by F.Günseli ÖZKAN. R.Tayfun GEDİK www.office-fr.com, http://elearning-turkey.eu, gozkan@office-fr.com

Introduction:

A nos jours, grâce aux environnements sociaux et éducatifs reliant les communautés virtuelles sectorielles, la formation ne se limite plus à la classe. Elle se transforme en solutions tout à fait exclusives du fait de la caractéristique globale et durable des compétences professionnelles. En fait, ni les développeurs des technologies de l’information, ni les décideurs et acteurs qui influencent les politiques éducatives n’ont su prévoir la vitesse de l’impact sur l’éducation des technologies émergents. L’internet s’est introduit à l’improviste dans notre vie quotidienne en tant qu’un instrument servant à développer les compétences et la connaissance.

Ceci se base sur deux raisons :

La pression de la concurrences sur les qualifications professionnelles force les standards des expertises. Parallèlement, les technologies offrent des outils illimités pour accéder à l’information. Par ailleurs nous observons un nouveau profil d’apprenant qui adore la technologie et préfère un accès rapide à l’information, d’autre part nous faisons face à des acteurs de l’éducation professionnelle se positionnant distancés à la technologie.

Pour le succès d’un programme éducatif en ligne il importe de bien analyser ces deux profils. Ceci concerne toutes les étapes de l’apprentissage allant du design de l’interface web à l’architecture, des paramètres d’enregistrements aux méthodologies etc. Dans cet article nous allons passer en revue l’expérience acquise durant un programme pilote en ligne exécuté dans le cadre d’un projet européen LLL programme, exécuté à l’internationale avec la participation de plus de mille bénéficiaires.

Nom du projet :

“ F4ESL ,Cours sur la Législation Européenne sur la Sécurité Alimentaire du Champ à la Fourchette” Profil participant: Licence, maitrise, Phd En langues: Anglais, Turque, Bulgare

L’objet: Cours en ligne pour enseigner la législation européenne sur la sécurité alimentaire Bénéficiaire cible: Ingénieur en agriculture, ingénieur alimentaire et stagiaires. Les cours sont préparés en collaboration avec les projets partenaires sous la coordination du projet leader KSL, Kalite Sistem Merkez Laboratuarlar grubu (TR), L’Universite Agricole Nitra, Slovaquie, TACIYL l’Institut Espagnole des Technologies Agricoles Castilla et Leon , office-fr Turquie, L’Association de la Sécurité Alimentaire, Accent Consultance Bulgarie, SKY Consultance qualité, Tr, Le Ministère turque de L’Agriculture, la Direction en charge du Controle et Protection Alimentaire, Les services Alimentaire et Vétérinaire de Lettonie, Le syndicat des Employeurs de l’Industrie Alimentaire, l’Association des Exportateurs Alimentaires.

Notre Approche:

Les règles et standards visant une standardisation des droits sur les propriétés intellectuelles, les infrastructures de communications, les matériaux d’apprentissage, les softwares se développent d’une grande vitesse. Le monde, axé sur la valeur économique de l’usage des technologies de l’information dans les secteurs non TIC et grâce aux standards qui le permettent, s’oriente de plus en plus vers la production des matériaux d’éducation bon pour tous.

Aussi bien au sein des Universités que dans le secteur public et privé, des projets géants sont déployés à l’international. De ce fait, dans ce projet, nous avons développé nos cours et leçons dans les standards internationaux, éditable et réutilisable. Comme les outils de l’éducation se diversifient durant la formation en ligne par rapport à l’éducation traditionnelle nous avons intégrés tous les outils disponible de Moodle dans notre plateforme. Les outils de communication, dictionnaires en trois langues, forum, chat , vidéo, facilités y ont été implémentés. Comme les cours étaient en trois langues, notre budget n’a pas permis l’intégration de sons aux leçons, de ce fait elles ont été conçues sans son. Les matériaux éducatifs ont été préparés sous le format de Scorm 2004 , implémenté sur la dernière version de Moodle. Nous avons aménagés les utilités catégorisation, statistique, évaluation et reporting de Moodle suivant nos objectifs d’apprentissage. Nous avons crée un environnement déployant toutes les sources et outils de Moodle.

