Autumn 2014

Connected

f you follow the Twitterhashtag #UKEdChat on aThursday evening, you’ll find

yourself in what is effectively the biggest, noisiest and mostopinionated staffroom in thecountry.

That’s because it’s at this time of theweek that teachers from across the UKconvene in the virtual space provided bythe world's most popular microbloggingsite to discuss the hottest topics ofeducational concern. If you're about to move away from being mainlyclassroom based and take a role on thesenior leadership team, then there’s a

hashtag for you too: #SLTChat. Maybeyou’re opposed to the government’sacademisation policy? Follow the Twitterhandle @antiacademies for all thelatest news and views. You get the idea.

There are a few teachers who havemade a national name for themselvesthrough their avid engagement withTwitter. Some, like anonymous primaryheadteacher @bergistra who tweets andblogs about the challenges of leading aschool in a disadvantaged area, are nowwriting columns for national news sites.But that’s not why they initially decidedto engage with social media – typicallyit was a hunger to learn more about theideas currently being debated in their

profession, as well as, inevitably, to letoff steam about niggles large and small.

At the Teacher Development Trust, chiefexecutive David Weston (Twitter handle@informed_edu) says that though staffin many schools are fearful of socialmedia, he would warmly encourageanyone working in education to getstuck in. “We’d suggest that teachersengage, particularly with Twitter. Youcan also, for example, use blogging forreflection, and get involved in aconstructive way in debates with otherschools,” he says.

Continues page 2

The SocialDebate

I

Is there a place for social

media in schools? Louise

Tickle investigates.

Used judiciously and with care not to cross professional boundaries, the contacts made via social mediaplatforms can expose teachers to vibrantnew pedagogical ideas and revitalisetired classroom practices, Weston pointsout. “It can be simple things like sharinghints and tips about behaviourmanagement, or [suggestions for] howto ask a good question.” By contrast,there is also the opportunity to bepointed to academic research thatscrutinises the evidence base forestablished teaching methods, or offersscathing critiques of policy proposals.

Social media also gives exciting access to senior educationalists, academics andpoliticians you’d never otherwise meet.These conversations are facilitated

instantly and informally via social media– and what teachers learn from thatdialogue is often fed back to colleagues in the actual staffroom, prompting debateand discussion in the real world, ratherthan conversations sitting exclusively inthe virtual one.

When it comes to introducing socialmedia as a teaching tool with pupils, however, there is often greater nervousness among professionals, and some schools ban its use in lessons. But certain educators firmly believe thatsocial media has a valuable role in themodern classroom, and that not to use

it is to fail to prepare children adequatelyfor the future – and indeed the present.

“Social media is not going away.Educators must consider both thepotential opportunities and also thethreats to our learners,” says JeromeThompson, who teaches years 7 to 11 at City Academy, Norwich. It’s crucial toremember, he says, that children will beusing social media outside the classroom,and teachers have to wise up. “Beforeentering secondary school [pupils]already have an ‘online reputation’” heobserves. “If you are not sure what this is as an educator, it is unlikely yourlearners will.”

So what are the issues he considerswhen it comes to whether to deploysocial media in his teaching?

Don’t use social media for the sake of it, is his message. “Effectiveness inimproving education and learning should be at the heart of all change,” he says,when teachers are pondering how tointegrate social media into their lessons.“Safety is also a primary consideration,both for learners and teachers,” hecontinues. “Schools need a strong andvisible policy that includes ‘acceptableuse’ criteria for both learners and staff.That way everyone knows where theystand.”

At City Academy Norwich, the school’sapproach has been to consider eachsocial media site recommended bylearners or teachers on a case by casebasis. “For example, Facebook is notallowed through the firewall as itsreliance on advertising, games and videocan provide too much of a distraction and temptation for too many learners,”Thompson says. Twitter is howeverpermitted.

The SocialDebatecontinued...

“Social media gives exciting access to senioreducationalists, academicsand politicians you’d never otherwise meet”

“It’s crucial to rememberthat children will be using social mediaoutside the classroom.Before entering secondaryschool pupils alreadyhave an online reputation”

Louise Tickle is an award-winning journalist

with over a decade’s experience reporting on

education and social affairs. She writes

across a range of national publications, but

you’ll mostly see her work in The Guardian,

where she also covers for editors of the various online Networks.

So what are the benefits? “Students haveresponded very well to Youtube, leavingcomments or just a rating via a thumbsup or thumbs down,” he says. “The easeof management and magic of video

leaves teachers to explain problems in a more creative way. Learners can then review at their own pace.” Peerassessment can be done using YouTubeor Vimeo. “Students create evidence oftheir work and upload it to Youtube.Instead of the teacher creating theresources, the students do it, and alsorate each others’ content – it’s popular,”Thompson says. Satisfyingly for students,the proof of the pudding is in the viewing:the best videos usually end up with thehighest numbers of hits.

Jodie Lopez, an award-winning primaryschool teacher who now works on thePearson Champion Schools programme,has blogged about her use of socialmedia with younger pupils, and believesit can be used “to great effect.” In aclosed virtual learning environment –meaning only accessible within theschool community – her primary pupilswere able to contribute to forums onsubjects ranging from poetry to maths,vote on topics of interest, and sendinstant messages to each other.

