Cover the curriculum and save time

History teachers and Heads of History everywhere! We have found a way you can save precious time to use however you like. Roy Huggins, History specialist and former Head of eBacc, has worked with us to create some curriculum-based resources that can be used time and time again.

Roy is an extremely popular TES creator, with at the time of posting, 13,414 downloads to his name. There are various types of tasks he develops but one that really stood out to us was his card sorts. As we’ve explored before though, despite the numerous, excellent benefits of this type of activity, they can be quite time consuming to print off, cut out and sort for a class of 30! Despite this, they are a VERY popular classroom resource, which shows how much they are valued and the benefits of them. To name a few; deeper understanding of content, collaboration and ease-of-use.

Why was it difficult maintaining law and order in the American West?

We’ve worked with Roy to transform some of his card sort tasks into iPad versions. They look fantastic on the iPad! Rather than students sorting out cards into nondescript piles on desks, many activities have bright, colourful and descriptive backgrounds which means when looking back on their work, students immediately know how they sorted the cards.

Roy explained, “I was really surprised by how easy the Thinking Kit software was to use. It was very intuitive and it didn't take me long to start making some stunning resources.”

Push and pull factors of Westward Expansion

All resources come with a detailed and thorough list of ‘aims and objectives’ and a ‘WILF (What am I Looking For?)’ section. Plus the process of downloading each task is so simple and guided that you can be using them in minutes!

To name a few of the benefits of this transition:

• TIME SAVING
  Instead of having to print off and cut out 30 pages of cards/pieces of paper, just give your students a code for them to download the tasks onto their iPads.
• RECORDING OF PROGRESS
  Students can download/print a PDF report of their card sort session (e.g. what was on the cards, their final layout and anything in between) OR simply take a screenshot of their on-screen work ready to print off to put in books or keep in a progress file.
• REFLECTION ENCOURAGED
  If desired, you can get students thinking about the process of how they got to their answer rather than just the end result (there’s a dedicated Reflection Stage/interactive playback of the session). This is excellent for critical thinking and problem solving.

We are delighted to say that the activities of Roy’s that have been transformed first are his ever-popular ‘American West’ selection. You can even get a massive 33% discount if you buy them in a bundle. Please see Roy’s TES profile for more details. If you’d like to have a go at creating your own iPad card sorts, please visit www.thinking-kit.com/freeTrial

My top 10 moments at Bett 2017

It's hard to believe that Bett started almost two weeks ago now. I had a fantastic time and attended as a visitor for the Thursday and Friday.

It was a busy time meeting lots of different people, both arranged and in-the-moment. I couldn't possibly mention everything and everyone so I've jotted down a mixture of my favourite talks, products and stands. If you are reading this and we met, then thank you very much. You contributed to a very enjoyable couple of days!

Also, thanks to everyone who had an explore of our tool, Thinking Kit, which allows teachers and students to create their own educational iPad activities.

1. Filming my 60 second clip in the UKEdChat booth
   
   It was so good to finally meet Colin and Martin from UKEdChat. I was planning on popping by their stand anyway but on my first morning there, I was waiting for a talk by Greg Hughes nearby (which was excellent) and saw their stand. It was brilliant to have a chat in person after having emailed each other for years! Colin kindly let me into their inflatable booth to film this clip.
   
   
2. Sir Ken Robinson’s talk on creativity
   
   Towards closing time on my final day, I headed to the Bett Arena 15 minutes early whilst thinking to myself “wow, look at you being so early”...I got there and I couldn't even get close to the entrance! People had obviously been a lot earlier than me! The arena was packed but all around there were rows and rows of excited faces waiting. As the talk got closer, more and more people appeared behind me. I was in the last row allowed into the actual arena (standing only). Luckily, the arena isn't totally encased so even all the people behind the barriers could see.
   
   
   
   
   I've included one of my highlight quotes of the talk above but there were so so so many more, so what I'll do is leave you with his talk 'Do schools kill creativity?', the most watched Ted Talk of all time, as that will give you a better perspective into his thoughts than I can.
   