Les objets d’apprentissages ont été développés pour chaque leçon dans les standards internationaux, sous le format Scorm 2004, ces paquets de Scorm indépendant, réutilisable et modifiable chacun de 15-20 minutes ont été implémenté au sein du plateforme. Nos paquets Scorm, sont d’une interopérabilité reconnue, peuvent communiquer avec différent LMS’s. Dans les cours, le parcours d’apprentissage est contrôlable . Chaque leçon offre un environnement contrôlant les séquences et le processus. Des accents flash en sont utilisés. Des règles régissent le rythme et le surf à travers les leçons. Le fait que chaque leçon est indépendant permet une flexibilité pour des modifications ultérieur.

Nos objets d’apprentissages et le plateforme LMS «F4ESL» que nous avons modifié d’après nos besoins, ont été fortement appréciés par les étudiants, enseignant du point de vue de sa facilité d’usage, son indexation interne, le déploiement des sujets, matières, contenu et son accessibilité. Nous disposons de tous les outputs des sondages effectuées à travers les cours, ainsi que tous les “records” des bénéficiaires durant l’apprentissage.

Les partenaires ont fourni, le scenario d’apprentissage, les textes, images, vidéo relatifs aux cours au fur et à mesure du développement de chaque leçon. Les documents instructifs relatifs à l’utilisation du plateforme et les règles régissant ont été préparés et intégrés tout au début du lancement des cours, ainsi que la biographie des enseignants, leur adresse électronique, les liens de références, l’aménagement des outils de communication et d’instruction ont été mis en exécution en premier lieu. Les bénéficiaires ont été sélectionné et inscrits. Ils ont accedé aux cours, un service de support leur à été disposé, les étudiants et enseignant ont été autorisé a télécharger leur propre document.

Les cours n’ont pas été développé sous le format d’ebook. Le scenario d’apprentissage en respecte les besoins des bénéficiaires sous une forme particulière à ce sujet. Les matières et contenus sont bien categorisés et facile à suivre, encouragent l’usage des méthodologies d’apprentissage similaires.

Les cours ont été fortement apprécies par les bénéficiaires , d’après un sondage effectue (%95-98) auprès des bénéficiaires. Les étudiants sont invités dès leur accès au plateforme à respecter le code d’utilisation, les propriétés intellectuelles des contenus et d’accomplir les taches clairement définis au lancement des cours. Durant les cours, l’attitude des bénéficiaires a été suivi quant’ à l’apprentissage, la communication, les tests, et le forum. L’atout additionnelle des LMS par rapport à l’éducation traditionnelle est sa fonctionnalité de traçabilité. Cette fonctionnalité n’est pas très bien connu par les bénéficiaires. Au fur et à mesure de l’avancement des cours, cette capacités a été de temps en temps dévoilé par l’administrateur ou découverte par les bénéficiaires mêmes. Âpres avoir réalisé que leur succès et suivis, ils se sont beaucoup plus concentré aux cours. Finalement ils ont complété 35 leçons groupées sous 5 modules, ont été forcé à compléter une évaluation du cours après chaque module. Ils ont été invite une évaluation finale après l’ensemble des cours. Nous avons observé les dernières 24 heures un rush des participants souhaitant le compléter à la dernière minute. Les cours ont été lancé en premier lieu en anglais, le profil de bénéficiaire était comme suit: des cadres travaillant dans les institutions internationales en matière de la sécurité alimentaire, des académiciens et des professionnels du secteur privé. Ils ont complété une forme sur le web, sélectionné d’après les critères pré établies sur leur métiers ou sur leur précédente formation. Les identifications et mots de passes de chaque bénéficiaire leur ont été communiqué peu avant le lancement. Les 415 premier participants ont eu plein accès au plateforme durant deux mois 24 heures sur 24. Ils ont été invité à changer leur identifiant et mot de passe à leur premier accès. Cependant nous avons observé que certains utilisateurs ayant oublié leur mot de passe ont rencontré certaines difficulté à le récupérer par leur adresse électronique du fait qu’ils avaient apposé une différente adresse (de celle utilisé lors de l’inscription aux cours). Quelque bénéficiaire qui se sont inscrit en utilisant deux adresses de messagerie différentes ou bien qui ont utilises la même adresse électronique et deux noms differents, ont naturellement été inscrits mais pas admis aux cours. Une autre expérience découlant des services de support : l’accès aux cours qui est limité à 1 seul utilisateur a été refusé aux utilisateurs qui avaient oublié de fermer leur compte sur un autre ordinateur ou bien qui on partagé leur identifiant et mot de passe avec quelqu’un d’autre. Ces cas nous ont été signalé comme problèmes techniques or, il s’agissait des problèmes d’utilisateurs.

