SocialTech

Education Technology Action Group consultation

Last Monday I was invited to Sanctuary House to contribute to two face to face meeting relating to the Data and Infrastructure strand identified by the Education Technology Action Group (ETAG)  as one of its three key workstreams. ETAG, as outlined on Group Chair Stephen Heppell’s website, is an independent group set up at the behest Michael Gove (Secretary of State for Education), Matthew Hancock (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for further education, skills and lifelong learning) and David Willetts (Minister of State for Universities and Science). The purpose of the group is to make recommendations that will “aim to best support the agile evolution of the FE, HE and schools sectors in anticipation of disruptive technology for the benefit of learners, employers & the UK economy", identifying “any barriers to the growth of innovative learning technology that have been put in place (inadvertently or otherwise) by the Governments, as well as thinking about ways that these barriers can be broken down.”

In relation to central government, I’d identify current barriers as 1. the current gap between educational policy and the social, political and economic impact of technologies, and 2. within the schools sector, a seeming reluctance to engage with or countenance these changes as mainstream, and 3. an apparent reticence to recognise the curriculum wide relevance of the use of technology to support learners and be used by learners - the current focus being on students learning about technology, which confines discussions relating to staff development needs and practice to computing.  The common theme here is that at the level of policy relating to schools, the use of technology for education is being perceived as a separate, specialist area, rather than an effective and integral range of approaches and tools to support learners and learning communities.

This isn’t, of course, to say that there is any shortage of schools and school staff making effective and creative use of innovative approaches that are supported, or made possible, by the use of technologies. If you believe, as I do, that school staff are best placed to effectively develop practices that make best use of technologies, the job of those supporting their work should be to ensure they have the ability to do so. While many schools and school staff are confident and well equipped in terms of continuing development, the picture isn’t consistent. Recent DigiLit Leicester research (from 2013, and the soon to be released 2014 findings) indicate that while the majority of secondary school staff are highly confident in their use of technology, over 20% of staff working with learners are not confident about employing technologies to support key areas of practice. Staff confidence is critical to the ongoing use, development and adoption of technologies.

The public consultation on the three strands, Connected Institutions, Data and Infrastructure, and Understanding and Accrediting Learning, and an additional Wild Card cluster, is open until 23 June  - comments, proposals, suggestions or observations have been invited from anywhere in the world, by reply form, by email or Twitter (#etag), or for the Data and Infrastructure strand, via this Google doc.  The Action Group will spend the summer developing recommendations in relation to the consultation for short-term and long-term actions, which will be presented to ministers for consideration.

The call has expressed a preference for ‘short and terse’ responses, which the Action Group will review, and fashion into tempting recommendations. I’m focusing my bullet recommendations here on the use of technology within the schools sector, both ‘technology to support learning’ and ‘technology to support the running of the organisation’, since without accounting for infrastructure, connectivity and systems, we can’t really expect mainstream development of technologies to support learning and communities. My recommendations here are for areas that need to be addressed at national level, rather than left to luck, so should be supported through central government policy or activity, or partnership/endorsement.

Cluster 2 Data and Infrastructure - Led by Bob Harrison and Maren Deepwell.

(2a) Students with sight and control of their own complex learning “big” data. What prevents institutions from making best use of student data, both for teachers and by students themselves?

‘Big’ seems like an unnecessary descriptor/constraint in relation to ‘student’s own’ data. In terms of country wide data collection and management, we need to learn lessons from the recent outcry surrounding the NHS England Cara.data, and parallel protests against student data mining and access in the US - particularly in terms of ensuring clarity about data use or potential data use, and engaging with communities about the collection and use of their data at all stages.

The text from the website suggests that learners will be incentivised by access to data relating to their achievement in relation to others data: “They will understand their own data, be able to act on it directly, have a sense of "where I am" relative to others now, to preceding learners, to international competitors, to the younger learners behind them, and so on.” This seems to be predicated on a future where all learners are motivated by high level ranked progression and achievement data, which is a highly problematic assumption. It also seems to eschew the validity of an educational experience of children and young people not in a position to make use of this data to improve their outcomes, for example, some children and young people with learning disabilities.

Recommendations:

• Support Digital Citizenship education: Ensure UK citizens, particularly young people, have access to information relating to data collection, use, access, permissions and privacy. If we are interested in enabling people to make decisions and take responsibility for their own lives and communities, and if we acknowledge that digital tools and environments play a critical role in how our lives are lived, in how communities engagement takes place, in legal and political processes, then we need to support citizenship education which embeds digital citizenship issues. We have significant, pressing problems now around rights and laws relating to privacy, identity, reputation, surveillance, consent and ownership in digital environments. Also supports strand 3a and 3b.

• Digital literacy education relating to online presence for 14-16 year olds: Ongoing barriers to data portability between and across institutions, and relating to activities which take place outside of formal education, mean that equipping learners to collect and curate their own achievements. Rather than wasting money and time on central platforms, government should focus on ensuring all young people (particularly those aged over 14) have access to skills and advice about managing their online presence and identity, and making use of public and private digital spaces to manage information and data relating to their own achievements. Also supports Strand 1a, 1b, 1c and 3c.

• Increase opportunities for young people to engage with data: Enabling young people to make use of data is one way of supporting a broader digital citizenship agenda - and we are fortunate to have examples of great work in this area - for example, civic hacks events and approaches like Apps for Good, Code the City, Social Innovation Camp, Young Rewired State. How can we extend and make ‘data for good’ opportunities accessible to more young people? Also supports strand 3a and 3b.

• Support school staff development and innovation relating to assessment and feedback: The DigiLit Leicester research indicates there are high levels of secondary school staff confidence across a wide range of approaches to using technology for assessment and feedback, including self and peer evaluation for learners. Investment should be made in surfacing and sharing the range of existing effective approaches, and in the development of new approaches, and supporting school staff, leaders and governors in data collection and use methods and approaches. It’s important that we don’t limit work in this area by only focusing on quantitative data and summative assessment. Also supports strand 3a and 3b.

