pilot of education product at Kingston Grammar School

28th June 2013

SETTING

1952 GREAT SMOG OF LONDON

2 classes • 13 years old • 14-15 years old

One computer per student

GROUP 1

14-15 years old

80 minute class

GROUP 1 - SCHEDULE

Video on projector (3 min)

Background information about Great Smog by teacher (10 min)

Timeline exploration and quiz (30 min)

Discussion of timeline (10 min)

General questions about Great Smog (10 min)

Discussion of questions (10 min)

Survey (5 min)

GROUP 2

13 years old

45 minute class

GROUP 2 - SCHEDULE

Video on projector (3 min)

Background information about Great Smog by teacher (5 min)

Timeline exploration and quiz (15 min)

Discussion of timeline (7 min)

General questions about Great Smog (5 min)

Discussion of questions (5 min)

Survey (5 min)

SURVEY RESULTS

40 completed surveys by students

Encouraging results

Students could relate to the format

“It’s like Facebook” – a student

Students liked the interactivity

Majority thought it was better than learning through textbooks

SURVEY RESULTS

Points of improvement

More social features

Comments

Hashtags

More multimedia

Video

Audio

Q1 - HOW DO YOU RATE THE TIMELINE?

7.9 out of 10 on AVERAGE

70% of students gave 8 OR MORE

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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Rating

Q2 – WAS THE TIMELINE EASY TO UNDERSTAND?

NO STUDENT thought it was DIFFICULT or VERY DIFFICULT

Q3 – How helpful was the timeline in your understanding of the Great Smog?

HELPFUL for 98% of students

Q4 – Did you have enough time to read through the timeline?

Many students felt they did NOT have enough time.

Q5 – What part of the class did you enjoy the most?

TIMELINE, PICTURES and TEACHER are the most popular

Q6 – What could be included in the timeline to make it better?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Social features More multimedia Easier navigation Improvementsconcerning content

More informal style

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Q6 – What could be included in the timeline to make it better?

More social features

Comments

Hashtags

Videos

More interactivity

Easier navigation of timeline

More informal style of writing

Q7 - Do you think that reading about a historical event in this format is better or worse than reading a textbook?

88% think the format is BETTER

Better

Worse

Neither

90% found it more engaging

More interactive

Easier to relate to

First-person narrative

40% thought it improved their learning

1 student missed more descriptive texts

Q7 - Do you think that reading about a historical event in this format is better or worse than reading a textbook?

TEACHER FEEDBACK

hstry should PATENT the teaching method

Robert, KGS History Teacher “Fantastic tool, would be better if teachers could adapt the content.”

Julian Davies, KGS Head of History “The timeline was a success and my students enjoyed it.”

hstry should follow the NATIONAL CURRICULUM

WHAT WE LEARNED

timeline in itself will NOT FULLY REPLACE teaching

more quiz-type questions in timeline

possibilities of extending to other subjects

Geography

Religious studies

CONCLUSION

the product we piloted has a lot of POTENTIAL and its presence in classes can become a REALITY.