D’autre part, les utilisateurs ont souvent confondu les notions «accès web»et «accès LMS», ont fait part des problèmes d’accès au plateforme, pourtant ils essayaient leur identifiants sur la page d’accueil au lieu d’aller sur l’LMS.

C’est pourquoi, nous avons décidé d’ajouter dans le futur une note explicative à l’attention des bénéficiaires au moment de l’envoi des identifiants par email et ajouter un visuel sur la page d’accueil.

Du fait que les bénéficiaires du premier cours ( en anglais ) venaient de 55 pays (de different time zones) cette situation a créé des difficultés durant les services de support.

Pour le second et le troisième cours, le plateforme initiale structuré en anglais a été lancé en deux nouvelles langues le turque et le bulgare. 700 nouveaux bénéficiaires ont été inscrits a cette phase. Nous avons reçu au total 2026 candidats, après une sélection initiale, plus de 1000 participants ont été inscrits et bénéficié des cours. Les deux mois consacré à chaque langue a été est satisfaisant du point de vue de l’apprentissage. Nous estimons aussi utile de conseiller de temps en temps aux bénéficiaires de ne pas attendre la dernière minute pour compléter les cours. Il sera aussi utile de les informer que leur parcours d’apprentissage concernant l’accès, les leçons suivis, les enquêtes remplis, test etc sont tous enregistrés par le système. Concernant les tests, nous avons due envoyer à certains utilisateurs à titre de justification. Les copies d’écrans relatives à leur activités au sein du plateforme…

Des le début, toutes les phases se sont déroulé en ligne de l’annoncement des cours, à la sélection, l’inscription, l’évaluation, le reporting et la certification. Deux services de support l’un administratif l’autre technique ont été lancés. Les examens ont été effectués à base de module, les questions sont sélectionnés randonnées à partir du récipient de question. Les examens étaient limites au temps. Les utilisateurs ont bénéficié de 3 accès, le meilleurs point a été pris en considération. L’obligation d’accomplir toutes les modules est sollicité. Finalement les utilisateurs ont demandé un examen de compensation pour refaire les modules qu’ils n’ont pas réussi.

Sources:

-F4ESL – From Farm to Fork European Food Safety Legislation Training Programme Lifelong Learning Program (LLP) “Leonardo da Vinci” (2009-1– TR1–LEO0508647).

-SK/01/B/F/PP-142 243 – Online Distance Learning Module in European Agrarian Law by The Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra.

-http://www.office-fr.com

-http://elearning-turkey.eu

Du fait que les cours sont clôturés en 2012, les liens du projets ne sont plus actifs mais les cours sont disponibles en soft format: http://www.f4esl.eu , http://trainee.f4esl.eu

Version turque de l’article : http://www.midasebook.com/dosyalar2/eogrenme2.pdf page 389 Hard copie: E-Learning en Turquie, etat des choses et examples publication de l’Universite Anatolie

Teaching kids Big Data and applying these concepts to the study of History through the PBL approach by Chris Carter and Peter Tong, Ph.D.

“Information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, and wisdom is not foresight. Each grows out of the other, and we need them all.” – Arthur C. Clark, Scientist and Author

We would add that data is not even information. Data is potential, nothing more. Data in its raw form is like an unpolished diamond: it is of no value until it is analyzed, tabulated and presented in a form that is understood. Mathematicians, statisticians, scientists and computing scientists transform raw data into comprehensible and usable information. Big Data Analytics (BDA) is the current term used to describe the process of harvesting fantastic amounts of raw data and transforming these data into valuable information that can be understood and used productively to gain insights into trends that are otherwise invisible. People in diverse fields ranging from business, economics, social sciences, arts and humanities, and the hard sciences are realizing the need for understanding what Big Data is and how it can be applied to benefit the commercial, industrial, and academic fields.

