C. The MIICE outcomes related to the abilities and attitudes of learners
3. Managing and manipulating digital information
This relates to learners' ability to modify a range of digital data types using a problem solving approach, and the ability to use the tools to model and speculate and apply the resultant information
Here is a number of illustrations from a range of Scottish schools and education authorities of each of the 3 components. In each case there is one or more related capacities associated with A Curriculum for Excellence
3. Managing and manipulating digital information: ability to modify information in a variety of forms, including text, graphical objects, moving images, sounds and web pages
Staff and pupils from the P1 nurture class in Burnbrae Primary School in Glasgow are using Storybook Weaver software (126 seconds on video)
Primary computers (national priorities website)
"It's Storybook Weaver; and the story today is going to be in a garden"
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Successful learners: being literate, communicative, numerate
- Effective contributors: creating and developing
Isobel Taggart introduces her S1 class in Notre Dame High School in Glasgow to digital video and asks them to make a short film of a poem they have chosen. This session is part of a 12-week pilot programme, which Isobel has devised with the English department. She defines the project as an integrated approach to learning involving enterprise, English, personal and social education (PSE), technology and IT
"making a video of a poem means that she learns more about it and pays more attention to the content" (S1 pupil at Notre Dame High)
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Successful learners: use literacy, communication and numeracy skills
3. Managing and manipulating digital information: a problem solving approach
Hollandbush Nursery School in Hamilton likes to record any special events they are involved in with the digital video camera. The nursery teacher, Archie Stewart, takes the clips and makes them into short movies. One such movie is that of the pupils visit to the Transport Museum. The movie was then used to encourage pupils to recall their experiences and discuss what they saw. Parents also have access to these movies on CD-ROM which helps them keep in touch with what their children have been doing in the nursery
Making movies for a recall activity
"The children's technological skills were enhanced by using the mouse to control the movie. Having the ability to freeze the movie allowed more scope for discussion" (Archie Stewart of Hollandbush Nursery)
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Successful learners: use technology for learning
Janice Jamieson teaches a composite P4/5 class at New Abbey Primary School (Dumfries and Galloway). In an environmental studies lesson about coordinates, grid references, directions and compass points, she uses 'Pixie', a small square robot that can be programmed to move over a flat surface. There is a large map of Britain on the floor and the pupils programme journeys for Pixie from one town to another
"the pupils achieved the outcomes ...and successfully planned a journey with the Pixie, following the coordinates and grid references they had worked out" (Janice Jamieson of New Abbey Primary)
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Effective contributors: solve problems
Keith Russell of Priorsford Primary School in Peebles uses the Digital Blue camera, and one of those uses is for (simple) animation. Watch highlights of Keith's presentation about this work to the Scottish Borders Masterclass ICT event in May 2005 (315 seconds on video)
"First and foremost it is good fun; it's a great laugh actually. It's very motivating for the children, 'cause you get so many things to play with. When you're doing it it provides - the collaboration that's involved, the actual discussion, teamwork and sorting themselves out. It's an amazing tool, if you like, to allow that to happen in your classroom. Thinking skills and problem solving"
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Successful learners: creative and independent thinking
- Effective contributors: creating and developing
Glenda Collis and her P2 class are making a short video about their school, Rothes Primary School in Moray. The idea is that it can be shown to new or prospective parents. The pupils have already filmed their video clips and today Glenda is using the SMART Board to demonstrate how to edit their clips into a sequence and how to add transitions using Pinnacle Studio video editing software
"the pupils were motivated and had clear ideas about the order in which the shots should appear" (Glenda Collis of Rothes Primary)
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Effective contributors: communicate in different ways and in different settings
Alison Gilmore is responsible for the flourishing art department at Gadburn SEN School in Glasgow. She introduced a computer into the art room two years ago, and in today's session pupils use Adobe Photoshop to manipulate photographs that they have taken with a digital stills camera
"the pupils concentrated and cooperated during the session and they managed to use a number of Photoshop tools without needing her help" (Alison Gilmore, Gadburn School)
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Confident individuals: live as independently as they can
3. Managing and manipulating digital information: controlling, modelling and exploring within the digital environment
Tim Geddes teaches music to pupils with special educational needs at Glaitness Aurrida School in Kirkwall in the Orkney islands. In this afternoon's class he is working individually with three pupils who have profound and complex difficulties. He is seeking to develop the idea of cause and effect. He uses a switch program on the interactive whiteboard in which the pupil is encouraged to press a switch in order to stop and start an animation or visual presentation. He also uses Soundbeam - a program that converts movement into sound
"the learning outcome of cause and effect is a long-term aim and is something that can be achieved over a period of one to two years" (Tim Geddes, Glaitness Aurrida School)
