A most inspiring visit to Somerset House Primary in Somerset West

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4hEbsMkEyP_95c9GXMp3pfIJVQYCTBx7mAF3sNqUZwi8k27nvkwuTxjcq0WYZF0I99dJ_NIEoWPllkg9O373KpLKb0G1BWMv8DtM1bnuyCbq3FD-_lOkbL4NewnNoerkLgXH6YJplwCY/s1600/somerset+house.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4hEbsMkEyP_95c9GXMp3pfIJVQYCTBx7mAF3sNqUZwi8k27nvkwuTxjcq0WYZF0I99dJ_NIEoWPllkg9O373KpLKb0G1BWMv8DtM1bnuyCbq3FD-_lOkbL4NewnNoerkLgXH6YJplwCY/s320/somerset+house.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></i><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Submitted by Fiona Beal</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Somerset House is a really beautiful school in the Helderberg area of Somerset West.  I have been wanting to visit Somerset House for such a long time as I have heard so much about the great things they are doing curriculum-wise. This is a school that is on the move! For example:</span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They have incorporated Bring Your Own Device into their Grade 6 and 7 classrooms in a <a href="http://e-blogschool.blogspot.com/2012/11/webinar-recording-bring-your-own-device.html" target="_blank">very successful pilot</a>. Michele Botha from Somerset West presented a webinar about this for SchoolNet. In fact I have often attended events where Michele Botha has presented. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They present TeachMeets regulary.  I have always attended and <a href="http://e-blogschool.blogspot.com/2013/02/teachmeet-at-somerset-house-on-weds.html" target="_blank">reported back</a> on their TeachMeets.  </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have also seen their teachers being selected as Microsoft teacher finalists with great entries (such as Jenny Martin and Siobhan Thatcher). </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They are busy piloting Project-based Learning for Social Sciences in Grades 7</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They are upgrading their library to a Knowledge Centre</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Their Head of Curriculum, Michele Botha, is also their IT Integration Facilitator which makes for a great combination for implementation of the various programmes. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A great programme with regard to school lunches and healthy eating</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and much more….</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, the long-awaited visit took place a couple of months back. There were a few visitors on that day. I quickly sneaked a photo of the visitors being welcomed by Pam Roberts and Julie du Plessis from Grade 1. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyDx2CA9W0xyYk7Tz00pLxiWpy45t6KCpAMpWwumDPCbkYUpyxpB0-FLhm2LvYYHf09O9rwTCBO1YowOfEm6dCCpFWOXVF5uUxb54jJY0itmJ0byqQHfwq0ifvpzCiO5QWgtVnr_Inw4Y/s1600-h/image%25255B2%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_2lATXS06bevbx__k3CvNYGKDSArrCkQBOl4sNYix5rf0u74aD_rY1eqpugkrThlPSkefGu3SAeH4RxlJNEdJKBZGHk0zPt7arpn9U_vf4RB06ZW16Sq8n1EsYacvVFRkVatlSjQWWo/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The plan was that some of the Grade 7s would show us around the school. They would then take us to the Foundation Phase.After that we would witness Michele Botha introducing the "big question" of the new PBL project that the Grade 7s were doing on Medicine. We would attend the first part of the School staff meeting and would then chat to the progressive principal Chris Storey about the Knowledge Centre they are building and other ideas that they are busy implementing. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Foundation Phase</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The classrooms are beautiful. The Grade 1s were at a music lesson so we were able to pick Pam and Julie'’s brains about how they use technology in their Grade 1 classrooms. They gave us a lot of great ideas. Both were extremely enthusiastic about what they do. I have heard Pam presenting at school TeachMeets on some of her great ideas. (At the last TeachMeet Pam gave an inspiring presentation on how she uses Youblisher.com in her Grade 1 classroom.  She demonstrated this by showing a lovely e-book that her Grade 1 class had created. Each student contributed an illustrated page of writing. Pam also showed how you can make lovely 2nd language books on various topics with Youblisher, and other ways of using Youblisher to encourage reading in a Grade 1 class i.e. for Big Books.)