:1 pilots.

ADES 1.11.12

Sciennes was fortunate to be invited to make a presentation at Glasgow Science Centre on Thursday 1st November at the Association of Directors of Education (ADES) Technology Conference where we shared how 1:1 iPads are enabling greater personalisation and choice within learning and teaching.

National Literacy Network - eLiteracy at Sciennes 8.11.12

Sciennes was delighted to be invited to Stirling Management Centre on Thursday 8th November to share ideas and practice with colleagues from across the country. Published author and Sciennes' parent, Mary Turner Thomson, was able to share how her innovative and enterprising "Pencilling Creative Ideas" project has enabled three successive P7 year groups to become published authors themselves. Workshops on writing, editing, illustrating and marketing have provided a real life context to explore what is involved in publishing a book and our pupils' books are available in bookstores, on Amazon and Kindle.

"On the Line"
"On the Line" Kindle edition
"Mother Nature's Children"
"Mother Nature's Children" Kindle edition

Time Education Supplement Article

 
We also shared how we had created an ebook published in iTunes for our school's 120th Anniversary, using sponsorship from the Big Lottery Fund and Growing Confidence scheme. The first instalment is available as a download.

This book was produced using a Mac computer and iBooks Author software, with some of the content coming from a Google Doc, some from an existing printed Centenary Booklet which was digitised using OCR software and some content from pupils using iPads. This book could only be published using a Mac computer and the downloaded book can only be viewed on an iPad.

Sciennes is part of a national 1:1 pilot using iPads in one P6 and one P7 class. Children in the P7 class with Ms French have created their own ebooks from scratch using an app called Book Creator.

 
Fiona Barker's innovative practice in using a Wikispace for 'Big Writing' and Reading Conferencing was also highlighted.

We have had tremendous support from Susan Varga susan.varga@edinburgh.gov.uk of City of Edinburgh Libraries and we shared how their Overdrive app gives access to hundreds of free ebooks and resources on our pupils' iPads.

TESS Article 27.10.12

Tablets are taken, but who will swallow the bill?

News | Published in TESS on 12 October, 2012 | By: Henry Hepburn

iPad trial sees ‘enormous’ increase in use of technology and understanding

Tablet computers may offer new ways of learning that fire up pupils and parents as well as enhancing the personalisation and choice to which Curriculum for Excellence aspires, a study shows.
Parents, however, are concerned that the benefits may be diluted by asking families to foot the bill.
The research, commissioned by Education Scotland, tracked classes in five primaries and three secondaries across six local authorities. In seven schools, each pupil involved had an iPad, and in six they were able to take the iPads home.
There were about 365 iPads issued in total, leading to an “enormous” increase in the use of technology on a daily basis in school: from 10 per cent of pupils beforehand to 81 per cent during the study.
Almost all pupils (94 per cent) said the iPads helped them understand difficult ideas, while 92 per cent said they learned more and just under 100 per cent thought lessons were more fun.
But 45 per cent still felt they were not allowed to use them as much as they would like.
The most common use at home was for completing homework (77 per cent) whereas only 64 per cent used them for leisure. Some 84 per cent of parents said their children were more likely to complete homework if using an iPad.
“Parents did not see the mobile device as a learning device at the start of the initiative but they changed their views by the end,” said research team leader Kevin Burden, of the University of Hull, who spoke at a “learning through technology” event in Glasgow this week.
The director of postgraduate professional development told TESS he had been “struck by the level of parental engagement - parents seem genuinely enthused”. He said 51 per cent of parents were now prepared to buy a personal device.
The use of personal devices such as iPads “maps very well” against Curriculum for Excellence, Mr Burden added, whereas in England “they are more hamstrung by the national curriculum”, which does not give the same prominence to skills and competencies.
Mr Burden stressed the independence of his research, although he acknowledged that Apple had helped train school staff involved in the project.
Projects took place over three to six months earlier this year. A P5 class of 32 at Sciennes Primary in Edinburgh was involved, with each pupil getting an iPad to use in and out of school.
Teacher Fiona Barker said that, at first, iPads were a means of doing standard lessons in different ways.
Then pupils started exploring apps: “Personalisation and choice are not easy with 30 children, but with the iPads it became very easy.”
The tablets drove creative projects - for example, by allowing children to explore old road-safety videos, then make their own for younger pupils in the school.
The only downside was that at home one or two children only used their iPads for games, although that was resolved by removing certain apps.
Sciennes Primary depute head Lucy Gallagher said the ideal scenario would be for all pupils to have their own device from P5.
Tina Woolnough, of the National Parent Forum, believes it likely that all pupils will use handheld devices in the near future, but is concerned that this will be “probably at parental expense if local authorities can get away with it”.
A report on the project will be published by Education Scotland in the coming weeks.
henry.hepburn@tess.co.uk

