Bishop Challoner Catholic College Birmingham The effective use of minibooks to enhance mathematics teaching and learning Simon Preston James Coughlan Bishop Challoner Catholic College Birmingham

Overview 1). Background. 2). Virtual learning: Where we were? 3). Virtual learning: Where are we now? 4). How did we get there? 5). Staff/student experiences. 6). Future challenges.

1). Background

Mission At Bishop Challoner our aim is to develop a cutting edge education for our pupils. We are therefore investing heavily in New Technologies which are going to be at the heart of education in the future. We are developing an E-Learning strategy that will equip pupils with the skills needed for the 21st century.

Whole School Virtual Learning Virtual learning environment (VLE) is highly developed. Moodle operated. Experts in each department provide support to staff working in their area. All staff have a basic level of VLE training.

Traditional Maths Teaching?

The future of teaching…?

Or maybe something of both?

The Netbooks are coming!

2). Virtual learning: Where we were? Two years ago all of year 9 were given net books. Problems with wireless system – large sums of money invested to improve the network across the school. As teachers – were we ready for this new technology? VLE mainly a resource dump that lacked interactivity – students were using it. Too many VLE courses.

3). Virtual learning: Where are we now? Exciting, engaging, interactive courses. A powerful learning environment. A vastly improved wireless network. Teachers who are trained and confident to deliver to classes with net books. How did we get there?

What would make an effective VLE? 6 key areas: Diagnostic Assessments Practice, Practice, Practice. Investigative work Differentiation Cross-curricular opportunities End of topic assessments

4). How did we get there?

The learning curve What have we learnt? Start small – skeleton courses. Communication has to be good. Distribute leadership across the department and empower staff. Pool resources - Not reinventing the wheel – work smarter not harder. Reflect on your practice. Trial in the classroom.

What about staff development? Flexibility and support of SMT. Providing time to work with the VLE and minibooks, making it a key component of department meetings. Collective planning/peer mentoring. Use the VLE to develop minibook training courses. If it works for our students it should work for our staff! Using NCETM funding to bring in expert trainers e.g. Google Earth/GeoGebra training.

5). Staff/Student Experiences

Anticipated Staff Experiences Issues with battery power. Start up issues – locating VLE courses. Netbook malfunction. Internet problems. Netbooks vrs textbooks. Having to use Netbooks in every lesson. Taking Netbooks away as a punishment. Novelty wearing off. Discipline issues.

What do our teachers really say?

“For the pupils to have the ability to access both the internet and dynamic maths worksheets at the touch of a button is as good as a second teacher in the room. Pupils can learn for themselves without being dependent on a teacher and enjoy the experience at the same time.”

“In-class tasks are no longer static and students can work at their own pace. Work completion rates have also improved. Students actually retain more focus when using minibooks.”

The reality Powerful but lively learning environment. Students progressing at their own pace. Netbooks complementing usual practice not replacing it. Students showing higher level of engagement. Logistical issues soon overcome. Higher level of work completion from students. Students fix their own problems!

More importantly…..What do our students say?

“I love the idea of minibooks and I would rather use minibooks more than using exercise books.” “I think using netbooks in maths is very useful because you can practice at your own pace without having to wait for others.”

“I think we can improve using minibooks by creating our own questions and then other people could use the questions you made and work them out.” “I think the way we use minibooks in maths is great. I like the fact that we don’t use them constantly and that we rotate from book to minibook and so on.”

“I really enjoy using minibooks in maths because we can use resources like GeoGebra and we can play games that use maths but still we are having fun. I really like using the minibooks because we are doing independent learning and when we use GeoGebra we all have a different set of questions and we can mark ourselves.”

“I think that mini-books in maths is a really good idea … it means we can go at our own pace instead of being rushed or slowed down. To improve how we use minibooks we could have questions that need answering on screen instead of transferring all the data into our books.”

Student Benefits! Enjoyment. Interactive and engaging. What is that useful for? Chance to play and explore maths interactively. Developed ICT skills. Increased organisational skills. Improved confidence in presenting new ideas. Able to work independently at home.

6). Future Challenges We believe we are already ahead of the game – but only just. Netbook use in the classroom will be a reality for many schools in the not too distant future – many schools have already invested in this technology. Can we keep up with the students? Can we keep up with technological advancement? Encouraging teachers reluctant to change. How can we ensure New Technologies benefit our students and help them to become independent learners?

Thank you for listening!