   
3. Heston Blumenthal’s talk on the psychology behind food
   
   Heston doesn't look any different but it feels like SO long ago that he burst onto our screens with his weird and wonderful creations using food. With a bit of spare time from my meetings, I headed to the arena. This was just really interesting and made everyone think. As Heston explains, everyone MUST eat and what you eat is so important, so why is it often not given the attention it deserves in education?
   
   
4. Hearing about Plymouth School of Creative Arts
   
   Dave Strudwick and Andy Carpenter (Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher) told the Learn Live: Secondary theatre all about their approach to learning. They looked at EVERYTHING that schools do, and considered why. If there was a perfectly good reason for something, then by all means, they would keep it in. If they couldn't see how a certain rule or method would be useful in this current day though, they would re-consider its use. Their use of Project Based Learning is very inspiring and seeing how passionate their students were about a project was fantastic to see.
   
   
5. Bumping into Martin Bailey at breakfast
   
   As my first full day was the Thursday, I'd heard so much about the Wednesday on Twitter without being involved myself...I was excited but slightly nervous too, so it was really nice to see a familiar face at breakfast. Martin hosts two fantastic events in June. Having been, I really recommend going! I've heard people liken the conference (9th June) to ‘Bett in the early days’ or ‘Newcastle’s answer to Bett’. There's also a TeachMeet 'Talk on the Tyne' the night before. This year, Martin has arranged some brilliant speakers once again. Whether you're reading this from an educator or company perspective, it's worthwhile for both.
   
   Read about the events here.
   
   
6. Trying out Class VR
   
   I had a meander around the exhibition stands for an hour on my first day and this kit really impressed me. I hadn't ever tried a VR headset so one minute being at Bett, and the next being around the pyramids, was a very big surprise!
   
   
7. Marshmallows and chocolate fountain delight at the EDLounge stand
   
   Walking to one of my final meetings on Thursday, the huge amount of walking and carrying heavy bags was starting to creep up on me. I spotted a chocolate fountain and was greeted by someone very friendly on the EDLounge stand. Next thing, I was presented with marshmallows covered in warm liquid chocolate and a fork - what an afternoon pick-me-up!
   
   
   
   
8.  Seeing students talking from Halycon London International School
   
   First thing on my second full day, I headed to the Google stand. The students had already started talking and it was quite a full crowd. It was just brilliant to see the confidence, eloquence and passion from young people talking about how they learn and express their learning.
   
   
   
   
9. Meeting a new customer by accident
   
   I was visiting my friends in Bett Futures on the VEO (Video Enhanced Observation) stand and Jon Haines, Co-Founder, was due to talk on the Bett Futures stages very soon. The lady who he was presenting with was there, waiting, so we got chatting. It turned out she was from a school who'd signed up for Thinking Kit the day before! Lovely surprise and really nice meeting her.
   
   
10.  Free Google Cardboard
    
    I spotted a Google Cardboard vending machine on my first day, but there was a big queue and I wasn't sure what exactly was going on. After scrolling through Twitter, I found lots of excitable tweets with people having received free sets, so the next day, I couldn't resist. Since then, I have absolutely loved using it! I have so far got several members of my family to try it out too and they're hooked.
    
    
    After all of this, it was time to head home. What a lovely sight my trip ended with. If you fancy trying Thinking Kit, please get in touch (natalie@reflectivethinking.com) or start a free trial at www.thinking-kit.com.

Top 10 skills for the future

A while ago, I came across a 'top 10 skills for the future' image, formed by the World Economic Forum following their Future of Jobs report.

It really caught my attention and a lot of other people found it useful too. After recently experimenting with creating images for our Twitter page (@refthinking) and this blog, I loved the idea of mixing it up a little and adding some images.

Feel free to share it, but please let us know by mentioning us if it's a tweet, as it's great to see it being shared even more!

For a large version, please click here.

