Following my recent completion of the IPC course, Bottom Line Nine, I’ve typed up these notes below.  Having spent the last six years working for International Primary Curriculum (IPC) schools, this course has helped me reflect on and consolidate my own understanding of the International Primary Curriculum.  Hopefully, these notes can also serve as a reference for others about what the IPC is, how it works and what’s involved in the accreditation process.

A Brief History of the IPC

What is the IPC?

Our 2018 IPC Curriculum Map

How is the IPC implemented?

The IPC Learning Process

Planning an IPC Learning Unit

IPC Accreditation

Our IPC Action Plan

A Brief History of the IPC

Developed in the late 1990s by the consultancy, Fieldwork Education for Shell’s international schools worldwide, the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) quickly became popular with other  schools looking for a curriculum that would be suitable for their diverse cohorts of international children. By using the IPC, international schools around the world have been able to deliver lessons according to a commonly agreed set of learning principles and objectives.  There are now almost 2000 IPC schools across 90 countries.

What is the IPC?

Designed for children aged 5 to 11 years old, the IPC takes a thematic approach in which subjects are brought together under one topic.  For example, younger students might study topics such as Food, Shopping or Transport, while older students might cover topics such as Celebrations, Climate Control or Space Explores.  In total, there are currently about 130 of these topics, also known as ‘learning units’, to choose from – all of which are designed to appeal to children’s interests and help them to learn more about the world around them.  Each learning unit then brings in learning goals from other subjects such as literacy, numeracy, science and history.  Below is our IPC curriculum map for 2018, which shows all the topics students will study during this coming academic year:

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The concept of theme-based learning is not new, as it first appeared in the 1970s.  What the IPC has done, however, is to take this basic concept and modernise it to reflect findings from neuroscientists and other educationalists.  An emphasis on how subject disciplines are interdependent allows students to see the connections between subjects and how they are linked to a big idea.  In this way, the IPC is intended to provide both depth and breadth to students’ learning.

The ethos of IPC schools as ‘learning-focused’ is underpinned by findings from neuroscience, in terms of the reinforcement of existing neurons and the creation of new neurons. As a result, the IPC views learning as both a process of consolidating existing learning and, secondly, as the development of new learning.   

The IPC’s learning outcomes are based on developing knowledge, skills and understanding – the differences between each need to be clearly communicated to the children, as shown in the display below.  This is because a key feature of the IPC is its emphasis on the fact that knowledge is only valuable when it used to supplement skills and understanding for any given task.

The IPC reinforces a lifelong view of learning by viewing the development of knowledge, skills and understanding as ongoing throughout an individual’s lifetime.  Key questions are used to prompt teachers to reflect, e.g. ‘What kinds of children are we trying to develop, and how can we prepare students for the 21st century?’

How is the IPC implemented?

The learning goals are the foundation on which the International Primary Curriculum is built.  They set out clearly what children should learn at school: the big ideas, the qualities we want them to develop, the key skills and the essential knowledge.

The IPC provides students with subject goals, personal learning goals, and uniquely, international learning goals, and these are defined for each age phase:

– Milepost 1 (5 to 7 years)

– Milepost 2 (7 to 9 years)

– Milepost 3 (9 to 11 years)

The mileposts are one of the key organisational features of the IPC.  As the Milepost 3 Coordinator, I work specifically with the curriculum and teachers that pertain to this age band.  The reason behind organising learning across a two or three-year age span is that if we are to help children to develop skills as well as knowledge and understanding, then we need to recognise that this takes time to learn.

Subject Goals

Subject goals cover the knowledge (facts and information students are expected to learn), skills (practical abilities students need to be able to exhibit) and understanding (deeper awareness of key concepts that develop over time) of children relating to the subjects they are learning. There are subject learning goals for Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, ICT & Computing, Technology, History, Geography, Music, Physical Education, Art and Society.

Personal Goals

Personal goals underpin the individual qualities and dispositions that the IPC believes children will find essential in the 21st century. There are 8 IPC Personal Goals – enquiry, resilience, morality, communication, thoughtfulness, cooperation, respect and adaptability. Opportunities to experience and practice these are built into the learning tasks within each unit of work.

International Learning Goals

From the perspective of the IPC, if we are to be serious about helping our learners to develop a mindset that will allow them to think and act globally, then we as a school need to be specific about what international-mindedness means and how it can be achieved.  International learning goals are unique to the IPC  and help young children begin the move towards an increasingly sophisticated national, international and intercultural perspective.  This move can be thought of as a journey from ‘self’ to ‘other’.  Each thematic IPC unit includes an international aspect, to help develop a sense of ‘international mindedness’.

