BTEC centre risk assessment feedback

Got our report back today about the CRA for the BTEC course, overall a great report but special mention for the iPad use and how it has transformed the teaching and learning practice in the sports department. Massive success and nice to have it recognised by someone outside the department. Really simple stuff but really transforming delivery, assessment and feedback processes to get the best results for students

Updates

Over the last few days I have been exploring various tools to aid teaching. Info graphics are a fantastic tool to get students looking at relevant data and getting them to discuss what the main findings are. Been looking at visual.ly for loads of different searchable infographics from nutrition to hooliganism.

Evernote and Explain Everything, flipped learning tools

Started to look at getting the students to have more time in school exploring issues and get away from the traditional role of me supplying all the information.I started by creating a resource library on Evernote, simply by mailing useful web pages etc to a shared notebook that the students can view.

I then set a homework to do the reading, to research the library of resources and make notes on some of the key points.(we are currently looking at current issues in sport so plenty of information)The following lesson we then engage in picking apart the information and making sense of it, higher thinking skills required than me just explaining the issue and asking questions.

I use explain everything to then record all of the discussion and write down support notes as students bring up issues.This then keeps a record of their discussion that can be turned into a movie and uploaded to Evernote for the students to review.

Had 3 sessions in this style so far and the student engagement has been outstanding, their desire to engage us greater as they have had time to explore the issues and generate opinions in advance and do not feel as though they are being put on the spot.

Staff training

Spent Monday doing a training session on using iPads in schools. Was quite nervous about what reaction I might face, you never know if the thing you believe in is going to be accepted by others.The result however was a really engaging session looking at the possibilities the device gave us as teachers. We reviewed several apps but the apps that really stood out to most were Explain Everything and Creative Book Builder.These two apps allow you to create products that leave a legacy. Students create the content that can then be used by students in the lower years.Evernote was a big success too, lots of interest in how we use it in PE and how other subjects could use it for various things.Looks like it was a success, guess time will tell

Spent last Wednesday at the learning without frontiers conference at London Olympia. What a great day, learnt so much more about the potential for iPads and iPods in and out of the classroom. I also met some really interesting people with first hand knowledge of implementation and the success of using these devices. Full of confidence now to take this further and really push for it at school as the potential for improving students is massive. Thanks to ESSA Academy, Kevin Chung and James Dyson and all the people from Toucan

IBooks author. Wow. What an opportunity to really get students engaged in their learning. Started making a BTEC book with links and keynotes embedded in it to help with recruitment and enrollment. How big could it get. Students could create their whole portfolio in a book for btec with video, audio, presentations etc. just need some more Macs in school now.

List of Apps currently being trialled.
Sports Cam - Instant video comparison tool for practical sessions.
Evernote - Note taking tool, loads of opportunities
Dropbox - We use it to share school documents on the go and to store large video files.
Skitch - interactive whiteboard tool and web annotation.
CoachPad - setting up and sharing drills and performance analysis
Prezi Viewer - show prezis on the move.
iMuscle - 3d model for anatomy sessions and for fitness sessions
Vital Signs - interactive heart and breathing rate app.
Keynote, Pages and Numbers - good old fashioned apps to create resources