• Invest in validation outside of traditional routes: validation for a range of skills and achievements, as well as more nuanced validation within existing qualification, is a potentially high impact area for development. Open badges represent an important approach to this - however, just focusing on employers concerns and needs in relation to the usefulness of open accreditation models risks missing important benefits, particularly in relation to young people - badges don’t just demonstrate achievement, they also positively reinforce achievements and can support young people in articulating their abilities. Also supports strand 3a and 3b.

• Investment and development in Green ICT initiatives at school level: As well as the cost to the environment, energy costs account for a substantial portion of school budgets. Further work in this area should address how school communities access and understand building data, how data can be used to support the curriculum, and how schools can be supported in reducing energy costs. Also supports Strand 1b.

Notes from my groups discussion, which included Allison Littlejohn, Susan Easton, and Ewa Luger, and focused on the question How can learners make choices in relation to the use of their data? How can learners understand the implications of the use of their personal data? were captured by Allison and added to the Strand 2 consultation Google doc.

The 2b strand discussion of the Data and Infrastructure cluster focused on the safe and effective use of learner owned technologies inside and outside of the classroom, particularly in relation to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) approaches. I won’t go into drivers and benefits of BYOD, the various approaches schools are taking, or the key implementation areas (community engagement, staff development, financing models, digital divide issues, acceptable use policies, network security, infrastructure, device management).

I’ll cut to my recommendations in this area:

• Support a national network of school Student Digital Leaders: School student digital champion programmes are an extremely important route. These initiatives represent a creative and effective approach to supporting learners who are enthusiastic about technologies in playing an active role in school ICT development and use, give responsibility to learners and are a non-confrontational method of embedding enhanced technology use across the whole school. They can play a critical role in BYOD implementation, and support the cultural change this approach represents. Student Digital Leader approaches should be supported nationally, either as stand alone student initiatives and/or as an integral function of student councils.

• Support staff Digital Literacy: Staff development is critically linked to the successful implementation and sustainability of any BYOD approach, to the productive adoption of learner owned technologies, and to the development of technology use to support learners in general. Extrapolating from the DigiLit Leicester research (which collected self evaluation data from 942 secondary and SEN school staff), around 20% of secondary school staff are not confident in making basic use of technologies to support key areas of their practice. The approach we have taken in Leicester - situating digital literacy in professional practice, providing some central support and and providing opportunities and encouragement for staff directed development, has been effective in increasing secondary school staff confidence. Also supports Strand 1a, 1b and 3c.

• Promote and support Open Education approaches and policy: the use, creation and sharing of Open Education Resources is a key way in which finite resources can be made the most of, knowledge and resources shared, educators connected. The European Commission is investing significantly in this area. Scotland and Wales are both supporting Open Education initiatives at country-wide level. In England, we have some great examples of regional initiatives supporting Open Education, including the North-West OER Network and the DigiLit Leicester project. Central government has been active in terms of Open Data and Open Government, but has yet to show the same level of appreciation or support for the benefits of Open Education. Also supports Strand 1a, 1c and 3c.

• Ring fence dedicated ICT funding within school buildings budgets: Funding and criteria for school building works needs to support rather than stymie school use of technologies, particularly in relation to passive infrastructure, WAN relocation costs, server design, power and data, wifi and ventilation design. This recommendation also supports Strand 1a and 1b.

• Provide e-safety and cyberbullying advice and guidance to schools: Increasingly schools are making use of social technologies, for learning and teaching, as well as for communications. Schools also have a duty of care towards their learners and staff in terms of cyberbulling and e-safety issues. Inspection requirements relating to e-safety are not currently matched by the provision of official, or officially endorsed, advice and support in these areas. Schools who are not confident in relation to understanding and managing issues are unlikely to make use of the positive opportunities afforded by social technologies.  As a minimum, central government should issue guidance on addressing cyberbullying (focusing on both learners and school employees), and on using social media for community engagement. Guidance delivered by Childnet International  on behalf of central government was issued in 2007 (guidance for schools relating to learners) and in 2009 (guidance for school employees), but has not been updated. This recommendation also supports Strand 1a, 1b and 3c.  

• Ensure the long term viability of e-safety and cyberbullying advice services:  The UK Safer Internet Center currently provides an important and critical service to schools and school staff with it’s Helpline service, which is part funded by the European Commission. This recommendation also supports Strand 1a, 1b and 3c.

Cluster 1: connected institutions - Led by James Penny with Dawn Hallybone

(1a) Learning will be significantly more global. How do we enable institutions to collaborate and learn from the best in the world – including their neighbours?

I’d suggest that within institutions, the issue is frequently about a lack of good collaboration and communications internally, let alone with neighbours. Focusing on schools – schools and individual staff members are increasingly aware of the wider agenda around ‘connected learning’ and the benefits of being connected educators. School have for a very long time made use of video conferencing and blogging to connect their classrooms, and the use of social media, and in particular social networking sites, to support educators engagement in professional networks and continuing professional development continues to increase. In terms of professional school communications, school now routinely make use of text messaging and email to communicate with parents. Use of social media and networking channels to provide information to parents and promote the work of the school (as opposed to individual staff members) is increasing.

• Invest in Technology Supported Professional Development skills and approaches, focusing on introductory level activities and resources: The Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education runs the Connected Educators initiative to “help educators thrive in a connected world.” The DigiLit Leicester project has similar aspirations, and focuses on supporting staff not only to use technology in their practice, but to connect to and share their practice with other educators. Our research indicates a wealth of confidence and practice, but also a significant minority of staff that do not currently make use of the opportunities for self-directed professional development. Also supports Strand 3c.

 Wild Card Ideas 

 These are less wide card and more actons which will support all of the areas above: 

• Provide educational technology training for school inspectors and governing bodies: Support school inspectors and empower governors to understand how technology can support learning, teaching and community development (by which I mean, the use of technology which includes learning, teaching and communications, but also extends to engagement, consultation, learner voice and governance). Equip inspectors and governors to be able to identify effective and transformative uses of technologies, as opposed to uses of technology to substitute functions and activities.

• Coordinated support for use of technology across the curriculum for subject associations: support for subject specialist boards to ensure their members have access to information, research and activity relating to uses of technology.

• Prioritise inclusivity and access to technology education: actively address inclusivity and promote diversity in relation to technology related activities and careers, in relation to gender, race, socio-economic status, disability (and outside of the compulsory education sector, age).  There are some great organisations already working in this space - for example the UK Online Centres, and CAS Include. 

