Resources

Exploding the Black Box – the assessment revolution

“Hate marking, love learning.” How many teachers would disagree with that? And this simple mantra lies behind some of the most innovative software for assessment for learning that is being taken up by schools, local authorities and even the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, as Merlin John reports.

Primary pioneers

Pupils at Sandaig Primary School were podcasting pioneers, and now they’re also into blogging, wikis and making videos. John Johnston, a class teacher at Sandaig, spoke to Kim Thomas about how Sandaig came to embrace Web 2.0 technology.

Consolarium’s games plan hooks teachers

Don't believe the media hype - games bring learning to life, says Derek Robertson. Merlin John reports.

Naturally curious

5x5x5=creativity is about enabling children to fulfil their creative potential. Working alongside educators in schools and nurseries, artists help children develop their natural curiosity and explore their own ideas. Its Director of Research, Penny Hay, talked to Kim Thomas about the organisation's aims and achievements.

Using VLEs at Tideway School

Tideway School has been involved in a range of small-scale research projects investigating the use of a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in the classroom. Following a successful pilot in 2007, the school is now embedding its VLE in lesson delivery for a whole cohort of Year 11 pupils. Jim Fanning, Assistant Headteacher, reports.

Junior safety zones for the ‘world wild web’

Social networking and Web 2.0 may be coming to primaries in a safer, bespoke form. Merlin John talks to two teachers testing innovative new social networking learning services.

A primer on e-learning

New Zealand distance educator Ken Allan reviews current definitions of e-learning and presents an analysis of the technological and pedagogical merits and difficulties associated with it. He discusses how e-learning can support teaching and learning and highlights developments in approaches to its use, as well as evaluating a range of e-learning tools.

Fixing Humpty Dumpty

Tim Gill’s book, ‘No Fear’, highlighted the increasingly risk-averse approach we take to bringing up children. Here he talks to Kim Thomas about his concerns that our over-protective attitudes have resulted in a loss of opportunity for children to play freely and to learn independence.

A window onto the world

A school in Birmingham for deaf children has been using mobile technology in a new and surprising way. Deputy head Alison Carter told Kim Thomas what happened when Longwill School gave pupils PlayStation Portables.

‘Music for all’ teacher hits the right notes

A Devon secondary school has taken an extraordinarily effective step towards achieving a key consensual target of music educators – to broaden and deepen the musical experience of all children – by teaching all of its Key Stage 3 students to learn a musical instrument.

Learning with a webcam

New Zealand distance educator Ken Allan explores the webcam's recent adoption in many areas of education and points to the need for awareness of privacy issues and the adoption of acceptable use policies.

Working with online learning communities

Ken Allan, a distance educator at The Correspondence School in Wellington, New Zealand, analyses the components of online learning communities and discusses strategies for encouraging non-participatory members to become active.

For the 21st century teacher “the only constant is change”

Scottish teacher Ian Stuart tells Merlin John how the UMPCs used by every student in his island school are "a conduit to the curriculum".

Playing it smart

Lizbeth Goodman is Director of SMARTlab, an organisation that brings together people from creative and technical disciplines to develop new technologies that benefit some of society’s most disadvantaged groups. She talked to Kim Thomas about how SMARTlab’s unique way of working has resulted in the some highly innovative projects.

A little information can be a dangerous thing

The headteacher of a Sunday Times ‘top five’ school recently said that we live in a “data obese” society, and described the school league tables as “a cancer”. With such a perceived surfeit of information, how are schools to make sense of the data that is filling their servers? Merlin John visited the Fischer Family Trust and the new Institute for School Effectiveness for some answers.

"The last siege tower is education"

Donald Clark, a director of Ufi (the University for Industry), former CEO of EPIC, and an e-learning specialist for more than 20 years, has strong views about schools, teachers and modern educational orthodoxy. He talked to Kim Thomas about where it all went wrong, and why he’s optimistic that schools will eventually succumb to the technological revolution.

Template for transformation

Knowsley, in Merseyside, is acknowledged as having one of the most ambitious, transformational projects for Building Schools for the Future. Merlin John talks to the visionary behind the blueprint, Damian Allen.