At Concordia International School Shanghai we offer a Big Data Analytics (BDA) course, thus providing an opportunity for a paradigm shift in teaching. However, there are no established teaching resources of any kind for Big Data at the high school level and, as with any new subject, it has to start somewhere. The course instructor took the opportunity to teach this course using a “guide on the side” approach, a teaching method discussed by Alison King in College Teaching, “From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side.”(1) This is a very powerful method of teaching where students are being “guided on the side” by the teacher, as opposed to listening to the “sage on the stage” teaching method where the teacher directly delivers information to the students. In today’s learning environment where new subject matters and information are rapidly evolving, it is very difficult to assemble current material from which students can refer. Hence, it is important for students to learn how to teach themselves, how to develop learning material and techniques, how to look for information and how to effective communicate that information to others. In accordance with the proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” these learning skills not only allow students to learn subject matter in the classroom, but also give students the tools to teach themselves in future new subject areas. The goal of an educator lies beyond the mere retention and application of knowledge, and extends to the ability to create a confident learning environment, where students gain confidence in their learning abilities and become confident in their roles as lifelong learners.

Through this method, students are empowered by their independent learning abilities and, as a result, they feel a greater sense of achievement in both their education and in themselves.

Teaching BDA is most efficient when the teaching method reflects the open-ended and perpetual nature of information as it currently materializes. At the high school level, the methodology of a BDA course delivery refers to King’s “guide on the side” teaching method. The teacher is required to have a structured framework of clear guidelines, objectives and goals for the course. This teaching method also allows the teacher to bring out the strengths and insights of their students while allowing students to make improvements to their areas of weakness, through the students’ investigation of the subject matter.

This new course is designed as a peer-learning course with the teacher in a facilitator role. For this pilot course, students deliver the daily lessons under the teacher’s guidance. The source materials for each lesson primarily come from Viktor Mayer-Schönberger’s and Kenneth Cukier’s Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think(2), further clarified through images, video clips, and short readings that bring the lessons to life.

While the general concepts of Big Data are taught through student lecture style and peer discussions, the practical learning of this course occurred through its applications. The teacher incorporates both group and individual projects in coordination with the BDA course educational goals, with reference to Bloom’s taxonomy as checkpoints: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. The students are given in-class time for peer discussions and to further research the materials taught after each lecture. At the end of each subsection the students orally present their knowledge and comprehension of the material by creating summaries of topics through multiple means of delivering understanding of the contents.

Since this course is designed to be student-centered and to highlight the students’ strengths and interests, students are required to research their topic of interest on Big Data applications. However, the final presentation is more than a summation of their research interests; it requires a large-scale (1.8m x 2.0m) info-graphic and presentation to the school’s administration team, the head of school and the parent community, many of whom are industry professionals. The opportunity to present these findings to an audience of high-level business people takes advantage of the human resources available in the community and adds a level of achievement for the students: professional interaction and showcasing.

The course connects students to their school, and local and global communities, in addition to the academic community. Big Data university academicians are brought in as guest lecturers via Skype. The guest lecturers are an important element of this course as they provide external feedback from experts and give students a prime opportunity to learn the relevance and potential of Big Data in post-secondary education and beyond.

The course opens doors to real-world exposure and networking opportunities for the students. One of the students now has a head start in her academic career as she networked with one of the guest professors, and is now collaborating with the professor on an undergraduate research project that she will complete upon entering university. While this student is only one among many examples, the overall outcome of the course surpasses initial expectations, including in the realm of cross-curricular cooperation.

One such cross-curricular endeavor currently in process is applying Big Data tools to the study of History. The collaboration began as a serendipitous conversation between the Big Data and Advanced Placement European History teachers. The conversation quickly led to applying Problem-Based Learning (PBL) to BDA, focusing on a question of history. Problem-Based Learning is “a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge.”(3)Two clear and concise videos explaining PBL are Project Based Learning: Explained(4) and Introduction to Project Based Learning (PBL) Process(5). The most organized and useful site for instructors who are considering PBL is Buck Institute for Education(6).