If you have iPads in school and want to increase development of some of these top skills, try our tool, Thinking Kit: www.thinking-kit.com.

5 ways to make the most out of Digital Mysteries

Since Digital Mysteries for iPad launched in November 2014, we’ve been developing more and more apps and now have 37 live on the App Store! We are regularly uploading more so keep an eye out.

Much to our excitement, downloads have come from far and wide – the UK of course, where we are based, but also USA, Australia, Canada, China and far too many countries to list!

After speaking to many teachers who use the mysteries, there can be differences in how and why they are used. Some teachers prefer to download the app then have a quick run through and then use it with their class. Others prefer to really explore everything the app has to offer, try different things and customise it, then, and only then, do they use it with the students.

So to make the most of what our Digital Mysteries apps have to offer, we’ve created this ‘Top 5’ list of things you might not know are available:

1. Dedicated collaboration: Although our descriptions discuss how the apps are designed for working in pairs/small groups, as well as many of our tweets and emails, this is not always the way people use them. This is probably because when a teacher downloads an app, they are on their own and each individual app has a specific focus, e.g. Shakespeare, so they focus on the content, ease of use, the process and what students could possibly learn. While working individually on Digital Mysteries is absolutely fine, and can bring lots of benefits, it brings a multitude of extra benefits when worked on in pairs (or a three). It is excellent for developing collaboration skills, discussion, communication and higher level thinking. The apps are made so that more than one touch is allowed at a time, so students work together on ONE iPad – an added bonus being that you actually only need half the amount of iPads (see ‘Doubling the availability of your iPads’).
   
   How to: When you’ve tapped ‘Begin New Mystery Session’, toggle the number of users there is using the arrows. Names are entered and they have separate buttons to press in-session. They must tap on their own name to agree certain things throughout the session, e.g. that they’ve read an introduction, agree with the name choice for a group or that they’ve decided on their answer.
   
   


2. Reports: When students have finished a session and wrote their answer in, a PDF report is automatically generated. Upon completion, you aren’t automatically taken to the PDF, as it may not be the right time to look at it, or it may be something the teacher would print/share rather than the students.
   
   How to: To view a session report, just go to View Reports in the main menu and tap on the one you want to see. From there, you can print, email or share.
   
   


3. Differentiation: Most of our apps have three difficulty levels to them. It varies from app to app what difference this makes, but it usually means the higher the difficulty level, the more slips of information are provided to students (which may have abstract or more advanced content on them). There are also sometimes differences in the hints given to students when they have difficulty moving on from the Grouping Stage or Sequencing Stage.
   
   How to: To change your difficulty level, go to Settings from the main menu and toggle between levels in the top right hand corner.
   
   


4. Number of stages: If you didn’t know already, most Digital Mysteries apps have three stages in ‘solving’ them. The default is usually 1. Reading, 2. Grouping and 3. Sequencing (followed by entering an answer and playback). However, if you would rather students have access to all of the tools from the beginning and have the process unsegmented (before answer and playback), you can. If you like the idea of students simply reading all the slips, then moving to the stage where they create and group them all, choose Two Stage.
   
   How to: To set a different amount of stages, just go to Settings, and toggle between the amount of stages in the top left corner. (One Stage is all tools at once, with no segmentation of reading, grouping then sequencing. Two Stage is reading then grouping).
   
   


5. Session playback: Schools we’ve spoken to about Digital Mysteries tend to love this feature. Students also find it engaging too; it is brilliant to watch as they show other groups what they’ve been doing. Session playback, also known as the Reflection Stage, occurs automatically after students write in their answer. This means that most people know about it. You could also:

