Leading Staff and Parents through Change

A presentation given to Headteachers at the Independent Schools Association Annual Conference in Eastbourne on Friday 17th May 2013.

 

Diamond schools – combining single-sex and co-educational teaching

Article written for The Service Parents' Guide to Boarding on "Diamond Schools".

A ‘diamond’ structure combines both single-sex and co-educational teaching. Typically, boys and girls are taught together until the age of 11, separately from 11 to 16, before coming back together again in a joint sixth form. 

‘Diamond schools’ are often the product of the merger of a boys' and a girls' school, so it is usual that at KS3 and KS4 girls and boys can be taught separately on different sites. It is a common feature that boys and girls combine outside the classroom for academic trips and visits and in some co-curricular activities, such as choirs, orchestras and the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. 

A unique feel 

Diamond schools combine some of the best aspects of single sex and co-educational teaching. Boys and girls are kept apart during the crucial years of puberty, allowing them to grow up without the pressures that come from being in daily contact with the opposite sex. At Berkhamsted we find that, despite being taught the same curriculum in many cases by the same teachers, our boys’ and girls’ schools have their own unique feel.

Like most single-sex girls schools, we produce a higher proportion of female scientists and our girls perform better than our boys at GCSE. However, because co-curricular activities are for boys and girls together, they are able to maintain an appropriate level of social contact that means it is possible to develop friendships with the opposite sex. So when they come together into the sixth form, there is sufficient maturity for them to cope with co-education without it being a distraction. The transition to the co-educational sixth form has a feeling of real progression – at Berkhamsted, boys and girls move out of blazers and uniform to wearing city suits. The move up from the boys' and girls' schools is an important step in the growing up process and the sixth form is a natural preparation for university and the world of work.

A ‘one-stop’ drop 

The ‘diamond’ structure has further benefits too. For example, ‘diamond schools’ are very convenient for parents as effectively they provide a ‘one-stop’ drop for the school run – children of both sexes from nursery to sixth form can be dropped off together, or, indeed, share in a common bussing system. 

The main advantage, however, is that ‘diamond schools’ are able to retain many of the positive characteristics of small schools – each part is often of a size that will allow each pupil to know everyone in the school – while benefiting from the infrastructure and economies of scale of a much larger school.

Link to article

Which Mobile Device for Staff? - Mobile Device Strategy (Part Three)

"Which Mobile Device should we purchase?" is one of the most common questions that schools are asking at the moment.  In many ways we are spoilt for choice: the iPad, the iPad Mini, MacBook, Tablets (e.g. Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Tablet, Google Nexus 10), Windows 8 laptops, other laptops, and now hybrids that are both Laptop and Tablets (such as the HP Envy x2).

We are planning to issue new mobile devices to all teaching staff in September. Rather than going for a one-size-fits-all approach (as we have in the past), we have encouraged each academic department to consider the issues and to decide which type of device it recommends for use by teachers in the Department. That way we hope to maximise the impact that these devices are going to have on teaching and learning in the classroom.

The problem with the question "Which Mobile Device should we purchase?" is that there is no single right answer - ultimately the decision will depend on two factors:

1. the nature of the Network Infrastructure in the school
2. the needs and aspirations of teachers.

Network Infrastructure

There is little point putting iPads  or Tablets into the hands of teachers or pupils if the necessary WIFI infrastructure is not in place. Likewise there can be conflict issues when using Macs on MS network. These can be resolved but it takes time and expertise. In many ways the Network Infrastructure is the place to start when designing a mobile device strategy.

At Berkhamsted, we have already spent five years investing in the necessary network infrastructure to support a cross-platform mobile device solution. This includes upgrading our cabling, switches and servers, introducing WIFI connectivity and improving the Internet connection. Furthermore, this summer we are replacing our IWBs with Epson EB-485WiE WIFI interactive projectors (see previous blogpost) and have been using Citrix to provide remote desktop capability for the past couple of years.

Needs and Aspirations of Teachers

Different departments have different needs: 

• Science want to use data-loggers (the ones we have require a USB port), but also want to use Apps, which pushes them into the direction of Windows 8 Laptops.
• Modern Languages are using iPad Apps in the classroom.
• Many departments have no plans to use Apps in the classroom but just want a slightly faster version of what they have at the moment - so they are likely to be getting the cheaper Windows 7 laptops.
• and so on . . . 