 

e-Safety Guidance: Supporting Learners on the Autistic Spectrum

Yesterday saw the launch of the Childnet STAR Toolkit – a free online resource I was responsible for scoping and commissioning on behalf of Leicester City Council. The toolkit offers practical advice and teaching activities to help schools explore internet safety with young people on the autism spectrum. The launch took place at Leicester's New Walk Museum, in the beautifully just-refurbished Victorian Art Gallery. 

The STAR toolkit is one of the Council's DigiLit Leicester projects, a professional  development approach designed to make sure that staff have the confidence and skills to get the most out of the investment being made in technology for schools through the city's Building Schools for the Future Programme. Childnet worked closely with three of Leicester's BSF schools - Ellesmere College, Nether Hall School and West Gate School, to design the resource. 

Will Gardner, CEO of Childnet, said:

“The Childnet STAR toolkit is designed to give schools the building blocks they need to develop a tailored approach to online safety for their pupils with ASD. By working with Leicester City Council and three fantastic schools in Leicester we have been able to develop a practical online toolkit that addresses the online risks faced by young people living with autism spectrum disorder, such as cyberbullying, contact by strangers and exposure to inappropriate content. Importantly, this resource is available to all UK schools free online. Through the teaching activity ideas and forum we want to encourage educators across the country to use these resources, and also to feedback and share their ideas and materials so we can collectively and collaboratively provide excellent e-safety education for young people with ASD.”

The Childnet STAR Toolkit

The aim of the Childnet STAR Toolkit is to assist teachers in educating their pupils with ASD about the internet and safeguarding them against online risks.

The four sections SAFE, TRUST, ACTION and RESPECT all feature the concept of friendship and emphasise the importance of finding the balance between online and offline interaction. At the same time, the resource is continually promoting a positive, fun and safe experience for young people with ASD.

The online resource includes a forum to encourage educators to share their teaching ideas and how they have used and adapted the STAR Toolkit in their educational setting. This will provide a platform for sharing best practices in online safety for those working with young people with ASD.

The resource is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Launch event in Leicester

The event was opened by Councillor Vi Dempster, Leicester’s Assistant City Mayor with responsibility for children, young people and schools. She said:

“I’m really pleased to be launching this innovative resource as part of our commitment to transform learning through the Building Schools for the Future Programme.

“It’s vitally important that we keep young people safe online. This resource will help to tackle some of the challenges involved in ensuring young learners who could be more vulnerable are aware of the risks.”

“It will help make sure that all our learners get the chance to benefit from the many positive learning opportunities the internet can offer.”

DigiLit Leicester: Projects and Activities Report

The DigiLit Leicester project is a two year collaboration between Leicester City Council, De Montfort University and 23 of the city’s secondary schools. The project focuses on supporting secondary school teaching and teaching support staff in developing their digital literacy knowledge, skills and practice, and their effective use of digital tools, environments and approaches in their work with learners.

Using recommendations generated from the 2013 Survey Results, a wide range of activities, projects and events have taken place across the city - designed to support and develop staff confidence in the use of technology to support learning. In keeping with the project team's commitment both to working in partnership with schools, and to supporting access to opportunity as widely as possible, we organised activities in two key ways:

DigiLit Leicester team managed activities

Centrally supported activities provided opportunities across all schools, allowing individual staff members to participate. Activities were either promoted openly to all BSF school staff members, or targeted at specific groups – either to staff role (for example, school leadership) or to survey area or area and level (for example, entry level staff in Technology supported Professional Development). The majority of activities took place within BSF Programme schools, allowing colleagues from across the city to visit other - often newly built - teaching spaces, and increasing accessibility for staff working at the host school.

This category includes our digital literacy focused TeachMeet, our e-Safety Pioneers Event and our Autism and Online Safety project - a collaboration between Childnet International and three of our SEN schools.

School led activities

These projects were supported through calls that were open to individuals and schools. Individual projects were designed to support members of staff in carrying out small scale projects which help them to take their practice forward in one or more of the DigiLit Framework strands. School level projects may have been led by an individual or team of staff, e.g. a department, and focused on developing practice across the school in one or more of the DigiLit Framework strands.

This category of activities includes projects such as Hamilton Community College's Siyabonga project, which involved learners collaborating via Skype on a live concert with children from South Africa and The City of Leicester College's Bring Your Own Device trial, the first of its kind in the city, using iPad minis with a Y8 tutor group.

To date, we have carried out six projects centrally and supported 21 school based projects. We've rounded up all of the DigiLit Leicester project activities, and provided links to further information and related resources. These can be downloaded here. The short version provides brief summaries of all of the projects - the longer version provides more detail.

Full report:       

DigiLit Leicester Project Activities Report - May 2014 (word) 

DigiLit Leicester Project Activities Report May 2014 (PDF)

Short report:

DigiLit Leicester Project Activities Short Report May 2014 (word)

DigiLit Leicester Project Activities Short Report May 2014 (PDF)

Next Steps

Feedback from schools has been very positive in relation to all of the approaches taken to support staff development this year. However, several issues have emerged that will be taken in to account for planning for the next year:

• Staff ambition relating to project opportunities is high and this has sometimes resulted in over commitment to project activity and outputs. The team have worked with some school staff to help reduce project scope in order to better focus on the quality of their outputs and the manageability of their project schedules.
• Schools often need or would welcome additional support in the production of outputs, particularly relating to framing projects in research terms and having capacity to provide very high quality outputs.
• Pressures on staff time remains one of the key reasons staff cannot engage with opportunities and activities. The flexible approach taken to by the project team, supporting a range of ways that staff can engage with project opportunities, has helped address this to some extent.
• Significant activities relating to the project focus have taken place across the schools. Communications relating to work not directly carried out or supported by the project team have, however, been limited. This is an area that needs improving.

The approach taken for the Autism and Online Safety project recognised issues relating to capacity and the schools’ need for external support for larger projects – particularly in relation to brokering external partnerships and connecting projects to external expertise and organisations. It allowed us to trial a hybridised approach to support for staff development. The DigiLit team took responsibility for preparing the project scope in consultation with the schools who proposed the project, and managing the appointment process through public tender. This approach has proven to be very effective, and we will be looking to implement and manage further projects in this way.

