Learn before you teach

Abstraction, algorithms, coding and data representation: these are all aspects of the new primary computing curriculum that teachers are expected to teach. Developing these skills within our digital native students is of course more difficult for teachers to adapt to than the children. Add to this daunting requirement the complete lack of ring fenced funding for staff training, the varying skill levels, the always present lack of time and the cost of taking days out of the classroom for training courses, and we have a state of crisis in many schools.

However in Barnsley, Birkwood Primary School teacher Daniel Wood, who holds responsibility for staff development, has managed to address the new curriculum’s requirement and walks us through his step by step approach to developing staff in the most efficient and effective way.

A LACK OF TRAINING
Research from the education sector’s trade association BESA, revealed an increasingly positive view about the new curriculum, with just 37 per cent showing a negative view compared with 68 per cent last year. However, what was most profound was the fact that we primary teachers are most concerned about the quality of training to support the new curriculum.

Only 17 per cent of the primary schools surveyed felt that in most cases suppliers of continuing professional development (CPD) and training were offering a quality service. I would certainly have been one of the 83 per cent who felt that high quality and appropriate training tailored to the school’s specific needs at the current time was lacking.

When I started looking at the new primary curriculum as a whole, it appeared that the challenges are mostly based on the need to re-structure the teaching plans, learning and assessment. Different standards are expected at different key stages; while this takes time to plan, it doesn’t require additional training. In maths, fractions remain fractions and in literacy, adjectives remain adjectives.

However, when it comes to the new computing curriculum, things are very different.

I believe that my staff development role at Birkwood Primary is common to many schools. What I have learned over the past year is a step-by-step approach to maintaining the delivery of effective training to the staff to meet the needs of the curriculum.

IDENTIFY TRAINING NEEDS
It was very easy for me, with the restrictions on time and budget, to rush into booking a training course that appeared to match the general needs of most teachers: this would have been a mistake. I spent time sitting down with each teacher to identify their specific level of understanding in each area of the computing curriculum. This training needs analysis didn’t take long to build. It could equally have been carried out via a survey or in a staff meeting. The results revealed that I had a range of teachers at very different stages in terms of their computing development pathway.

IDENTIFY THE AVAILABLE SOLUTIONS
I needed something to engage staff at each individual level; one size to fit all just was not going to work.
After a little research it became clear that the benefit of employing a trainer for a day was going to be minimal; pitching the training to ensure its relevance to all the staff was near on impossible. One option was to group the staff with similar training needs into small groups, but this was going to result in several groups of about three staff in each. As with most training, the courses available were either priced on a day or delegate rate. The day rate made it very expensive for just two or three teachers. However when you consider the total value of a ‘per delegate’ rate across all our teachers, this was equally expensive. Finally there actually was very little availability of appropriate quality training for our specific needs.

I was then directed towards online continuing professional development (CPD) through the supplier of our interactive whiteboard, Steljes. The Steljes Training portal is an online CPD centre where my staff can select the courses they want, starting at the most appropriate level to ensure that their time is invested well. With so many new pressures on teachers, maximizing their time and our investment has become increasingly important.

We had invested in iPads for the children to use in the classroom. However training the teachers to use them with the appropriate learning content, and then getting them to instruct the children on using them in the right way, was going to take time. So our teachers used the video content of the ‘Learning to use iPads effectively’ course and then shared their newfound knowledge with the children, while others preferred to watch the course with the children, learning together.

The courses include getting teachers ready for the primary computing curriculum, with demonstrations on how to use the free programming software Scratch, to make a number of multimedia applications such as games, animations, simulations, stories and art. It also introduces Kodu, another similar software resource which is easy to use, free and ideal to introduce coding game design, 3D imaging and programming to primary students.

In my view, in order for schools to leverage the best possible learning outcomes from classroom technology, teachers need to be up-skilled and trained to use hardware and software effectively. High quality online CPD gives teachers access to training any time, any place, focusing on classroom best practice for a wide range of products. These include products from SMART, Elmo, Avermedia and Apple. As well as product training, the portal gives teachers access to hundreds of creative content ideas from well known software such as SMART Notebook, to lesser known but free to download applications and software.

GETTING THE MOST FROM TECHNOLOGY
The beauty of the Steljes Training Portal is that it has been created by experts working with teachers, to ensure it covers all aspects of the curriculum, in a way that meets teachers’ working schedule. It focuses on practical use and implementation in order for schools to leverage the best possible learning outcomes from classroom technology.
Bearing in mind that teachers’ time is limited, the training can be stopped, re-started and replayed at any point in time.

The courses are numerous and are added to on a regular basis, ensuring that they will always meet the changing needs of our teachers. However an additional invaluable feature is that I can also add my own instructional videos for the staff. Whether I want to create a short video on introducing app development to Key Stage 2 students, or create a procedures video to remind staff how to store and recharge the iPads each day, an online video is a wonderfully quick and effective way of keeping all our staff informed and trained to the same standards.

At Birkwood we are all thrilled that the online CPD Training portal targets the individual need of each teacher to an appropriate level and moves them steadily on to the next.

TRACKING PROGRESS
When looking at the return on investment I recommend that schools also look for an inclusive assessment and tracking feature. At any point in time I can see who has taken which course, measure their progress and understand their training needs. I can also include some of the training content and learning objective in each teacher’s performance management and appraisal cycles.

FURTHER INFORMATION
www.birkwood.org.uk