Dynamic Earth Technology Roadshow 3.10.12

In:tuition

In:tuition builds the esteem, confidence and decision-making skills of pupils aged 9 to 14 so they can make more informed decisions about a range of issues – including alcohol, sex and relationships, personal finance, health and civic responsibility. Each of the 10 primary and 11 secondary level lessons encourages the use of the latest online and digital tools in the classroom to bring learning to life and develop pupils’ digital skills. The resource is also available as a printed handbook with ‘non-digital’ alternatives.

http://www.intuitionkit.com/about.php

This is a great free resource, with lots of ICT inbuilt, which would work well for P7 Risks to Health.

Bingo Baker

Hi everyone,

I thought I would share a resource I made up on the website Bingo Baker (which I discovered on the techchef4u blog.  It works on the i-Pad if you play online.  My first attempt is probably a bit over complicated and I would probably play with each child working in a mixed ability pair the first time with me as the caller (rather than in table groups with a child as the caller as indicated in the word document).  When you click the link to a card, as a player, you then have to click the tab under, 'Play online' on the right hand side to play an interactive version of the card.  The squares turn orange when you tap them.  This took quite a while to make because I had to keep making a clone of each card and editing it so that I had five different cards and then saving the links but I think it would be a really easy and quick resource to make up for say spelling words.

Here is the link to the website if anyone fancies a try.

http://bingobaker.com/

Snap guide

From: Wendy French
Date: Sat, 19 May 2012 at 5:39pm

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/snapguide/id421477397?ls=1&mt=8

This free app has endless possibilities.

Tech Chef 4 U

From: Wendy French

Date: Sat, 19 May 2012 at 10:34am

Hi everyone,

I downloaded some of the podcasts of the above series which you can get on itunes and also found this very useful blog.  

http://www.techchef4u.com/

What I like about this is that it is very practical and gives lots of ideas for using the i-Pad in a range of different ways, just like 'Cooking with apps'.

One of the contributors to the podcast was talking about how the schools he worked with in his district are increasingly using the more creative apps rather than the content apps to substitute what they would normally have done.  This resonated with me and I found his experiences and thoughts very interesting.  I am grateful for the posts from Cedars and I have read some of Fraser's posts on workflow and itunesU but need to get my PLP reports out of the way before I can take in more knowledge. There has been a lot of posts on this subject by lots of people that will need digesting. Finished 21, only 9 more to go!  I'm hoping to use some of the time Lucy and Alison have kindly given me and Fiona on Friday to explore a bit more (once the fun task of filing all the bits of the PLPs is out of the way!

Thanks to Gillian at Gavinburn for updating us on all the amazing things that they have been doing.  It would be lovely to have a sharing place for some examples for the pupils across the schools to look at to give them an audience and also a source of inspiration.  

That is maybe something we could try to get set up over the holidays for next term.

Cooking with Apps

For the pilot, Cooking With Apps has been published as an iTunes U course. To get it:
1. Install the iTunes U app on your iPad
2. Open iTunes U and make sure it’s working OK.
3. In Safari on your iPad, go to http://bit.ly/cookingwithapps and it will be automatically added to your iTunes U
Best,
Fraser

Rebecca's Dragon

I couldn't resist posting this green dragon made on Brushes by Rebecca who is prolific in everything she does.  It was one of a series!  Wendy

Tom and Ben News App

From: Wendy French
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2012 at 11:36am

Hi everyone,

As part of their maths homework this week I asked my class to choose a way to present information on large numbers.  Eimear chose to do hers on World population and created a Tom and Ben news item on it.  The app Tom and Ben news is free and the children love it.  

