Reflecting on remote education

Neil Rickus is Leader of CAS Hatfield Primary Community, he’s also  Senior Lecturer in Computing Education at the University of Hertfordshire and is the Computing tutor on the Primary PGCE course at Brunel University, London. Here, he examines how the experience of remote education is having a lasting impact in the classroom, and talks to teachers about their tips and experience:

Asynchronous digital remote education often highlighted the need for children to have access to appropriate resources to enable independent working. As learners increasingly have access to digital devices in school, the use of online resources can continue to feature in lessons, such as accessing self-study materials or activities to reinforce learning. Having pupils work remotely has also meant the collaboration features of online learning platforms are increasingly familiar and can enable individuals to work together on shared content.

Assessment

One of the assessment approaches often used when educating remotely is low-stakes quizzes, which enable children to quickly reflect on their learning and provide formative assessment data to teachers. Jay Parrack, Computing Teacher, Thomas Alleyne Academy, noted, “My classes love Kahoot and we have continued its use at the end of a lesson within school. The technology engages the children with evaluating their progress and the information from the quizzes helps inform my planning.” As quizzes can be accessed on a range of devices, there may also be an opportunity for learners to use their own technology within lessons where school devices aren’t available. 

Assessment of computing presents a number of challenges, including the importance of not focusing solely on an activity’s outcome and the need to examine the development process being undertaken. Whilst being educated remotely, pupils often used digital technology to record a learning journey or created an e-portfolio showing their progress, which included both written and video content. Martin Sexton, Faculty Leader of Business, Health and Computing, Mildenhall College Academy, outlined how they are keen to continue this practice within school. “Having the students document their progress on Microsoft OneNote has been great, as it enables us to see their progress over time and how their understanding has developed throughout a sequence of lessons.”

Opportunities for children to develop their digital skills across the curriculum are also being examined; particularly in primary schools, where Barefoot Computing resources have enabled schools to incorporate computing content within their existing topics. 

Ben Davies, Computing Subject Lead, St Paul’s Primary School, Manchester, discussed how, “we've allocated additional time within the curriculum to ensure digital skills, such as saving a file into a folder, are reinforced and understood by children.”

Staff training and development

Many teachers, at the start of the pandemic, took the opportunity to undertake CPD activities delivered online. Through alleviating the need for attendees to travel, many providers saw an increase in participant numbers and received excellent feedback. Subsequently, a large amount of free (or bursary funded) CPD continues to be offered online, including some CAS Community of Practice meetings with teachers regularly using sessions to develop and share remote education experiences at community meetings. Resources have also been developed to enable community leaders to share the latest remote education research. The NCCE’s Teach Computing courses and Barefoot Workshops also continue to be available remotely.

Significant support is also still available for schools to develop their use of digital remote education technology, such as the digital platforms provided by Google and Microsoft. The EdTech Demonstrator Programme provides resources and guidance to support schools, including development of a digital strategy to help embed technology usage within your setting.