A previous example of historians using Big Data techniques at the post-graduate level can be found in comparisons of American colonial life in the Chesapeake and Massachusetts Bay regions. Prior to recent work historians had little statistical means to put numbers to the arguments, being built largely on primary source documents of the individuals who lived in the regions. Applying Big Data techniques historians slowly, tediously, built data sets from “records of baptisms, marriages, and deaths; property-holding and tax records; civil or criminal court records; military records; ship manifests; slave auction records(7); and cemetery records …” that heretofore had survived separately in numerous archives. By using techniques commonly found in Big Data (aggregation of data, data overlay, anomaly detection, clustering, behavioral analytics, etc.) Historians found hard evidence of shifts in cultural patterns that had previously only been inferred. A stronger case for the economic models being the driving force behind colonial choices emerged.

Working with the AP European History teacher, BDA students took on a similar task of building data sets and applying Big Data techniques to history. The students examined economic data from European countries from the years 1900 to 1939, focusing on the five major players involved in World War II. Their focus question was, to what degree can unique economic stresses account for Germany’s election of Hitler to guide the German state in 1933? Touch-points were created as the project moved forward. Cobbled from notes, these steps were:

• Collect data

• Organize data into logical sets

• Examine data for patterns, anomalies, and changes over time – Visualization of data begins here

• Arrange data sets into logical order – Primary and Secondary sets begin here

• Overlay data sets to look for correlations and addition patterns

• Cut data to tell a story

• Visualize data into a “dashboard” that is clear

• Present data visualizations and insights to authentic audience

Time being limited the data-gathering portion was necessarily truncated. B.R. Mitchell’s International Historical Statistics: Europe 1750-2005 (8)served as the source for all economic data. After data sets were painstakingly created, the analysis began. Immediately the teacher became the guide and coach, not the expert.

The students generated the questions, found the answers, and taught each other. For a teacher used to being in the front of the classroom it was a significant learning experience. The students’ insights gained from analyzing the data demonstrate the degree of critical thinking and learning taking place. Sample questions generated, researched, answered and taught among the students include:

• What do I do with missing data? Not every year for every country is recorded.

• Can forms of alcohol consumption be rough substitutes for a “hopefulness” or “hopelessness” index?

• Is petroleum production or gasoline production a better indicator of economic strength?

• Which resources are linked with each other, and which ones have priority over the others?

With the end of the semester the data sets were compiled, annotated, and placed in a Google Drive folder for pass-through to the next class. The entire exercise occupied approximately seven hours of classroom time. Next semester the Advanced Placement European History students will pick up the challenge. With the data sets assembled, these new students will analyze the results to answer the question that began the process.

Samples of student analysis follow:

“Electricity Output-Germany has the most output and a more drastic increase. … USSR held the last place output quantity until 1932 when their output quantity surpassed that of Italy and continues to drastically increase, hitting a peak in 1941. This indicates a quick development in technology and economy in … USSR as their electricity output increases. At the same time, technology in Germany was the best at the time, and rapidly improving. The contrast of outputs shows us the different development patterns of two countries …”

“Output of Artificial and Synthetic Fibers: The numbers for all five countries started about the same … The number constantly increased. Starting from 1935, the differences between the countries are starting to show. Even though all the numbers are getting larger, the output of Fibers started to increase significantly in Germany. Germany reached its highest point in 1942, … probably used to make new clothes for soldiers, build military tents, etc. because it was cheap and stronger. After losing WW1, Germany was probably starting to prepare the gears for soldiers to fight the next battle.”

“Beer + Wine Output / Sail + Steam Ships / Coal Import + Export Correlation: There is a correlation between unemployment/beer + wine production in Germany. Around 1930 unemployment was highest, beer production was highest (probably happiness factor). When Hitler [was] elected in 1933 unemployment was starting to decrease as well as beer production but wine production spiked around 1933-1934. As WWII is starting [in] 1939, beer production started to rise again, but unemployment was decreasing probably because of war.

