Technology in education or ‘Edtech’: A marmite issue. As a
trainee and NQT I worked in a school where we were all given an iPad and
encouraged to use apps in lessons to increase engagement. As much as I enjoyed
getting a free iPad the experience left me cold. The drive for Edtech in
schools can seem new, vibrant and exciting but it can also feel (dare I say it)
like the Emperor’s New Clothes. Why? Like with any tool in education tech needs
to do something better than the previous technology. After attending a
conference last week on tech in education we considered whether new technology
was doing something innovative or was just a ‘techy’ version of what has been
done before. Take interactive whiteboards for example. In my practice they are
a waste of money; there is nothing that I do with my IWB that I couldn’t do
with a projector. Now, I concede that this is subject specific- I know Maths
and Science teachers who swear by them. Yet for me as an English teacher,
nothing compares to my visualiser. Why write semi illegible script using those horrible
IWB pens on texts which I have had to cram onto PPT slides when I can just do
this quickly and clearly on the same sheet of paper that my pupils are using. I’ve
even heard people ask ‘but if you do that can use save what you have written?’
and my answer is ‘yes! I have a physical copy of it!’.
Back to the iPads… as engaging as these might be for pupils
I remained unconvinced that in my English classroom that these iPads were
enhancing or improving what could be done without them. Surely the purpose of
technology is to make something easier or better. Often the iPads made things much
more difficult and complicated; the opposite of what good edtech should do.
Therefore, when starting my new school, I initially inwardly
raised an eyebrow when I saw that the use of ‘Firefly’ was being promoted and
encouraged. If you haven’t heard of Firefly it is a Virtual Learning
Environment which can be accessed by teachers, pupils and parents. Was this
another iPad farce? It is safe to say that I am a complete convert. Very
quickly it dawned on me how Firefly had the potential to enhance the learning
experience and I wanted to share some of the features that I love from the
perspective of a not particularly tech-savvy English teacher.
Homework:
Like many English teachers I have a problem with homework. I
want homework to enrich and consolidate learning but I am painfully aware that
due to the immense marking workload English generates, I don’t want to spend
hours marking homework. Therefore, one of the biggest appeals of Firefly to me
was the ability to set self-marking homework. I initially trialed this with my
Y10 class and found that it worked. Firefly allows you to set multiple choice
questions which will automatically mark and give a percentage. This data is
then presented in a ‘Markbook’ which allows you to see the class results at a
glance. You can also look back at individual responses and see any key
misconceptions to inform your planning.
Setting up a homework task takes me roughly 10 minutes. Yet,
next year these task will already be created and can be used again which
significantly reduces workload. I shared this with my colleagues in my department
and they bought into it. Split between everyone, you get a half term’s worth of
homework for 10 minutes work. This is what Edtech should do- make life easier!
Below I have taken a screen shot which shows an example from
our Y10 A Christmas Carol Homework Task and an example of what the markbook
looks like:
Markbook:
Forums:
Another homework possibility is setting up a ‘forum’ where
pupils can discuss an idea. In Y9 we have been studying To Kill a Mockingbird.
As a homework task I have set various questions on the text as we have gone
along. I have given pupils an outline of how they should respond (eg supporting
their ideas with details from the text and responding or engaging with other
pupil’s comments). This has proved really effective because it has created this
sense of engagement and discussion with the text, particularly with quitter students
who perhaps would not feel as comfortable contributing their ideas in a whole
class discussion.
I have included an example of some of the comments below:
Revision Resources:
Firefly has the obvious benefit in English that you can set
up a page with revision resources for your texts which, once created, can be
easily updated year on year. The benefit of this is that all classes studying a
text have access to the same resources and can access them on their phone or
mobile devices.
I have included some examples of the Y8 revision resources I
have created for my Merchant of Venice SOW.
The real advantage of this is that you can link to extra
reading/ material that you can’t cover in class which can enrich pupils’ experiences
of the text and stretch the most able.
Things I want to try:
There are so many possibilities with Firefly and as a novice
(I’ve only been using this September) there are lots of things I still want to
try including:
- Using the poll function for student voice/ evaluation on SOWs etc.
- Using the poll function to assess what topics pupils in a class want to revise most to adapt my revision sessions on the run up to exams.
- Using forums and the blog function to enhance DEAR time.
Do you use Firefly? What have you found useful? I would love
to share some best practice.
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