Developing an Evidence-Informed Culture: 5 Essential Ingredients
Educational research has the power to supercharge a school’s teaching and learning culture. The question is, how can PD and school leaders, prioritise teacher development and embed these insights into the fabric of daily teaching practices and school culture?
In my journey through the educational landscape over the past decade and a half, I've witnessed the emergence and gradual disappearance of numerous classroom trends. Learning Styles, Multiple Intelligences, and Brain Gym to name a few, have come and gone with little impact. Like unwelcome apparitions, a few of these debunked ideas still haunt the profession today. Having somewhat naively fallen victim to these initiatives myself, I can confidently say I am now more experienced at navigating around the bogs and mires that teachers often get sucked into.
So, what changed?
Well, in recent years, the explosive rise of cognitive science has realigned teaching practices for many educators and influenced the direction of professional development in many schools. In my own schools and professional interactions online, I noticed that things had started to mature (especially in the UK), and educators began to approach teaching through a more measured and evidence-informed perspective. This rise marked the beginning of a transformative shift in my approach towards teaching - a shift towards practices not just embraced for their novelty, but for their proven impact on learning.
The wave of edu-blogs, teacher-authored literature, and discourse on social media fine-tuned my own day-to-day teaching. I was steered into practical educational ideas and common-sense reports such as Professor Robert Coe’s ‘What Makes Great Teaching?’ in 2014. Around this time, Coe outlined a series of ‘poor proxies for learning’ (see the list below) that, even now, offer a reminder of the pitfalls of focusing too heavily on task completion and student compliance:
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Students are busy: lots of work is done (especially written work).
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Students are getting attention: feedback, explanations.
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Students are getting attention: feedback, explanations.
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The classroom is ordered, calm and under control.
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(At least some) students have supplied correct answers.
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Curriculum has been ‘covered’ (presented to students in some form).
“I have come up with a simple formulation: learning happens when people have to think hard.”
Professor Robert Coe
It’s undeniable that research consistently points to effective teaching being grounded in the art of instructional practices that promote hard thinking (modelling, explaining, practising, questioning and providing feedback). In ‘Principles of Instruction’ (2012) the influential Barak Rosenshine pin-points these elements as essential for learning because they take into account the limitations of our cognitive architecture. What’s more, work by Professor Daniel Willingham explains that learning occurs when there is a change in long-term memory and this change only happens when students actively think!
‘Memory is the residue of thought.’
Daniel Willingham
Such nuggets of wisdom have the power to supercharge a school’s teaching and learning culture. The question is, how can PD and school leaders, prioritise teacher development and embed these insights into the fabric of daily teaching practices and school culture?
It’s certainly not easy but here are my five essential ingredients to help put this gargantuan task into action:
1. Establish a Shared Understanding
Creating a strong evidence-informed culture stems from a shared understanding across the school. In other words, staff should be able to articulate what successful teaching looks like in their context and explain the underlying beliefs behind it. For example, when creating a strategic development plan, the school might agree on the following overarching principle about setting high expectations: “We expect excellence from ALL students and make learning desirably difficult SO THAT everyone thinks hard and strives to achieve their best.” This principle would shape subsequent PD opportunities tied to Bjork and Bjork’s research on ‘Desirable Difficulties' (1994) or even Berger’s work on embedding an ‘Ethic of Excellence’ (2003).
2. Understand How Learning Happens
To be truly evidence-informed, educators should possess an understanding of how learning happens, guided by models from cognitive science such as Daniel Willingham’s ‘Simple Memory Model’ (see Oliver Caviglioli’s wonderful diagram). Having background knowledge about cognition such as working memory limitations, and long-term memory transfer helps teachers to integrate research-based practices with nuance. Crucially, these are fundamental aspects of the science of learning and should be threaded throughout PD workshops, coaching programmes and department meetings to help teachers establish a common language about the learning process. Resources like my own book, ‘Teaching One-Pagers’ provide busy teachers with a quick way to grasp educational evidence in a concise format. Engaging in professional discussions sparks an interest in delving deeper, encouraging ongoing learning, discovery, and self-improvement.
Daniel Willingham’s ‘Simple Model of the Mind’ as interpreted by Oliver Caviglioli (image reproduced with kind permission from @olicav)
3. Build Trust and Autonomy
Creating an environment where educators can openly discuss challenges and learn from each other is foundational. Respectful professional relationships focused on teacher development (not accountability) can accelerate a thriving culture. Supportive instructional coaching meetings, edu-book clubs, and informal drop-in observations all assist in building trust and peer collaboration. For example, if a school decides to implement an instructional coaching programme, a key focus of each cycle should be placed on teachers’ personal needs by providing them with a sense of autonomy in selecting the right teaching strategies to help them make achievable steps toward improvement. The digital instructional coaching platform Steplab is an excellent tool to support teachers in making improvements whilst boosting staff relationships.
