Summer 2014

Connected

hane, like many primary age children, is fascinated by dinosaurs, and has noproblem filling his journal

with page after page of dinosaur notesand drawings. Shane also has highfunctioning Asperger's Syndrome,explains Richard Harrold, assistantprincipal from the lower school at ACSCobham International School, and wassuffering from confidence issues thatwere holding him back.

Keen to help Shane feel more secure inhis abilities, Harrold explains that byusing one of the tablets now available toall pupils at his school, “we felt we mightbe able to harness Shane’s enthusiasmfor dinosaurs and writing and take

advantage of theiPad’s ability to curateand create learning.”

Shane wasencouraged to createan eBook on T-Rexesusing iBooks andPages. “He worked on the story, drewpictures which we scanned, createdvideos for his author page, All AboutShane using PhotoBooth, and used thesound recording feature to produce adefinition of what a scavenger was.

In no other medium is an author able to write, speak, be seen, and be heardtalking through what he has created”Harrold points out. “Sounds, images,

video, and a well thought-out text all came together.Shane was able to takeownership of this piece ofwork, and was justifiablyproud of hisaccomplishment - ittransformed his motivationand changed his attitude towards writing.”

Unfortunately, despite the swiftdevelopment of tablet technology andapps now being designed specifically fora range of impairments, teacher trainingcourses don’t currently focus muchattention on how they might be used. It will often need sustained impetus andcoaching from a technology champion

Continues page 2

Freeing their potential

S “In no other mediumis an author able towrite, speak, beseen, and be heardtalking through whathe has created”

With tablets fast becomingcommonplace in schools, LouiseTickle looks at how mobile devicesare transforming the learningexperiences of children with specialeducational needs.

within a school to embed tablets inteaching and learning. Teachersthemselves have to invest significantamounts of time in downloading and testing out a range of apps beforethey find the one that works best for achild with special educational needs.Teachers – and indeed parents too –may also be wary of tablets ending upbeing as “electronic babysitters” withchildren playing endless Maths Bingo orSudoku at their desks. To counter this, Harrold says it’s vital to view thesedevices as ways of curating theirlearning and creating content, ratherthan simply being there so that childrencan ‘consume’ educational games. It’sthis type of considered use of bothdownloadable and embedded apps thatwill best serve children with specialeducational needs, he believes.

For pupils who are struggling to followthe curriculum alongside their peers,tablets can transform their experienceof learning in a variety of exciting ways,say experts. One reason for this,suggests Professor Don Passey atLancaster University, one of the UK’sleading experts on the use of newtechnology in education, is theemotional attachment children displaytowards tablet computers, and themotivation this gives them to pushthrough problems that might otherwisehave held them back.

“It links to the communication andsocial aspect of these devices” he says.“Children can capture things and sharethem with teachers, friends, peers,parents - discussions can happenaround the tablet and through thetablet, and that’s where I think wheresuch a high degree of attachmentcomes from. For some children that’s

It’s vital to view thesedevices as ways ofcurating their learningand creating content,rather than simply beingthere so that childrencan ‘consume’educational games.

Freeing theirpotential

continued…

Louise Tickle is an award-winning journalist with

over a decade’s experience reporting on education

and social affairs. She writes across a range of

national publications, but you’ll mostly see her work

in The Guardian, where she also covers for editors

of the various online Networks.

going to be really key - some are at theemotional limit of what they can copewith at school, and that’s why theyhave outbursts. Anything that helpsthem to stabilize their emotional statewill help them learn.”

Though he is an enthusiastic proponentfor the use of new technology to supportchildren with impairments, Harroldsounds one note of warning. Remember,he says, “you have to be carefulintroducing any new situation tostudents with learning difficulties. Theyhave often invested emotional capital inthe security associated with stability,and occasionally, teachers have made a judgement to persevere with aprogramme that provides familiarityrather than risk alienating a student byintroducing something new.”

At Sinai School in London, which hasembraced tablet technology and nowhas 120 iPads and Microsoft Surfaces in use throughout the school,headteacher Robert Leach believes thattheir potential is huge. “Often childrenare very intuitive with this type oftechnology, and it gives rise to anautomatic enthusiasm and engagement,”he says. “Children with specialeducational needs often have barriersthat prevent them being as successfulas other children, and iPads andMicrosoft Surfaces, with their touchscreen keyboards, can help childrenwho have problems with their finemotor skills, which stop them holdingpencils and writing clearly.”

When children have brilliant ideas butcan’t express them, using a tabletremoves anxiety, he explains, because“they can communicate their thoughtswithout having to struggle to write themdown.” The thrill and pleasure pupils getfrom using a tablet, Leach adds, means“they are often willing to persevere. It’s a really effective way of breaking downbarriers.”

There are more obviously practicaladvantages too. “iPads allow SENstudents to interact with their educationmaterials in a similar way to their fellowstudents, normalising learningdifficulties,” says Harrold.