The 2014 DigiLit Leicester survey was open between 17 March and 16 May 2014. Once collected and analysed, these data will be used to review current recommendations and their related action priorities, in the context of this year’s successes and identified issues.

 

 

Cross-posted from LCC SchoolTech

Twitter for School Staff Professional Development

All school staff benefit from engagement with continuing professional development (CPD) – keeping up to date in their subject and curriculum area, and in teaching approaches and methods. Web and mobile based technologies have changed the landscape for school staff in terms of how they can connect to other educators both locally and across the globe. Personal Learning Networks (PLN), developed and managed by educators, allow school staff to discover, discuss and share relevant ideas, resources and approaches.

Twitter is jam packed with educators from all over the country, and all over the world, who are interested in sharing with and learning from colleagues. I ran two Twitter for Educators CPD sessions in March, designed to support staff in using Twitter in developing their professional networks. The workshops support work around the DigiLit Leicester project sixth framework strand – Technology supported Professional Development, and were designed to help staff improve their confidence and skills in this area.

Two sessions were held at De Montfort University: a beginner workshop, aimed to get staff up and running with Twitter and to introduce the basics and an intermediate workshop, offering essential tips and tools for improving the Twitter experience.

Create your Twitter Presence

Josie Fraser - Twitter Workshop - getting started (March 2014) from Josie Fraser

This session was aimed at absolute beginners and assumed no prior use of Twitter. The workshop began with an introduction to the basics of Twitter; creating a username, choosing an avatar (profile picture) and writing your Twitter bio (160 character biography). Attendees were then supported in setting up their profiles through a ‘desktop tour’ of Twitter, a walkthrough of the sign up process.

For many beginners, the anatomy of a tweet can be the most complicated part of getting to grips with the service. With hashtags, retweets, mentions and more, beginners can easily be overwhelmed. A Twitter basics worksheet (word) was provided for staff, identifying the key conventions used in tweets, to help staff familiarise with these elements. Attendees were also encouraged to work together, tweeting one another, to build up confidence.

Top tips were also shared, focusing on the use of Twitter as an educator, and the implications that has for online behaviour and identity. Issues such as following students, parents or carers and the importance of checking the validity of information before tweeting were covered.

Developing your Personal Learning Networks (PLN) on Twitter

Josie Fraser - Twitter Workshop - build your network (March 2014) from Josie Fraser

The second session was designed for staff who are familiar with Twitter basics and already have profiles. This session focused on engaging with communities on Twitter and tips for growing PLNs. The workshop looked at how to write ‘sweet tweets’ – to share in a way that engages others.

The final section of the workshop focused on tools to aid effective tweeting: URL shorteners, like goo.gl which can track the number of times your link is accessed; mobile  and desk-based clients; and social bookmarking tools, to save and share useful tweets.We also looked at reviewing Twitter profiles (word).

 

Bonus links:

• You can see how the team used Storify to collect and curate tweets from our recent TeachMeet event
• The Teacher's Guide to Twitter - from @Edudemic
• Have you got a great Twitter resource that has been really useful? Recommend it in the comments!

 

Cross-posted from LCC SchoolTech

 

Winning! The DigiLit Leicester Project

The core project team - Lucy Atkins, Josie Fraser and Richard Hall -are all delighted theDigiLit Leicester project has been selected as one of the five winners of the Reclaim Open Learning innovation contest, sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, the Digital Media and Learning Hub, and the MIT Media Lab.

Being selected alongside other projects of such high caliber is a real honour:

•  Digital Storytelling 106 (DS106) (US)
•  FemTechNet (US)
• Jaaga Study (India)
• Phonar-Ed (UK)

It's a great win, not just for the project, but for the city. Our project is a partnership between Leicester City Council, De Montfort University and the 23 Leicester Building Schools for the Future (BSF) mainstream and SEN secondary schools. It's an important project in terms of the city, since it's how the ICT strand of the BSF Programme is structuring, designing and delivering on staff development, to make sure learners in the city get the most benefit from the investment being made in technology.

The project is explicit about the important role open education plays within digital literacy  - particularly in terms of the ability to find, evaluate, create, build on and use open educational resources, and in connecting to, participating in and creating open learning networks. The framework and survey content is available under open licence for others to make use of, build on, or adjust for their own settings.    

The project aims to improve learner outcomes and opportunities in Leicester by identifying the ways in which school staff are able to use technology to enhance their teaching practice and communities, and support development where gaps are identified. We've done this by developing a framework of digital literacy, in partnership with schools, situated in secondary school practice. We've developed a survey, again in partnership, mapped to the framework, from which we've collected information at the level of individual staff members, schools, and city wide. This month we have been busy meeting with schools to feed back their survey results, decide priorities and plan next steps. We'll be releasing an external report on the initial findings at the beginning of October 2013. In the second year of the project, we'll be working with schools on a range of initiatives to further increase staff digital literacy skills and confidence across the city.

Cross-posted from LCC's SchoolTech blog.

Minecraft Meetup - report & resources

Leicester City Council's BSF ICT strand is all about using technology to support learning, teaching, community development, and (very importantly) about having fun. So it was no surprise that the whole team were enthusiastic about supporting the ClubClub Minecraft Meetup event at LCB Depot, which took place on Saturday 18th May.

Around 180 people of all ages decended on LCB Depot for the Meetup, which included talks, activities, and competitions. We've rounded up all of the resources from the day in one handy place!

Check out photos from the event here!  

Contents

Introducing Minecraft

Minecraft Papercraft

Minecraft Raspberry Pi

Minecraft Creative Competition

Minecraft Eyetracker

Minecraft PvP Competition

Minecraft Edu

Leicester Lo-fi

Thanks to everyone who made the day happen!

 

Introducing Minecraft

Joseph Ishmael (16) and Luke Shortland (15) kicked off the day with an introduction to Minecraft.

 

Joseph & Luke's Minecraft Meetup slides 18 May 2013 from Josie Fraser

 

Hi, we are Joseph and Luke.

We are very happy to be opening today's Minecraft event with a short talk to introduce Minecraft. We know there are a lot of people here today who know the game and play it a lot, but many of the parents here today will have no idea what Minecraft might be. So this talk is especially for you.