The IPC Learning Process

Though vital, the learning goals only address what children should learn and not how they should learn.  This is why there is a clear process of learning developed in the IPC, from Entry Point to Exit Point, which intends for children to become engaged, active and collaborative learners rather than just passive receivers of information.  If structured as intended, each unit follows the same process of learning, in order to ensure that children’s learning experiences are as stimulating as possible:

Learning Targets > Entry point > Knowledge Harvest > Explaining the Theme > Research & Recording Tasks > Exit Point 

There is another reason why the IPC learning units are structured in this way, and it’s because of key findings from neuroscience research.  For example:

■ Neuronal constellations, the existing neuronal clusters in the brain to which new learning is added or existing learning consolidated, (IPC link – The Knowledge Harvest).

■ The behaviour of neurons in the brain and the importance of connections, (IPC link – Explaining The Theme).

■ The way learners take in information, and experience learning differently in a way that is appropriate to them, (IPC link – Researching).

■ Reflecting, or the way the brain processes complex information over time, (IPC link – Reviewing, leading to assessment for learning).

■ The links between stress and learning and the importance of ‘high challenge, low stress’ or ‘relaxed alertness,’ (IPC link – Rigorous learning).

Planning an IPC Learning Unit

IPC Accreditation

Following directly from Criterion 2, the expectation is that schools should have a wide range of classroom practices and approaches to make the realisation of its shared vision a reality.

One of our next steps as a school for example, is to have good learning policy in place, which can really help teachers get to grips with ‘how we do things here’.  This needs to be part of our induction process.

Criterion 4: International Mindedness

It is a basic principle of the IPC that it is not possible to use the IPC without implementing those elements related to the development of international mindedness.

According to the IPC, internationally-minded students should have:

■ Knowledge and understanding beyond that related to their own nationality

■ An understanding of the independence and interdependence of peoples, countries and cultures

■ Both a national and international perspective

■ The skills and mindset to be global citizens who make an active, positive contribution to society

■ An increasing sense of their own identity alongside developing a sense of others’ and their identities. These characteristics should be reflected in the whole curriculum and in all other aspects of school life.

Criterion 5: The significance and development of knowledge, skills and understanding

The IPC is built on the principle that knowledge, skills and understanding develop together, with each different type of learning including and transcending the other. However, each does have its own distinct characteristics and it can be very powerful ‘to signpost’ to children what kind of learning they are experiencing and what the implications of this are in the classroom.

Based on a number of surveys on the skills required by graduates undertaken by Microsoft, Target Jobs, the BBC, Prospects, NACE and AGR and other organisations, this is a list of skills put together by Fieldwork Education, which were most often deemed important:

1. Verbal Communication: Able to express your ideas clearly and confidently in speech
2. Teamwork: Work confidently within a group
3. Commercial Awareness: Understand the commercial realities affecting the organization
4. Analysing & Investigating: Gather information systematically to establish facts & principles. Problem solving.
5. Initiative/Self Motivation: Able to act on initiative, identify opportunities & proactive in putting forward ideas & solutions
6. Drive: Determination to get things done. Make things happen & constantly looking for better ways of doing things
7. Written Communication: Able to express yourself clearly in writing
8. Planning & Organising: Able to plan activities & carry them through effectively
9. Flexibility: Adapt successfully to changing situations & environments
10. Time Management: Manage time effectively, prioritising tasks and able to work to deadlines

All of these skills can be linked in one way or another to the IPC Personal Goals.

Criterion 6: Rigorous children’s learning and teachers’ high expectations of it

The IPC makes clear that there should be rigorous learning experiences, which motivate children to learn more deeply, while also giving them a sense of personal accomplishment when they overcome a learning challenge.  For teachers, this means that they should simply bring rigour into classroom.

Criterion 7: Implementation of the learning process of the IPC

It is important that learners do not just experience the structure and process of the IPC (e.g. Entry Point, Knowledge Harvest, etc.), but also that they understand why they are learning in this way. The Brainwave (Art of Learning) units for Mileposts 1, 2 and 3 guide teachers and learners through the philosophy, pedagogy and process of the IPC.  In our case, we will begin the academic year with a whole school emphasis on the ‘Art of Learning’, helping students to understand how their brains work in relation to learning.