From robotic sniffer dogs to urban space stations

Scientist, artist, engineer, environmental activist: all these terms could be used to describe Natalie Jeremijenko, but none would do justice to the unique combination of flair and academic rigour that she brings to her work in educating people about the environment. At Futurelab’s recent ‘Why Don’t You…?’ conference, she spoke to Kim Thomas about her latest projects.

A world-class learning festival

The Scottish Learning Festival has matured into a world-class event that has even grown a ‘fringe’. Merlin John explores its replicable seeds for success.

Simulated mess

The messiness and unpredictability of the real world is often what makes exploring it fun. If we could allow school science students some access to this mess while still maintaining discipline, perhaps we could help to turn more of them back on to science. Computer simulations might be able to help.

Switching on to learning

John Howells has been Principal of Leasowes Community College in Dudley for 21 years. In that time, he has introduced some radical changes, including whole days when students focus on a single subject. John outlined his philosophy to Kim Thomas, and explained the role technology plays in helping students take responsibility for their own learning.

Can serendipitous browsing lead to serendipitous learning?

People surf the net not only for fun, but also to discover and learn. We have all experienced the thrill of serendipitous discovery as we look for one thing but stumble across something else of value to us. Is this just ‘wilfing’ or can it lead to real learning?

Machinima and education

‘Machinima’ are 3D animations created in real time using computer games. Educators are learning to exploit the potentials of this creative, flexible and accessible medium, writes Diane Carr.

Making waves

Radiowaves is a web-based network of radio stations used by school students in 20 different countries to create and publish audio programmes for a wide audience. Kim Thomas talked to Tim Riches, Radiowaves’s Managing Director, and Bronwyn Murie, a history teacher using Radiowaves for the first time.

Travels in time and space

Primary and secondary schools in Kent have been discovering how to use a geographical information system (GIS) to find out more about the geography and history of their local landscape. Kim Thomas talked to lecturer Jason Sawle and teacher Gerard O’Sullivan about the project.

Extended learning

Jim Fanning from Tideway School reports on a project in his school which is investigating some of the issues surrounding the use of Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) in the classroom.

How personal is personalisation?

The focus on the technical elements of learning platforms may be eclipsing the transformational nature of e-portfolios, the heart of the learners’ experiences, writes Merlin John.

An open approach to learning

Not content with making many of its course materials freely available on the web through its OpenLearn project, the Open University is throwing some collaborative learning tools into the mix. Laura Dewis, OpenLearn’s Communications Manager, explained why to Kim Thomas.

The Fountain Journey – one teacher’s story

Fountaineers is a collaborative project which aims to design and build an ‘intelligent’ water fountain that is programmable and reconfigurable by primary-aged children. In this article one of the teachers involved in the project shares her experiences.

Stepping out into learning with digital technologies: the London Knowledge Lab

With the explosion of collaborative technologies outside school, and a perceived gap in students’ classroom experience within schools, there has never been a greater need for up-to-the-moment, thorough educational research. The London Knowledge Lab, created three years ago, is now taking the bit between its teeth with a distinctive, multidisciplinary approach.

Creating learning trails - the fun way

Islington City Learning Centre has been using Futurelab’s Create-A-Scape software to devise location-based learning trails for local schools. Peter Barrett, Project Manager for the Kings Cross partnership, talked to Kim Thomas about how Year 5 children at Blessed Sacrament Primary School fared on their local history learning trail.

Every child matters – apart from the 100,000 out of school

According to research, 100,000 children are missing from normal schooling. Yet despite considerable evidence that online learning can prove extremely effective in motivating and re-engaging young people out of school, existing successful online services are only scratching the surface of the problem, as Merlin John reports.

Money matters

Wendy van den Hende is the chief executive of the Personal Finance Education Group, an organisation helping to educate schoolchildren about money management. She spoke to Kim Thomas about pfeg’s aims and its latest project, Learning Money Matters.

Mapping the invisible

Martin Dodge is an academic geographer whose work has involved mapping the geography of cyberspace and unpicking the politics of pervasive computing. His aim, he tells Kim Thomas, is to make hidden relationships visible.

Resistance is not futile – it’s the haptic key to investigating 3D worlds

It may be in fits and starts, but haptic technology - the physical feedback that introduces human sensitivity to control techno-muscle - is on its way. Merlin John investigates some of the latest real-world applications.