The Advantages and Disadvantages of each types of Mobile Device

The following is based on advice that was given to Heads of Department to help them weigh up the pros and cons of each type of device:

See also:

• Teacher Devices: Our unexpected solution - Mobile Device Strategy for Schools (Part One)
• Don't be tempted by iPads as a School Marketing tool - Learning the lessons of the past. Mobile Device Strategy for Schools (Part Two)
• Why we're getting rid of all of our Interactive Whiteboards

Once again I am indebted to Berkhamsted's Director of ICT, Dave Pacey and to the other members of the School ICT Strategy Group (@davidpacey2 @nickdennis @elearninglaura @steveredman63 @peteranicholls) for all their work on this project.

Why we're getting rid of all of our Interactive Whiteboards

I have never been a fan of IWBs, mainly because most schools installed them as a marketing tool ("to keep up with the Joneses"), and few schools put the requisite training in place to make the most of the investment. I acknowledge that in trained hands they are a really useful educational tool, but most are just expensive mice. But that's not why we're getting rid of them.

IWBs regularly need re-calibrating and they are ridiculously expensive to run and maintain. Teachers forget to turn off the projectors at night or to report that the filter needs changing with the consequence that the bulbs don't last long - and at £150+ a pop - they are very expensive indeed.  Here at Berkhamsted we are set to spend over £40k this academic year on consumables and repairs to our projector stock (£37,290 in 2010-11; £39,105 in 2011-12 and £39,795 so far this year); and these costs do not include hardware replacement - and most of our projector estate is now over five years' old.

So we have made the decision to get rid of them all this Summer. Instead we are installing the Epson EB-485WiE, which is quite a remarkable bit of kit as the demonstration video below shows:

The EB-485WiE provides all of the functionality of an IWB but without the need for a special screen. They can project onto any flat surface (wall, whiteboard, table top). 

The disadvantages:

• You can't 'drive' with your finger and have to use a pen, 
• They are not easy to wall mount at a height for young children to work on, because any adult would be likely to hit their head on the projector - so they are probably not so well suited wall-mounted to the KS1/ KS2 environment. 
• You can only save interactive drawings at PDF/JPEG through Epson tools which means you can't edit at a later date.

The advantages:

• They can be WIFI and so can be driven by an iPad
• They are networked so they can report back to the ICT Support team any problems or if the filter needs changing.
• They don't need recalibrating.
• There is pin-point accuracy and edge to edge interactivity with no lag time when drawing.
• It is still possible to use the Smart Software, so teachers don't need to start again from scratch.
• The image is larger than a usual IWB - it can be up to 100 inches.
• You can use two pens so two people can drive simultaneously.
• They can be used on a tabletop - great for KS1/KS2.
• The replacement bulbs are significantly cheaper (just under £50 with double the lamp hours - the old replacement bulbs range between £120 and £250). 

We are moving our Senior School IWBs to our Prep Schools to refresh, update and extend the number of IWBs for them to use. Let's just hope we can find a cheaper source of replacement bulbs!

The Project Specification:

• EB-485WiE Projectors
• New (non-interactive) White Boards (P3 rated Semi-Matt Vitreous Enamel)
• Speakers
• Control box
• All Cabling
• Wireless Plug in
• Apple TV
• Installation
• Smart Software Licence
• Spare Pen Sets

Costs and Finance Structure:

• The unit cost of the projector is £1,040 based on our quantity (just over 100 units).
• We are going to lease the Epson Projectors over five years. The total project cost is going to be between £50k and £55k, a relatively small increase on our ever escalating costs of maintaining the old stock.
• We have added the warranty for bulbs (at about £7.00 per unit based on our quantity), so there should be no replacement bulb costs.
• The pens have batteries, so there are some consumable costs there.  (We are hoping that one set of batteries should last the whole academic year.)

This project should be seen within the context that we are giving a choice of staff mobile devices to each Department so our new solution will have to work with Windows 8 laptops, Tablets, MacBooks, iPads. 