</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <br /><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlRs6Y00khVdE0CBqlyywBCo2L6dv5zgTF0cObXSZ894WP4kxtsHwAVebSJtznQ3cxescdeONpROZNZQn8I1evY-_38kcGmm6JvuGkKP3dIyTXFGZtkd8l1LQQSUiKXYylVN4ExxXDFYM/s1600-h/image%25255B5%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwsfqF-mJO_EUZ8hqBeg6r7RVlnTXJvMjKZJ7GRw9H-8evB_bCmNMPycySukbPGdlgSSOH-Rd1ftw2574nK_Xgk4n7EEYJcKIkhDQZCfRQEzh2tsRMH-lFjdnG5dJ4bz5ZvFJXcwMXMvo/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDC7iuZ_duYun4169IXEUIl1sSP4l3nEFaA4AFpp2pZgECx6ccIGeakcET-v0hlcwAWzH1TgES0Gyg94vEXk4xvi6aZlh9RwUg6qIOxugnxqOFafFfIEo4auzcjUtEZyPhMsnAH5TMs98/s1600-h/image%25255B9%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP0WrIYfIIg_24NDvRdOsXuVV4eAkF0Nu4l2JHaim5-yMmImxAfSf3LViYgX5TtOerzzFMQBUknCna-M1TQS2r6cKlzJ-hsHVmH3n8rG8pTuJC7b8vWOV_2VZGUCyKrZ8I0LLN1-sUI0k/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="227" /></span></a></td></tr><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy4oXK0urzLdZx2BhOTVj4FTy5nU1H08dhta9vNWkGfEjv9yPdEO2CyEstx1ZHk4yUZsflczYto1IvKFIzuxT5fu8nUi-JA_gEF017q_7DvMztz-KUFeBRhyphenhyphenv3ViPz0lI42sOKqwT5S6U/s1600-h/image%25255B12%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg2ssa6aACkjksMzPU_AQnuI8IBvZTePkproulOqXMf9fPAWhuBmqQ0HL9r5lZyLJQo-RyUxoQSrH67L73WUlnLJZwDoHPyFGGXoQ0GnErYUKROi57e4I2VUj0WJbqz5d5Vh6JiylSvag/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJxeb3_vuspK0-IRb-RzKUQnXw3Fe-PjzFf2ha-0bfuK2s-2dbt4IaJS4YJmPOTE2g85Vh6ioQOlCIdJJbgNCOerTmMwstRTAaO3Vys1J7PGXXpbL7FtnV4wJBUX_bdCNc8gSctjcIPs/s1600-h/image%25255B16%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYM4w0JsfP-36X_zwD5qU3PgsQno9bjUAI1y9py2XbiArd-eNXF_wTQudyXnIYtxcZ4RNMSGKZuGptHbiwWCZgYKcNxU9S97nA-Ak949CvPj4SkO5bssZrB-suk5iL7Go6z_oiVyanXEE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="222" /></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><br /></strong></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Chatting to the principal, Chris Storey</span></strong> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We felt honoured to be able to chat to the principal, Chris Storey,  about the vision for the school and their Knowledge Centre that is busy being constructed.  </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDtszqRfkiBorRSYT3BdYbBYDLEK_VICA5ScoqvOKgm0qmw6Zqzl6Mv5TWBtI2tq0JBIOE4r-fOgB8DzMcNvvSd-y8UDdjRim_zeyHscjs0qTEqXlR96aM2rj62oVTJZFukMzBo-_cplo/s1600-h/image%25255B22%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXTwQl07aD5cfGas5CAZfnbtxFS93CNp5yc3Qdhs1QlqLnXdGGQTXK7w-uTuQm26MMxmojmBhdOGlzycOgDqbz1HWg8B-plVxlEtrQo4nEH89BC2okUMgpvyLI4SnGzN4CC1b7C3NYao/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was interesting to hear about the developments that had to take place in the school first before introducing BYOD and then Project-based Learning:<br />1. Teacher readiness and integrated curriculum planning and delivery.<br />2. Parent receptiveness, buy-in and planning ahead.<br />3. Wireless infrastructure and management software. This WIFI is available everywhere on the school grounds. <br />4. Lockers outside every classroom for the students to keep their devices locked away during break and sports sessions etc. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Project-based learning</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were very fortunate to be able to attend one of Michele Botha’s Project-based Learning (PBL) lessons with the Grade 7s. Michele is a master at devicing exciting PBL projects! This was one of the initial lessons where she introduced the ‘big’ question and was busy getting feedback for forming the content questions from the rest of the class. I will be mentioning more about Project-based Learning and particularly Michele Botha’s views in the next post. We were impressed with the engagement of the students and the variety of devices that each group used.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><span style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4i1B4cJ81N-8Qq9NJaOjv_t2ij6wBrC9i6EUGDXznFNNPIYOz_bSmujYPnu5IPcKqHMZYXh-Ryf0q-rzwlApOndLt25WVAsTIH7vB2TtOmeSIczTOv6ZuT3fPhZb2pZ-VLzN_DIymdXk/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><span style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRs3yrSJjSghrpqtRjudibezwLT9onAOsYvBUW1cK1Mj-gGjk2sDBhUBjt6vDitcb2XamN06bZE3RssgFDEMSD3zc5opbb_frvpfyowQgwPSIjMHGmPj6juPSD9IPUmxHuJPv-d6-l4qw/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="180" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Somerset House places its </span><a href="http://www.somersethouse.co.za/articles/7.%20Curriculum/General.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">curriculum on the school website</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> where one can see exactly what is covered in Social Sciences using project-based learning. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please take a look at the<a href="http://e-blogschool.blogspot.com/2013/10/can-project-based-learning-really-work.html" target="_blank"> blogpost that follows this</a> which will outline project-based learning and focus in particular on the way Michele at Somerset House is implementing it.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you for arranging for us to visit Somerset House, Michele! We can’t wait to visit your new Knowledge Centre once it is up and running.</span></div>