A mobile with a mission

Carried out in partnership with the University of Nottingham, Futurelab’s MobiMissions project sees teenagers setting and responding to missions on their mobile phones. Kim Thomas talked to Futurelab learning researcher Lyndsay Grant to find out more.

Transforming learning spaces to personalise learning

With current debates about what a 21st century education should look like, the Fountaineers project is showing that children and teachers have enormous scope to influence the reconfiguration of their buildings and outdoor spaces - and the ways in which they learn.

Overcoming the resistances to innovation in the classroom

Are classrooms places of change? Is there an inherent worth in change? Is there a benefit in empowering teachers to change their own practices to suit the needs of their students? Futurelab is investigating the role of teachers as innovators, and is examining what models, methods and techniques can be used to aid in developing new practices within classrooms and schools.

Not boring!

NESTA’s action-packed Planet Science website has been a huge success. Now it’s launching a new venture, Planet SciCast, which aims to get schoolchildren and adults filming their own science demonstrations. Kim Thomas talked to Katie Walsh, Planet Science’s project manager, to find out more.

Brown’s billions

How should researchers and educationalists passionate about the positive impact of ICT feel about Chancellor Gordon Brown?

Using digital video in the classroom

Joanne Murray and Paula Rolston at Cookstown Primary School have taken the bold step of turning their classrooms into creative workshops.

Stepping stones to lifelong learning

The PebblePad e-portfolio was devised by staff and graduates from the University of Wolverhampton as a way of supporting ‘lifelong’ and ‘lifewide’ learning. Kim Thomas talked to PebblePad’s creator, Shane Sutherland, about an ambitious project.

Schools of the future, education of the past?

Carolyn Gifford asks whether the Building Schools for the Future programme will provide an education for the future as well as bricks and mortar.

Using wikis to assess collaborative achievement

Mhairi McAlpine from the Scottish Qualifications Authority explores ways in which wikis could be used in assessing groupwork.

Travelling between worlds

Edith Ackerman is a distinguished developmental psychologist who now teaches in the School of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Here she talks to Kim Thomas about how the interaction between physical and virtual spaces supports children's learning.

Timetable for change

The creative use of time might be one of the ways of kick-starting innovation. In most schools the timetable stands for order and stability; might it also be a barrier to innovation and change? Jack Kenny looks at how three schools have used time creatively to improve teaching and learning.

Virtually there?

Bob Harrison explores the concept of the 'virtual school', reporting back from a visit to Stanford Virtual High in San Francisco.

Open thinking and open spaces

Bruce Jilk is an American architect whose innovative, flexible designs for schools have gained him worldwide recognition. At the recent Futurelab conference, he talked about how his designs reflected his learner-centred philosophy. Kim Thomas met up with him over coffee to hear his thoughts on architecture, schools and learning.

Time to start listening

Acknowledging and responding to the learner voice should be at the heart of our drive towards personalised learning, says Fiona Colligan. However, the concept has received little more than lip service.

Enquiring Minds: the story so far

We are now one year into Futurelab's innovative Enquiring Minds project, which is exploring ways of giving a children a say in what they learn. Kim Thomas caught up with Futurelab researcher Ben Williamson to find out how it's all going.

Building a vision

The Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme offers a significant opportunity to change the way education is organised in schools, reports Steve Sayers.

Journeying to the future

The Dudley Grid for Learning has become a byword for innovation in educational technology. Kim Thomas talked to John Davies, Learning Futures Adviser at the Dudley Grid for Learning, to hear about work in progress.

UCLan - a digital university

The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) is the sixth biggest in the country, and has developed a strategy of investing in new technology to offer a blended learning environment to both its residential and distance students. Mike Ahern, Director of Information Studies at UCLan, explained the thinking behind it to Kim Thomas.

Children photographing their social worlds

What does the world look like through a child's eyes? Teachers and researchers are often involved in attempts to find out how children think about and perceive things, and one useful method is photography.

Physical inactivity and childhood obesity

Is technology to blame, or could it have some answers? Tash Lee reports on recent projects that have experimented with using technologies to promote and support physical activity.

The school of the future

Kim Thomas explores the opportunities for enhancing personalised, flexible and community learning presented by the Building Schools for the Future programme.