Criterion 8: Implementation of themes through independent yet interdependent subjects

In the Holiday Show IPC unit for example, multiple perspectives are included such as historical, geographical, scientific, technological and international perspectives and each of these independent subjects are taught and learnt interdependently through this theme. As far as possible, teachers need to ensure that children are introduced to both the separate subjects of the curriculum in a way that also brings the subjects together to develop a broader perspective.

Criterion 9: Assessment that improves learning

The IPC Learning Goals support both ‘assessment for learning’, whether assessing for knowledge, skills or understanding and ‘assessment for reporting’ because we believe both are important.

■ Assessment for ‘learning’ is important because it provides the feedback loop through which children can engage with the information they need to improve their own learning.

■ Assessment for ‘reporting’ is important because learners, teachers, leaders and the community have the right to know how well children are learning compared with other similar children in school or elsewhere, or how well children have learned at the end of the year or a period of time in school. The IPC Learning Goals, distinguish between three types of learning; knowledge, skills and understanding, and believe that all three need to be assessed appropriately in order to get a rounded picture of children’s learning.

■ Knowledge – the ‘know about’ learning goals – can be assessed during, or at the end of each subject, or at the end of the unit.

■ Skills – the ‘be able to’ learning goals – can be observed and assessed whilst the children are actively doing them; before, during or after some subjects in the unit.

■ Understanding – the ‘understand’ learning goals – can be evaluated by a judgement of observations carried out throughout the unit. The IPC Assessment for Learning Programme supports teachers in assessing, and children in self-assessing, their progress with key skills from the IPC Learning Goals. The programme is broken down into three parts:

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During our TBS Conference the other week, I attended a 4-day leadership course delivered by Karen Ardley Associates.  As the course was specifically tailored for middle leaders, I came away with many practical insights that I could readily apply to my own role as a curriculum coordinator and line manager.  The purpose of this post is just to summarise my reflections and key actionable takeaways from the four days.

DAY 1 – All about you as a leader

The course began with an emotional intelligence (EI) self-analysis, which I found to be a valuable tool in order to highlight my EI strengths and consider areas for further development.  According to Karen Ardley, emotional intelligence “is the ability to understand, use and manage our own emotions and respond to the emotions of others, in constructive and purposeful ways.”  The importance of emotional intelligence as a factor for creating better leaders became even more clear to me after listening to Ben Walden‘s keynote speech, when one point stood out – we cannot show leadership for others when we are not living it in our own lives.

Apparently, emotional intelligence makes up two-thirds of effective job performance – only one third is cognitive and technical ability.  In terms of self awareness and management, we need to ensure that we manage our emotions in order to control our behaviours.  A key point made on the course was that the first step to developing positive leadership behaviours is to control our self talk.  Optimism, it would seem, is a key characteristic of the best leaders.  Numerous studies support this assertion, along with other benefits such as better health and increased longevity.  The Nun Study was used as one particularly interesting example, showing that nuns who expressed more positive emotions lived, on average, a decade longer than their less optimistic peers and they were far less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

The discussion about emotional intelligence and leadership then neatly led onto looking at Benjamin Zander’s work:

Using the orchestra as an analogy for leadership, one of my main takeaways from Benjamin Zander’s TED talk is the idea that the conductor never makes a sound.  In other words, the best leaders inspire leadership in others – and we can see it’s working for our audience because of their “shining eyes”.  As Benjamin Zander explains, ‘The eyes never lie.  If the eyes are shining, then I know that my leadership is working.’

As a conductor of an orchestra, I realised the music was beautiful and I wasn’t making a sound.  

The conductor who does not make a sound can focus on making others more powerful.  This makes sense: if people you’re managing feel lively, energetic and connected, they’re more likely to perform at their best.

DAY 2 – Leading and developing others

The second day began with a quote by the British researcher and management theorist, Meredith Belbin:

Nobody’s perfect but a team can be.

This, along with mention of Bill Gates’ emphasis on developing the best teams, set the foundation for introducing the idea of a high-performing team.  According to Karen, a high performing team:

– achieves high levels of leadership confidence

– build its capacity to implement change effectively

– nurtures energy and enthusiasm for learning and teaching

– develops and shares its knowledge, skills and expertise

– builds esteem of all members

In order to better understand how to develop a team and get to the high-performing stage faster, we studied Tuckman’s 4 stage model for team development:

At the forming stage, the leader needs to be directive – providing structure for the team and clarifying expectations about how the team process will be initiated.

During the storming stage, the leader coaches the group by helping them focus on the goals and expectations, managing process and conflict, generating ideas, and explaining decisions.