news schools A most inspiring visit to Somerset House Primary in Somerset West

Submitted by Fiona BealSomerset House is a really beautiful school in the Helderberg area of Somerset West.  I have been wanting to visit Somerset House for such a long time as I have heard so much about the great things they are doing curriculum-wis…

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Judi Francisco’s amazing Grade 6 blended/flipped classroom project at Micklefield Primary

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Judi Francisco is a very creative technology co-ordinator from Micklefield Girls’ Primary School in Cape Town. I always like to keep my eye on her to see what she is up to next! (In fact I wrote a blogpost about the event she co-ordinated at Micklefield last year - "<a href="http://e-blogschool.blogspot.com/2012/10/what-privilege-to-attend-it-design-week.html">What a privilege to attend IT Design Week report back to parents at Micklefield Primary</a>") So when she invited me to visit her classroom on the last day of her Grade 6 flipped/blended classroom ‘JustBlendit’ project a couple of months back. I was VERY excited! I’d like to share with you what I discovered!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Judi got permission from her principal and one of the Grade 6 teachers at Micklefield to take over a class of 25 Grade 6 girls and do all the work and lessons for just under two weeks, every day and all day, using project-based learning and digital media! The girls were ecstatically excited! </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Why did Judi do this blended/flipped classroom approach?</span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Judy's comment to this question was,"The school wanted to experiment with and experience a blended classroom to see which aspects we could apply to our school in the future." Flipped learning inverts traditional teaching methods delivering instruction online outside of class and moving homework into the classroom. In blended learning the<strong> </strong>student learns at least in part through online delivery of content and instruction with some element of student control over time, place, path or pace.Classroom methods are combined with computer-mediated activities.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">The classroom</span></b> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They chose a room set aside for Science, and had WIFI installed so that they could use the BYOD approach (bring your own device). Judi is very interested in classroom design and showed the girls some of the websites that showed flexible learning spaces for the 21st century classroom. The girls wanted the room to be furnished as their ideal classroom so they brought all their own furniture from home and moved all the classroom furniture out! When I arrived on the scene I could hardly believe my eyes at the transformation! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u></u><u></u> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u></u><u></u> </span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidYPd0oM7oBPkn4GlF4TWxXcxEGS1bRlwGb90wo_rtPc63Di5xaJjcflCFRZy4g0JPugp_bkhiYcgiwhJby_qTEC-h4cMMAKk_h-Ca6VAKZiZ2eL9E89yM5QsTX8EBmIE0ZAmAPgaXRh4/s1600-h/image%25255B21%25255D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPITuOtgn2Ge_MeafjUKGKi3-EZrn5Dt-TdOgJBCVUTdulEhaVWAGiY55mR_wW3kHan2pN5-cjYOXziVHOCZ4M5NXY7he7m1tQNAl2BnMHqGy9wjTKbbY-G27VDdgzUDV5uopMuEIqHEc/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was before!</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBCiOzhMS-wt9ONOEZf0ajDx4hs3qZABYUxfcW6TOrOd4hKJ68ZYCJygmYrRF4m9iUgFHiZZBTJAB594p5s1V1ia_hSRqP9Deo5RVXJVCgdIDMAYHIMIKzA0ck1neGMFQcyubgARM-YE/s1600-h/image%25255B24%25255D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeXA4bxgDEaIDMG-aB1w4_VDRysXicT6bfpCcEkfWUQUlGCNgjQrGW2ABd5k5CLyicpSmUU12dQt9Gbzc5bdhzpz0YER1BeYpm5UZNUWYV7rvJLeHcQLZXPe-ueN9-ktW9o5ST8cg0ILE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was after!</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The girls were each placed with a partner, and then each pair linked with another pair to create a group of four. Each group could bring their own furniture choice from home. These included relaxing bean bags, coffee tables, carpets (even thick pile carpets), rolling chairs, Ottomans etc and the girls worked collaboratively to design what went where. It looked like a trendy interactive internet cafe! Gone were all the desks and chairs!!  The girls even drew up their own list of rules for the classroom.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is what I saw when I arrived… </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJaIohl62Z62z4ltRcbJw0ezxxm7CoaRYKzcSvMSjF05XbWCxjtV8VWwviiDzN5wxx0JsRYwpc-QWlbXrnTXktnlJ55yImGlaf8cXQnGN3XWmI2TPSlMR_L28tqyyiTlxLa9s-WGAXYSo/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><br /></strong></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">The preparation</span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Judi and the Grade 6 class had a big build up to what she called JUST BLEND I.T project…and the girls all had to bring in their own devices.   Phew – phones, tablets both Android and iPad, laptops and anything in between was allowed!  </span><br /><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_cVOwhPTUeMXH6WQpc69QmKZWbmPai7K194iHPMOrDUDXfb7uRuqwz998LDLLCQHH-2rZ8fzeaaXRU6Ns3vxJnOYp-4p69XZ_iVfe8Hirn1BcUFpcmVwc19fjhcLRzhHB9Mt6yde8ygg/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3fvrNQX5eZ0r4CWH_iPwKY0pklg7CJybS9Gwtd70wlHvfBDAYD03rdBCieTV3K8EBu1nCdV0SNEBj_soJkZ2MDp7YeULnqt9No4OxI46bFYCASpsCYIPIZhk-3SPKKqkcNQNtjGmgXsw/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuoAc-zBpHEqihYJwTOOiZekPzHRLd5WZBvsNjh7Kt7ZlUXQnO1Emi9VNoBItNJL5bFxPpu3qvBDJx2WJveP5sUoL_kZRn70_kI6H5dGYjgxZf8B2F0Kh4sOVClGxBx62JovhV7jAMTJs/s1600-h/image%25255B6%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTDi1vgMO86XD0fZDx8zlouwoeFO9yHPeHuO86IfmJa6_ydd-g24_2DMAzKCKR94iF3DxRjYHP3T2eYx6dAW17IHHdBGXL6RLUvtxuJzpN3ED_n-E2DW1_qkfAn7bKTUQcH-OSyE2fvjA/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td></tr><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp4YLhEwJmPRjuIw5Ml12CjKG12ukV72LHfMnx4KVyvjA8-OuG6SNogU4NkbSWy1PUM56HSM2d4gf3pFITvELeRC6LZTMs8l1RYm5Ft0AVCCzl5jIKyST1gqJ2-Q0tQ9ky8jBFQ21rOmk/s1600-h/image%25255B9%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUvlR9IZN5gSw6VX1z14f-_09-Yr4NdnxyzRF5MdcR6jJHiGRotw-gLUcZAZ8e2YBIzwm-j7MA_qb4kUj5wPTDf1xnXWUQ2xiYlMIYB6RTG27jVXkbyA9w_Sg0exF2Xuhfz8oTJ3LQWY8/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Tsd_Jlb-kiEw-INTHr9D0H45Ylg6DtSQQiFk38e0jKmOcvLKF5E0hdCUywRoo5mfXPYDd7m5BRO6CPT2R5MPfGN0Qgp8qBM1n9AImnDB35VGMz0ASUzw-3DfQS_iVUapcFyNh6mb6Do/s1600-h/image%25255B12%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMkxhqaGvZFxAvIyk_LrZeXBcRzt5c8IftMyKoWuA9p2ApA3r4FFb93xYB5MaJ5g85JsCKR31ZpDqPgIWLDN4vQBiY0W94Hy3s29D7y1MXFoHrd9BuTFN142aknw7XgGFygKTPVQ1qmzg/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In preparation for the project the girls had lessons in fake Twitter, blogging, Skype, digital art, Xhosa orals, Afrikaans Google Docs and online forms etc.  </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><br /></strong></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">The project</span></strong> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The girls worked in groups throughout the week. Their JustBlendI.T. project was linked to learning about telescopes for space discovery. They found awesome scientists who were excited to link up online with them. They were from  the South African Telescope project, known as SKA Meerkat Project - a global project with South Africa leading the way. The various scientists visited the classroom via Skype on a daily basis and answered any queries the girls might have. </span><br /><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyP-dLAdmmpwFf071EwD5CVpRWVjmsTs2mEWZwzNdylA9XCcUd1KxPGcCuOYLNDC2vccxOaMFsv9ZT_fsPLPlooL8Pe8-ySyglJ6OuFv-n-L2SdEa-OaEb45TtCA2KugpU5jK743h88Fs/s1600-h/image%25255B27%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpWPGqgdeUmTiHyrSr_KN2vyz5eFXnv_C4YlnD__sR7R4LTB33rQ1jJaVF4dcOw7-HfyAV97eiWM6XAlue_vW7A8rEmK90qPNd_YP6WsT8UfBfrnBF0wK4w2QGNy14LlTCYdnMgrC3XQc/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiptipswRfo5vSPG9I47ScJgjiQcC946_YBgkd2R2ORqUO4Yrc5m2bWnYAB_B0DBJRhN4ykAfT-arCZFW1AgNABD_pFIfeApV4XaVX6nAfuiHxxh7LMZR4AI_9aXLi1Pd_lA7kXPScKLW4/s1600-h/image%25255B31%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPsDohDMtMPICamPch_AZPbNatdR-wus_F7c3fsqRGzGTLblxHJrDJHONkDjP6lJYga4R0rS5-Q3CcJyZv8SEXCtUkTCEiqbEm3Q9kUnwupXdpPh54HDCKMlHUkzxLMOkgFQ9ImP4jhA/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="161" /></span></a></td></tr><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMCk2X4Vn2RXwLpECWpzxTCVMs8MjxBxL5QA8SEpvBaqNDM1daalPqBP1nazsdmk8XPolviSdlVPmKwI3na0nHpCJkf5zVD0z7UTpiNnV9sgS4ZXANQ5xXFCScifohWARmybPoOSphZA/s1600-h/image%25255B37%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZTqEe-6yX4rML0_ULTj0RPy4Ran6v-CgnCO4qtBXm8akx2Kn8Z22nBok_M7k-otlHWexYtufd9B8B2qz0shcUmMDsSBUwitz3UNKO5bZAykcC4sVuw0Fa34r_Scoy2F1UqngQAMqu0o/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLRgpWJ2gyIY4-8e6RDD8eqOX5QBaF2QB2Qq0XtCp05BqXk5HG5h3AcbGM3kXjXhph4Tf6Alu5KWxlDoH33gEUvwtw-cQUktL1J220epcHPWNnAmro4PT91gsulDV8IBCfARCwdDXRcXw/s1600-h/image%25255B41%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6C8MiLVfSqkw6fHDxE3zA2GkP2IWaL-tMMzFIOSJoflSNT5VRDBcM182HkmvM0XgRSHLyiTxY07brF92G8c4MHMn-2zsmzM_9RpE9OyYK9LntCaivm-qM3oMOJxJM2KJWZge9Pl1ZECM/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="176" /></span></a></td></tr><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_fNh64NcXivnz7F2n81J7jVKLJSr1IHvb4OlV_Lo2gx12vDEgWxJjJnMPTjvnuXg_22BBqhzmb8DStp1a45Y6XpAGGr9nXCQbCNJnkNrCrdd5oMpwhP-IReUayHGg2Jw_Il7Mx__trg4/s1600-h/image%25255B44%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgbaJTLNhy8EbR4QeZ7_uQKVCwe6dlM1AORWzPYNeK1ZjcbRbqPQJTYpZoPrztCILKe4ybpYRFGnhpBQW45q9eWgOfU1Iv-Bu6lhKucM5vxLNryCqSjwUKJ7EYVXLJYmCrOZif97VrbSE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKLI-kptpxCaR9CWTvw7Rmo96DgqNcJPM6hrKEtbaNxyO0vb52v_kJHcVSgfEo6gI3Rrz3bxeOnvwp87prOzFngZrN9BIy_DDtQUb86Gr4oE39-sHMZhlmtG7Mk8q2BzADG4PC5zrO4lE/s1600-h/image%25255B48%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhan7Dios1GZHfri_sIRY89_zaIvHP_e2QnOn06gitasf1FRqmRefJcjJmIWgL19xs3VyhBOy9neUqz0PQ-3dqiJLP70yQFqTTNIymyqcZuQe5P0rOJ_8d9dSWgQz9GSTJOKBPlPFFhYeg/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="228" /></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><br /></strong></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">What made this project a flipped/blended classroom project?