Languages ICT: ICT news update

ARCHIVED APRIL 2005

Top stories

Hands On Support (HOS)
Hands On Support is a new Government strategy that aims to:

Show teachers how to use or ‘embed’ ICT effectively in their subject
Create new learning opportunities for pupils to fulfil their potential
Allow teachers to share good practice
Provide face-to-face differentiated support in teachers’ own classrooms
Recognise individual teachers’ needs.

Sounds good. In addition, HOS can be funded through Standards Fund Grant 31a (Infrastructure and Hands on Support).

Curriculum Online
The Curriculum Online website is an online catalogue of thousands of digital resources. These resources can be bought by schools in England by using DfES funding called ‘eLearning Credits’. The number of credits a school receives is based upon the number of schools in the local area and the number of pupils on its roll. The credits can only be used for buying software and then only software that carries the eLC logo. Teachers need to ask their eLC budget holder for their allocation of credits and then find out whether a particular title is ‘eLC friendly’ or not by going to the Curriculum Online website or checking out the resource on the company’s website that produces it?

Becta ICT Advice
Becta is the Government’s principal agency for ICT in education in the UK. Its main aim is to:

Encourage the use of ICT to raise standards in all schools and colleges.
Provide a range of information useful for everyone from beginners to ICT experts.
Provide access to downloadable documents concerning such topics as the entitlement of pupils for the use of ICT in the classroom and research on the overall impact of ICT in MFL.
Give opportunities for teachers to take part in online surveys and win digital hardware as prizes.

On the ICT advice site, you can browse an archive of ‘frequently asked questions’ on ICT or email a question to a panel of experts and receive a personal response. The bank of MFL specific resources is growing very quickly.

Other current news

National Whiteboard Network
The National Whiteboard Network was launched in May 2004 by the Primary National Strategy and is aimed at primary school teachers, teaching assistants, subject coordinators and school leadership teams who want to improve their understanding of how to best use an interactive whiteboard. The site provides a range of downloadable resources including materials and guidance on how ICT can be used to enhance learning and teaching across the curriculum. There is also an online forum where colleagues can discuss ideas with other whiteboard users.

Interactive whiteboard funding
The Government has put its money where its mouth is and allocated £25 million of funding to assist LEAs and school in purchasing interactive whiteboards. Check out the link in the main article to see if your LEA is included. Training and support are an integral non-negotiable part of this package so use the suggested organisations as a starting point for finding the right training for you.

Laptops for Teachers
The Laptops for Teachers (LfT) initiative to provide all teachers at primary and secondary level with laptops continues (sixth form and FE colleges are not covered in the scheme unfortunately). Schools are given funding for the purchasing of laptops which can then be loaned out to teachers for the duration of their post. Therefore, instead of subsidising the cost of buying a laptop or PC computer for individual teachers who may move on after a relatively short period of time, machines can now be bought for them to be used in school or at home for preparation.

Quick-stop news

ESTUICT
Enhancing Subject Teaching using ICT (ESTUICT) is a Government initiative that focuses on using ICT effectively across the curriculum. Its purpose is to give teachers the skills, knowledge and confidence to embed ICT in subject teaching and pupils' learning through CPD and can be funded through Standards Fund Grant 31a. Training is based on a personalised programme that recognises each teacher's different training needs and timescales with face-to-face sessions and online mentor support. There are curriculum-focused modules with all the tools and resources necessary for lesson delivery as well as help and training on specific ICT skills as needed.

TeamSLICT pilot programme
The National College for School Leadership is piloting a new programme designed to assist secondary school leadership teams to develop the skills, knowledge and understanding to ensure the effective use of ICT across the school. TeamSLICT uses a mixture of self, group and peer review, online, residential and face-to-face components, with ongoing online support and engagement. NCSL, Becta and the Specialist Schools Trust launched teamSLICT (Strategic Implementation of ICT for Secondary School Leadership Teams) in October 2004.
www.ncsl.org.uk/slict

Events

For details of events focusing on ICT run by CILT, the National Centre for Languages, please visit the CILT website at: http://www.cilt.org.uk/cpd/ict.htm

The Language World Conference & Exhibition from the Association for Language Learning (1-3 July 2005, University of Kent at Canterbury) offers a rich programme of ICT-focused sessions. Please click HERE (20 kB) to download a list of these sessions in Word or go to http://www.ALL-languages.org.uk for the full programme.