New technologies and adult learners

What can new technologies offer to adult learners that traditional teaching methods can't? Kim Thomas reports.

Towards a Personalised Educational Landscape

Peter Humphreys sets out Personalised Education Now's core principles of personalisation, which provide an agenda for transforming our learning systems and a context for digital technologies.

A charter for children

Keith Johnson, Head of Luckwell Primary School in Bristol, was fed up with the 'discrete gobbets' method of learning imposed by the National Curriculum, so when he came across Futurelab's Learner's Charter, he decided, with the support of staff and governors, to try it out. Kim Thomas finds out how he got on.

This Is Not A Game: Alternate Reality Gaming and its potential for learning

Alternate Reality Gaming (ARG) is a predominately online melding of fiction and puzzle solving. Tash Lee explores the history of ARG, examining its unique characteristics to consider whether the genre might have some applications in learning.

The future of history

There was a time when the only resources history teachers had at their disposal were textbooks. These days ICT has the potential to make a vast pool of information and research tools available to students. Kim Thomas takes a look at the history classroom of the future.

Telly for teachers

Teachers' TV celebrated its first birthday by announcing that it now has more than 1,000 programmes on its website. Kim Thomas talked to Martin Trickey, Director of Interactive at the channel, to find out more about how the past year has gone and what he's planning next.

It's all in the mind

Bristol University academic Dr Paul Howard-Jones is using magnetic resonance imaging techniques to discover what happens in the brain when it's being creative. The findings could provide new insights into how people learn. Kim Thomas talked to Paul to find out more.

Teaching robotics with LEGO Mindstorms

Thanks to the ever-decreasing cost of computing, mobile robots are now cheap enough that it is feasible to provide a class of undergraduates with enough equipment to enable all of them to get hands-on experience of building robots.

The personal touch

As a former headteacher with 25 years' experience of working in Birmingham primary schools, Peter Humphreys knows the education system from the inside. These days, as chair of Personalised Education Now, he's putting forward a radical vision of how that system can be transformed.

Augmented reality: a new approach to learning

Kim Thomas talks to Adrian Woolard, Research & Development Executive for Creative R&D in New Media at the BBC, about an exciting new technology.

Pervasive and ubiquitous computing

What do the terms pervasive and ubiquitous actually mean? Despite being used interchangeably, they do refer to different forms of computing.

The power of the podcast

Podcasting is a simple technology, but universities are finding that it helps students learn more effectively, writes Kim Thomas.

Speckled worlds

Imagine a world where you can metaphorically 'spray' computers onto a piece of jigsaw, allowing them to autonomously and intelligently assemble and reassemble together.

Putting computers in school is a really dumb move

Peter Cochrane, founder of technology consultancy ConceptLabs, has had a distinguished career in IT, including six years as Head of Research at British Telecom. As his background would suggest, he has some bold ideas about technology and education. Kim Thomas talked to him to find out more.

Wireless Sensing Networks: an overview of US development

In November this year, Futurelab was invited to participate in the Wireless Sensing Network (WSN) Mission to the US, in particular to California. This article summarises our main findings, focusing in particular on the key features which played a role in the development of WSN technology within the US.

Assessment enters the digital age

E-portfolios will help bring the curriculum into the 21st century. Kim Thomas talked to Patrick Craven, Assistant Director of OCR, about the benefits and challenges electronic assessment will bring.

Mobile presence

The vision of the mobile learner as being able to move between different spaces yet remain connected to peers, experts, resources and information suggests many exciting possibilities for developing learning practice. Yet how does this mobility affect the ability to communicate within learning relationships?

What is metacognition?

Amongst the plethora of polysyllabic words on offer in the educational sphere, metacognition has become one of the most popular. This 'brief guide' attempts to explain what it means and why it is still important for learners in the 21st century.

Engaging children with special needs: a case study of St Luke's

When used properly, technology can enable learners to take greater control of their learning - and that's especially the case when those learners have special needs. Kim Thomas talks to a school that seems to be getting it right.

Biometrics and digital identity

How is technology being used to define identity online and off? Peter Ferne reports on the latest developments in the fields of biometrics and online digital identities.