This was part of a maths trainer revision sheet I made up on Pages.  The children renamed the document in their documents page on pages and put their name to it.  They did some examples on the document and were able to link to practice games on the web.

When they email it they need to email it as Word so that I can open it on my laptop too.  This does sometimes move the text about a bit.  

I now need to think about how they store their work as opening emails and storing work for them will be too time consuming.  I am looking for a free app that might help with this, if anyone has any ideas that would be great.  I might use Dropbox but it would be good if they could keep a file system on their ipad.

Free Maths Apps

The website below has links to lots of free maths games.  Not all of them are non-flash but in the subjects I looked at I found at least a few.

http://www.free-training-tutorial.com/

for example,

http://www.free-training-tutorial.com/place-value/collecttheships.html

Also, we have used the website Kidsgraph:

http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/graphing/classic/bar.asp

There are two versions and I found the Classic one easier to use.

Just a word of caution about the free maths apps.  They are often very limited.  AB Maths, for example, allows children to only practise multiplying and then only the 2 and 5 times table. 

 There are lots of apps that allow you to practise a specific skill but not always at the right level and are only useful when you are looking at that skill.  To give you an example, I was teaching about fractions and hadn't yet got onto the link to decimals but in the only app I found that was not bad for fractions, the learners had to understand equivalency, the link to decimals and how to convert between decimal fractions, fractions and to work out equivalency of both at the same time.  This limits considerably when it will be useful.  

Some of the arithmetic apps are really good for tables and basic mental addition, subtraction and division but the progression in difficulty doesn't really push primary 6's. I do like Mathsboard, particularly because they can show their working and explain their methodology.

What is really needed is a more comprehensive app that allows for progression of skills.  What we probably need is something more like a mathletics or sumdog approach where there are lots of different maths and numeracy topics for the children to explore and that go beyond the basics or something like the BBC learning games,  I guess that would be expensive though.  

My partner's friend said that his daughter is really enjoying the app Playful Minds which I have had a quick look at and seems to have a much wider subject matter.  It is for 5-8 year olds and you create an avatar and can collect rewards, a bit like Club penguin or Webkinz.  It would be worth thinking about what kind of resources developers could produce that would be useful in schools for maths and numeracy.

Maybe other people have suggestions on really good maths apps that they have found?

Information handling on the ipads

From: Wendy French

Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2012 at 8:57pm

Hi everyone, if you are looking for a free way to do graphing work on the ipads, you could use this website:

http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/graphing/classic/ 

We used this to make continuous line graphs about roller coasters and then write a report for Flamingo land about our data (not for real obviously).    

Once we have looked at comparative graphs and pie charts I am going to challenge them to gather some data to help give information to my friend Susan who introduced them to the elibrary resources that the City of Edinburgh offer.  She has lots of ebooks and audio books which they can borrow through Overdrive but is building the collection and keen to get their ideas.  They could give her data on things like favourite authors, the most popular books already in her collection etc.

Love to hear what other people are doing with maths.

Pic collage and Sticky Notes

From: Wendy French
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2012 at 11:14pm

Two more free apps which I could see as being very useful. Pic collage is a free alternative e to Moodboard and sticky notes would be great for note taking.

Lucy Gallagher Sun, 22 Apr

Moodboard Lite is free? http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/moodboard-lite/id369796813?mt=8

Wendy French Sun, 22 Apr 

I’ll check it out to see if the Moodboard lite version is worth having. Some lite versions are not the best. Ab Maths lite has the 2 and 5 times table so is a bit off putting. It might be worth it though if it has some basic functionality.
Wendy
___________________________________

Fraser Speirs Sun, 22 Apr 

If I’m remembering correctly, the limitation on Moodboard Lite is that you can only create one mood board. You can, of course, clear it and start over but the paid version lets you create multiple.

