First was the mouse: Technology Enhanced Learning: Developing e-learning in the DT curriculum:Implementation

Implementation: Early September term.

There are two main objectives that I would like to meet between now (early September) and the end of the Autumn term:

the issue of pupil progress in the lower school being severly hampered by missed lessons due to extra-curricular activities.
a lack of confidence and practical DT experience prior to joining the school at primary level and at KS3.

I have would also like to expand the original proposals outlined in the rationale as this intervention provides an ideal opportunity for not only for helping learners on an individuals basis but also for developing digital strategies such as the switch from paper to electronic portfolios introduced when I took up my post in September 2011. In addition to this, there is potential for using technology enhanced learning to develop collaborative learning between lessons, particularly with regard to GCSE students. Furthermore, there is scope for using digital technology to address wider issues concerning DT at school W; to raise the profile of the subject and address some of the misconceptions concerning DT and its place within the school curriculum.

Upper Shell GCSE Product Design.

o E-portfolios

o GCSE Product Design Blog

o Facebook help group

In September 2011, paper A3 portfolios were abandoned in favour of e-portfolios with embedded videos and sound-bites using Flip videos. The overall impact on the quality and depth of understanding shown in these portfolios was dramatic. Pupil videos and sound-bites produced in the investigative stages and the development stages of the CAT showed a depth of understanding not realised previously and brought portfolios to life, adding a sense of immediacy and a welcome move away from retrospective diary entry. The introduction of e-portfolios was a resounding success, resulting in pupils who were fully engaged throughout the duration of the CAT and folios characterised by the sophisticated used of multi-media and presentation techniques. The GCSE tally of 100% A* / A grades ,75% of which were A* and the best tally since 2006 bore testimony to the success of this initiative.

I intend to consolidate this upward trend with this year’s GCSE group. Having discussed and reviewed last year’s portfolios, the group are enthusiastic about the use of e-portfolios and the use of Flip videos. During the first week back, we also discussed the possibility of using a remote storage host such as Dropbox or Evernote to overcome various issues arising from the use of USBs, or rather, lost USBs, last year. Some are already familiar with Dropbox. Opportunities for collaborative learning have also come to light during these initial discussions with one pupil citing a GCSE Classics group setting up a social networking help page as an example of effective use of digital media. He is happy to set this up for the group with me as a participant. It is clear from discussions with the group that they would value a blog and a social netweorkign page aimed at nuturing an online collaborative approach rather than a host depository for information that is already available elsewhere, e.g the school Sharepoint site and various folders on the network. Therefore I intend to set up a blog page for this group to:

o Provide a means of communication between lessons with a link to a Facebook page.

o Encourage independent learning by providing links and resources for background reading, particularly in the areas of sustainability and the history of design.

o Provide information about extra-curricular activities and career development such as the Smallpiece Trust and the Arkwright Scholarship scheme.

Lower School 5^th Form Design Technology.

o “How to” videos linked to a host site via QR codes

o “How to” videos hosted on a stand-alone workshop PC

o 5^th Form Product Design Blog.

In the 5^th Form, by far the two biggest barriers to effective learning in DT are time constraints and a lack of DT experience:

“Unless they have come from a state primary, very few of the pupils beginning the school in the Fifth Form (Year 9) have taken part in any DT activity at all as independent prep schools teach to common entrance rather than the national curriculum. When confronted with the demands of practical work for the first time, many pupils lack confidence, initiative and resilience expecting one-to-one individual tuition when the going gets tough.......time constraints are even more of an issue. Terms are between ten and twelve weeks. Product design rotates with electronics at Play (Autumn)half term meaning that the boys have between five and six weeks to complete a practical project. The same pattern is repeated in the spring term meaning that pupils experience only 18 hours (maximum, often less) of Product Design before they take their GCSE options. This compares to the 162 hours of DT a child would have experienced at KS3 assuming a one double period a week of 1 and 1/2 hours.”

http://firstwasthemouse.blogspot.co.uk/p/developing-e-learning-in-dt-curriculum_6908.html

To compound this further, prior to September 2011, DT at School W has experienced a tumultuous period, culminating in a subject marginalised within the curriculum, severely lacking in credibility. The subject’s failure to engage and motivate learners has been reflected in poor quality and unfinished practical work, particularly in the lower school. This negative legacy together with a number of other factors has had a knock-on effect and GCSE numbers have remained pitifully low. The undeniable success of last year’s GCSE candidates has yet to have a trickle-down effect on the lower years. Subsequently, I believe that the key to a successful re-launch of product design at School W. is to use digital technology as part of an overall intiative to establish a "bottom -up" approach that promotes from day one, a departmental ethos of aspiration reflected in the manufacture of completed, fully functioning, aesthetically pleasing products. I am hoping to use use technology enhanced learning to:

o Provide support to individual pupils who have missed practical lesson time in the form of “how to” videos linked to a host site and a stand-alone “electronic buddy” in the workshop. The videos can be accessed by QR codes displayed next to the relevant tool in the workshop.

o To provide support to individual pupils who lack resilience and independence in DT and who are in danger of becoming disengaged when confronted with the challenges of a first practical project.