</span></strong> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Work was set out by Judi on a class blog, and the girls displayed their learning on their own group blogs. They researched</span>, discovered, investigated and created using mobile/digital devices. They used social media, blogging, emailing, fake Twitter, video conferencing, slide presentations, movies, movie trailers, Science songs, podcasting, YouTube, Google Docs and Digital Art. Gone was the traditional style of teaching, and in came blended learning using digital media. This meant that they were all learning using a wide variety of applications and devices. Each group seemed to know which device worked best for the various tasks. Judi had a rule that the girls need to learn the technology from one another and not from her during this week unless there was a real crisis that noone else could solve. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>What I saw when I was there</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I spent such an interesting morning in the classroom. The girls were thoroughly engaged in their tasks for the day. I walked around chatting to them and they were all loving the experience. </span><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Judi was also walking around providing assistance where necessary. If someone raised a question that she felt the whole class should hear she stopped the class for a discussion on this aspect. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The girls had created songs about Space which they presented in their groups. I loved the creativity! </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Soon it was time for the scientists to visit via Skype. There were three scientists that called in. The groups had prepared their questions and the scientists did an amazing job of answering these. The girls  recorded the conversation and took photos of any screenshots shown by the scientists. After the session they set about the task they needed to do as a result of the Skype session.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I marvelled at the way the girls collaborated and seemed to work out which of their devices would be the right one to use for the assigned task. </span></li></ul><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQWAj7_pag2NpX6vTQVvvxRMS_Hr4whPKdNWOcmzjg4ufB1e1b2agd1veAKcSALZTJkkz8AkeyVAf5tarqaYI3X4_nRFWitsFPNxccPJ6cVtqhkNxXAPXd1oDfhNoQw1iBTQ_W6LVO4o/s1600/skype+pic-Micklefield.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQWAj7_pag2NpX6vTQVvvxRMS_Hr4whPKdNWOcmzjg4ufB1e1b2agd1veAKcSALZTJkkz8AkeyVAf5tarqaYI3X4_nRFWitsFPNxccPJ6cVtqhkNxXAPXd1oDfhNoQw1iBTQ_W6LVO4o/s400/skype+pic-Micklefield.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><br /></strong></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The results of this project</b></span><br />Judi has entered this project for the Partners in Learning competition where anyone can read about it if they log into </span><a href="http://www.pil-network.com/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.pil-network.com</span></a>. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some of her observations: </span><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The amount of collaborative learning that took place was enormous. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The engagement during the project was enormous.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The girls loved being able to share, create and collaborate in a vibrant environment. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The girls’ knowledge of using technology grew in leaps and bounds – they learned so easily from their peers.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Everyone experienced a steep learning curve (including Judi).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Teaching using blended learning is exciting, stimulating, supports all levels of abilities, creates excitement about learning, encourages deeper learning, aids collaboration and makes you smile!</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The girls LOVED the experience and wished it could continue for longer.</span></li></ul><strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Resources</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you would like to view Judi’s teaching blog the URL is: <a href="http://justblendit.blogspot.com/">http://justblendit.blogspot.com</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />The girls’ group blogs can be viewed from Judi’s teaching blog, but here is one of them for quick reference: <a href="http://justblendit1.blogspot.com/">http://justblendit1.blogspot.com/</a>. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The girls responses to the project can be found <a href="https://app.box.com/s/3d5r4rp7eml66mllqls4" target="_blank">here</a>:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I found this experience very stimulating. Thank you SO much for inviting me to witness this, Judi and Micklefield Primary! Yes, you flipped and flattened the classroom very successfully!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqqc5uSviNJ2gqWbs7Cdv5rJOrTtfjBVBRYOKvZUNhp4dR6dFVFXr6bzJ_uu1yBobj8dRMMxFkqkJSqIZMtV7-SYkCDD1lP15STFOiNZFVW6f0SSuFPpA_mL9WfDnywWWIIM-FhzeFJ3M/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></span></div></div>