4. Create Context-Specific Professional Development
Professional growth opportunities should be consistently tailored to meet the needs and challenges of the school context. Targeted PD ensures that teaching strategies are not only evidence-based but also relevant and effective in addressing the specific ‘learning problems’ that arise in the classroom. For example, designated PD workshops or coaching cycles might address the school’s strategic goal of embedding formative feedback to close the learning gap in Year 10 and 11 classes. Teachers might work to implement high-impact strategies such as whole-class feedback or Dylan Wiliam’s ‘Four Quarters Marking’ method to help reduce workload. Such initiatives require subsequent evaluation and refinement over time to ensure the school is continuously adapting PD to improve learning outcomes for students.
5. Curate Essential Teaching Strategies
Evidence-informed teachers build a repertoire of essential teaching methods in alignment with the school’s pedagogical priorities. It's important for teaching strategies to be grounded in research while also being adaptable, allowing teachers the freedom to tailor them according to their personal teaching style or classroom dynamics. For example, Mrs Smith might introduce ‘Cold Calling’ into her teaching to support the school’s drive for more accountable questioning. However, within this framework she may encourage students to jot down their answers to the question in their books or on mini-whiteboards before sharing with the class in order to reduce anxiety and create a safe low-stakes environment. Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli’s Teaching WalkThrus are powerful resources containing context-free strategies that are incredibly helpful for schools curating evidence-informed ‘playbooks’.
These five essential ingredients can only be mixed together by school leaders with a clear strategic vision and framework that is committed to teacher development. However, it is understandable that the biggest barrier to engaging with research is time. Time-poor classroom teachers do not have the time (or head space) to jump in at the deep end. As John Sweller et al (2019) explain, “Human cognitive processing is heavily constrained by our limited working memory, which can only process a limited number of information elements at a time.” With this in mind, the summarisation and simple distribution of information (through one-pagers, podcasts, newsletters, guidance reports and blogs) is crucial.
This is by no means a fail-safe recipe but when executed with clarity, the above ingredients can significantly shift a school’s culture. After all, it is our professional obligation to continuously improve our practice, weed out ineffective habits and implement educational evidence so that we can improve learning outcomes for our young people.
FREE ONE-PAGER
Download the one-page summary for this post: ‘5 Essential Ingredients for Developing an Evidence-Informed Culture
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Coe, R. (2015). ‘Centre for Evaluating and Monitoring, What Makes Great Teaching?’. IB World Regional Conference (AEM) [Presentation], 31 October.
Willingham, D. T. (2010). Why Don’t Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Words and What It Means for the Classroom. Jossey-Bass.
Sweller, J., van Merriënboer, J. J. G. and Paas, F. (2019). ‘Cognitive Architecture and Instructional Design: 20 Years Later’, Educational Psychology Review, 31(2), pp. 261–292.
One Pagers Refresh!
Recently, I have redesigned my original one page teaching summaries that were initially published back in March. The new design breaks free of the constrains of the closed grid and makes use of space on the page. Since sharing my one pagers, I have had lots of positive feedback from teachers on Twitter who love the A4 format as it is accessible and succinct. The layout and design (clearly inspired by the brilliant Oliver Caviglioli) helps to break down and categorise information so it is easy to read and process. The one pagers include a range of distilled research from educational psychologist, edu-Twitter influencers and inspirational teachers.
Recently, I have redesigned my original one page teaching summaries that were initially published back in March. The new design breaks free of the constrains of the closed grid and makes use of space on the page.
Since sharing my one pagers, I have had lots of positive feedback from teachers on Twitter who love the A4 format as it is accessible and succinct. The layout and design (clearly inspired by the brilliant Oliver Caviglioli) helps to break down and categorise information so it is easy to read and process. The one pagers include a range of distilled research from educational psychologist, edu-Twitter influencers and inspirational teachers.
Coming Soon
As you can see, I am developing a full collection of one page summaries for teachers. David Goodwin and I will reveal more information about our exciting project in the coming months. Looking forward to sharing more soon.
Download
If you are going to share the ‘One-pager: Teaching Summaries’ PDF online or in your school, please credit me, Jamie Clark (@XpatEducator).
Thanks for the amazing response and keep a look out for more one-pagers coming soon!