As the team enters the norming stage, the leader acts primarily as a facilitator by providing encouragement, helping to build consensus, and giving feedback.

Finally, at the performing stage, the leader still facilitates the team process, but tasks and objectives are delegated.  The leader oversees and identifies when the group is moving to a different stage.

The Prioritisation Matrix

DAY 3 – Leading teaching and learning

As we looked at what made effective teams and successful initiatives, we naturally moved into a discussion about giving feedback.  Research shows that oral feedback is potentially the most effective way of providing professional development and learning opportunities.  Effective oral feedback has the following features:

– begins with something positive (a headline) – not “How do you think it went?”

– specific

– asks questions to develop understanding – aims for dialogue

– describes behaviours not the person

As an example of how oral feedback should be given, we watched this video, The Story of Austin’s Butterfly by Ron Berger:

In order to receive feedback effectively, the following points were identified:

– listen to the feedback carefully before responding

– be careful you fully understand what is being said

– ask questions for clarification and exploration

– seek other opinions rather than relying on one source

– decide what you will do as a result of the feedback

As leaders of teaching colleagues, we need to be particularly aware of using coaching strategies for developing teachers’ classroom practice.  After watching two filmed lesson observations, the following coaching questions were used to assess the success of lessons and provide effective feedback for the teacher:

1.  Did all students achieve the learning objective?

2.  How do you know?

3.  What will you do about those who didn’t?

4.  How will you assess and use students’ prior knowledge?

5.  How did you liaise with your teaching assistant before/during/after the lesson?

6.  What can students do now that they couldn’t at the start of the lesson?

7.  How did you make sure students know their next steps in learning?

8.  How did you make sure all students know your high expectations?

9.  How did you provide challenge for all your students?

10.  Did the students enjoy the lesson and how do you know?

I like these ten questions because they have the power to refocus from problem to solution.  Certainly, the need for effective feedback, especially for developing teachers, cannot be understated.  In fact, our discussion about coaching and giving feedback to teachers reminded me of this excellent TED talk that Bill Gates gave on the subject:

After studying the theory of coaching and feedback, we were given a practical exercise to do.  Working in pairs, we were asked to think about an important issue we were facing and practise a role-playing exercise in which we took turns to play both the roles of coach and the person being coached.  I found this to be a useful experience both in terms of getting feedback on my way of dealing with a particular issue and helping to clarify my own understanding of what makes a great coach.

The suggested coaching process to support professional development can be distilled into three stages (based on Gerard Egan’s Skilled Helper):

Stage 1 Analysis

Where am I now?  What’s happening here?

Stage 2 Direction setting

Where do I want to be?

Stage 3 Action planning

How will I get there?

Clearly, asking the right questions is a fundamental technique for guiding the person that you are coaching, so that they can find their own solution.  This in itself can be a powerful way of unlocking leadership potential in others.  As Karen explained, it is not the role of the coach to provide answers or to give advice, but to support the development and learning of the professional learner – to inspire self-directed change.  In order to develop coaching skills further, it is important to become increasingly committed to:

– understanding one’s own learning needs

– reflecting on one’s practice

– taking an ever-more active role in one’s own learning and the learning of others

– acting on what is learned to improve student learning

DAY 4 – Practising leadership

On the last day, we looked at what made effective meetings, strategies for dealing with challenging people and, for the last activity, we were asked to deliver a 10-minute presentation about an initiative that we wanted to introduce.

Meetings

As obvious (or not) as it may sound, the best meetings are fun and enjoyable.  Essentially, they are conversations that lead to action – they are not about information giving.  We had the opportunity to experience this by getting into groups and engaging in a role-play of a ‘high energy’ meeting.  This required a clear and purposeful agenda (timed, prioritised), ground rules (listen with an open mind, encourage everyone to participate) and the use of relevant materials (post-its, pens, paper, etc.)

Following a meeting, for larger teams, Karen showed us this method of using dot stickers to quickly gauge and visually represent the popularity of the team’s preference when there are two or more possible options over an issue. In this hypothetical example, we were asked about our preference regarding when to hold a team meeting. We needed to use three stickers for our strongest preference, two stickers for our second best choice and one (or no stickers) for our least desired choice.For larger teams, Karen showed us this method of using dot stickers to quickly gauge and visually represent the popularity of the team’s preference when there are two or more possible options over an issue. In this hypothetical example, we were asked about our preference regarding when to hold a team meeting. We needed to use three stickers for our strongest preference, two stickers for our second best choice and one (or no stickers) for our least desired choice.