• Bookmark: Sit with each group and discuss some key moments with students. Within the actual session, students can ‘bookmark’ certain points in time - these are then pinpointed on the playback timeline so you/they can easily go back to them.
• Improve: Ask students to think about what they would do differently as they reflect; it’s not just like a video playback, so they/you can pause it and play around with what’s on the screen!
• Quick glance: Have a look at our guide, ‘Interpreting What’s on the Screen’ – it’s a rundown of what the different icons mean at a glance.
• Go back to it next week: While the Reflection Stage automatically occurs immediately after students enter an answer, you can also go to ‘Session Playback’ from the main menu at any time afterwards, and just tap on the one you want to view. This is great to recap and see how much students remembered.
• Reflect as a class: Try connecting one of the iPads to a projector and reflecting on the session as a class (Using the Session Playback)
  
  
  
  

Thanks very much for reading this post on Digital Mysteries – there are many ways to use it (both, as a teacher and a student). We could have added various other things but this is a short summary of those which you may have missed. We would love to know how you use Digital Mysteries or if you have any tips for other users. Comment here or email info@reflectivethinking.com

There is also a video here which runs through a typical session, and you can visit our resources page and FAQ for more things not mentioned here, or contact us if you have a question.

Are toddlers too young for technology?

This post was on our original blog which we replaced. I came across an article lately which discussed this topic again and thought it was worth re-sharing...it has been slightly re-worded as the TV programme discussed was aired that week, and it was around two years ago!

It has been a debate for some time now but ITV’s Tonight’s focus was on the question, “Are toddlers too young for technology?” It was a very interesting watch, both from a personal perspective (I have a nephew of primary school age) and a professional perspective (working for Reflective Thinking – thought leaders on technology in education). The programme was definitely worth a watch but unfortunately it's no longer available on ITV Player (it may be available on YouTube but I can't guarantee quality). As a summary though, throughout the documentary, many questions were asked and explored by the presenter and they incorporated views both for and against. The perspectives included teachers, headteachers, parents, psychologists, learning experts, technology experts and very importantly, the children themselves.

A screenshot of the show

A key section of the show was a small experiment: seven children went into a room and were observed by a psychologist, and their parents. This group went into one of the rooms at a time, as different content was included in each:

1. More ‘traditional’ toys
2. Technology like smartphones and tablets
3. Both traditional toys and technology

Interestingly, in all three situations, the children found something to occupy them (except one child asked for her iPad after a while in session one). It was quite striking seeing the difference between collaboration and playing together from 1, to 2 and 3. The more traditional toys were primarily shared and used together, they talked amongst themselves and worked a high level of interaction was present. In both 2 and 3, for almost the full duration, all children sat individually, 1 on 1 with their seperate screens.

What came to mind for me here was that essentially, it is very important to consider what the children are doing on the tablet, rather than seeing a tablet or smartphone as ‘one thing’ with ‘one sole purpose’. The choice of applications and games available now is vast – some for individual play and some for group play. This could play a part in how they are used and whether they are interacting with other children while using, or are completely one-on-one with their tablet. In these experiments, although not specifically confirmed, the apps being used were most likely educational: they may be in the form of a game, but they are offering educational benefits at the same time.

One point to think about is; was the reason the traditional toys were used in groups of 2-3 because they were designed that way? In light of the learning expert on the show saying that “face to face contact is vital for communication” and tablets may  “actually be preventing children from interacting with other children and learning how to behave through practise”, do we need to focus on creating more apps and games that are designed specifically for use of 2-3, if we want children to interact more, and build those collaboration skills? Another point is how the technology is used too – is it a replacement for interaction, or actually an addition, to help interaction and learning?

Working together, collaborating

Our area of expertise is slightly older children (from 7+), but some elements of Reflective Thinking’s research could be applied to younger children too. Digital Mysteries are specifically designed for working in pairs or small groups. The whole concept is based around it being an additional tool for learning and developing useful skills (like higher level thinking, problem-solving), one that complements the teacher, rather than replacing the teacher (or parent/guardian/leader).

Maybe this idea could be applied to apps aimed at younger children too, with an aim to make apps or games something to be shared with each other, or with their parent/teacher rather than an individual experience. This way, one of the key problems brought up in the documentary – that devices can prohibit children interacting and developing social skills for life - could be combatted, yet the children will still benefit from the advantages the devices bring; like preparing them for their future where technology will be a major part of their lives. One of the major arguments to come from the programme – which takes into account case studies at nurseries like Cogan Nursery in Penarth – is that the use of such devices must be in balance with non-screen time.