She and her pupils also used messaging,said Lopez, “to stay in touch on snowdays, during long holidays and sometimesjust to discuss something we had no timefor in school.”

Children who might feel too timid to raisea point in class, she says, “would sendme a personal message that evening totell me something had happened. Thisenabled me to deal with an issue whilstkeeping the anonymity of the child whotold me.”

While some argue that the whole point ofsocial media is to be open to the publicat large, and that if it's not, it doesn't‘count’. But Lopez takes a more nuancedview. “This is the eventual aim with theuse of social media, but I disagree that itis an early step,” she says. “Where aclass has a blog and the teacher is themoderator, or while using the platform asa learning step to public blogging, what students need is a playground, where theycan run free but still be confined in as safea space as possible.”

And for those who are worried that safetyconcerns trump the learning potential of social media, Thompson has this reassurance: “The highly visible nature of social websites means that monitoringis relatively easy. If time and thought has been given to the setting up ofaccounts, their management need not be a drain on a teacher’s most preciouscommodity: time.”

“What students need is a [social] playground,where they can run freebut still be confined in assafe a space as possible”“Safety is a primary

consideration, both forlearners and teachers.Schools need a strong and visible policy thatincludes ‘acceptable use’criteria for both learnersand staff. That wayeveryone knows wherethey stand”

July saw us celebrate when we were presented with theInternet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) Award for Best Business Use of Cloud for our Schools Broadband cloud-hosted infrastructure.

With over 200 members, The ISPA is the voice of the UKinternet industry to government, parliament, regulators andthe media. The awards were launched in 1999 and are thelongest established and most respected awards in the internetindustry. They herald the best of the industry and celebrateinnovation and best practice. To enter, ISPs must nominatethemselves with the shortlists being determined by technicaltesting, customer feedback and detailed written entry forms.This process makes the ISPAs the most diverse andindependent awards in the sector.

Company Director, David Tindall said “We are very proud tohave been recognised as leaders in the provision of internetservices to education. The award reflects the hard work anddedication of everyone in the company in delivering anexceptional system that gives schools industry-leadingsecurity and content filtering at an affordable price.”

Aside from scooping the prize for Best Business Use of Cloud,we were also very proud to have been shortlisted from over25 applicants to make it into the final 5 for The InternetSafety and Security award, alongside organisations such as TalkTalk, Sky and The Internet Watch Foundation.

ISPA Secretary General Nick Lansman said “Congratulationsto all the winners. The ISPA Awards are hugely diverse andhighlight how diverse the UK internet industry is and the vitalrole it plays in the British economy.”

Company Directors DavidTindall and Tim Sedgwickpick up our award at ISPAawards dinner, held at theSheraton Park Lane Hotel

on the 10th July.

We’re ISPA award winners!

The Talk Straight team took to the streets of Leeds on July 20th to run the Jane Tomlinson10k in aid of Childnet.

The event, which takes place once a year, brings more than 7,000 participants to Leeds CityCentre to run, walk or wheel the 10K circuit, have fun and raise money for worthwhilecauses.

The Sunday morning brought us fabulous sunshine and despite the hot weather, our team of10 finished with times of between 50 minutes and 1 hour 10 – not bad considering many ofus are new to running! Through our generous donations we managed to raise £635, which thecompany has agreed to match – meaning we’ll be able to give £1270 to our chosen charity,Childnet. Talk Straight would like to say a big thank you to everybody who sponsored us andcame to support us on the day. To read more about our run, why not check out our guest blogat http://www.childnet.com/blog/talk-straight-schools-broadband-raise-over-600-for-childnet

Childnet’s mission is to work in partnership with othersaround the world to help make the internet a great and safeplace for children.

The organisation works directly with children and youngpeople from the ages of 3 to 18 as well as parents, carers,teachers and professionals with who they share experiences

and give safety advice. The conversations that Childnet haswith its audiences helps to inform how it develops andresponds to policy issues and shapes the messages that ittakes to government and the internet industry about the realexperiences of young people and what needs to be done tomake them safer.

About Childnet

The team get up and running!

The Talk Straight team – tired, hot, but feeling happy after the run.

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Produced by Schools Broadband, a division of Talk Straight Ltd. Talk Straight Ltd, Suite 4, Dalesway House, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, LS29 9LA0113 3 222 333 www.schoolsbroadband.co.uk info@schoolsbroadband.co.uk

Issue 4. September 2014.

@schoolbroadband

Schools Broadband – Talk Straight

Schools Broadband

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Matthew Hattersley joined us as our new Technical Director back in May. Mattpreviously worked as Technical Director for Vaioni Group and brings with him many years ofexperience in working with online technologies. He will also head up our new NetworkOperations team.

Carole Mawson joined us in May as our new Customer Technical Services Manager.

Coming from Callcredit Information Group, Carole brings with her a wealth of customerservice experience having managed a number of customer facing support teams. Carole hasresponsibility for our busy Customer Technical Services team. Over the coming months shewill be introducing a number of improvement initiatives focusing on customer service,communication, response times and staff development.

Meet our new technical managersOver the last few months we've completely restructured our technical teams, giving customersa better quality of service and shorter call waiting times.