(I am grateful to Berkhamsted's Director of ICT, Dave Pacey, who has headed up this project. For the record, I have no association with Epson - I just think that they have come up with a great bit of kit - Well done!)

Updated article Sunday 28/04/13 Updates in Blue

Body Image: How the media distorts reality:

The camera never lies . . . (not)
Every picture tells a story . . .

 

Click here for related Blogposts: 

Daniel H. Pink: To Sell is Human - Book Review

Daniel H Pink's To Sell is Human traces how the world of marketing has changed with a consequence that the stereotypical image of a secondhand car salesman is a long way from best practice today.  There has been a fundamental shift in power: in the past Salesman had knowledge of the product and of pricing creating a power imbalance between salesman and customer (hence caveat emptor); however, with the rise of the Internet and social media, consumers now have knowledge and the power to bite back if they are bitten (hence caveat venditor).

Central to Pink's thesis is the argument that to a greater or lesser extent we all employ marketing techniques as part of our daily work (selling ideas to others, exhorting others to do things that we want them to do, etc.) hence his assertion that we are all to some extent in marketing.

Pitching

This is quite a practical book and one of the strongest examples of this is the section on "pitching" to others. Here Pink outlines six different ways to pitch. These would make an excellent brainstorming session for school marketing departments - How would sum up your school using the following six techniques?

1. The one-word pitch: e.g. Mastercard's "Priceless"
2. The question pitch: e.g. Ronald Regan's "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" in the 1976 US Election campaign.
3. The rhyming pitch: e.g. "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit" from O.J. Simpson's lawyer at his trial.
4. The subject line pitch: A phrase that can fit into an email subject line (tip: utility and curiosity are the key to success here)
5. The Twitter pitch: Using 140 or fewer characters.
6. The Pixar Pitch: Employing the winning formula used by Pixar movies  (Once upon a time . . . . Every day, . . . . One day, . . . . Because of that . . . Because of that . . . . Until finally, . . . . )

Pink provides an excellent summary of his book in the form of what he terms a "Pixar Pitch":

"Once upon a time only some people were in sales. Every day, they sold stuff, we did stuff and everyone was happy. One day everything changed: All of us ended up in sales - and sales changed from a world of caveat emptor to caveat venditor. Because of that, we had to learn the new ABCs - attunement, buoyancy and clarity. Because of that, we had to learn some new skills - to pitch, to improvise, and to serve. Until finally, we realised that selling isn't some grim accommodation to a brutal marketplace culture. It's part of who we are - and therefore something we can do better by being more human."  p.172-3

Pink ends his book on a rather moral note arguing that selling needs to provide a service: he asks two questions, which all would do well to heed.

1. If the person you're selling to agrees to buy, will his or her life improve?
2. When your interaction is over, will the world be a better place than when you began?

Overview

This sits firmly in the accessible business/psychology genre much loved by our colleagues across the pond. Pink writes well and this is an easy read with lots of good practical take-aways in the form of exercises at the end of the key chapters. 

How Schools can support Parenting

A presentation I gave last year to a meeting of ISA Heads

 

Abundance: The future is brighter than your think. - Book Review

Abundance by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler is a well-researched and hugely optimistic book. Its central thesis is that new technologies are going to solve many of the world's resource problems over the coming ten to twenty years, bringing about a world of future abundance. The book's structure follows what the authors term 'The Abundance Pyramid': water, food, shelter, energy, education, health care and freedom (a hierarchy of human needs based loosely on Maslow). Each of these needs are explored in depth and the authors share insights from leading edge research and the likely benefits that they might bring.

Energy
Take, for example, energy, "arguably the most important lynchpin for abundance" (p.156): where is all the energy going to come from? The authors explore three options: solar and photovoltaics, synthetic biofuels and "fourth generation" nuclear power. Of these, they argue, solar has the most potential: "The German Aerospace Centre estimates that the solar power in the deserts of North Africa is enough to supply forty times the present world electricity demand" (p.157). The chapter unpacks each of these three energy sources as well as outlining other significant technical developments, which will enhance these, such as Liquid Metal Battery technologies which promise to enable us store clean energy; and development of "an intelligent network of power lines, switches and sensors able to monitor and control energy down to the. Level of a single lightbulb" (p.169).