Especially with young toddlers, it seems that a “bit of both” is seen as the best situation – what do you think? If you have any opinions on this, please write a comment - I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Natalie

Storytelling through mathematics

Today, I came across Maths Storytelling Day (25th September, celebrated annually). Although the day isn't for a while yet, it got me thinking.

When pondering my own education, I remember maths being one of the subjects which incorporated stories fairly regularly. A favourite being that of making a robot move around and follow your instructions, which in today's education, could probably slide under computing. I always thought that it was perhaps my teacher's style, but upon reflection, and with a particular day dedicated to it, it has become apparent that the reason we do maths through storytelling is because it works!

There's various pieces online about this (found with a quick search), but I'll be looking more into this in future. The Guardian and NRICH are two particularly good ones. To quote the latter, "Children are born with an ability to make sense of the world through play and storytelling. By creating narratives, they act out concepts and ideas that confuse them or that they find fascinating. Examining the world in this way they are able to explore and relate to the variety of topics and subjects that the world throws at them."

Many of our iPad apps follow a story, but our maths ones are particularly engaging. They really do make you want to solve something, e.g. work out who really did kill King Ted. You want to find out what has or has not happened, and the way to do this is to do the maths! We have made all three of our apps FREE for a limited time, except King Ted, which is always free.

Students work in pairs or threes around one iPad. The app gives students lots of digital slips of illustrated information then one open question - they must work together to make sense of this information in order to answer it.They can create and name groups, stick things together and lay the slips out. As well as developing various mathematics skills, the apps also help with collaboration, problem-solving and higher level thinking.

All three apps target a slightly different age range but depending on ability level, what methods the children know/will be learning soon, they may suit younger or older students:

King Ted - FREE - Search 'Digital Mysteries King' on the App Store or click here
Main question: Who killed King Ted?
Age range: 8-9 year olds
Topics covered: Mental methods addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, comparing, calculations

Screenshot from Trev the Triff

Trev the Triff - FREE for limited time, usually £1.49 - Search 'Digital Mysteries Trev' on the App Store or click here
Main question: Should Trev hire the new machine or stick with the old one?
Age range: 9-10 year olds
Topics covered: Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, multi-step problem, averages

Captain Quint - FREE until 16th June 2015, usually £1.49 - Search 'Digital Mysteries Captain' on the App Store or click here
Main question: Did Captain Quint and his crew make it around the world in 30 days?
Age range: 10-11 year olds
Topics covered: Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, percentages, statistics, measurement

Many thanks,

Natalie

Inspiring media/English students with Cannes film festival

'Festival de Cannes 2015' runs from 13th-24th May this year - what an engaging way to immerse students in various topics, one being 'target audience'.

There will be lots of coverage about the festival and it provides a great spotlight for lesser-known, upcoming films.

Our free task, Chugley Film Club, has been created specifically for 11-16 year olds. It helps students apply their knowledge of the concept of target audience and demographics. They do this through the scenario of Mr. Spine, who lives in a village called Chugley, running the local film club. Students are asked to help him decide on a suitable film for the other residents.

The resource recommends setting a homework or pre-session activity for students to gather a list of films. They will then carry out the task and in doing so, select which of their films is most suitable for the people of Chugley. One idea is rather than have the list they must gather general, you could say to narrow it down to former Cannes film festival winners, this year's nominees or films by previous winners' starring actors.

You can use this task completely free, in one of three ways:

•  iPad app: read more and download here
• Windows PC/laptop: download a free one-month trial here
• PDF: email info@reflectivethinking.com for a PDF copy which you can print out

Do iPads hold the secret ingredient to revive face-to-face collaboration?

To read this post, please click the link below: you'll be taken to the UKEdChat website where Ahmed has written a guest piece.

Face to face collaboration using tech