“For instance, a student [with a visualimpairment] can simply enlarge text onscreen without physically having to sitin front of a large print textbook. Thisreduces the potential of embarrassmentfor the student, enhances the learningprocess and encourages reading.”

It seems however that an even newereducation technology has the scope tooffer even more, when combined withtablet devices in SEN teaching. Knownas ‘adaptive learning’, this emerging

technology is based aroundsophisticated software that analysesdata as a student progresses through adigital course, and then adapts to eachindividual’s needs.

“Adaptive learning has the potential torevolutionise the learning experience ofchildren with learning disabilities,”enthuses Charlie Harrington, generalmanager of Knewton, which designsthis type of software. “It allows eachstudent to dictate their own pace, thencontinues to recognise where they needhelp and adapts the learning course tothem. Because adaptive learning isdata-based, it identifies patterns andtrends in the student’s learning todeliver the best lessons. The digitisationof education provides benefits to allstudents, but for those with specialneeds it has the opportunity to offer a new, unprecedented flexibility.”

A student [with a visualimpairment] can simplyenlarge text on screenwithout physicallyhaving to sit in front ofa large print textbook.

The thrill and pleasurepupils get from using atablet means they areoften willing to persevere.It’s a really effective wayof breaking down barriers.

Supporting the Leeds Rugby Foundation

Leeds Rugby Foundation is the LeedsRugby Charity that runs a variety ofsport, health and education projectswithin the most deprived areas of Leedswhere it is needed most. Sport is afantastic tool that allows the foundationto work with a whole range ofindividuals, imparting important lifestylemessages to help them make positivechanges to their own lives. Thefoundation delivers projects direct to

primary and secondary schools and toboth children and adults.

As part of our commitment to them, weagreed to donate a proportion of ourprofits to them when a school that usestheir services buys their broadband fromus. 2013 was an exceptional year andwe were very pleased to have been ableto provide the funds to pay for a schoolsports coach for 6 months.

Tim Sedgwick presents the cheque to Neil Kaiper-Holmes,Chairman of the Leeds Rugby Foundation.

Keen to support both local and nationalcauses that improve the lives of young people,Talk Straight director, Tim Sedgwick was veryexcited to hand over a cheque for £7,250 toLeeds Rugby Foundation last month.

Meet Our New FacesIn the last 3 months we’ve welcomedmore new members to our growing team.

Tom Hubball and Julia Williams have joined us on the

provisioning team. They'll be taking care of processing

orders and arranging school installations. Michelle Miller

has also joined our billing team and will be looking after

invoicing. The technical support team has two new

engineers, taking the team to 8. Taimoor Ismail and Idilio

Gomes joined us at the end of March and are already

resolving technical queries and improving our response

times. We are excited to announce that we have also

recruited two new senior members of staff; a

technical director and a new technical helpdesk

manager who’ll be joining us soon. Watch out for

their introductions in our September issue!

Left to right: Idilio Gomes

and Taimoor Ismail.

Left to right: Julia Williams,Tom Hubball and Michelle Miller

e-Safety Competition Winner

Congratulations to a year 5 student at HawthornPark Community Primary School in Houghton Regis,Bedfordshire, who is the winner of our e-safetyposter competition. The students in her class willreceive an e-safety workshop from One Day Creative.The poster includes lots of useful tips about howyoung people can stay safe when using the internet.Why not mount the poster in your school as a usefulreminder for your students?

Like our newsletter?

We enjoyed another terrific year at the Bett showback in January when more than 46,000 peoplecame through the doors – this is 6% more thanlast year and the busiest show so far.Over the 4 days we saw more than 300 people visit our stand and it wasgreat to see so many of our customers drop by for a coffee and a chat.

We had more than 200 entries to our free broadband school draw andare pleased to announce that Cedars Park Community Primary School inSuffolk was drawn as the winner. The school will receive free broadband,Fortinet security and Lightspeed Systems content filtering for a year.

The BUSIEST Ever!

Produced by Schools Broadband, a division of Talk Straight Ltd. Talk Straight Ltd, Suite 4, Dalesway House, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, LS29 9LA011 33 222 333 www.schoolsbroadband.co.uk info@schoolsbroadband.co.uk

Issue 3. April 2014.

Forthcoming ICT for Education eventsThis year we’ll be attending even more ICT for Education events up and down the country. ICT for Education looks to help those in UK schools get the most out of technology, be it in the classroom, the staffroom, the officeand in or out of school. Their conference programme tackles issues faced on a national and regional level, and is designed to informand inspire delegates in their use of ICT. If you’re thinking of coming along, why not register now for free? We’ll have an exhibitionstand at all of the below events and would really like to see you.

Friday 16 May Carrow Road Football Ground, Norwich

Friday 20 June Brighton (venue TBC)

Friday 11 July The Riviera Conference Centre, Torquay

Friday 26 September St James’ Park, Newcastle

Friday 17 October Salford Stadium, Manchester

Friday 21 November Birmingham (venue TBC)

Thursday 11 December Cardiff (venue TBC)

To register, visit www.ictforeducation.co.uk

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