Alongside discussion of the developments in these key areas, the authors outline four key drivers of technological progress:

1. The DIY Innovator - collaboration through e Internet means that small groups are far more powerful than ever before. On the Wikipedia principle, it is possible for enthusiasts and experts to work together to solve problems more efficiently than is possible in large corporations. 
2. The Technophilanthropists - Billionaire philanthropists, such as Microsoft's Bill Gates and eBay's founder Pierre Omidyar, are pouring resources into solving many of the world's problems on a scale that previously was possible only at a Governmental level. Unlike e Mega-rich philanthropists of the past (Rockefeller, Vanderbilt Carnegie et al) the current breed are young and see the world (as opposed to NYC/USA as their stage). 
3. The Rising Billion - "the bottom billion" (= four billion people) are becoming connected and are set to be net economic contributors and consumers in the next two decades. 
4. The Power of Incentive Competitions - competitions with large prizes put up by philanthropists have a long history of promoting innovation and technological break-throughs. (Here Peter Diamandis is plugging the X-PRIZE of which he is the founder and CEO, but the argument is nevertheless an interesting one. 

The World of Abundance: 

The world of Abundance is one where all are fed and watered and there is enough power that we can start to clean up the planet by removing carbon from the atmosphere or to think about investigating Space seriously. People will continue to get healthier as medicine becomes "predictive, personalised, preventive and participatory" (= P4 medicine; p.201-3); X-ray machines will be the size of a suitcase (p.194), spare organs will be 3-D printed or cultivated to order from stem cells (p.200-1) and most, if not all Blue-collar work will be taken over by robots, including care of the elderly (how do you feel about the prospect of "robo-nurse"?). Robots will also perform routine, repetitive operations (e.g. Cataract p.197).

Education 

In the context of such abundantly interesting read, the chapter on Education was a little disappointing, but that's perhaps only because it was the area with which I am most familiar. The authors retrace the New Delhi hole-in-the-wall research, Negroponte's One Laptop per Child (OLPC) initiative, before regurgitating Sir Ken Robinson's critique of the present educational system (see Sir Ken's TED talk "Schools kill Creativity").

Learning like Video Games

However, there is an eloquent argument that "we need to make learning a lot more like video games and a lot less like school" (p.183). Indeed there may be much to learn from the ways in which Game Designers motivate gamers and reward success. Game designers never give negative or bad grades because gamers don't like it. Lee Sheldon, a professor at the University of Indiana, has "implemented an 'experience points' game based design. Students begin a semester as a level zero avatar (equivalent to an F) and strive toward a level 12 (an A). This means that everything you do in class produces forward motion, and students always know exactly where they stand - two conditions that serve to motivate." This makes enormous sense. We are all familiar with Dweck's research that demonstrate that many pupils prefer to do the same puzzle again and again rather than attempting a harder puzzle for fear of failing. Yet, many of those very same pupils will devote hours of their free time gaining experience to get to the next level in a computer game.

The Inverted School

The Khan Academy is held up as a model for classroom teaching of the future (yes, you read it correctly): Los Altos School District in California "are taking an approach that inverts the 200-year old schoolhouse model":

"Instead of teachers using classroom time to deliver lectures, students are assigned to watch Khan Academy videos as homework, so that class time can be spent solving problems . . . This lets teachers personalise education trading their sage-on-stage role for that of a coach. Students now work at their own pace and only advance to the next topic they have thoroughly learned the last." (p.186-7)

Conclusion
Abundance is a fascinating and challenging read for anyone who is interested in learning about what the future might hold. The book is fully indexed and referenced and has some informative indices outlining the data - mainly in graphic form - which supports the thesis. Above all it is a much-needed and most welcome counterblast to the doomsday scenarios perpetuated in the media. Lets hope we can build a future where our grandchildren will in a world of abundance.

