communICTy

This edition of Global Messenger coincides with QCA’s Secondary Curriculum Review. It is very exciting to note that the need to enhance teaching and learning with a global dimension has been put firmly on the agenda. Read below for lots of ideas on how to make the vision a reality.

Contents:
The right to a real education, leaflet project for KS3 ICT
QCA Secondary Curriculum Review, Global Dimension
Global Dimension Website Update
SSAT iNET, Student Online Conferences
British Council Etwinning, Quality Label and Awards
Send My Friend, Education Campaign
New Writing Partnership, Poetry Competition
Oxfam, New Catalogue
Plan-ed.org Website Review
Global Dates

www.communicty.org The right to a REAL education
I recently wrote an article about how to motivate students by enhancing the curriculum with a global dimension. It includes a KS3 ICT unit of work I’ve written to create leaflets about the right to education. There is also a blog that students can contribute comments to on learning to learn and digital image gallery of school life in the UK and Malawi.

www.qca.org.uk Secondary Curriculum Review
QCA have launched their review of the KS3-KS4 curriculum. Their goal is to “Develop a modern world-class curriculum that will inspire and challenge all learners and prepare them for the future”.
A key way to bring learning to life is by setting it within a global context.
View QCA’s ideas on adding a global dimension and cultural understanding and diversity.
To share your views on the review complete QCA’s online survey.

www.globaldimension.org.uk/
The 22nd March is World Water Day, so Global Dimension have put together a guide to water and recommended resources to help you get started in class. Teaching about the issues can help children to understand the importance of water, why people don’t have equal access to resources and what difficulties this presents. It also allows students to develop concern and understanding for the environment and make decisions on how their actions can influence these areas in the future.

The Global Dimension, along with seven other charities, have created a Global Village at the Education Show. Go and have a chat, check out resources and enter the prize-draw to win fair trade chocolate and teaching resources.

25 March marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade within the British colonies

www.ssat-inet.net Student Online Conferences
The conference on how can we protect our planet? has now been archived including resources, articles and forums. The next online conference is How can we bring peace to our planet? A number of useful resources have already been posted to the site. The forums will take place from 14-20 May. You and your students can register for FREE! Email papers and/or presentations to Debra at: brydon@cybertext.net.au

www.Britishcouncil.org Etwinning
A new feature to eTwinning is the Quality Label. This label is granted to teachers of excellent eTwinning projects. It indicates that the project has reached a certain national and European standard. Therefore, there are two labels: the National Quality Label and the European Quality Label. Apply by 4 May 2007.

The BC have also announced the launch of the second UK eTwinning Awards. The Awards recognise high quality eTwinning projects that haven taken place in the school year 2006-07. For inspiration you can read about last year’s winners.

To subscribe to the eTwinning Newsletter email etwinning-newsletter-en-request@listserv.eun.org with “subscribe” in the subject.

www.sendmyfriend.org/
There are 80 million children who miss out on school, because of poverty. Send My Friend invite your class to JOIN UP! and remind world leaders of these children. You can be part of the world’s longest chain by making a paper chain, and sending it to the German Leader, Chancellor Angela Merkel, the most important leader in Europe in 2007.
You can also take part by adding your class to the online chain. By joining the chain you will be sending a message to world leaders, asking them to spend more on education. The site also has a wealth of resources including key facts, digital videos, lesson plans, photos and real life stories.

http://www.newwritingpartnership.org.uk/
A Young Poets Competition was launched on the 27th of February and will be running until the 27th of April. Poets between the ages of 11-25 are invited to submit poetry on the theme of refuge. An anthology will be produced and the winners will also be invited to read their work during Refugee Week (18-24th of June).
For conditions and entry forms please visit: www.newwritingpartnership.org.uk/cityofrefuge

www.Oxfam.org
Oxfam’s Catalogue for Schools 2007 is packed with more than 400 teaching
materials, offering all the resources you need to help develop your pupils’ global awareness and cultivate the skills needed to make positive changes within the world.T o request copies of the Oxfam Catalogue for Schools, teachers should contact Oxfam on 0870 333 2700 or email education@oxfam.org.uk. Browse and order securely online at www.oxfam.org.uk/publications

www.plan-ed.org
Plan International UK has launched a new Development Education website packed with FREE resources. Explore video clips, photos, opinions and ideas from young people across the globe. Download clearly targeted lesson plans and activity sheets to bring the world alive in your classroom. Read files on countries and the development issues facing them – find the most complex situations understandable. Find out about the Anti-slavery competition, launched on 6th March.

