New approaches to learning involving digital games

by Bryan Berry

I was interested to read Tom Martin’s blog post regarding Technology for Learning. Digital technology in schools has had a bit of press recently and you may have seen the BBC News article referring to the Decoding Learning report by NESTA. In this study researchers found there was no question that hardware such as interactive whiteboards, digital tablets or software such as educational games could help improve pupils’ learning if used properly.

The BBC report highlights that each year a staggering £1.4 billion is spent on technology for schools but, sadly, much of this technology is not used to its full capacity or in some cases it is lying unused. The report also states that too often new technologies are used without a strong understanding of their power to transform education, and many schools still use technology to support 20th century teaching methods and learning objectives. As mentioned previously, through its “Technology for Learning” CPD programme, the network of Science Learning Centres can support schools in developing pedagogies for using ICT in science lessons.

This report is also timely as Science Learning Centre South West has recently been involved in the British Council UnBox21 project. The project aimed to deepen teachers’ understanding of the role of digital games in teaching and learning, coupled with the development of 21st century skills, in the secondary science curriculum. It also aspired to build the capacity of participating science teachers to develop learning frameworks, embed games into curriculum planning and develop innovative learning and teaching practices.

Machinarium by Animita Design

The project involved 16 teachers from across the South West and 25 science colleagues from India, with the aim of developing activities that would incorporate commercial off-the-shelf games. Working in cluster groups, teachers were encouraged to develop creative activities that would integrate with their science curriculum plans.

One game that was very successful in promoting skills-based approaches to learning in science was “Machinarium” by Anamita Design. The game is excellent for consolidating knowledge about electricity and forces and building on the game’s skills-based approach. A variety of novel activities were designed by the participating teachers, for example, teachers encouraged students to design the next level of play or to use the science content in the game as a context for investigative work. Colleagues interested in digital games and learning may be interested to know that the game does not require purchase as the first three levels can be played as a demo version and can be accessed through the Amanita website.

Home Sheep Home by Aardman

Another free game that teachers used was Aardman’s ‘home sheep home’ game. This was used to support learning for forces and motion topics. With its likeable characters, the game is inviting and fun, particularly for KS3 students, but be warned, it is addictive! It is also based on a ‘level’ structure, which motivates the player and takes place in a scenario that reflects real-world physics. Making it available on your school website may be a challenge though, so make sure you plan ahead and involve your school’s network manager.

In case you are concerned about the use of games in the classroom, from the outset we encouraged colleagues to develop an action research approach and to evaluate the outcomes using the ITL LEAP21 (Learning Evaluation and Planning) framework. They were also encouraged to adopt appropriate strategies for implementation by referring to Futurelab studies on games in learning.

The UnBox21 project is in its final evaluation phase and an online CPD course will be available early next year. For other schools interested in developing the use of digital games, Science Learning Centre South West would be pleased to offer a “Technology for Learning” CPD programme based on the approaches used. The Centre is also leading an ASE Annual Conference workshop at the University of Reading on Friday 4 January 2013 between 1400-1600. Why not come along to find out more?

Latex, Lycra and Chocolate

By Stephen Burrowes

I don’t think it’s too contentious to state that children are naturally curious and if we can stimulate this curiosity then this makes the job of teaching science much easier and more rewarding. It is a pleasure to hear students volunteering the what if, how and why questions. The childlike rather than childish perspective can be so refreshing and it is a privilege to be part of a process where students end up leaving school to continue a lifelong interest in science whether this is as producers of science or consumers.

As a busy practitioner in the classroom it’s all too easy to get overwhelmed by the need to deliver specific examination focused subject knowledge. It is important that students are able to fulfil their potential in external examinations and by stimulating a child’s curiosity with intriguing phenomena or interesting materials you are providing the hook on which to hang the more prosaic examination focused science.

Three of my current favourite ‘hooks’ are electrolycra, latex and chocolate. The Science Enhancement Programme (SEP) has some suggestions for looking at the resistance of electrolycra in the classroom and it certainly makes a change from measuring the resistivity of copper wire. You can’t wear copper wire easily and it certainly isn’t as figure hugging. This splendid material always stimulates teachers on Practical Work in Physics and as a textile it also finds a place on Collaborative Learning in Science and Design & Technology.