Minecraft is a creative game created by a Swedish programmer called Markus Persson “Notch”(as many people know him). The game was developed and published by Mojang in May 2009. The game is unique because it is mainly based on blocks and being creative.

Minecraft is available for different platforms. Personal computer (PC) was the original platform, the game runs on multiple operating systems including Windows, Mac OS X (for Apple computers) and Linux. Minecraft – Pocket Edition was released for Android phones in October 2011, and for iOS (Apple phones and iPad) in November 2011. This is a cut down version of the game that focuses on building and survival basics. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition was released in May 2012. Minecraft: Pi Edition for the Raspberry Pi, allows players to use code to make things happen in the game world. it was officially released in February 2013. At the end of 2012 sales were at about 20 million across all platforms, with sales roughly even across PC, Xbox and mobile versions.

People of all ages all over the world play Minecraft –it is now even being used by teachers and educators to support learning.

The purpose of the game is to build and be creative at the same time, although you don’t have to do this you could simply spend your time fishing, hunting or mining and many other different things. You need to download the game onto your PC, or a version to play on your Xbox or mobile phone. We recommend the computer version – the updates are faster and there are more items and more ways to have fun.

You need to create an account – try and think of something you can remember and using a strong password is important. Try and think of a creative name that doesn’t need numbers if you can. Before you get started look at the controls – on the home screen, click on ‘options’ and then ‘controls’. You can familiarise yourself with the controls, or customise them if you like. If you forget you can take a look while you are playing. The default controls will be familiar to anyone who regularly plays games.

To get started, select ‘single player’ from the main menu. Then select create new world. It’s best to get start with ‘creative mode’ – you can select this on the single player menu. Then select ‘create new world’. You character will spawn (appear in the world) in a random location in the Minecraft world. You might see forests, deserts, plains, swamp land, jungle, or ice plains - there are many type of landscape. The game defaults to first person point of view (POV) so it will look like you are seeing out of your own eyes in the game.

In creative mode you can run, walk, fly and swim (technically jumping in the water) and explore your environment. Creative basically lets you be creative, you can get whatever you want and then just build very easily, this can also be very fun because you can spawn all the mobs in the game and fight them at your will. When you have finished looking around, press the ‘e’ button to bring up an available items menu. This includes all the blocks you need to build and survive, and also blocks with a range of different qualities. Put blocks into your inventory to use them. You can place them in the world by right clicking. In creative mode you can get whatever you want and then just build very easily, this can also be a lot of fun.

Blocks are what the Minecraft world are made of. There are many types of blocks – some blocks are only used for building (houses, shelters, walls), others have particular qualities. Soul sand blocks for example will slow you down if you try to walk across them. Other blocks, like glowstone, will light up the area they are in. In creative mode, you don’t have to make items or blocks – you just select them by clicking the e button.

In survival mode you have to work harder. Some blocks can be combined with other blocks to make items. Some blocks can be used to make components that can be used to make other items. Some blocks can be obtained by breaking them with your fist, however some harder materials such as diamond will require you to make a iron pickaxe to obtain them, to make one mine iron and coal, mix them in a furnace and then make an iron pickaxe to mine the diamonds.

Also experiment with blocks – for example putting a redstone torch (an inventory item you make from other items) near TNT will cause an explosion, which will destroy most blocks in the area. You really need to find out for yourself how to make items from blocks, but you can ask people who play the game. Learning how to make new blocks and blow things up is part of the fun.

A day and night cycle in Minecraft is 24 minutes – each minute represents one hour. Going into sleep mode will speed up the night time.

Mobs are living creatures in the game – for example chickens, creepers, squids, and witches. They spawn in random locations – unless you turn the game mode to peaceful, they will just turn up. Some of these are friendly, and some are hostile. Hostile mobs – including creepers, zombies, skeletons and enderman tend to spawn at night time. In creative mode mobs cannot hurt you, although they may attack you.

As well as creative mode, there is Survival mode. clearly from the name, you basically have to survive without being given anything to start with. This mode is here for playing the game in a challenging way. In survival mode you are encouraged to make a house and to find resources that will help you defend your self or you will die. You also must find a sustainable way of getting food so you don’t starve.

Hostile mobs will harm you in survival mode – some will hit you, fire missiles such as arrows or poison potions, some will even explode next to you. You start with 10 hearts – hearts represent how healthy you are - and being hit will deplete your hearts. You can increase your health by taking health potion. If you lose all your health your character will die – you will respawn in another random location, with full health but all of the items you were carrying in your inventory will remain in the place you died and you can only recover them by collecting them from there. Which is a big pain.

You can play in creative or survival mode as a single player, or when you are more confident, you can play in multiplayer mode. This means you play alongside other people who are online as well. In multiplayer you can fight against others, or work with them to build.

We play on an online server called citywars We have built a city, and we run it with other players who are city leaders. Everyone has jobs and roles in the city, for example, miners, police officers, hunters, priests. People trade, get taxed, create laws, develop their characters. You can build your own home in a city, and develop your skills, and attack other cities.

Any Questions?

A lively round of questions followed the talk, including debates on the best elements and the worst Mob. There were convincing arguments made from the floor for creepers and witches as the most dangerous foe, but the casting vote from the floor went to 'parents who make you get off the computer'.

 

Minecraft Papercraft

As well as computer based activities, we had a papercraft room for people to cut and paste together their own Minecraft mini figures - including this amazing Minecraft chess set!

You can print your own Steves, creepers, and squids here:

The Ultimate Guide to Minecraft Papercraft! from Instructables

Minecraft Papercraft Chess from Pixel Paper Craft

The Standardized Papercraft from Minecraft Forums

For more activity ideas, check out this Minecraft Birthday Party post from Cupcake Stand, or search Pinterest for 'Minecraft Birthday Party'.

 

Minecraft Raspberry Pi

 

Artist/Researcher Sean Clark brought along a Raspberry Pi computer to demo Minecraft: Pi Edition, and also presented his Etch-a-Pi project - a Raspberry Pi controlled Etch-a-Sketch. If you are currently using Raspberry Pi computers or interested in finding out more, why not join the Leicester Raspberry Pi Users Group?