Flipped classroom profiles schools Teachers Judi Francisco’s amazing Grade 6 blended/flipped classroom project at Micklefield Primary

Judi Francisco is a very creative technology co-ordinator from Micklefield Girls’ Primary School in Cape Town. I always like to keep my eye on her to see what she is up to next! (In fact I wrote a blogpost about the event she co-ordinated at Micklefi…

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Reading in 1st Grade - some inspirational methods

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Submitted by Fiona Beal</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I always enjoy hearing about different ways of making reading meaningful to our young learners. I also enjoy hearing about how different technologies are used in school.  So today was a double bonus day for me! First of all I came across this YouTube video showing how a Finish Grade 1 teacher uses <i>smart phones</i> to teach reading. </span><br /><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?index=4&list=PLEE385BC5A0125995&hl=en_GB" width="420"></iframe><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then, I came across the insights and experiences of a teacher, who is exploring the use and benefits of Ipads for reading in First Grade. This teacher was the Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) of the year in 2009, Richard Colosi, a first grade teacher in Canandaigua, is trying to set an example about the benefits of using the newest technology in the classroom. He's hoping to share his success stories with other teachers from across the country. The quote on his website is probably true of him. “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” -<i>Alan Kay</i> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Listen to him reporting on what he is doing.  </span><br /><br /></div><h3 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vHJIiTzjtJU" width="420"></iframe> </h3><h3 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">  </h3><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHJIiTzjtJU&feature=player_embedded"></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">This video of Richard in the classroom and how he explains his interest in tablets</span><br /><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="guid=qWms5YDg&isDynamicSeeking=true" height="266" overstretch="true" seamlesstabbing="true" src="http://s0.videopress.com/player.swf?v=1.03" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" wmode="direct"></embed> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Here he demonstrates how his class uses echo reading with the iPad.</span><br /><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?index=9&list=UU72fyJ5FjnuLtDM7AixVZPw&hl=en_US" width="420"></iframe><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Visit </span><span style="font-size: small;">Richard Colosi's</span><span style="font-size: small;"> YouTube site <a href="http://www.youtube.com/richardcolosimedia">http://www.youtube.com/richardcolosimedia</a></span></div></div>

Reading schools Teaching Technology integration videos Reading in 1st Grade - some inspirational methods

Submitted by Fiona Beal I always enjoy hearing about different ways of making reading meaningful to our young learners. I also enjoy hearing about how different technologies are used in school.  So today was a double bonus day for me! First of all I …

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Opening of the new computer lab at Ekukhanyeni School in Kwazulu-Natal