I first used latex in the classroom as an introduction to polymers at KS4 and made rubber bands to demonstrate cross-linking. Of course rubber bands can also be used in the context of forces whether this is at KS2 or stress and strain in physics at KS5. With a little planning, latex can be used in many How Science Works contexts such as considering sustainability and natural resources or experimental design when it comes to measuring the extension of a rubber band. Latex often finds its way into my resources request for Introducing How Science Works.

The fact that it can be obtained from a plant makes it a truly flexible material and again SEP comes to the rescue of the busy teacher with “Fantastic Plastic.”

Whilst the Gene Wilder version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was a personal favourite when I was young, I also enjoyed the Royal Institution’s marvellous Christmas Lecture series which continued with Size Matters in 2010.

The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) also has some interesting suggestions for things that can be done with chocolate in the classroom. I have also used chocolate in a course context in Enhancing Literacy in the Science Classroom in addition to just enjoying eating it!

I know from experience that students respond very positively to the activities I have briefly described and I hope to share my experiences with other latex, lycra and chocolate enthusiasts on a future Science Learning Centre West Midlands course.

Do you use chocolate in your lessons?  Tell us more….

Technology for Learning

You are Reading this on Some Kind of Device

by Tom Martin

The world of technology is moving so fast that even with the best will (and all the time and money) in the world, it’s difficult to keep up.

Technology for Learning. Image courtesy of http://teachwithtech.global2.vic.edu.au

It would seem that right now it’s “all about the iPad” and undoubtedly the use of tablets in the classroom is steadily increasing. An article in TES Pro (12^th October 2012, p4-7) reports that in the US, tablets are outpacing traditional PC’s in sales to schools for the first time ever.

But take heed colleagues, before taking the plunge and throwing away all your school laptops (if you have not done so already!), tablets have so far proved very useful in enhancing certain aspects of teaching and learning, but they are not without their limitations. For example, they are not particularly good for pupils to do note taking. The same article goes on to report that the teachers at one school in the UK are actually regretting signing up to a scheme that allowed their “image conscious” head to replace the school laptops with iPad 2’s. This is mainly due to the iPad’s lack of familiar software such as an office suite. The article is summarised with a very poignant thought – “the iPad alone is not enough to transform a school – it can only be a worthwhile tool if it used in conjunction with good teaching practices.”

Before we (the education community) rush into tackling yet another technology that’s not fully understood and forget about what went before it, perhaps we should take a moment to reflect on the whole host of other learning technologies which “Web 2.0” brought with it since its inception in the early 2000’s. When we scratch the surface and talk to teachers regarding their use of ICT in the class, it would appear that many haven’t had the opportunity to fully utilise the wealth of (mainly free) technologies that were already at their fingertips and yet now we are being told it’s time to move onto something else. Who can blame them? No one is born as an IT expert. It takes time to develop IT literacy and even more time to keep it current and there isn’t a great deal of free time available on the average teachers’ timetable. In addition, other than word of mouth or by reading articles, how else do you find something that really works within the minefield that is the internet?

Here at the Science Learning Centre South East based at the University of Southampton, we have been helping a group of local schools “navigate” their way through some of the most effective learning technologies available. Thanks to CPD (Continuing Professional Development) that was partially funded by a successful Enthuse Cluster Award bid, the Centre was able to help assist with an exciting “Flip(ped) Learning” project that was already underway. Over 20 teachers from a cluster of five different schools from the local area came to the Centre to attend two twilight sessions on “Technology for Learning”, that would enable them to facilitate more independent learning outside of the classroom time and better use of class time to address misconceptions.

The network of Science Learning Centres has always prided itself on leading the way and sharing best practice in advances with teaching and learning. Drawing on a wealth of expertise from its experienced consultants, we are able to make accurate recommendations of technologies that may work for these particular schools. It’s certainly not a case of “one size fits all” when it comes to the application of such tech.