Find out how to use Minecraft Pi - check out this tutorial on getting started from Martin O'Hanlon.

 

Minecraft Creative Competition

Minecraft is a fantastic environment to create in. Our first competition of the day provided an opportunity for attendees to show off their creative skills. 50 young people created structures in only 15 minutes in Minecraft - including a reproduction of the Colosseum! Joseph, Luke and Johnny (all of who spend far too much time building in Minecraft) judged the competition, awarding points for imagination, skill, and build aesthetics.

 

               

First place went to Marcus Tilley (15), with runners up awards being made to Bluebell (5) and Ben Robin (7 and a half). Congratulations to the winners!

 

Minecraft Eyetracker

Dr. Stephen Vickers, research fellow at De Montfort University's Center for Computational Intelligence demonstrated eyetracker software for Minecraft. The MeyeNCRAFT project was developed for players with disabilities which prevent them from being able to use a mouse or keyboard, and lets users explore Minecraft or other games using only eye movements. Meetup visitors were able to have a go at playing Minecraft with their eyes!

 

Minecraft PvP Competition

 

 

"Who's still alive?"

40 contestants battled Hunger Games style in our Player vs. Player melee. Players spawn without any equipment, and must find supplies, weapons and armour to enable them to be the last player standing. Luke Pillai (12) won the title of event PvP Champion.

 

Minecraft Edu

Secondary school teacher Stephen Elford (EduElfie) Skyped in to the event from Australia to talk about how he uses Minecraft in his classroom. You can check out EduElfie’s MinecraftEDU Youtube channel for video tutorials.

MinecraftEdu is a great resource for teachers and schools looking to make use of the power of Minecraft in the classroom, and offers discounted MinecraftEdu licences for educational use. You can find information, tutorials and resources over at the MinecraftEdu wiki.

Bond University used Minecraft as a teaching environment following floods - their campus was closed so they decamped to an online classroom.

 

Leicester Lo-fi

Leicester Lo-fi brought their Origami Pinhole Kits along to the event, so attendees could make their own low tech cameras, take photos and develop them.

 

Huge thanks to everyone who made the day happen!

 

As well as being a lot of fun, there was a huge amount of hard work and planning that went into the day.

First and foremost we want to thank all of the young people who came along. Everyone was brilliant, and the event wouldn't have run as smoothly as it did without all of the peer support that went on - young people helping out other young people.

Chris Slowe is Project Coordinator at LCB Depot and runs Club Club. The hugely successful Minecraft Meetup was Club Club's inaugural event - you can find out more about Club Club over at their Facebook page.

Joseph, Luke and Johnny wrote and gave the introductory talk, judged the build competition and helped other young people out all day. They also helped us carry the computers!

The Leicester City Council Building Schools for the Future ICT Team (Lucy Atkins, David Beere, and me, Josie Fraser) all helped out. We provided the papercraft, organised and set up the computers, ran the competitions and roped other people in :)

Dr Stephen Vickers organised and did more than there is space to list! Special thanks for making sure there was a Minecraft environment to run the competitions in, for demoing the MeyeNCRAFT project, and for organising the MinecraftEdu talk.

Capita Managed IT Solutions helped with the loan of computers (essential!) which were kindly loaned to the event by Rushey Mead School.

David Croft, from the DMU Gaming Society: Demon Gamers helped out tremendously, especially with the PvP competition.

Steve Lynch and David Wilson Clarke from the Leicester Lo-fi Photography group  ran the pinhole camera workshop.

Sean Clark from Leicester Raspberry Pi Users Group who brought the Pi.

Plus thanks to Steph Knowles, artist and workshop leader, who managed the papercraft room and Khush Nubian, artist, who helped out with registration.

 

Cross-posted from LCC's SchoolTech blog.

TMSEN12: awesomeness, next steps & the debate results

TMSEN12 - a TeachMeet event focusing on practice and approaches that work to support learners with Special Educational Needs (SEN) took place on Saturday 28th February. It's fair to say it was an awesome day:

 

TeachMeet SEN 2012 (TMSEN12 for short) focused on practice that works for learners with Special Educational Needs - learning difficulties or disabilities which make it harder to learn or access education. According to 2010 Government figures, approximately 21% of all pupils in England are identified as having SEN.

Credit needs to go to my partner in crime, Jo Badge, and to Leon Cych and Mike McSharry for their stirling support. Most of all, huge thanks has to go to everyone who took part and particularly all the amazing speakers. Thanks also to everyone who joined us by live stream and in Twitter.

TeachMeet SEN 2012 followed the traditional TeachMeet format of practitioners talking about and demoing practice that works, in 7 minute micro presentations or 2 minute nano presentations.

Over 70 school leaders, teachers, trainee teachers, academics and Local Authority officers from Leicester and right across the UK spent their Saturday morning sharing effective practice, resources and generating new ideas.

Not just for SEN learners

Marc Faulder's tweet "So much at #tmsen12 today is valid for all learners" was a thought echoed by many of the participants, and reflected in the event debate, most explicitly in John Galloway's Accessible by default priority.  As many participants commented, the ideas and resources shared weren't just of benefit to learners with learning difficulties or disabilities - but could be of benefit to all learners. The message of the obvious benefit of putting lessons learnt from and effective approaches with our most disadvantaged learners squarely at the centre of planning and provision was loud and clear. By engaging with tools, resources and planning for SEN learners, we can more effectively support everyone.

Next Steps

I'm hopeful that the day was a valuable one for everyone who was able to take part. The value to, and validation of, participants is a really important aim of any event - it's critical that we support and celebrate our practice and provide opportunities for individual development, networking and sharing.

Modeling good practice is also a critical activity. This was brilliantly done by our speakers, and I very much hope that everyone introduced to the TeachMeet format as a process took away some inspiration for looking at how they approach their own activity scaffolding.

In my closing remarks I asked all participants to think about and let us know about their next steps. This event was inspired by the last TeachMeet Jo and I attended, although it took a little longer than we expected to organise:)

My follow up from the day will be to collect and curate the days outputs to ceate a micro site of the days presentations, talks and links. In the mean time, please do carry on sharing resources under the #tmsen12 tag, and let us know what your next steps are!