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><i><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">This report is given by Janet Thomson who is the Executive Director of SchoolNetSA</span></span></i></i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">  Today (17 May 2012) Hlengiwe and I had an uplifting experience. We attended the opening of a computer lab at Ekukhanyeni Special School for the severely mentally handicapped.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixpQEcYZlMMloGCVooMceLQMFLSTqJi5vWCDiIr9XVmBBW9uh5JBixZ_hIy9MdfdU-iq-ABS9xz06P4IdUG3_BEimFwO87jW9SjR_RkyvqtUIql-ZAFIYHPdmhXzunhI6ZL-H5QstwOUM/s1600-h/image%25255B7%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitNySrEhWnUMwxpz8Oa5snh-zr2qq6lYnrJj6a2hbto6Cx8nB-JsPzPl46TbgjmWLOFurHfQz4QpsxAv4bvSHNc1Yld0Yt15U6dA3zzqJC9P2faCWZQ9JpxOJbm_Xz0VoFFdrYCaJ8vxE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The driving force behind this project is Jonathan Michaels – a young IT entrepreneur who I met at the eThekwini Connected Schools planning meeting. He is involved in developing the Android tablet.  He has a For Profit Social Enterprise company called GiveITBack.  He managed to get SAA Airlink to fund this computer room. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmw_HtuTmgrrdUgREoahat9QZq4A3V768FDxJvsJTq6947IScyeiAMX5PDUM5HJMnBxn8ZJpuxRg2YruA0m32QgZsNf0IiM2HVSHBF34gxIc7PBrRBklcJ1iEBSKeit19QmsOkeQEgKkA/s1600-h/image%25255B14%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCe0qnnqloJHKX9sigtwwEl9HxcUSARkShedZ_prWkTvghNF9mv2oQWt_mwGM3yRKfgflJwTtz1AxmRoHcSQRG7DMrADfvcz7IQFqdDQ2px0tZcqF35fxb6TRd-EoB8sMy_PlgjFg5SKw/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mr Ngwenya from SAA Airlink spoke extremely well and spoke in Zulu to the children. Airlink will be funding more special schools around the country. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSpQztA4Jdq1Ce_BWAlGzNXvpjEFRN-qrNa0HJTL0rXFS8uzJ4uDc3s4rgmNijTZS5McUn6OHIdryV_vqDWb5COo6xf4WkzXEApW5X_z7SZ6ojjQ7STrqsc41VtzhzGEaxESwwnyUjoiA/s1600-h/image%25255B17%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ingOfFhEVgZboPXCgRGtiXVKuxDuREDdnDOKfzFwCBUViAT1QBF2GMqYsxcpWd_AvLmLoSfKt2vk2s_IofebsenBTK7jez6UCO7qX0xdJDA1E_RxbLDyypKopFCsPr8N0ji0oqUQ4pA/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="192" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The principal of the school, Mrs Mthembu, has been at EkuKhanyeni since 1988, and from the looks of most of the teachers so have they.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpCs1ROVTIVhMnGWl9eky-Zs5JxDmSmrTzH_eW5Y6KAWmenqMoa_ffAr87p8dhuk34wA1nsrFSLTyEsUcGUeAAn6OyZCSTMD9935cbTki7xxLtgJ4Y6Pu5bKwrctWDi1qXHUWSfDYRmZM/s1600-h/image%25255B10%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhB-nlJnbQrLghku-6Bld7KwwaLQ5YyKyg2NiHJxLaO100f6U_F9bzmr0XwZU1m9u8Fwy6NHCpCOvXcx_952RcngL7P3exZMS18xm82Ebcn3KE8AdTv3mRfHSpvfmVFs1dsl0BSTe5GOg/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here is a slideshow of all the photos.</span><span style="font-size: small;">You will see from the photos that the school is extremely well cared for, the teachers are dedicated and the children are loved.  They certainly know how to celebrate in style too.   </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><embed flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=https%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fschoolnetsa%2Falbumid%2F5743505778121530513%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" height="267" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" src="https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400"></embed> <br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">What a well organised and happy community - a great inspiration to all of us!</span></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KLBhpf-Ayo54iKC0j_K0VytM-1pT87mpNz6U7SBaVA7qE2h1BWS6YLrtiHxfSTFoBYlqPdUju7EDrNNdn286UvNf3QRSQmOqcsQ5o7qA5CmVqgpFtqFRwIBgoYji3pcTMc6qCoLK1Uo/s1600-h/image%25255B20%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2-z8EXQt_zmKvVsFpvwe8JAFflFxFP-4ag1yBquWdMAX52P68A5M6tyAjy9uUoskJCxAum6_S4wsUq-RO-ShHgzXFLXgL1QW8AOiDQhFRQm5_EjNn-OQ5kr2GuMiLBjE0Y5uakK3FdDY/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div></div>

schools Opening of the new computer lab at Ekukhanyeni School in Kwazulu-Natal

This report is given by Janet Thomson who is the Executive Director of SchoolNetSA  Today (17 May 2012) Hlengiwe and I had an uplifting experience. We attended the opening of a computer lab at Ekukhanyeni Special School for the severely mentally hand…

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How are South African schools implementing technology integration?