Our first session aimed to provide a summary of the “Best of the Best” in learning technologies, some of which were familiar to the teachers (or they had at least heard of) but there were many more that were not. As touched on above, it became even clearer to see why. In writing this very blog post and trying to summarise some of the technologies we dealt with, I got distracted, thinking again about “what is the next big thing and how might we use it in education” and (in true scientific-pondering fashion) started thinking to myself,  “I wonder how many websites there are in the world?” Where better to find the answer than at http://howmanyarethere.net/how-many-websites-are-there-on-the-internet/. Apparently, there are a reported 644,275,754 active websites (source: Netcraft, March 2012) and this number is growing exponentially. I, as one co-deliverer of the twilight workshops and someone that is passionate about technology enhanced learning feels the internet is now “just too big” – there is too much out there. Finding “It” (whatever It may be) has become ever more difficult and it needs someone (or something) to filter out the gems and share these somehow.

These twilight sessions go some way towards this. I believe teachers value the opportunity to spend time away from school and have someone show them something new, but crucially have time to explore and create. This was confirmed by feedback from the teachers in their course evaluations. The second twilight was just that. An opportunity for the teachers to further explore the technologies they wanted to take forward from the first session. There was the use of “flip cameras” to capture lessons (which are then uploaded to various video channels), Photo Story (and similar) that can be used to explain sequential information and various screen-capture software to produce content that can be accessed by students outside the constraints of the classroom walls. There was also a handful of relevant tablet apps introduced and evaluated for good measure! All technologies were directly relevant and chosen because they could potentially enhance the “flip project”.

John Coad, co-deliverer of the twilight sessions said:

“It’s really rewarding to be able to work with these schools and contribute to their exciting project. In the second twilight, the teachers made some really useful and creative learning resources in not much time at all. We planted a seed and they ran with it. We look forward to seeing more of the outcomes for their students when we follow up”.

The Centre will be following up on the schools progress in a few months’ time to see how they are getting on and offer further assistance should they require it.

In the meantime here’s to android 4.3 aka “Creamy Mascarpone Cheesecake” (don’t quote me on this or leak it out – I made it up but sounds feasible!) iPad 4 (or is it 4Smini second edition or 5?!) and web 3.0.

This article was written on a laptop computer. You are reading this article on some kind of device!

If you would like to find out more, “Technology for Learning” is available as a scheduled course running at various times throughout the year or by request for your school or cluster by most of the regional Science Learning Centres. See the Science Learning Centre website or contact your regional centre for more details.

The National Science Learning Centre in York is also running two technology related residential courses which may also be of interest:

ICT Innovations in Science Teaching and Learning

Leading Change in ICT in Primary Science

Design and Technology, Digital and STEM

By Roni Malek

Way back in 2009, the Science Learning Centres collaborated with DATA (the Design and Technology Association), RAEng (the Royal Academy of Engineering) and a range of people from  Design and Technology (D&T )and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering ,Maths) communities to develop Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for Secondary Design and Technology (D&T) teachers in the area of systems and control. Over the years things have developed to cover other topics such as Smart materials and eTextiles and we also now have an online eCPD offering.

DATA and others had identified a range of issues including a long term trend of falling numbers of 15 year olds taking D&T. Most schools were designing and making in ‘the food and resistant materials and textiles’ aspects of the programme of study but relatively few, about 7%, in the ‘systems and control’ aspect using new technologies and STEM contexts.

The two CPD courses, Make it Work and Make it Move, were developed for D&T teachers who had no previous experience of electronics so that they could learn skills, ideas and pedagogy to develop confidence in delivering systems and control in their classrooms, typically at KS3 and KS4.

In the Make it Work course teachers learn basics of electronic components and circuits, solder and assemble a Cyberpet board, based on a PIC (Peripheral Interface Controller) chip. Teachers also program the Cyberpet to detect the switch and light sensor inputs and operate LED and buzzer outputs, for example to simulate a flashing bicycle light. Many other projects are possible: electronic pet, light sensitive security buzzer or night light, tune playing greeting card, variable program steady hand game…

Make it Move extends the use of programmable control to actuation – teachers learn about issues in connecting circuits to electric motors and gears to create programmable moving projects. The example used in the course is a bubble blower, programmed to drive two motors which again can be the basis of other projects.