Global Dates
Earth Day 20.3.7
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – 21.3.7
World Water Day , My Water Resources – 22.3.7
Bicentenary of the Abolition of Slavery in the British Colonies – 25.3.7
World Environment Day – 5.6.7
World Refugee Day – 20.6.7
World Population Day – 11.7.7
International Day of Peace , My Peace Resources – 21.9.7

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Global Messenger is also available as a enewsletter that comes out once every 3 months. To subscribe email global@notredamehigh.norfolk.sch.uk. Global Messenger is made in association with Norfolk Education for Action and Developement (NEAD), Norfolk LA and Notre Dame High School, Norwich.

Am I bovverd?!
Have you ever stopped to think why students lack the motivation to learn? According to research produced by EPPI Centre ‘pupils are more likely to be engaged with the curriculum they are offered if they believe it is relevant and if they are given opportunities to take ownership of their learning.’ This requires a shift in focus from concentrating on what we teach, to learning more about who we teach it to.

The 2020 Vision Gilbert Review identifies the vital role of personalised learning to ‘transform education’. This vision of tailoring the curriculum to the unique needs and interests of every child would certainly help to enagage learners more. However, can this vision be made a reality?

Achieving the vision with ICT
In fact, many learners are already ahead of the game. ‘By the age of 21 the average person will have spent 15,000 hours in formal education, 20,000 hours in front of the TV and 50,000 hours in front of a computer screen’ (Futurelab Report). Young people are using technology informally to learn about issues that interest them and share their ideas with online communities. The challenge for schools is whether they can catch up with their students!

It is clear that technology has a significant role to play to inspire and motivate our learners. We all know that WWW stands for World Wide Web. However, many schools have yet to realise its true potential for bringing the real world into the classroom. Communication is literally at the heart of ICT. Sadly, students are often given tasks involving made up situations rather than being given the opportunity to communicate with a real audience for a real purpose.

A Right to Learn
In the past our students did a project to research and create leaflets about their school. They included information about the history of the school and subjects they learn. The ICT skills they demonstrated were fine, but the information they communicated was very basic and uninteresting.

This year we adapted our scheme of work by making it more personal. We asked the students to think about how they learn best and what makes a good teacher. They shared their ideas by adding comments to a blog post. We also invited students at our link school in the USA to contribute too. We gave the students a digital camera and asked them to take images of the school from their perspective. Students at our link school in Malawi took photos of their school using disposable cameras and we uploaded them into a digital gallery. The students then did some basic research about the universal right to education and why it is such a valuable part of our lives.

With all of the ideas and information they had gathered themselves, the students are currently creating leaflets on the right to education and learning to learn. The best examples will be sent to our link schools. It will be the students that make the selection, not the teachers. This will provide a real reason for peer assessment and consolodate what they have learnt to produce a well designed leaflet with a clear sense of audience and purpose.

Keep IT Real!
Enabling students to research real issues, create real resources and communicate with a real audience gives their work a real purpose. The improved quality of our students’ work proves that this motivates the students to produce their best. So, if you want to inspire your learners, remember to Keep IT Real!

Links:
Alex Savage’s Blog www.communicty.org
A Right To Learn lesson plans http://www.ndhs-sites.org.uk/ICT/7.3/index.htm
Futures of Learning Seminars 2005 Report http://www.futurelab.org.uk/research/personalisation/report_01.htm
2020 Vision, Gilbert Review http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/docbank/index.cfm?id=10783
Eppi-Centre Review on Motivation and Assessment http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/Default.aspx?tabid=304