'Killer apps' for mobile phones - an educational view

This article is based on a presentation to a seminar entitled Killer Applications for Mobile Phones at the International Broadcasters Convention - IBC 2005.

Researching creativity: an experiential methodology

Lyndsay Grant reports on an innovative approach to researching creativity which is being explored by Creative Partnerships in Bristol.

Designing for the future

Design & Technology has been the focus of more exciting developments in the use of ICT than most other national curriculum subjects. But we shouldn't lose sight of its primary purpose, writes Kim Thomas.

Opening up the map

Open services are bringing mapping into the mainstream; all it needs now is open data, writes Peter Ferne.

Virtual Worlds: more than a game

Large-scale online games, set in immersive 3D virtual worlds, have received interest from the learning community due to their inherently social nature and the strength of the communities that exist within and around them.

Computer game theory: narrative versus ludology

The aim of this article is to uncover some of the background theory and meaning behind the ongoing academic debate between narrative and ludologic perspectives within computer game theory. In doing so an introductory, 'jargon busting' snapshot is provided from which more in-depth understandings can develop.

Creating a new kind of classroom

What do you get when you take away the props of pens, exercise books and examination papers? Confident, motivated learners, writes Kim Thomas.

Wave goodbye to the mouse

For many of us the mouse and keyboard have been synonymous with the very notion of a computer interface. But they weren't always quite so universal and they certainly won't be for much longer.

The IT Girls

A bold scheme to make IT more attractive to teenage girls is having benefits all round, writes Kim Thomas.

Young people as researchers

The idea that young people can act as researchers in their own schools and communities has become a source of some excitement amongst educators in recent years. This article explores the reasons for this interest, as well as its potential opportunities and problems.

Good vibrations

Drawing inspiration from the Deaf Rave community, Blackout Arts have developed a series of workshops to introduce deaf participants to the world of VJing.

The rise and rise of the mobile phone

Josh Dhaliwal heads up mobileYouth, whose surveys on mobile phone usage among the young have provided some revealing insights into what life is like for young people in Britain today. Kim Thomas caught up with him at the Futurelab conference in Sheffield.

What are multimodality, multisemiotics and multiliteracies?

Academic research is commonly criticised for its use of impenetrable jargon, including terms like 'multimodality', 'multisemiotics' and 'multiliteracies'. But behind the jargon, they are useful and simple concepts for educators, as Ben Williamson explains.

FLOSS away

In December 2004, Futurelab held a one-day internal workshop which aimed to provide us with a more in-depth understanding of the implications of Free and Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) for education.

Young, gifted and talented

When educationalists talk about pupils with special needs, we usually think about children with particular difficulties. But children who are academically gifted or talented need extra support too. Kim Thomas finds out what is being done to help them.

Reflections on DigiPlay 4: Teaching with, learning from computer games

On 28 January the Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media within the Institute of Education, University of London at The London Knowledge Lab hosted the fourth seminar in the DigiPlay series.

Calling time on the digital divide

The main reason children from poorer backgrounds under-perform educationally is lack of support at home. But computers have the power to change all that, says Valerie Thompson, Chief Executive of the e-Learning Foundation. Kim Thomas talks to a woman with a mission.

Making the connection

What can the surrealist Salvador Dali, the sculptor Antony Gormley and the renaissance artist Vermeer teach us about mathematics? Kim Thomas spoke to Nick Mee, co-author of a new CD-Rom entitled Connections in Space, to find out.

Digital Education Enhancement Project

The Open University has made bold claims about an applied research project that has transformed the learning experiences of students, teachers and local communities.

Technology should be invisible

New developments in technology have much to offer teachers and learners, writes Kim Thomas. But two academic experts agree: the most important quality for a piece of educational technology is that it should be invisible.

ECSITE Annual Conference 2004

Roy Hawkey attended the ECSITE conference to promote his recently published literature review to the science centre community. Roy offers his reflections on the ICT-related elements of the conference.

The end of the Dead Poets Society

Teachers of the future are going to have to learn new skills, adapt to new technologies and work with many different agencies - but Ralph Tabberer of the Teacher Training Agency is confident they can cope. Kim Thomas talked to him to find out more.

A window on education

Clare Richards spoke to Stephen Uden, Education Relations Manager at Microsoft UK to find out about their plans for educational software.

Interacting with nature