Wendy French Sun, 22 Apr 

Paid is out of our budget now so we are looking for good free apps. I guess one Moodboard at a time might be alright if they screen shot what they do and save it in their photos. Thanks for the tip.

Fraser Speirs Sun, 22 Apr

Yes, you can still export to Photos with the Lite version.

Drawcast

Free drawing app

From: Wendy French Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2012 at 9:17pm
I have found a free drawing app called drawcast. Although it is not as fancy it seems to have the main functions needed e.g. Blending, changing the brush size, changing colours, layering and importing pictures. Let me know what you think if you try it.

Setting up a direct link to an email for sending homework

From: Wendy French
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2012 at 3:49pm

Hi Jenni and Fiona,

Could you put some instructions about the fantastic way you showed me last night to set up an icon which directly links to an email so that the pupils just have to tap it to email homework?  

I think you also said there was an easy way to send things from your email to Dropbox.

Wendy

Jenni Robertson Tue, 24 Apr

Hi Wendy,

App for making the icons is 'Touch Icon'.

To email to dropbox see: http://sendtodropbox.com/

Enjoy!

Jen 

Wendy French Fri, 27 Apr 

Thanks for all this information Jenni.
Wendy

Fantastic Resource Hot Apps 4 HOTS

Higher Order Thinking Skills App (HOTS)

From: Wendy French
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2012 at 9:46am

Hi folks, I found a fantastic resource which is a really useful supplement to Cooking with apps.  It may well have been blogged about before but just incase there is a link below. The link for the actual ibook (which is free), Hot apps 4 hots is quite far down on the linked to page.  The book gives lots of great ideas for using free apps and links the activities to Blooms.  They use the context of cooking but all the ideas are easily adaptable to any context.  Let me know what you think!

http://www.techchef4u.com/?tag=hot-apps-4-hots

They also have a podcast which I will probably have a listen to.

Wendy

Parent Exit Survey

A recently published article in Holyrood Magazine reports favourably on how well Ms French and Mrs Barker have integrated use of iPads to enhance learning and teaching. They and their pupils were also commended at the Edinburgh Learning Festival on Friday 8th June and have been invited to present to Edinburgh Head Teachers in September. We are very pleased with how much has been achieved in school in a few short months but are still keen to hear – and learn from – your experiences thus far in using iPads at home.
We would be most grateful if you could complete the parent survey for Hull University, to conclude the initial reporting block for the project at this early stage of implementation. Staff at Hull University are preparing an interim report to present to all the pilot schools by the end of June, with a full report to be submitted to the Scottish Government in September. Therefore we would appreciate your completion of this Parent Survey by Friday 22nd June:

We also welcome your attendance at an informal session on Thursday 21st June 3.30-4.30pm or 5.30-6.30pm. Use this Doodle poll link if you are available to come along:
The pilot project will continue in the new session and we still seek to engage you in an ongoing dialogue, with opportunities to come to school next term. Following consultation with staff and, in response to feedback and suggestions already received from parents, we have taken the decision to keep the iPads in school during the summer holiday. This will enable us to maintain the devices, store them safely and make adjustments to configurations, ready for the new session in August. All iPads and chargers should be returned to school by Thursday 21st June please. If your child is leaving Sciennes, please return the iPad in its box with all cables.

Thank you very much for your time and support. Please feel welcome to contact me directly with any questions or comments or use our own online form
Lucy Gallagher
lucy.gallagher@sciennes.edin.sch.uk

Recall Day 26.6.12

The pilot schools reconvened in Bellshill to reflect on the project and share experiences and impact.

Edinburgh Learning Festival 8.6.12

Wendy and Fiona and their pupils give a presentation at the Edinburgh Learning Festival.

Fantastic!

From: Lucy Gallagher
Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2012 at 2:26pm
Outstanding presentations from Wendy, Fiona and six of their children at the Edinburgh Learning Festival, showcasing how they have deployed the iPads so successfully to enhance learning and teaching. They have been invited to present to Edinburgh Head Teachers. A massive amount achieved in about seven weeks! Great job and thoroughly well deserved recognition!

