Grand Hotel & Spa, Station Rise, York YO1 6GD
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UK Multiplier
Friday 14th September, 2018 at the Grand Hotel and Spa, York UK National Multiplier Event: York 14th, 2018 UK National Multiplier Event: York 14th, 2018 Teachers from each of the five associate partner schools, involved in the DEIP project, attended the first national multiplier event held in York, UK in September 2018. This was the first time teachers from all of the UK partner schools had met as a group and the feedback was unanimously positive in terms of the networking and contacts that emerged during the day. Each partner had an opportunity to explain how their school was currently using mobile technologies and this revealed a rich and varied picture. For example Zainab Patel, project leader at Olive Tree School, Bolton, explained how staff and students were actively exploring the use of mobile technologies to support audio and video feedback using an app called Showbie, and the positive impact this was having on assessment practices. Fergal Moune, from Sandringham School, St. Albans, demonstrated how mobile technologies enabled him to stay in contact with his 6th form students in real time, enabling him to set them work and provide feedback on it as he travelled to the conference on the train! Jenni Robertson from Tynecastle school in Edinburgh explained how the use of iPads was transforming the learning experience of students and how these devices were used in a wide variety of different setting including many outside of the school itself. During the course of the day participants had many opportunities to engage and explore the emerging findings from the scoping study which had been completed by academics in the University of Hull and University of Technology, Sydney. These were seen as very helpful for teachers in terms of how they think about and plan exciting and engaging learning activities that embrace mobile technologies in a positive manner. Participants also provide valuable feedback about the forthcoming training programme - MOOC - that will be piloted in Feb-April 2019 and the embryonic app that the project partners are developing as part of the project. The final evaluations from the event revealed high levels of commitment to the project and a genuine interest amongst participants to build the emerging network and extend it more widely with the involvement of schools across Europe and Australia who are also working with their respective university partners. |