Challenging people

I found the advice about how to deal with challenging behaviours useful.  For difficult conversations for example,  the following suggestions were provided:

– Choose the location

– Plan and script

– Predict likely responses

– Use assertive statements

– Think win:win

Lauren Mackler from Harvard Business School also has some great tips about how to manage difficult conversations:

Presentation

For the last activity, we each had to prepare a presentation to be presented to other members of our group and someone from senior leadership.  This activity was a surprise and, having only an hour to prepare, I enjoyed the challenge of presenting an initiative that I wanted to lead.  Using just a Flipchart and pen, it was also a good exercise to present without the use of any digital technology!

 Personally, I like to follow a simple three-step process to presentations: what, why and how.  The ‘what’ sets both the purpose and context for the presentation.  The ‘why’ helps to engage the audience by giving them a reason why they should care.  Finally, the ‘how’ provides the explanation about how the initiative will be developed.  I find that following this structure helps to give a presentation clarity and organisation.

As always, with any activity like this, the most useful part is to get feedback.  In our group, we each took turns presenting and then watching and evaluating the presentations of our peers.  We evaluated aspects such as control of space, use of voice and body language.  Based on my own feedback, I had communicated my message well – I  just need to remember to smile more! 🙂

It is also worth mentioning that when it comes to presentations, less is more.  The simpler and more succinct you can make your message, the better.  After all, as both teachers and students, we know that we all have limited cognitive loads at any one time.  By making your message easier to absorb, it becomes more memorable, and ultimately, more likely to be acted upon.

Concluding thoughts…

By the end of this 4-day leadership course, I felt that I had gained a much better insight into my own strengths and areas of development as a leader.  I was especially happy to come away with so many practical leadership ideas and strategies.  One of the key messages, I believe, is that the best leaders are positive and inspire leadership in others through effective coaching and feedback strategies.

Flipped learning is a pedagogical model in which the teacher delivery during in-class time is flipped with the homework elements of a course.  As a type of blended learning technique, students can watch relevant videos at home, which have been prepared by the teacher, while using their in-class time to focus on exercises, projects or discussions.

My own transition to a flipped learning classroom has been a gradual, organic process.  Although I still believe there is a place for the traditional (“sage-on-the- stage”) teaching approach, I’ve come to recognise the many advantages of a flipped learning model.   Sharing relevant tutorial videos with students and colleagues, both from my own YouTube channel and links elsewhere on the Web, enables me to spend more time as a facilitator of learning.  This simply means that learners spend less time passively listening at the beginning of the lesson and more time engaged in activities to develop their skills.  By doing away with the traditional classroom, which is very teacher centred, it also means that I have extra time to provide valuable one-on-one assistance to students who need it the most.

According to Eric Sheninger (2016), author of Uncommon Learning, there are two main components associated with the flipped learning approach:

1.  Students watch lectures and consume other forms of content outside of school at their own pace whilst communicating with peers and teachers using online learning tools.  In my opinion, this point about students working at their own pace cannot be understated.  The ability for students to pause, rewind and fast-forward a tutorial video means that they are in a much better situation to assimilate new learning.

2.  Students apply what they have learnt during in class time with assistance from the teacher.  As there is more time freed up during the lesson itself, there are more opportunities for small-group work and one-to-one contact with lower-performing students.

In order to make the lesson time itself more engaging while integrating formative assessment, there are many web-based tools that can complement the students’ main in class activities:

– Poll Everywhere

– Plickers

– Kahoot

– TodaysMeet

In addition, there are also some fantastic tools out there for students themselves to become authors, teachers and collaborators, working together to teach content to each other.  Some of the best of these tools include:

– Adobe Voice 

– VideoScribe

– Explain Everything

– Quizlet 

– Google Slides 

As well as giving my students opportunities to use these tools, I have used each one of these applications myself as a medium in which to share information with students for them to learn at their own pace.  As Sheninher himself states though, ‘pedagogy always trumps technology’.  For digital learning to be implemented effectively, we should focus on pedagogy first and technology second.  When integrating technology, we need to remember that it is less about the tool and more about what students can do with the tools handed to them.