To summarise, I believe that the key to a successful re-launch of product design in the 5th Form is to ensure that pupils no longer experience the disappointment of unfinished practical work and consequently become disengaged and demotivated as their efforts have come to nothing. It is very difficult for pupils who have been absent to play catch-up in a busy workshop and it can be frustrating for a teacher to break the rhythm of a lesson by having back track over ground already covered. The "how to" videos are not intended as a replacement for teacher input, but to allow pupils to familiarise themselves or remind themselves of a manufacturing process and then seek further guidance if it is required rather than "going in cold" and making mistakes.

As I have used videos of practical demonstrations in my previous school I am very aware that whilst they can serve as a powerful aide memoire they can be very time consuming to produce. They also need to be readily accessible and although You Tube can prove a useful host site, its use can entail unforeseen and unwelcome additions such as less than helpful comments after a video posting. Fortunately, at the end of the summer term, School W. set up its own You Tube channel. This should alleviate the distractions inherent with the use of a more public channel and the need to set up a separate hosting site for the videos. A meeting with the school archivist has been arranged during the first week of term to discuss the use of the You Tube channel.

In addition to the development of a personal learning agenda, technology enhanced learning provides a timely opportunity to address the issue of DT within the school curriculum as a whole. When first appointed to the role, SMT were under no illusion that the subject had suffered a dramatic decline since 2006 and admitted ruefully that it was perceived as “the poor man’s GCSE.” This coupled with the palpable sense within the school that as a practical subject product design is in some way intellectually inferior and lacks academic rigour, provides an opportunity to raise the profile of product design and bang the DT drum. It is quite clear from some of the pupils’ misconceptions and some of the more facile comments made by prospective parents made during tours of the school that an effective PR job is required if the subject is to no longer languish in the educational doldrums.

Therefore I intend to set up a 5^th Form Product Design Blog to act as:

o A central resource with write-ups of practical sessions to consolidate learning and act as a revision aid

o A gallery for exemplar work

o A link to the You Tube channel host

o A means of engaging pupils through interactive “quickie” quizzes and challenges

o A link to background reading links to encourage independent learning

Proposed time scale for tel intervention:

Upper Shell		5^th Form
E-portfolios: embedded flip videos and sound bites	End of summer term 2012, ongoing throughout during of CAT until Easter 2013	Modernist Tea Light Holder.
GCSE Product Designer’s Blog	Set up mid-September: ongoing 2012-2013. Regular postings, updating of links and resources, preferably on a weekly basis.	Liaise with: School archivist Director of Studies ICT support	Early September
Facebook help group	Set up during summer term by GCSE pupil. Liaise with ICT and Undermaster (Deputy Head) prior to joining FB group. Proposed invite to join group early September. Respond when required – notifications via smartphone.	“How to” manufacturing videos: Marking out on mild steel. Wasting mild steel: cutting. Wasting mild steel: drilling. How to fit a twist drill bit. Pillar drill: health and safety. Shaping mild steel: Cross filing. Shaping mils steel: Draw filing	September – Mid October. Review success of videos at half term rotation mid October.
		Generate QR codes for manufacturing videos beginning with pillar drill.	Review success of QR codes at half term rotation mid-October
		Set up mid-September 5^th Form Blogs: 5B/5H/5J/5M/5R/5W	Review success of blogs and use at half term rotation mid-October.

Trialling and reviewing the tel intervention: Mid-September to mid-October

Upper Shell GCSE Product Design.

Joining the GCSE Product Design Facebook group!