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d; line-height: 115%;">Every now and then we will feature a post about a school that is taking brave steps in that direction.  Today’s post is a guest post written by Arthur Preston, Headmaster at <a href="http://www.lannerhouse.co.za/site/home">Lanner House</a>, a private co-ed school in Worcester. He is a passionate educator and school leader who is determined to see schools learn to utilise social media and technology in better ways inside and outside the classroom. Arthur writes a blog called <a href="http://headthoughts.co.za/">Headthoughts</a>. His school uses Twitter and Facebook. He is also a co-founder of <a href="http://www.edtechconf.co.za/">EdtechConf</a> which is an organization that assists schools in holding seminars and workshops in the use of educational technology.  </span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Lanner House (Worcester) - from computer lab to classroom</span></span></b></div><br /><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">Back in 2008 our computer lab was filled with 10-year old machines which, quite frankly, had been neglected and were no longer fit for proper ICT instruction. In 2009 our pupils raised money through a project we entitled “A Time For Change” and by collecting R5 coins managed to raise enough funding to set up an entire computer lab complete with flat screen monitors and new CPUs – no small feat for a school of 120 pupils!</span></div><br /><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">We have never had a specialist ICT teacher and we recognised the need for our pupils to learn ICT skills. Classroom teachers did not feel they were properly equipped to teach ICT and so I ended up as the ICT teacher. Our pupils learnt basic HTML, keyboard skills, blogging, wiki building and so on. As the months wore on I became increasingly unsettled about the status quo. On reflection I realised there were two main reasons for this :</span></div><br /><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">1)</span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;"> </span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">So much of what I was doing with the pupils had obvious application in various learning areas and was cross-curricular in nature. However I was operating in isolation from the class teachers.</span></div><br /><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">2) </span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">By keeping the teaching of ICT to myself I was robbing our teachers of the opportunity to expand their professional skill set by embracing technology in their teaching practice.</span></div><br /><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">The question was how to equip our class teachers with the skills needed to begin to use technology in their lessons. They also needed to be exposed to the myriad tools online, many of which are free and quite easy to use. I mainly used three strategies to do this :</span></div><br /><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">1)</span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;"> I</span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;"> developed a Lanner House staff website through which our teachers could access their school email, online class admin and so on. On the front page of this site I placed a widget showing the latest postings from a Diigo group (social bookmarking) I had set up for our teachers. I encouraged our teachers to join and contribute to this group. This kept new tools and websites visible to the teachers. <a href="http://lannerhousestaff.yolasite.com/">http://lannerhousestaff.yolasite.com/</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">2)</span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;"> </span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">I offered staff workshops for those who wanted to learn more. These were optional and gave me a good idea who the people were who would be the Early Adopters.</span></div><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">3)</span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;"> </span><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">I made it my business to speak regularly in casual conversation with the teachers about the use of technology in the classroom. This helped to keep the idea of tech integration active.</span><br /><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;"></span></div><br /><br /><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">By the end of 2010 I was certain that the time was right for us to move the computers from the lab to each classroom. Early this year we took the plunge, arranged for the necessary network cabling to be installed and moved PCs to each classroom. All but three of our classrooms now have at least three internet-connected computers which may be accessed during the day. The remaining classrooms will be equipped during the first month of the 2012 school year. Our small classes, largest class is 15, make it possible for every child to have regular time on the computers.</span></div><br /><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></div><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-ZA" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">We sent a delegation to the inaugural EdTechConf conference in May of this year which exposed our teachers to some wonderful and exciting ideas for ICT integration in the curriculum. I have not made it compulsory to integrate technology into the curriculum this year but have encouraged the teachers to experiment with this and with classroom strategies which ensure the best use of this resource. 2012 will see the compulsory integration of ICT into various curriculum modules.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;"></span></div><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;"><br />Although it is still early days I have noticed the following consequences of our decision to move the computers into the classrooms :</span></div><br /><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">a) Teachers who had previously avoided ICT are now experimenting with integration of IT into their teaching, resulting in an “If she can do it, so can I!” ethos amongst the staff.</span></div><br /><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">b) There are no longer timetable conflicts which result from having one venue in which computers are situated.</span></div><br /><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">c) Teachers have begun to experiment with different teaching strategies in their classrooms now that <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>they have immediate and easy access to computers.</span></div><br /><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">d) Three of our teachers have now set up class websites, two have begun e-pal correspondence programs with schools (both local and overseas), one has her pupils using glogster and there is an overwhelming acceptance that we have turned a corner with our use of technology in the curriculum. This is accompanied by a general sense of excitement and wonder as teachers begin to realise that embracing technology in their teaching practice is neither scary nor difficult.</span></div><br /><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">Our computer network is simple, our resources limited and yet we are moving into a reality which was unthinkable even four years ago. Our decision to move computers into classrooms has helped move our school towards becoming a true 21^st<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>century learning environment. There is of course much more in becoming a 21^st<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>century school than simply moving computers but it has moved us closer to that goal. If we had more financial resources at our disposal we may consider moving into a one-laptop-per-child scenario or beginning a project which equips each classroom with an iPad-bank. However I believe that we have made a necessary and important adjustment to our curriculum and teaching practice by abolishing the formal computer lab.</span></div><br /><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsaXEu3fTVs7nA1N-fr59S3RVtzKWZJ12XeEoxpl_cY1bAnZY6wLC0lnlQvgv-6hx6g2szxDwEpq1sUCGnFwolHhZC2cgTvnxrj-LZq1NCVbFi1f-uQpRT7KwD4mPMeCx2kPes5CtYYUA/s1600/Grade+3s+at+work.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsaXEu3fTVs7nA1N-fr59S3RVtzKWZJ12XeEoxpl_cY1bAnZY6wLC0lnlQvgv-6hx6g2szxDwEpq1sUCGnFwolHhZC2cgTvnxrj-LZq1NCVbFi1f-uQpRT7KwD4mPMeCx2kPes5CtYYUA/s400/Grade+3s+at+work.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border: currentColor;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;"><br />We have noticed that children who are not exposed to computers at home learn how to type and use the mouse as they participate in ICT-linked class activities. The teacher facilitates the learning and skill development. The use of spreadsheets, databases, word processors and so on becomes an outcome of the task set by the teacher in a particular learning area and those pupils who are not proficient have an incentive for skill development and their teacher assists them in learning that particular skill. With computers in the classroom, pupils needing extra assistance may work on the computers at times other than the official “Computer Lesson” time ensuring maximum exposure to IT skill development.</span></div></div><div style="border: currentColor;"><br /></div><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><div style="border: currentColor;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">Is there place for a computer lab in a primary school? I know there will be those who disagree vehemently with me because of the particular circumstances of their school, but I believe that we need to be equipping classrooms with computers, training teachers in their use and making the integration of technology into the curriculum compulsory. The abolition of the computer lab may be a process which takes several years but I believe the computer lab as we know it today, is (and perhaps should be) an endangered species.</span></div></div><div style="border: currentColor;"><br /></div><div class="standard" style="margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 6.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br /></div></div>

case study Guest post schools How are South African schools implementing technology integration?

Every now and then we will feature a post about a school that is taking brave steps in that direction.  Today’s post is a guest post written by Arthur Preston, Headmaster at Lanner House, a private co-ed school in Worcester. He is a passionate educat…

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