One … important factor is that steel production started spiking once Hitler rose to power, and kept increasing by a huge amount. Steel is made to use guns, so since Hitler’s rise to power, he was probably preparing for war or manufacturing because steel production just spiked once Hitler was in power. Other countries such as USSR and UK started increasing as well exactly on 1933, so something interesting is happening … Electricity usage started rapidly increasing for Germany, so electricity + steel is probably for industrialization.”

Upon reflection, the lessons learned were both skill- and content-based, and practical. The students learned to apply their BDA knowledge in a practical exercise that pushed them to work collaboratively, problem-solve creatively, and think deeply. For the instructors it was an exercise of discovery, as the students proved worthy of the challenges set before them. The instructors became sources of wisdom, rather than founts of knowledge. Teachers and students worked cohesively toward a common objective in a collegial spirit of mutual respect. The student-focused nature of the exercise meant a level of discomfort for the instructors, as powers over class direction and time utilization were shared. Yet the uneasiness reduced over time as the instructors learned to trust the students and the students, recognizing the responsibility given them, grew in maturity and responsibility. The time spent in class was the most sustained, focused, and cooperative we had ever experienced. We look forward to continuing the exercise in the next semester.

REFERENCES

(1)Alison King, “From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side,” College Teaching 41, no. 1 (1993): 30–35.

(2)Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, Kenneth Cukier, and Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think (United States: Eamon Dolan/ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014).

(3)“What Is PBL? | Project Based Learning,” accessed November 30, 2015, http://bie.org/about/ what_pbl.

(4)Buck Institute for Education, “Project Based Learning: Explained,” YouTube, December 9, 2010, posted November 30, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMCZvGesRz8.

(5)David Lee EdTech, “Introduction to Project Based Learning (PBL) Process,” YouTube, May 12, 2015, posted December 5, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08D0dBGIzYQ.

(6)“Project Based Learning,” 2015, accessed November 23, 2015, http://bie.org/

(7)William Bruce Wheeler and Susan D. Becker, Discovering the American Past Vol. 1: A Look at the Evidence to 1877 (United States: Houghton Mifflin (Academic), 2002).

(8)Brian R. Mitchell, International Historical Statistics 1750-2005: Europe (International Historical Statistics Europe), 6th ed. (Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008).

We asked Anthony Allday, computing leader at Sacred Heart Primary School in London and Craig Keaney a primary school teacher from Liverpool about their experiences of implementing the new Computing Curriculum. We know that it has been a challenging year for many schools and hope that finding out about how others are managing the changes will provide you with useful information.

Could you please introduce yourself?

My name is Craig Keaney, I currently work at a primary school in Liverpool as a year 6 teacher, other roles include: Computing Leader and E-Safety Coordinator. I am a CAS Master Teacher and HUB Leader.

Have you started to teach the new Computing curriculum in your school? How is it going?

The new curriculum was implemented at the beginning of September 2014. As a starting point, teachers began to look at ‘unplugged computing’ followed by simple algorithms. Over the term, I began researching a scheme that we could adapt to fit our school, and so began using a scheme created by a local City Learning Centre, adapting it to fit our needs.

After some teething problems in the first year, as a staff, we have become more confident and enthusiastic in teaching the subject.

What are the main challenges you came a cross when teaching the new computing curriculum?

One of the main challenges we faced was teacher subject knowledge and confidence in teaching the new curriculum. This challenge was identified before we implemented the teaching of computing. As a result, alongside the teaching of the scheme, a number of staff meetings were held to develop and support skills required, in addition to having ‘drop-in’ sessions for teachers. This had an impact on the scheme I had adapted, as the scheme relied of a prerequisite of skills, which we had not fully developed.

Over the last year, teachers in school have worked hard to develop and learn the necessary skills, including learning from the children. This has had a impact on teacher confidence. There continues to be support in place for teachers, if needed, an opportunities for them to attended CPD. It is the hope that, as the skills develop, we will be able to have our own scheme rather than using a established scheme to support teaching.

It is also worth mentioning that amongst staff there was a misconception that the new curriculum was all about coding. The teachers in school did need reassuring that there are elements of the ICT they know still in the program of study.

What about children, what is their opinion of the computing lessons? Do they think, feel different?

