Popping into a Year 7 Science lesson I was perplexed to find all the pupils elevating laminated symbols above their heads as their teacher held her phone up to scan the scene.
The data promptly appeared on the white board at the front. This was my first taste of Plickers in action – now I am keen to give it a go!
The wonderfully talented Year 13 A Level Computer Science class that I teach weren’t quite sure what to make of my scrawled starter question: what happened in 1998?
They made some great suggestions (considering that this occurred comprehensively before their birth!), but what I remember of 1998 is that the idea started to formulate in my mind that not everyone was going to grasp what computers were all about in time to join the rapidly approaching Twenty First Century.
Flickernet arrived in December 1999.
Twenty years on it is clear to me that the need for Computer Education, in all its forms, is as urgent today as it was back then.
There is something fascinating revealed on those rare occasions when computer hardware (here at Heathrow) reveals what it is really thinking.!
Delighted to record that I have been awarded the BCS Certificate in Secondary Computer Science Teaching – my thanks to LPA for providing the experience and guidance to achieve this key qualification.
As a separate, but related, enterprise I have also been made a STEM facilitator for the National Centre for Computing Excellence (NCCE). This means that I can help to deliver the new NCCE curriculum.
We recorded our responses to pupil debating using an agreement / disagreement selector on the screen of each pupil: as persuasion shifts the balance, so the background colour indicates the viewpoint of each pupil around the room.
After a little father and son time, the latest iteration of the Garage Robot is born! Upon being shared as the designated show-and-tell item, the spinning motor jams on, resulting in a scene of suitable chaos in the classroom with the robot determinedly making the most of its chance to take a turn at the front!
The high security screen saver has been compromised: busy hands have been adding fish galore!
at least these fish can’t be overfed.!
Enjoyed meeting Claire Penketh today at BCS HQ.
We chatted about the CS Accelerator course. She has turned our chat into an article here.
Thanks Claire!