Both courses have a STEM slant including input from a STEM ambassador to show real world applications of these technologies. In one Make it Work course our STEM Ambassador was from Transport for London and showed the use of PIC type circuits to run tests on traffic lights. In Make it Move a STEM Ambassador from Hitachi Trains described how actuation was used to control brakes, toilet doors and other train systems. Science related to D&T is also covered to show how important Science and D&T are to each other in the real world and to promote collaboration in school.

Make it Move now has an on-line version and there is also an on-line eTextiles course. Teachers enrolling on these courses are sent resources for making and complete the required study on-line in their own time with support from an experienced tutor.

Follow up support from the Digital D&T centres is also available as it was recognised from the outset that teachers would need time and support after the courses to develop their skills and get further ideas.

Another course, Collaborative Learning in Science and Design and Technology is aimed at D&T and science teachers attending together to develop and plan cross curricular work (I’d like to get maths teachers as well!). The course looks at issues and ideas for working across the subjects. It is commonly run on a Smart materials theme but can use other examples. For example at a recent course in an East London School with four D&T and eight science teachers we tried out a range of examples such as comparing crumple zones and measuring the energy consumption of lighting and other electrical devices.

Product analysis of torch parts and construction is a common example in D&T but energy consumption is rarely analysed. The science department has the equipment needed to do this but more importantly for learning, uses the language of energy. The use of  Joules and Watts in both science and D&T leads to better science understanding from working with real contexts and better, more technologically rigorous design. Energy consumption and efficiency are of course two essential design parameters for today’s world.

Courses may be run at Science Learning Centres or by arrangement as outreach at schools. The importance of D&T courses is recognised in our programme with the course fees being supported by our Impact awards for teachers from state maintained schools.

Links
Details of the range of Science Learning Centre D&T courses https://www.sciencelearningcentres.org.uk/audience/secondary/design-technology - only here will you find out what the TTDTT acronym stands for but much more importantly you’ll find links to all the above courses which we hope you will use to invigorate your D&T and STEM curriculum.

Design and Technology Association – http://www.data.org.uk/ and http://www.believeindandt.org.uk/

I stole the “technologically rigorous” quote from someone called James Dyson. It’s in his Ingenious Britain report which you can find scrolling down here http://www.jamesdysonfoundation.com/about/education.asp

Amgen-Bruce Wallace Programme; bringing real life biotechnology to the classroom.

By Kate Mouncey

The Science Learning Centre East of England has been working closely with partners, the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, the Teacher Scientist Network (TSN) and Science Learning Centre London, to bring a high quality US education programme to the UK. The Amgen Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Amgen Corporation, a US biotechnology company with drug development operations in Cambridge and Uxbridge in the UK. As a regional STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) employer, Amgen is keen to promote links with local communities and engage schools and students with the science that they are involved in.

The Amgen Foundation provided a large grant to facilitate training for teachers and technicians in three hubs; Cambridge, Norwich and Uxbridge. Following the training, schools were then eligible to borrow high grade laboratory equipment and consumables to carry out inspirational practical work in lessons. The practical work follows the real life drug development processes undertaken at Amgen. This includes restriction digestion, ligation and gel electrophoresis as well as transformation of E.coli. The quality of the equipment and consumables involved, worth over £20,000, has created a real ‘wow’ factor for the students involved. One teacher said;

“Interacting with industry was exciting. The equipment is current and first rate and gave a real feel for what it is like working in biotechnology. They see this stuff on the news and now they say ‘I’ve done that’. What could be better educationally?”

Some schools are reporting that students have changed their minds about higher education choices following participation in the practical work, choosing to study Biological sciences and specifically biotechnology. Others have extended their work through the Extended Project Qualification.

The programme is now being implemented by 40 schools in Uxbridge, Cambridge and Norwich and we hope to extend the offer in 2013. For more information and updates, keep an eye on the Science Learning Centre website.

The Science Learning Centre West Midlands also run Industry Study tours, in particular their Materials Masterclass in July 2013 is run in conjunction with Rolls-Royce and the University of Birmingham.