The Author

The principal author, Peter Diamandis, is the Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE foundation and co-founder and executive chairman of Singularity University, which appears to be a very interesting think-tank that brings together forward-thinkers and futurists and whose mission is mission is "to educate, inspire and empower leaders to apply exponential technologies to address humanity’s grand challenges" (worth a look).

www.Abundancethebook.com
www.AbundanceHub.com

Don't be tempted by iPads as a School Marketing tool - Learning the lessons of the past. Mobile Device Strategy for Schools (Part Two)

There is a real danger that iPads are going to be the latest in a long-line of products that schools have purchased more because of their marketing impact than their educational use.

Grown-ups love iPads =
Parents love iPads.
Parents love the idea of having had an iPad at school.
Parents are undoubtedly taken in by the iPad-loving school:  "The School X has issued iPads to every pupil from age 3! what a forward-looking school!"  - etc.

So let's buy some iPads! Parents will love them!

A word of caution: we've been here before.
Using ICT to market a school is not new.
We saw it in the 1990s with Interactive Whiteboards - and we all wasted a lot of money. IWBs were visible technology - prospective parents could see them on the walls of our classrooms when they went around on tours - they were bright and shiny. There was an element of 'keeping up with the Joneses' - "the school down the road has one in every classroom - we need them - or we'll miss out/ fall behind/ not be seen as technologically savvy." And we are hearing it all again today . . .

IWBs were a great educational tool in the right hands but we all know that very few teachers know how to use them to their full potential and for many they were just a very expensive mouse.

But surely iPads are different?

Every time I have attended a conference, or a meeting of headteachers in the past year or so, a colleague will confide that their bright and shiny iPads in which they have recently invested a large portion of their annual ICT budget haven't really had the classroom impact they expected. Further discussion reveals that they were keen to have some iPads for what are essentially marketing reasons, but had not put the necessary research, training and investment into infrastructure to provide the platform for improved teaching and learning to take place.

iPads undoubtedly are a great bit of kit in the right hands, but they are not the right tool for every job and there are number of issues that need to be considered before taking the plunge - tempting as that marketing advantage might be.

1. Infrastructure
   The first step towards an effective mobile device strategy is to ensure that the necessary supporting WIFI infrastructure and Internet connectivity is in place before the roll-out of the mobile devices. In many ways this is the most important aspect and is the easiest to overlook. WIFI points, high-speed wiring and a good Internet connection are not sexy - they are invisible - they do not sell to parents. The WIFI network needs to have the capacity to cope with more traffic than you expect - think two devices per pupil.  You may need to put filters on the WIFI so that they can't spend all day streaming YouTube to their phones.
   
   At Berkhamsted, we rewired the school four years ago at a specification that was fairly future-proof and then spent 18 months (working in partnership with Meru) to ensure that the School's WIFI infrastructure was up to scratch before allowing pupils to have access to the WIFI network for their own devices.
2. Training of Staff
   IWBs, when used by skilled practitioners, made a significant contribution to teaching and learning. However, very few teachers ever mastered them to the extent that they were able to make a difference. Training of staff in the use of new technology is vital. iPads are no different. Just because iPads are fundamentally like iPhones and relatively intuitive to use does not mean that it is easy for teachers to harness their functionality to enhance teaching and learning in the classroom. Teachers are going to need training in how to incorporate Apps into their lessons. This is a fast-moving area of education because new Apps are being developed all the time - the required skill set is always changing. Rather than attending training courses, teachers are best advised to tap into one or more of the specialist networks who share ideas and best practice through Twitter and their Blogs.
3. Think about how pupils are going to need to use the iPad:

• Will the iPad be personal to the pupil? or will the iPad be a shared school-owned resource?  iPads really are designed to be a personal device - that is their great advantage - they are portable and are always at hand.
• Does the iPad need recharging at school? ("Sorry Miss, my iPad is out of charge.") Where and when will this be done? How will this be done securely? Does the school need to invest in lockable charging stations? Who is going to be responsible for charging school-owned iPads: the teacher/ department/ ICT technicians?
• Does the device have sufficient memory to perform the tasks required? (A 16 GB iPad could hold 10 feature-length movies, 4,000 songs or up to 32,000 photographs, but once you start loading some of the more complex Apps and games on there the space can shrink quite quickly),
• Can the pupils organise their files sufficiently well on an iPad to be able to make it an effective note-taking tool?  iPads are designed around an App-based structure, whereas learning is likely to be organised around a subject-based structure. 
• Do you need to print work that is produced on the device? How and where will this be done? Will pupils have access to WIFI printers? Will pupils have to upload their files to a Dropbox and then access them via networked Desktop PC to be able to print?
• Are there specialist peripheral devices to which pupils' devices need to connect (e.g. dataloggers in science)?  Can these connect by WIFI? or do they require a USB port?
• How long can we expect an iPad to last?  They seem to be much more like mobile phones (two year shelf life) than laptops (four to five year shelf life).  (We are having to replace class sets of iPads bought for a trial after two years because of the general 'wear and tear'.)