The majority of the children have really enjoyed the new curriculum, in my personal opinion, I think it is because it matches the skills of the ‘modern technological child’, compared with the old curriculum. The children have been enthusiastic to show what they can do: from creating games, to augmented reality and most importantly [to them], creating vast structures in Minecraft.

I have noticed that there is a gender divide in knowledge and enthusiasm in the lessons. The boys have show more enthusiasm and stronger skill set than the girls, and from speaking with other teachers in the area this appears to be a common tred. As a result, I have tried to link lessons to a topic they find interesting.

Do you think parents are aware of the curriculum changes? Any reaction?

The biggest reaction I have seen from parents, is not about the ‘coding’ aspect of the curriculum, but the e-Safety aspect. The parents in our school want to learn more about how they can make sure their children are safe whilst online, wether being on the Internet, on Smartphones, texting and most importantly, social media and games consoles. To accommodate this reaction we have held meetings for parents to learn about the benefits of technology, and importantly the dangers that come with it.

Any advise to schools who are still confused about where to start?

• From my experience over the last couple of years, the three best pieces of advice I could offer are as follows:

• You’re not alone – make links to other schools, including secondary schools, and use the resources available to you, such as CAS Master Teachers.

• Make sure there is support structure in place for teachers so they can develop their skills and boost their confidence. Don’t forget to use the knowledge of the children; it gives them a great sense of pride.

• If you want to devise a scheme for your school, make sure you know the skills of your teachers and use that to inform what you do. There are free schemes available that can be used help write a scheme that fits your school, but also includes the support needed to boost necessary skills and subject knowledge. Don’t make my mistake and adapt too much in the first instance.

We asked Anthony Allday, computing leader at Sacred Heart Primary School in London and Craig Keaney a primary school teacher from Liverpool about their experiences of implementing the new Computing Curriculum. We know that it has been a challenging year for many schools and hope that finding out about how others are managing the changes will provide you with useful information.

Interview with Anthony Allday, Computing Coordinator at Sacred Heart Primary School

Could you please introduce yourself?

I am Tony Allday and I am the Computing Coordinator at Sacred Heart Primary Roehampton. I teach computing across the whole school from reception to year 6. I have been the school’s specialist ICT/Computing teacher for about six years and I am also a CAS Master Teacher.

Have you started to teach the new Computing curriculum in your school? How is it going?

Yes, we have started teaching the new curriculum and so far it has been fine. I am lucky because I teach all age groups and I can see how different years are progressing and I have a good idea where to pitch my teaching depending on a cohort’s experience and understanding.

What are the main challenges you came across when teaching the new computing curriculum?

Well, firstly it was coming up with a scheme of work. After a year of trying various things out I have decided to build my teaching around an existing SOW, linking it into classes’ core subjects or foundation topic work where appropriate. Again, having taught across the school for some time, I have a good idea what ICT/Computing topics marry well with what foundation topics.

Another challenge is to keep the activities creative, fresh and relevant. Because you are working with technology, children generally expect a wow factor. Luckily we have a very well resourced IT suite and there are lots of great teaching resources out there.

What about children, what is their opinion of the computing lessons? Do they think, feel different?

Lots of the things that are in the new curriculum were already in the old curriculum and I had started trialling some “computer science” concepts before the curriculum came in last year. For instance, I decided to introduce Scratch to all my classes six months before the new curriculum. So it wasn’t such a major change for my pupils.

Do the children think or feel different? It is still early days but I would say that they really enjoy their ICT lessons. They like the creative challenges; they are becoming more resilient; and you can see that they are thinking through problems much more and fixing things for themselves.

Do you think parents are aware of the curriculum changes? Any reaction?

Now, this is something that is on my agenda – getting the parents involved more. I have spoken to some and they say that their children have been inspired to try things out at home e.g. Scratch and Kodu. This is great but I need to run a couple of after school sessions for parents to explain the new curriculum and to see if I can’t get them doing some stuff with their children themselves at home.

Any advise to schools who are still confused about where to start?

Jump in and have a go. Look at the CAS web site and Barefoot for resources. Come along to one of the basic Scratch training sessions that I run as a CAS Master Teacher. It is really not that scary and much of what you are expected to teach you would have been doing already.