Interface App Design

Kate and her team come to work with our pilot classes in app design

http://www.interface3.com/

Cabinet Secretary Michael Russell 16.5.12

It was a pleasure to welcome Mr Michael Russell (Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning) and Jim Eadie (Edinburgh Southern MSP) to Sciennes on Wednesday 16th May to announce a national project examining best practice in using tablet computers and mobile devices for learning and how they can be introduced in schools on a wider scale. Mr Russell was warm and relaxed in his manner and gracious with his time. We were all impressed by the attention he gave to our P6 and P5 pupils. Thank you to Bruce Crawford, Chair of the Sciennes School Council, David McKee Senior ICT Development Officer, Karen Prophet Education Manager (with remit for Technologies), Derek Robertson National Adviser Emerging Technologies Education Scotland and Mary Turner Thomson, Sciennes' parent and author, for attending.

In a classroom crowded with P6 and some P5 pupils, school administrators, Scottish Government officials and journalists, Michael Russell, Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, saw students Amir and Mixie deliver a presentation on the history of games consoles, using iPad apps and including a video produced on the device.

“There are a number of pilots already underway around the country, including the use of iPads here at Sciennes. I have asked Education Scotland for recommendations on how we can realise the benefits of mobile technology for all learners in Scotland, including ensuring how we get the best possible value for our schools, and whether national guidance is needed for the sector,” said Russell.

In two of the Sciennes' pilot classes, Ms French's and Mrs Barker's students get to keep the iPads throughout the day, taking them home to complete assignments. In other classes, particularly Miss Gaffney's and Mrs Watson's,  pupils are using the devices only in school.

Students at Sciennes showed visiting adults not only their astounding ease with technology that most of their elders have yet to get to grips with, but also the ways the technology is being used to enrich the learning experience. Classes have set up their own ‘wiki’ pages to share information and research; can be set work by their teacher in a blog format, and return it for correction; and can use a variety of free educational applications. Over the school’s wifi network, the students also have free access to the digital collection of the City of Edinburgh Libraries, introduced to Sciennes by Susan Varga.

The pilot raises a variety of interesting questions – not least whether the technology can  improve education outcomes. As well as the recommendations Education Scotland will compile, research is being conducted by Apple and by Hull University to try and establish the impact of such pilots. The pilot also raises issues of cost – both of the hardware and software involved – as well as safety questions relating to unsupervised access to the internet. However, the enthusiasm of the pupils and staff at Sciennes for the devices was self-evident.

What is also clear is that an iPad in every Scottish state school pupil’s book bag is not on the immediate horizon. The Scottish Government is conscious of the cost that would entail, and Russell confirmed that there is currently no budget to purchase iPads for students across Scotland.

However, the Cabinet Secretary declared himself to be “excited” by what he saw at Sciennes and said the Scottish pilots offer a unique learning experience around how technology can be better put to use in the classroom.

“I want Scottish school pupils to be both connected and collaborative and I want to see digital technology being used purposefully both in and out of school,” said Russell. “The range of mobile devices that are now available and the promise of what they can bring to teaching and learning is very exciting and something that must be embraced. I want to drive forward a culture change in Scottish education and ensure new technologies can be embedded into learning. This is an exciting time to be at school, and we must ensure that the potential for technology to aid learning in Scottish schools is maximised.”
by Paris Gourtsoyannis
Photographs with acknowledgement to Stewart Attwood The Herald, David Bremner The Scotsman and The Evening News. Thank you to Seonag MacKinnon, Education Correspondent for BBC Scotland.


Mr Russell commented kindly about his visit on his Blipfoto site and took the photograph below using an iPad:

"This morning I visited Sciennes Primary in Edinburgh to see the Primary 5 & 6 iPad Pilot Class.

It was a fantastic visit to a school with real enthusiasm and strong educational leadership visible at every level. The children themselves were immersed in deep and connected learning and their teachers are dedicated and committed to getting the best every day.

I think Education Scotland and the country is going to learn a lot from these pilots in various places, using various technologies. And much joyful learning is already taking place."