All ICT strategists agree that mobile devices are the future and, rest assured, we are all grappling with these questions. There is no 'one-size fits all' solution - each school's needs, finances and levels of expertise will be different and necessitate a different approach. However, one thing of which I can be sure is that those schools who embark on introducing mobile devices as part of their marketing strategy are going to waste a lot of money in the process.

 “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” George Santayana

Teacher Devices: Our unexpected solution - Mobile Device Strategy for Schools (Part One)

When the Berkhamsted School ICT Strategy Group meets, there is a collective knowledge and wisdom around the table that always makes for a lively debate (@nickdennis, @elearninglaura, @davidpacey2, @steveredman63, @independenthead and our (no-longer) non-tweeting, iPad-loving Vice-Principal - Business Operations @peteranicholls). Recently we met to grapple within the thorny and topical question of what should be our school mobile device strategy. Heading into the meeting the hot money was on iPads for staff and pupils, but after a couple of hours of kicking around the issue, we came up with a surprising solution . . .

Mobile Devices for Staff: key factors that we considered:

We wanted a flexible solution that would allow ICT enthusiasts to push on, whilst enabling the less confident ICT users on the staff to continue developing their skills at a pace that didn't take them too far out of their comfort zone. At the heart of our strategy is that we want a solution that does not box us in for the future.In particular the solution needed to encompass the four following factors:

1. We believe that teachers are going to want to put teaching resources up on the wall for the foreseeable future, so any solution needs to drive the classroom projectors - we are moving from IWBs to Epsom projectors with WIFI capability (EB-475Wi). We are configuring these devices to be driven in three ways: hardwired from the classroom PCs, by teachers' laptops (windows and MacBook) using WIFI and by iPads using AppleTV. 
2. To run ISAMS, our school SMS, which only runs on IE. 
3. To run specialist software in key subjects, some of which are only available for PC (e.g. CAD-CAM software in DT etc.) and drive Specialist peripherals (e.g. data loggers in Science). To run Apps - to extend the range of T&L opportunities for pupils. 
4. We believe that Apps are key to where we want to go. We think that whilst web-based apps have their place they are always likely to be inferior to ones that run locally. The range of Apple apps is better than that for Android.

Our Solution: Apple + Citrix
The need for access to Apps drove us to an Apple solution. By also running Citrix on the Apple device, teachers can have easy access to the SMS and to specialist software through the virtual environment.

iPads v MacBook?

There is no right or wrong answer to this question. Ultimately it will come down to user preference, but the advantages/disadvantages of seem to be:

iPads

• are more portable, lighter
• lend themselves to a classroom without walls - they are excellent for field-trips
• have smaller memories - there are capacity issues
• have a shorter life span - replacement cycle (2-years(?) more like a smart phone than a laptop?)
• the keyboard/ typing interface does not lend itself to extended work
• don't have a USB port
• aren't compatible with some peripherals
• Printing is more difficult from iPads (WIFI printing more expensive and Drop-box solutions cumbersome)
• There are 'mouse' issues with iPads - large fingers on touch-screens do not make fine tuning easy (try editing an Excel spreadsheet in Citrix)

For these reasons, whilst it is likely that we will  have some teaching staff who wish to use iPads, we anticipate that most staff will opt for a MacBook.

The MacBook running Citrix seems to be the most flexible solution going forward.  

Yes, it surprised us too!

We'd obviously value comments and feedback - especially if we've missed something here! Thanks