While you're waiting, you can check out:

Jo Badge Reflections on TeachMeet for Special Education Needs #TMSEN12

Simon Finch TMSEN12 pictures

& my TMSEN12 pictures

Technologies for Inclusion: The Critical Debate - results

TMSEN12 included a panel debate looking at technologies for inclusion. Sal Cooke, Bev Evans and John Galloway, presented and defended the issues and areas they identified as current national priorities. You can read their priority descriptions here. At distance participants and people at the debate we're invited to comment and vote on the outlined priorities, and here are the vote results:

Sal Cooke's Helping staff stay up to speed with the pace of technology practice and development won the vote by a clear lead. In second place was Bev Evans priority Funding for SEN technology in all schools. In third place was John Galloway's Accessible by default priority.

This was very much in line with the discussion on the day. There was a recognition that many mainstream services, tools and programmes were effectively being used to support SEN learners. There was also a recognition that many schools had been given or had invested in specialist or mainstream services, tools and programmes that could be used in fun, creative and effective ways, but weren't being. While no one disputed the need for parity of funding for SEN learners and schools, there was agreement that the critical issue was ensuring that staff could and were using technology, when appropriate, to enhance and make learning interesting, fun and engaging.

TMSEN12: The Critical Debate

It's almost time for TeachMeet SEN 2012! Last minute tickets available here.

Signups for TeachMeet SEN 2012 have gone really well. School, University and Local Authority staff have signed up from across the UK to come along, network, learn and present this Saturday in Leicester.

Our TeachMeet focuses on practice that works for learners with Special Educational Needs - learning difficulties or difficulties which make it harder to learn or access education. According to 2010 Governement figures, approximately 21% of all pupils in England where identified as having SEN.

TeachMeet SEN 2012 follows the traditional format of practitioners talking about and demoing practice that works, in 7 minute micro presentations or 2 minute nano presentations.

 

We will also be hosting a debate, with opportunities for both delegates and at distance participants to join in - looking at the broader strategic level issues and priorities. Our panelists are:

 

Sal Cooke, Director of JISC Techdis, one of the leading UK advisory services on technologies for inclusion. Sal has overall responsibility for the strategic focus and direction of JISC Techdis as guided by funders and stakeholders, ensuring it continues to be the pragmatic voice of inclusion and accessibility and promotes the innovative use of technologies, to support users within education, business and community sectors across the UK.

 

John Galloway, an ICT/SEN Advisor in Tower Hamlets, a consultant to a number of special schools going through BSF across London and Essex, and a freelance writer with several books and many articles to his name. He has been using computers with learners with a broad range of special needs since the mid-1980s and still gets excited by what technology can enable them to do. 

 

 

Bev Evans (@bevevans22/@TES_SEN) is the new Subject Leader of SEN Resources at TES – and spends time sourcing and creating resources and guidance to help support teachers, who have pupils with SEN, within the classroom. She also spends time visiting schools and events to find out what sort of resources practitioners are currently looking for to help support their work at school and beyond.

 

Our panellists have been asked to set out the current agenda for technologies for inclusion, and present and defend the issues and areas they have identified as current national priorities.

Our speakers have outlined their priorities - what do you think? Which of the panelist priorities resonate most strongly with you? Do you think there is a more pressing issue? Let us know and join in the debate by voting for the priorities you think are the most important, or contributing your own suggestions, either when you vote or in the comments below.

Sal Cooke:

1. Rethinking 'Assistive Technology

What is Assistive Technology in 2012? - or should we now call it something else?

As more and more of the mainstream technologies, including some free or very low cost solutions are displaying and integrating features that can aid our learners in a myriad of ways,  how do we need to think and re think what we “buy” download or access as assistive technologies?    

The Assistive Technology companies themselves are now operating in a very different world and equally so are schools, colleges and universities and of course so are learners and their families.  As a recent addition to the BATA Council I am very aware of the different pressures in this economic climate for both industry, and from my role as Director of JISC TechDis for the learning providers where the impact of technology (financial or pedagogical) can have such an impact on learners with specific needs.  

2. Keeping staff stay up to speed with the pace of technology practice and development

What about the people?  How will they gain the skills and knowledge about Assitive Technology in this ever changing world?

With the advent of apps, tablets, gesture based gaming and all manner of hand held devices - how do we expect staff to keep pace and obtain best value, the best information, and most of all the best for their learners?

The moves within the industry to more and more freemium offers and services could radically help schools and Local Authority budgets - but how do we know? Where are the sources of information? Do we need to be radical with mandatory training  - what about teaching and learning, and budgetary implications?

The recent post-16 Ofsted review recommended that the Department for Education and the Department of Business Innovation and Skills should jointly create a database of assistive technologies - is that a viable or desirable solution?

John Galloway

3. Accessible by default

With disability becoming more prevalent, why is accessibility optional?

We know that about twenty per cent of school children will have some sort of SEN, about half of them struggling with text. We also know that computer systems aren’t specially made for school children, they are made for average adults - it’s Microsoft Office, after all. But we also know that in Europe we have an ageing population which is leading to increasing numbers of people with disabilities, approximately 80m at the moment. And we know that adopting a principle of ‘inclusive design’ makes life easier for everyone.

So why do we have ‘Accessibility options’ on our computers, instead of ‘Accessibility by default?’ Many aspects of improving access - high contrast, variable colour schemes, enhancing the cursor - would work for most of us  (if we knew about them) These should be the defaults.

4. Anti-social networking  

Online communities promise so much for those with SEND, so why aren’t they more accessible?

Those with special needs and disabilities can sometimes find themselves isolated or excluded. Social networking could be a way of mitigating that isolation by both connecting them with others in a similar situation, and a leveller, including them in a world without the usual barriers. Yet there seem to be limited incidences of this happening, probably because:

• the interface is complex;
• the medium is predominantly text;
• families and carers don’t appreciate what it offers.

As it stands, social networking can exacerbate a digital divide, that it could so easily help to bridge.

Bev Evans:

5. Funding for SEN technology in all schools

How do we stop schools from being left behind in the technology stakes?

As technology becomes more and more important in schools around the country what can be done to help those pupils in badly funded areas progress or have the access to the equipment they need? Some areas within Wales are particularly lacking in funding or support in this important area ( I am sure this is true of other areas within the UK too) - is it really good enough that this is still happening in 2012?

