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The REAL Project
Three schools in Birmingham (Nelson, St. Francis and St.
John's, Ladywood) are now taking part in the REAL project (Raising
Expectations and Achievement in Literacy). The Birmingham
Partnership for Change and the National Literacy Association are
sponsoring this exciting project. NGfL Innovations funding has
been secured to purchase 120 Psion 5MX palm top computers
(complete with travel modems) which have been given to Year 5
children.
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This project will be fully evaluated by the University
of Central England and will provide additional evidence of the
impact of ICT on learning.
For further details contact
Paula Edmonson, BPC on 200 3980
Thin Client Solutions
Two load balanced "thin
client servers are currently located in the core of the Birmingham
Grid for Learning. From September 2003 the use of these to
serve curriculum applications to home PCs will be trialled by
Robin Hood School.
For further details contact keith_edwards@birmingham.gov.uk
Tablet PC
The curriculum use of RM Tablet
PCs is currently being evaluated in 8 Birmingham schools:
Click
here to find out more about the RM Tablet PC
Selection Criteria
of Schools for Trial:
Tablet PCs were loaned
to secondary schools for an agreed period as either class sets or
half class sets. They were offered to schools,
which met the following criteria.
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Essential
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Desirable
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School to commit to achieving sustainable funding for AAL within
three years.
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- Kit to be taken home by students.
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- School to
agree to evaluate the trial against agreed criteria.
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- School in
an area of social deprivation.
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- Staff to undertake a critical
review of an area of the curriculum and adapt schemes of work to
make best use of new technology.
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- School using BGfL PLUS for student
mail and Web storage.
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- Staff involved in the trial to be offered
release time for evaluation and classroom observation.
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- Staff to
have undertaken or to agree to undertake School Kit professional
development.
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Some Examples of the Use
of Tablet PC in Education:
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Using Journal Notes Writer:
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Use the graph paper template to draw
graphs which can easy be rubbed out and modified without the
need to start again.
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Print a diagram to the background. Labels
can be added in handwriting.
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SATs Papers. These can be downloaded in
PDF format, printed to the Journal and then completed in
‘digital ink’. They can also be marked in a different colour
‘digital ink’.
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Correcting Text. Words can easily be
rubbed out and corrected in a different colour ‘digital ink’.
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Handwritten notes can be taken during a
lesson and then converted to typed text for presentation in a
word processor at a later time.
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Matching exercises. Link words or
diagrams in two columns by drawing arrows.
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As a substitute for an interactive
whiteboard.
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Annotating teaching notes distributed
electronically.
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Instant access to the Internet via built-in
wireless connectivity.
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Highly portable learning devices which can
easily be transported home and extend learning out of school
hours.
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To improve handwriting. The handwriting
recognition is excellent and for most children if the computer
does not recognise their handwriting, they improve it.
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To improve concentration. The pupils tend
to focus in on to the tablet in an intense way. This mitigates
against sharing work with their peers but does help concentration.
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To improve motivation.
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Brainstorming/Mind Mapping.
Conclusion
The Tablet PC operating system and new applications available on
Tablet PC mean that it is much more than a pen operated laptop. It
offers new ways of working with a computer in the classroom and
beyond. I am not convinced that the trial schools have always appreciated
this and some have tended to use the machines as a
pen-operated small footprint standard computers. The next phase of
the research will be to look specifically at these new features and
to discover new ways of working with the computers. I am convinced
that we now have a machine which is set to make an enormous impact
on curriculum use of ICT.
For further details contact keith_edwards@birmingham.gov.uk
Phone: 07766 924225
PDA Classroom Trial
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School |
Tablet PCs |
PDAs |
Wireless Data
Projector |
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St. Francis Catholic Primary School |
1 |
30 |
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Aim
The aim of the trial is to investigate the classroom/pedagogical
use of wirelessly networked PDAs as portable learning devices as
part of Birmingham’s Anytime Anywhere Learning initiative and
specifically the potential of eBooks and eBook creation for
supporting literacy.
Objectives
The main focuses of the trial are to investigate:
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the potential of eBooks as an aid to improving literacy.
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the use of diary and planning software to store homework
details and to alert students to deadline dates.
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the use of mindmaps
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personal access to PDAs by named students.
The kit was placed in the school in September 2003.
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