Design and Technology Provides Safe Lift Off

by Michelle Evans at Science Learning Centre West Midlands

Flying is relevant to most of our lives, as ‘foreign’ holidays have become the norm. Yet it is often only when we are sat on a plane and ‘past the point of no return’ that we begin to wonder if it’s safe and even about the actual mechanics of how the tonnes of metal in which we are sat (not to mention our luggage) will actually get off the ground and safely deliver us to our sun-filled destination. Even within this consideration, we tend to think of the plane being essentially a

Hercules engine

chunk of metal and don’t really consider the enormous number of processes which have been undertaken to get to that one point. We don’t think about the time and effort and quality control procedures which go into the creation of a single hole in a tiny part of a blade which is crucial for the process of flying and to improve the efficacy of the engine as well as to reduce emissions.

However, at Rolls-Royce they spend a significant amount of time, effort (and money) ensuring that each tiny (and huge) element is completely fail-safe, efficient, light and effective. (I, for one, am rather pleased that they do!) What we may not realise is that this technology is as relevant to our teaching; certainly in Science and Design Technology; as it is to Rolls-Royce because we are working with and developing materials.

Materials science is a growing field with increasingly interesting discoveries and developments, Carbon Nanotubes, a relatively new discovery from the 1990s, are now present in both Design Technology and Science specifications where the structure and potential and current uses are required. ‘Smart’ materials are increasingly prevalent in society and therefore our teaching should be including and considering the uses of these developments within the field; the science behind these is really interesting and ground breaking, but the uses are now quite common; even including electro-conductive lycra (presumably for warm cycling shorts)!

Rolls-Royce Materials Masterclass course 2010

All manufacturing requires materials and it is important for the future to understand the level of research and development required in these processes. World leading manufacturer of jet engines; Rolls-Royce has significant experience with materials and continue to ‘push the boundaries’ in order to develop high quality, durable, light and safe components for their products. They are, after all, the reason that aeroplanes fly!

In order to capture this relevant and essential expertise, Rolls-Royce, the department of Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Birmingham, the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) and the Science Learning Centre West Midlands have collaborated to develop a two day course which brings to life this fascinating ‘topic’.

The Materials Masterclass is designed to support curriculum delivery. It draws on the areas of materials science in which Rolls-Royce has significant experience and can demonstrate examples of applications and the University of Birmingham are able to provide ideas for use in the classroom as well as discussing the science and technology behind materials and their uses.

Materials Masterclass course

This course offers an extension to your personal knowledge in the field as well as resources and ideas to take back to the classroom. This two-day course is sponsored by Rolls-Royce and The Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers and supported by the Department of Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Birmingham and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3), the latter also offer free institutional membership to the Schools Affiliate Scheme for participants.

Go to the Science Learning Centre’s website for more information or to book your place on the Materials Masterclass

Wearable Technology

By Torben Steeg

The integration of textiles and electronic technologies is proceeding at an astonishing pace. New example I’ve come across in just the last few weeks include a skirt with embedded lights whose pattern depends on the wearers’s movement, a T-shirt drum machine, light up accessories and an illuminated backpack.

At first sight it might appear that a great deal of highly technical understanding underlies developments such these. However, while it is true that quite advanced technologies are being used in at least some of these examples, the level of knowledge required for implementation can be quite elementary. This is a result of the confluence of two technology streams: the first is increasingly sophisticated technology being packaged with increased processing power (in ever smaller packages…) that actually makes using the technology simpler, the second is easy access to a wide range of conductive materials including both threads and  a range of textiles.

Implementing such technology is so simple, in fact, that there is now a growing number of products aimed at either education or the hobbyist market that are designed to provide the novice user with the straightforward ability to embed electronics in textiles products. These include the Arduino Lilypad, Aniomagic’s Sparkle and the PICAXE-based DaisyPIC.

In UK schools the use of PICAXE as a system for developing embedding control is well-established from KS3, so the PICAXE DaisyPIC is what I recommend for introducing electronics work into textiles technology as it should link well with what is happening elsewhere in D&T.

You may also be interested in the National STEM Centre’s course Smart, Modern and Electronic Textiles. This is a practical introduction to the basics of e-textiles for teachers wishing to incorporate this area into the curriculum.