Education Wales

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Nearly all schools across Wales have got broadband connectivity and the vast majority have got a mixture of wired desktop PCs and tablets or cloud-ready devices that connect to the internet using WiFi.

A continuous classroom frustration of mine was setting up a lesson in which pupils would be using the laptops, spending a time building resources. As the lesson progressed towards the pupils logging on to Hwb and getting involved in the doing and creating, the WiFi would appear to crash, trusted and secure websites wouldn’t load, the lesson would stall to a halt, kids wander off task – ERRRRHHH!

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As promised, the Digital Competence framework self assessment tool has now been made available with additional functionality.

Feedback from digital pioneers and other stakeholders has been crucial in developing the Professional Learning Needs Tool – renamed to better reflect its purpose – which is designed to help practitioners identify the areas where they already feel confident and areas where they feel they need further development. The Tool, for example, has features such as a new star rating function with hover-over text which will help practitioners judge their level. As a practitioner you can use the tool right now to find out where you are in your digital journey.

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Curriculum for Wales stakeholder newsletter – Issue 06

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The intriguing title of this blog post published by James Kent on the EAS Blog surely demands that anyone interested in the development of our forthcoming curriculum takes a look.

The post combines first-person insights into the work underway in Wales with broad perspectives from academic research.

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The National Digital Learning Event will be held in Liberty Stadium on 21 June and this year’s theme is ‘Creative approaches to implementing the Digital Competence Framework’.

The day will include an opening address by the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Kirsty Williams, keynote from John Jackson from London Grid for Learning, a choice of workshops and the Digital marketplace.

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What if I’m not an IT person (because my subject hasn’t needed it before)?

You don’t have to be an expert in IT to teach the Framework. 

Ultimately is it all about the ‘kit’ you have?

A lot of kit doesn’t make you a digitally competent school, it’s how you use it.

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“All agencies will work together to produce one plan for a child…it will take a headache away from parents…the transition can run really smoothly from 0 – 25… continuity is going to be much better, also their development towards independence”.

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Early findings from an external evaluation of the use of Pioneer Schools in developing the new curriculum are now published. This report focuses on the development of the Digital Competence Framework and asks how the Pioneer ‘model’ is working. It also looks at lessons learned that might inform the full curriculum development which continues apace.

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Since the Digital Competence Framework was released in Wales, the Digital Pioneers have been impressed and inspired by the uptake and schools’ eagerness to become involved.

One of the most common questions asked to Pioneers is ‘Do I need to buy new equipment to meet the skills in the Digital Competence Framework?’. Well if schools were able to meet all of the previous National Curriculum Skills, the likelihood is that they do not need new kit. However, what schools may need to do is work smarter with what they already have or consider long term options for updating what they have. As so much of our world is now online it is essential that learners are able to access the internet. So before buying kit, schools should look carefully at their infrastructure and consider whether investment first needs to be spent on developing internet and wireless capability and reliability.

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