That being said, with all these web-based tools and other digital applications available, it makes sense that a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) or 1:1 technology initiative can radically enhance the flipped learning model.  By providing students with access to their own device, it can bring out the best of what flipped learning has to offer.  According to Sheninger (2016, pp. 117),

The flipped classroom is an excellent first step in making students’ in-class experiences more active, more student centred, and more meaningful. Combining the best aspects of the flipped classroom with the power of 1:1 technology would allow for an even more radical reshaping of the classroom. School should become a place where students can learn at their own individual paces, become active creators instead of solely passive content recipients, and learn in an environment that they “own”, which adjusts rapidly to meet their learning needs and interests.      

I have written before about assessment of learning, which is carried out for the purpose of grading and reporting.  Research, however, has shown that one of the most powerful ways of improving learning and raising standards is through the use of assessment for learning.

The Assessment Reform Group (ARG) is responsible for bringing current research about assessment into education practice.  They have brought the research about assessment for learning to the attention of the education community through the commisioned Black & William work, Inside the Black Box.  According to the Assessment Reform Group (2002),

“Assessment for Learning is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there.”

This is my three-point plan of action for ensuring that assessment for learning is embedded into a lesson:

1. Display and explain differentiated success criteria at the beginning of a lesson.  I divide my success criteria into Must, Should & Could.

2.  Encourage learners to reflect on their learning.  Technology helps to facilitate this – in ICT/Computing lessons for example, I encourage my learners to regularly update their digital portfolios – not only in order to showcase their work, but also to use as a medium for reflection.

3.  At the end of a lesson, I ask learners to “stick it where it counts”.  Using the system of smiley faces pictured below, learners stick the relevant face to where they feel are are in terms of their understanding in a particular lesson.  I can then take a photo of this AfL wall to use for my own records – at a glance, it’s easy to see how well a lesson has gone and how much of the content needs to be revisited.  I often combine this apporach with questions during the plenary, asking students what they have learnt during the lesson and what their target is for the next lesson.

Assessment is any method used to appraise the knowledge, skills or understanding that a student possesses.  By providing constructive feedback to students on their work, assessment is fundamental to the teaching and learning process because it can show teachers (and their students) what areas of students’ performance needs to be improved.

Unfortunately, assessment of ICT, the predecessor to computing, has not been effective at achieving this end for most schools.  One of the main criticisms made by Ofsted about ICT in England for example, has been in the area of assessment.  In 2011 it was judged as no better than satisfactory in 61% of their sample.  In my view, there are three systemic challenges to the assessment of computing:

1. Until recently, the assessment framework itself has been based on ‘levels’, which have been fairly abstract and not always easy to interpret.
2. Many schools do not have an organised system of digital portfolios set up in which students’ work in ICT/computing can be consistently recorded and easily accessible.
3. Traditionally, schools have applied an assessment model based on the learners’ grasp of discrete bits of information rather than how they use that information in context to solve complex problems. This is particularly true of the former ICT curriculum, which focussed more on students acquiring a set of skills rather than on knowledge and understanding.

The shake up provided by the new computing curriculum offers an opportunity to put this right.  In the process of adapting to this new curriculum, I have been developing an integrated assessment, digital portfolio and digital badge model using Google Apps for Education to help address these systemic challenges.

1. The Assessment Framework

The expert panel, commissioned to review the national curriculum stated that all assessment should be linked directly to the content of the programmes of study.  This means that the computing programme of study should be broken down into a series of statements in which to inform the learning objectives of lessons.

The text below, which is derived directly from the 2014 national curriculum programme of study for computing, shows these statements.  Its organisation makes it easier to form judgements about students’ achievement of and progress towards the statutory attainment targets.  And it’s this assessment framework, which forms the basis of everything else that follows.

[item title=”National Curriculum Assessment Framework for Computing”]

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This is a framework for assessing attainment in computing based on the work by senior computing lecturers, Miles Berry and Pete Kemp at the University of Roehampton.  Taking a pragmatic approach, they’ve grouped the statements into ‘bands’ from 1 to 8: this numbering could be used in place of the old levels, if schools are committed to using the old system of tracking progress.  I’ve also included in this framework relevant standards (in purple) provided by The International Society for Technology in Education.   

2. Digital Portfolios

The next step is to ensure that a system of digital portfolios is in place.  A portfolio is just a purposeful collection of student work, which can provide direct indicators of a student’s learning experiences.  Digital portfolios are particularly useful because they can serve as an administrative tool to manage and organise work created with different applications, which can then be shared on the web for the whole community to see.

