Schools Services: Videoconferencing Case Studies
The Big Conference (Talking for Writing) |
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Adrian W Lyth - Teaching and Learning Consultant (ICT), East Sussex CfBT School Improvement Service |
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Four schools were invited to participate in a video conferencing project using (mainly) loan equipment from the School Improvement Service. The intended aim of the project was to utilise the technology to develop children’s speaking and listening in order to improve their writing skills. The schools were clustered around one very experienced lead school which provided much valuable background experience, support and encouragement. Technical support to set the equipment up and provide some training was delivered by a South East Grid for Learning (SEGfL) Project Officer. At the initial planning meeting in October 2007 it was decided to focus upon groups of more able Year 1 children and the schools were paired up. At a later stage some fine tuning of timetables was necessary to ensure that appropriate personnel, children, support staff, rooms and equipment were available at the right time. An interim meeting was held to share experiences so far and refocus the sessions and a final meeting was held to celebrate success, combine knowledge gained, review the project and develop a case study. The initial sessions were planned carefully to introduce the children to each other and familiarise teachers with the technology. In the early conferences children talked about very familiar topics such as their school, locality, pets and families. The sessions were treated like any other lesson - preparatory work was carried out prior to each conference and children were provided with success criteria eg, to speak in full sentences, avoid using closed questions. Less able children were also provided with opportunities at a later stage. The project, in effect, spanned two terms and most children were involved in approximately 14-15 sessions. Differing levels of equipment and rooms were used – some used a television, others used the equipment plugged into a whiteboard in an ICT suite. As the project progressed a number of features soon became apparent:
All teachers involved in the project reported that the children's listening and concentration skills improved as did their ability to sit still for half and hour! Their speaking improved and so did their writing, eg there was better use of adjectives and connectives and writing became more detailed. Their understanding of what a question was and their ability to ask appropriate questions in other school contexts was improved and they became more aware of the needs of the audience in terms of being understood when speaking. The teachers felt that the children had developed their 'writer' voices (by using full sentences) and had begun to understand what information they needed to express in order to communicate their ideas and for the audience (or reader) to understand what they were trying to say. The children said video conferencing in such a way helped them to become better at collaborating with each other as they had to be patient and wait their turn. Their self esteem was also enhanced through being a chosen group, talking about themselves with an audience. Through sharing information, children’s knowledge and understanding of the world and the particular characteristics of the partner school’s locality were improved. Children learned, for example, about allotments, fishing boats and nets, the fishing community, the different type of forts, how narrow the cobbled streets are in Rye, indeed much of this work was followed up with later map work. The information swapped backward and forwards about their schools also provided teachers with useful insights into their children’s attitudes to school and learning. As the children increased in confidence they began to make decisions about the content of future conferences such that the final one was their own idea, “What was your favourite assembly?” The need to do slightly more preparatory work with parents was highlighted in one school when a puzzled parent asked whether her daughter really was talking to other children “on the wall!” Overall the project was considered a great success and a second group of targeted schools clustered around one of the original schools have already had their first meeting. Like the first group their aim is also to improve the speaking, listening (hence writing skills) of children but with a specific focus upon quiet, monolingual Year 1 girls, though the groups will include some children with English as an Additional Language. With many thanks to staff of the schools involved: Pashley Down Infants Also thanks go to Heather Pettit, Project Officer, SEGfL.
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