D. The MIICE outcomes related to the management of learning
9. Quality of outcomes
This relates to the setting and maintaining of high standards by learners on the part of teachers and school managers
Here is a number of illustrations from several Scottish schools and education authorities of 3 of the 4 components. In each case there is one or more related capacities associated with A Curriculum for Excellence
9. Quality of outcomes: assessment policies
9. Quality of outcomes: relationship to development planning process
Ian Hoffman was the ICT Coordinator at Boroughmuir High School in Edinburgh. Having come across Oracle's free service, Think.com, at a Masterclass he attended, Ian was inspired to set up a pilot online learning project involving primary and secondary pupils. The aim is to develop the younger pupils' creative writing skills. The project involves P7 pupils at local primary schools writing poems and uploading them onto their Think.com microsites. Their S5 mentors at Boroughmuir High access the poems, review them and write their comments on electronic post-it notes ('stickies'), which the primary pupils can read when they log on again
Mentoring online project developing creative writing skills
"through Think.com both primary and secondary pupils have improved their writing and communication skills while working independently and enjoying themselves" (Ian Hoffman, then of Boroughmuir High)
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Effective contributors: take the initiative and lead
9. Quality of outcomes: planning of resources
Currently in Renfrewshire only Gryffe High School in Houston offers French at Advanced Higher level. Students in other schools wishing to study this subject must travel to this base school. To ensure that no student is disadvantaged and to encourage any student who may be unable to study an Advanced Higher language because of other curricular commitments Renfrewshire Council set up the RAFLE (Renfrewshire Advanced Higher Language Electronically) initiative which, through the use of videoconferencing and a dedicated website, allows more students to continue with their language studies. As part of this initiative all modern languages departments in the authority were equipped with videoconferencing units. Marie Wilson teaches French at Gryffe High School and works with pupils in Renfrewshire who are unable to attend the Monday Advanced Higher French lessons at Gryffe High School via videoconferencing
"It has allowed the whole curriculum to be delivered to all the Advanced Higher French students in Renfrewshire" (Marie Wilson of Gryffe High)
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Successful learners: use technology for learning
Some of Ian Stuart's pupils at Islay High School are taking part in the Fantasy Design project (www.fantasydesign.org), promoting basic skills in design. Schools across Scandinavia and northern Europe are involved and receive visits from professional designers. Because of the remoteness of Islay, which is a small island off the west coast of Scotland, Ian and his pupils have instead been videoconferencing with a designer from The Lighthouse in Glasgow. In this session, two first-year pupils and two senior pupils videoconference with designer Tassy Thompson
"Both Richard and Hannah say they benefit from having new ideas and a different perspective on their work. Tassy comments that videoconferencing improves pupils' confidence in speaking about their ideas" (S1 pupils at Islay High and Tassy Thompson, the Glasgow-based designer)
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Effective contributors: communicate in different ways and in different settings
9. Quality of outcomes: breadth of experience of ICT use in context
Susan Dunn, a P7 teacher in Hawthornden Primary School in Bonnyrigg, is working with the Midlothian ICT development team to help her pupils to produce yearbooks on CD-ROM. The material will include scanned images of their favourite work, digital stills and digital video clips. In the class today, the pupils are shown how to edit their video clips using Pinnacle editing software
"using ICT for this project has been very motivating for the pupils, particularly because there is an end product, which they can keep for a long time" (Susan Dunn of Hawthornden Primary)
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Confident individuals: be self-aware
Pat Young is head of modern languages at Kilmarnock Academy. In this lesson she is revising French vocabulary for colour and clothes with a set of secondary 2 children using an interactive whiteboard and a digital video camera. Pat views the technology as a motivational tool, encouraging children to think French is fun
"One pupil says she remembers things she learns from the interactive whiteboard better than from a book. Another boy comments that learning from the whiteboard is much better than learning from a book because the pictures move and there are real French voices" (S2 pupils at Kilmarnock Academy)
A Curriculum for Excellence
- Successful learners: use technology for learning