As Woodward (2000) points out, the value of portfolios is thoroughly researched and their use in education is well documented.  By demonstrating the development of knowledge, skills and understanding over time, digital portfolios make valuable assessment and learning tools.  To ensure deep learning though, it’s not enough for students to simply showcase a series of digital artefacts they have created.  It’s also important that students reflect on the work they have produced, and this can be done by simply getting them to write about what they have learnt.  This helps to reinforce students’ knowledge and understanding, which complement the skills they demonstrate through the creation of digital artefacts.  In order to get students into the habit of developing decent digital portfolios, I’d recommend that the process is started early – the last couple of years of primary school is a good time to start.

Project work lends itself particularly well to this process of building up a digital portfolio.  A link to a game created in Scratch for example, with some commentary and reflection about the process of making the game, would provide evidence of a number of attainment targets.  Over the course of the key stage, a diverse portfolio of evidence of student learning should emerge, which meets all the curriculum requirements.  At any time, it also provides teachers with a snapshot of which attainment targets a student has met, and which still require more evidence. I therefore recommend that a list of links to students’ digital portfolios be placed on the same spreadsheet as that used for assessment of students’ attainment.

3. Assessment of knowledge, skills and understanding

In order to motivate students and at the same time provide assessment for learning opportunities, digital badges should be linked to the system of digital portfolios.  A digital badge (embedded into the digital portfolio) is just a mini-credential, providing students with a validated indicator of accomplishment in a particular area.

Students earn digital badges according to the areas of learning they demonstrate across the statutory attainment targets of the computing curriculum.  Below are the badge designs and descriptions, which I have adapted from the ones provided by makewav.es.  Different digital badges are awarded across the three themes of the computing curriculum: computer science, digital literacy and information technology.  Within each of the themes I have ordered the badges according to the level of achievement they represent.

[item title=”Badge Information”]

[embeddoc url=”https://technologyforlearners.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/BadgeInformation.pdf”]

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It’s important from the outset that this badge information is shared with students in a straightforward language that can be easily understood .  I would even say that the badge information itself should be embedded into the students’ digital portfolios, so that students can clearly identify what knowledge, skills and understanding they need to demonstrate in order to earn a particular badge.

Linking Assessment with Digital Portfolios & Badges

Assessment of students’ attainment feeds into the digital badge system quite easily, with badges for each of the attainment targets linked to relevant evidence on a student’s digital portfolio.  If a school already has Google Apps for Education, which is free, it makes sense to make full use of this google ecosystem to integrate the assessment of students’ attainment with digital badges and digital portfolios.  I have created this integrated assessment model in order to automatically issue digital badges to students upon having had their attainment graded by the teacher.  It means that students do not need another set of login information to access their digital badges and portfolios, and schools do not need to pay for premium services.

Below is an example of an assessment template that I would use to archive links to students’ digital portfolios, grade students’ work and issue students with digital badges. As the video explains underneath, this template is linked to a student badge assesment template, which is shared with students via Google Classroom for them to embed into their digital portfolios. When the assessment template is filled out, I use the Google Add-on, autoCrat, to merge the ‘Comments & Badge Display’ sheet of this assessment template with a “Badge code email template”. In this way, students automatically receive an email with the badge codes that they have been assigned. They then enter these badge codes onto their student badge templates, which automatically populate digital badge images onto their digital portfolios.

As well as addressing the systemic challenges of assessment, my intention with this has been to make the process of assessment easier for teachers to do and more effective in its outcomes for teaching and learning.  This assessment model is highly automated, freeing up time for teachers to focus on properly appraising students’ knowledge, skills and understanding across the curriculum.  For students, the digital portfolio and badge system allows them to reflect on and keep track of what they’ve learnt, informing targets for what comes next.  It gives parents a much more meaningful picture of what a child has learnt, and what they still need to study.  Finally, it allows school leadership and the inspectorate to more accurately track year on year progress of students.

Concluding thoughts…

First and foremost, assessment should be directly linked to the content of the curriculum. The statements that make up the assessment framework can then feed into digital badge information, which is best shared with students.  Students should then keep up a digital portfolio of evidence to showcase and reflect on their learning.  These digital portfolios need to be easily accessible by teachers, so that accurate assessments of students’ knowledge, skills and understanding is made possible.

References:

Woodward, H. (2000). Portfolios: Narratives for learning. Journal of In-Service Education Vol 26 No 2 p. 329 -347.

Although there has been a lot of discussion about the virtual whiteboard technology over the years, I have found that there are plenty of benefits to be had from just using a standard whiteboard and projector.  One of the key advantages of using a standard whiteboard over an IWB is that you are obviously forced to use conventional whiteboard pens only.  The IWB however, should not be used with conventional whiteboard pens because of the marks that will inevitably be left on the board even after wiping.