6. Bring services to pupils

Why is support for pupils with SEN so patchy across the UK? Is it purely a funding issue or are other things contributing?

In my area of Wales I have always been aware that many parents of children with SEN, in particular those with children who have autism, move into the county to access the provision available. I’m also aware of this  happening between schools across Wales and, from the emails or messages I get through position at the TES, it is obviously something that happens elsewhere in the country too. Why do some school or LAs put less effort into properly supporting and addressing the needs of pupils with SEN? Is it always a funding issue or do other factors come into play?

You can vote here for the priorities you agree with, suggest additional priorities or leave your comments below.

TeachMeet SEN 2012

Tickets here!

I'm very excited to be organising TeachMeet SEN 2012 - or TMSEN12, a meetup talking place later this month on Saturday 28th of January, in Leicester's lovely Phoenix Square.

What's a TeachMeet?

A TeachMeet is an informal meet up of people working in and passionate about education - they support grassroots professional development. Events are framed by short talks and demos from people working within education - sharing practice that works. You can check out the Wikipedia definition here.

Practitioner talk and demo slots at TMEN12 are typical of TeachMeet talk lengths - 7 minute micro presentations or 2 minute mini presentations. These are short to encourage a wide range and diversity of contribution, to make sure as many people attending as possible get the opportunity to share, and to make joining in more accessible and less scary for people who have never spoken at an event before.

What's different about TMSEN12?

1. This is a Special Education Needs (SEN) focused TeachMeet. Learners with SEN are a significant and diverse group, and we expect the first SEN focused TeachMeet to be an exciting one - reflecting the creativity, enthusiasm and the wide range of knowledge and approaches of practitioners.

2. This is the first face-to-face SEN focused TeachMeet. There was an online TeachMeet for Additional Support Needs/Special Education Needs back in April 2009. We are very proud to be continuing the tradition.

3. We recognise that parents and carers play an important role in supporting children and young peoples education, and that while parent and carer partnership with schools are always important, parents and carers sometimes play a particularly critical role in supporting learners with SEN. We also recognise that parents and carers of learners with SEN may home school. Because of this, we are also inviting parents and carers who would like to share effective practice to come along.

Is TMSEN12 just for SENCos and people who work at SEN Schools?

No! Every school supports learners with SEN.

What kind of thing do people talk about/demo at TeachMeet?

All sorts of things! You might speak about a really useful app, web tool or site; a technique that supports listening or speaking; an interesting and successful project; how you capture or share achievement; a simple, little change that has made all the difference to your learners; something you've created or a resource someone else has shared.

I think TeachMeet SEN is a great idea! How can I support it?

Excellent! Here are 7 ways you can help us:

1. Sign up to present your ingenious and effective practice. Come along and share.

Get your free ticket here, and then head over to the wiki to tell us what you will be presenting on.

2. Sign up to encourage and support. Get your free ticket here.

3. Tell people and organisation who need to know about TMEN12 - send them a link, encourage them to sign up to speak. We really appreciate it!

4. Tag your favorite blog posts, resources and ideas: Use #TMSEN12 on Twitter, TMSEN12 on Delicious. Let us know what and where else you tag resources. We will curate and share!

5. Watch the live stream and join in the debate on Twitter. The link will magically appear here and across the web nearer the time.

6. Sponsor TMSEN12! Help towards the event costs/resource for sponsor credit. Get in touch to find out more.

7. Suggest other ways you/people can support and celebrate TMEN12. Share your ideas!

 

ThoughtFest 09

Last week I was fortunate to be one of the attendees at the fantastic Thought Fest 2009 conference, held at the University of Salford's Think Lab. Organised by organized by Pontydysgu with the support of the JISC Evolve network and the European Mature-IP project, the event attracted top class learning technology researchers and practitioners from across Europe. Potential attendees pitched for place prior to the event, submitting their ideas for outline sessions - Dave White from Oxford University & I formed a digital literacy tag team and were lucky enough to snaffle two of the highly prized places.

About 30 delegates (most of whom are on Twitter) attended the two day event designed to bring together researchers in Technology Enhanced Learning in an open forum to debate the current issues surrounding educational technologies. Within a semi-structured (and pretty mobile) framework that was negotiated by delegates, we particularly focused on theory into practice: how and where research impacts on practice and where practice drives research.

The whole event was excellent, but I'll share some of my highlights.

Our (the red) team came a respectable third in the diabolically evil ViolaQuest, which was masterminded by Nicola Whitton and Rosie Jones, a couple of the UK's leading Alternative Reality Game (ARG) researchers and designers. The game involved unraveling mainly geographic and environmental clues. They also managed to include the Emerge bearded lady meme:

 
Photo credit: Rozberry redteam

There were some great show and discuss sessions, including Maria Perifanou on using Wikiquests in language Learning, Pat Parslow on Digital ID & Kathrin Kaufhold on the Awesome project.

I missed out on Jen Hughes's digital cartoon workshop, taking part instead in the podcasting workshop led by Andreas Auwärter. Dave & I picked the travelogue assignment, and produced a gonzo journalism piece on The Salford Lift Experience, inspired in part by out experience of the Maxwell Building lifts. Unfortunately, half of this masterpiece was lost to the random gods of audio, so the world will never hear Dave's very informative description of the up and down buttons, nor believe there was a student who felt the lift experience in Salford had drastically improved over the last two years, various other lift based interviews or the toilet on the stairwell incident. For those of you who can be bothered, the last part is here:

Listen to The Salford Lift Experience (mp3)

There were some excellent recordings produced on the day, notably a advert for online identity management cleaning services, which I'll link to as soon as they go up.

The award for most awesome presentation has to go however to the SAPO campus team, who will be rolling out the worlds first institution wide supported PLE this September. You can see their presentation slides here. Basically, The University of Aveiro are moving away from the managed learning system model and providing a supported Personal Learning Environment (PLE) service linking in University functionality with member selected and supported web 2.0 distributed activity. Why is this amazing? The global edtech community have been talking about how institutions can engage with learner-centered PLEs for a while now, but Aveiro and the SAPO team are putting it into practice. Campus wide. In September. You can find out more and ask questions over at the Though Fest site.