After meetings with the Undermaster and Director of Studies to clarify my position as a member of teaching staff on a pupil Facebook page, one of my GCSE students has been as good as his word and helped me join the GCSE Product Designers Facebook page. The FB page has proved so far to be a very useful communication tool, primarily because notifications come straight to my smartphone via gmail. Interestingly, because I tend to have my phone about my person or nearby most of the time, responding to a notification on my phone does not seem nearly as invasive as opening the school intranet page to access my school email, the other main way pupils communicate with staff between lessons. Therefore, any previous concerns regarding work/life balance and becoming beholden 24/7 have not been realised primarily because of the speed and ease with which I can respond to a posting. The GCSE blog appears to have been well received, all the GCSE students have responded to their invitations and signed up to the blog. There has been some traffic on the blog although it appears that at the moment, Facebook appears to be their preferred method of collaboration between lessons. The blog has proved useful as a prompt between lessons and as a plenary at the beginning and end of lessons. Students have used the links to investigate background reading resources and to investigate links to the Arkwright Scholarship scheme and The Victoria and Albert Museum.

First posting on the GCSE Product Design blog home page.

GCSE Product Design blog home page postings to encourage background reading.

GCSE Product Design blog home page posting used as a plenary and a welcome back.

The e-portfolios are progressing and the Flip videos are once again proving popular this year, primarily due to their ease of use. The students are adept at using Dropbox as their host so rather than reinvent the wheel and try to impose Evernote on them- and give myself more work – I am keen for them to carry on using Dropbox. As long as we are overcoming the issue of lost or damaged USBs, the cause of much angst last year, I’m happy!

e-portfolio slide: investigating a design context: candidate uses an embedded soundbite to explain the company ethos of his end retailer.

e-portfolio: candidate uses an embedded Flip video to explain and comment upon a group product analysis exercise.

Lower School 5^th Form Design Technology.

A September meeting with the school archivist proved productive and the actual process of uploading videos to the school’s You Tube channel is relatively straightforward. A number of manufacturing videos have been uploaded but I am not as far as I would like to be at this point. I was hoping to have videoed all the practical demonstrations shown during the first 5^th Form practical project, a Modernist-inspired tea light holder. During this project the pupils learn a diverse range of manufacturing techniques ranging from traditional engineering and craft skills to using a CNC Denford router and a vacuum bag press. However, upon refection it is clear that I need to prioritise the order in which I produce the videos if I am to instil conifdence in the pupils. Therefor I have focused on producing videos for the tools and equipment the boys find the most daunting: the pillar drill, the bandfacer and the brazing hearth.

Preparing the drilling area for the QR codes. (NB Cadbury's Flake colour scheme - no beige walls in my workshop!)

Mounted QR codes.

On the whole the videos accessed via the stand-alone PC and the QR codes have been well received and have boosted confidence in the boys less sure of themselves, and those who have missed lessons. Because of the time it is taking to video the demonstrations and to generate and mount the QR codes, I have decided to upload the videos to the You Tube channel and place the codes next to the relevant piece of equipment as an on-going process that will continue unto next term. All of the manufacturing videos can be accessed via the 5^th Form Blog which in turn can either be accessed via the school network or a QR code. However, it is noteworthy that the boys have preferred to access the videos via the standalone PC or the networked laptops.

Accessing a manufacturing video using the 5th Form blog QR.

What is becoming clear is that I have overestimated the appeal of QR codes and using a smartphone to access them. On a practical level, only about half the boys own a smartphone (or bring it into school) and very few have a QR reader already uploaded to their phone or seem particularly enthused about downloading one suggesting that this particular technology is less on their radar than I supposed it would be. Pupils seem to prefer to access the videos via the stand-alone PC or the networked laptops. Those who have missed lessons have found the videos very useful and verbal feedback has been positive. The manufacturing videos are accessible via a link on the sidebar of the streamlined 5^th Form blog. However, it has become apparent that accessing these videos via a smartphone, particularly Blackberrys can prove to be frustrating. The sidebar is not always visible on the phone version of the blog and the web version can take too long to load.

5th Form pupil watching a manufacturing demo on the desktop PC

In September, I rather rashly set up six 5^th Form blogs, one for each teaching group as I wanted each group to have its own design identity and a sense of “esprit de corps.” However, with the benefit of hindsight, this was wildly ambitious as I underestimated how unrealistically time consuming trying to update six separate blogs on a regular basis would be. Therefore, over the October half term I condensed the six blogs into one which hopefully will prove far more manageable.

Amalgamated 5th Form blog, the result of a progress review during October half term.

The blog is proving popular and is being used as an effective revision and to consolidate learning. It is noticeable that the pupils are becoming more accurate in their use of DT terminology and the naming of tools and equipment. The competition spot has proved very popular with pupils vying to answer the DT challenges first, it’s amazing how the promise of a bag of Haribo can focus the mind!