Why is this an advantage though?  By using conventional whiteboard pens, it means that you can have up to five children at any one time come up to the whiteboard to work on an activity.  As “interactive” as interactive whiteboards can be, they are limited to having just one user work on the board at any one time.  This can lead some teachers using it as an “electronic chalk and talk” device, resulting in a more didactic teaching style.

Access to the projector and conventional whiteboard pens on the other hand, means that the children can come up to the whiteboard in groups. Each week for example, I run a times table competition with my 1^st grade class.  I project a grid made up of five columns, and in each column there are ten multiplication questions.  I then select five children to participate, and they all have to come up to the whiteboard to answer the questions.

The activity can also easily be adapted to work as a maths relay, with children put into groups and new questions projected every 5-minutes.  If there is one thing that I have learned about children over the years, it is that they love to compete with one another!  Unfortunately, despite the many applications available for interactive whiteboards, this sort of classroom dynamic is not (yet) possible.

Information Communication Technology (ICT) is an area that touches every subject.  As educators (whatever our specialism), we need to look at how we embed ICT into our daily pedagogy.  I’ve put together here some top tips with primary, secondary and tertiary students in mind:

1.  Get students blogging as a way to consolidate their learning. The fact that students have a potentially global audience for their blog entries means that most will spend more time refining their written work, which not only improves literacy but serves as a valuable tool for reflection.  It’s also a good opportunity to explore digital literacy with your students, helping them to understand the important concepts of e-safety, netiquette and effective search techniques online.

2.  Use word clouds to showcase key words.

A word cloud is just a collection of words that have been tiled together, as illustrated above. The most frequently used words are automatically made to appear larger by word cloud generators, which makes them a great tool for showcasing the learning outcomes of a lesson or analysing the key themes of a text.  Many great word cloud generators such as Wordle can be found online.

3.  Encourage collaboration through the use of Google Drive.

Google Documents for example, provides an ideal space for students to work together on group essays and research projects.  I provide here a review of Google Docs Documents:

4.  Promote Assessment for Learning by creating tests and quizzes for your students to complete online. My personal favourite is Google Forms – these can be embedded into students’ email.  It provides a quick and easy way to flag up any deficits in students’ knowledge and understanding, which can then be addressed in the follow up lesson.

5.  Use a good quality webcam on a stand as a cheap alternative to digital microscopes and visualisers.

As a former Year 6 (5th grade) teacher, I would often project students’ writing onto the whiteboard, and as a class we would up-level the work together.  This helps students to see what teachers or examiners are looking for when they mark a piece of work and is a great Assessment for Learning tool.  More recently, in my role as a 1st grade teacher, we’ve put our class webcam to good use by looking at mini-beasts the children have found in the playground!

6.  Use iMovie on iPads to get students creating video presentations of their learning. These can then be uploaded (private or unlisted) to a class YouTube channel. Not so long ago, if you wanted students to film, record, edit and annotate a video, multiple pieces of kit would be needed.  As well as being super portable, one of the best features of tablets is that they come with all the built-in devices necessary, including camera, microphone, keyboard, speakers and screen – not to mention the fantastic video editing software now available.

7.  The trailers provided on the iMovie app also serve as wonderful templates in which to create very short professional quality slideshow presentations. I have made many such videos for assemblies, parent workshops and training events.  These videos can be made extremely quickly and will easily engage an audience.

8.  Microsoft Word has a fantastic review tool. This enables you to annotate work students have sent you, providing comments and suggestions for improvement.  The student can then review these comments one by one and action them as appropriate.  That being said, it is important that you retain the original copy of students’ work, as annotations made will be deleted from the working version once they are accepted or rejected by the student.  This can be done by saving the work under a different name (e.g. Filename original).

9.  Search Engines are rarely used to their full potential by teachers and students. Google for example, can be your go to dictionary (just type ‘Define’), an efficient translator (try typing ‘happy in Spanish’), and the advanced search options provide many more possibilities such as allowing you to refine your search by reading level or file type.  If you’re looking for a mental maths starter on fractions let’s say, you may just be interested in search results that only show PowerPoints.

10.  Remember, with all of these top tips the focus should be the learning and not the technology (unless of course, the learning is about the technology itself). Outstanding use of ICT takes place when technologies are used transparently such that they blend seamlessly into the learning process, enabling students to become creative problem solvers.