Professional Development
The induction conference and workshop for participating teachers was able to go ahead as scheduled, with a stimulating initial input from Simon Mills, a teacher who participated in the Interactive Education project based at the University of Bristol. The purpose of the extension project and the procedures to be carried out were explained by the Project Director. A progressively focussed series of planning meetings between teachers in subject and phase groups, also involving linked subject specialist researchers, enabled the teachers to identify the focus subject topics that they would be teaching over the research period (Phase 1) and start to discuss the best teaching approaches with and without ICT. They were also able to discuss the best format for the baseline assessment with their linked researchers. Finally, the ethical issues were discussed and the various levels of permissions needed from the teachers, pupils in the class and pupils to be interviewed were explained.
An interim professional development conference was held between the phases so that participating teachers could share successful experiences from Phase 1 and work with researchers to address common needs in preparation for phase 2. Attendance at the conference was funded largely by individual professional development bursaries to teachers from GTCW. Evaluations showed that all participants found this a valuable experience, with the Maths group developing their understanding of how interactive reflective activity could be supported by ICT, the Science group discussing the use and value of different resources available commercially and from NgFL Cymru; and the Languages group sharing ideas about teaching methods between secondary MFL teachers and primary teachers facing the challenge of teaching Welsh as a second language. Further needs for specific training were identified, and two Phase 1 non-ICT teachers were provided with training in using the IWB prior to phase 2. One of these teachers has been provided with an IWB and projector for the classroom, on loan from Promethean through the project.
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