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Successful learners: link and apply different kinds of learning in new situations
A science teacher at Balfron High School uses the interactive whiteboard to simulate a 'difficult' experiment (160 seconds on video)
"I also recognise this as a fairly classic experiment done since the year dot. We set it up as a demonstration, we did the first part for measuring the number of bubbles which are evolving from the plant by moving the lamp slowly further away to decrease light intensity. It's a difficult experiment to do in class and get valid results for a number of reasons: it's hard to control the heat produced by the lamp, and other things"
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Successful learners: reasoning and evaluating
- Successful learning: applying learning in new situations
- Confident individuals: solving problems
Ross Angus of Lasswade High School was involved in the development of a teaching resource on design with IKEA which was shared with all Scottish secondary schools. Ross and 2 of the students from Lasswade High School explain the teaching and learning materials which were developed with IKEA (186 seconds on video)
"This one works through, or allows the pupils to select a product - from 40 from IKEA. They can look at the image, they can then answer questions and they can do what we call a re-design, a small assignment whereby they're given a task to actually re-design the product"
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Successful learners: applying learning in new situations
- Effective contributors: solving problems
Jim Campbell teaches Physics at Lesmahagow High School. He uses temperature sensors and relative interface application software called Alba, to teach his S3 pupils about cooling by evaporation. The pupils perform experiments with different liquids
"the pupils learned about the process of cooling by evaporation and related it to their own personal experience" (Jim Campbell of Lesmahagow Academy)
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Successful learners: use technology for learning
Trevor Bryant of Liberton High School in Edinburgh helped to develop an award-winning website for the art department - watch the demonstration and then listen to Trevor outline the benefits that using ICT for learning and teaching has brought to the students (90 seconds on video, then 56 seconds on video)
"I designed this quite extensive guide to appreciating figure sculpture, which is interactive; so they can look at uses of figure sculpture, find out more about each one; they can find about materials and techniques using sculpture and go to more information on those. They can look at historical and cultural styles, to see what they're going to find. And eventually the students have to actually go to certain venues, they have to do personal investigations, and from that they have to then go to different places in the city" then "The use of interactive presentations, like the figure sculpture one, means that the students can work confidently at home, either from a CD or from the website; they can explore it at their own time. at their own pace; and the proposed infaphone project will give them even more independent learning experience where they'll be able to access information way outside the normal environment of the classroom, supported by a teacher"
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Successful learners: enthusiastic and motivated to learn
- Effective contributors: communicating in a variety of situations
Gwen Kinghorn, then Head Teacher of Liberton High School in Edinburgh, reckons that there is clear evidence of improved attainment, including results in art and design (45 seconds on video)
"We have evidence from the pupils themselves, and to me that's the most powerful evidence. They are enthusiastic; they enjoy using these resources; they have told their teachers, both informally and formally, how much they have got out of this. I have evidence from the fact that they are regularly hitting the website in music; we can record that; we know that they're using it at home. And most important we are encouraging them to be independent learning"
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Successful learners: enthusiastic and motivated to learn
- Successful learners: creative and independent learning
- Effective contributors: self-reliant
Pupils of Monifieth High School show their teacher their method of exploring wave energy and use PowerPoint to present the results of their (practical) investigations into wave energy (70 seconds on video)
"The diagram above shows how waves are made. The sun heats the air, which rises and cooler air comes along taking its place further down, producing the waves. Wave energy is a good source of energy, because it is a renewable source of energy"
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Successful learners: being literate, communicative, numerate
- Effective contributors: communicating in a variety of situations
Ms Wood teaches biology to S4 pupils at Trinity Academy in Leith (Edinburgh). In today's class she introduces her pupils to the study of living cells. Using a microscope and a camera connected to a projector she can show the image of the cells on the interactive whiteboard
"using the microscope is fun and carrying out experiments is more interesting than using pen and paper because you can see at first hand how a cell is made up" (S4 pupil at Trinity Academy)
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Successful learners: use technology for learning
Heidi Fawcett, a primary head teacher seconded to the Educational Improvement Service in Glasgow City Council, speaks about the way in which creativity in the use of ICT makes the young people really think about what they are learning (92 seconds on audio)
Children ICT (national priorities website)
"that's another area where there are open-ended possibilities and outcomes for pupils to direct ways in which they want us to see the world. And when we put the pupil in the driving seat that really does demand that the pupil is thinking"
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Successful learners: enthusiastic and motivated to learn
- Effective contributors: creating and developing