One-Pagers: Teaching Summaries
As CPD coodinator at my school, I wanted a simple way for busy teachers to engage with evidence based practice and share ideas about good teaching. One-pagers are practical, bite-sized A4 summaries of context-free teaching strategies that help educators reflect on their practice and check their knowledge and understanding.
As CPD coodinator at my school, I wanted a simple way for busy teachers to engage with evidence based practice and share ideas about good teaching. One-pagers are practical, bite-sized A4 summaries of context-free teaching strategies that help educators reflect on their practice and check their knowledge and understanding.
I have had a lots of positive feedback from teachers on Twitter who love the A4 format as it is accessible and succinct. The grid layout and design (clearly inspired by the brilliant Oliver Caviglioli) helps to break down and categorise information so it is easy to read and process. I included a range of educational voices who have inspired my own practice over the years — many of these educators I follow on Twitter and have a solid reputation sharing evidence based ideas. One of which, Tom Sherrington hit the nail on the head in his tweet explaining my one-pager:
Tom’s kind shout out on Twitter highlights how the one-pager summaries can be used to support teachers.
Summary 1: Feedback
This is the new and updated feedback one-pager. As you can see, Dylan Wiliam’s work underpins the information on this summary. However, it now includes actionable feedback strategies (Tom Sherrington); whole class feedback (Andrew Atherton) and a peer feedback section based on Ron Berger’s ‘kind, specific and helpful’ approach.
Updated Feedback page featuring Berger, Sherrington and Atherton’s great work.
Summary 2: Modelling & Thinking Aloud
This summary was originally going to be on metacognition. However, I decided to keep the one-page format practical and teacher focused rather than just breaking down heavy research. As a result, I interspersed critical points about metacognition and how it relates to modelling and thinking aloud process.
Summary 3: Retrieval Practice
I use retrieval practice strategies all of the time in my own teaching. This summary offers a whole heap of ideas and reminders. Originally, I made a mistake by indlcuding the (out-dated), ‘Multi-store Model of Memory’ diagram. After some brilliant feedback on Twitter, I quickly changed this to Daniel Willingham’s ‘Simple Memory Model’. Much better!
Request a One-Pager
Have an idea for a great one-pager? Please feel free to get in touch on Twitter or leave a comment below.
Download
If you are going to share the ‘One-pager: Teaching Summaries’ PDF online or in your school, please credit me - Jamie Clark (@XpatEducator). Thanks for the amazing response and keep a look out for more one-pagers coming soon!
Digital Audio Maps: Interactive Word-Diagrams
Technology has empowered my students to demonstrate learning in different ways. In order to revise the relationships between characters and historical context in George Orwell’s allegorical novella ‘Animal Farm’, I created a digital ‘audio map’. This allowed Year 9 students to record verbal explanations linking characters with underlying political ideas about power and oppression.
Illustration by David Goodwin, @MrGoodwin23
How do graphic organisers support your teaching?
Since the early days of my career as an English teacher, designing learning visuals has been part of my teaching practice. I commonly use graphic organisers to scaffold writing, break down information and assist students in making connections between themes, characters and context. Literary texts present a labyrinth of challenging ideas and techniques. By organising those ideas and pairing words with graphics, information becomes more visible so that learning is clear and concrete for students.
In recent years, I have learnt the value of good instructional design. Minimising distracting and unnecessary visuals is critical to ensure the working memory is not overloaded. I encourage thinking by providing my students with simply designed frameworks and partially completed scaffolds. I create concept maps to unpack hierarchies and flow charts to explore sequences and key events in texts.
Jamie’s resource for Year 9 English - illustrations created in Affinity Designer
How has technology changed the way your students learn with graphic organisers?
Technology has empowered my students to demonstrate learning in different ways. In order to revise the relationships between characters and historical context in George Orwell’s allegorical novella ‘Animal Farm’, I created a digital ‘audio map’. This allowed Year 9 students to record verbal explanations linking characters with underlying political ideas about power and oppression in the Russian Revolution.
I designed the map using Apple’s Keynote software so that students could easily capture and insert short audio recordings within the app (Microsoft PowerPoint and the Mote application for Google Slides do a similar job). Adapting the conventional concept map approach, I replaced connecting verbs with big questions such as, ‘How does Boxer’s relationship with Napoleon change [throughout the text]?’. To establish my expectations, I recorded a short example to model the type of vocabulary and form of expression required for success.
This multi-modal graphic organiser worked well as a retrieval exercise, as students used their devices to narrate their understanding from memory without any supporting notes or teacher input. Afterwards, students listened to and checked their responses against their knowledge organisers and workbooks to identify crucial gaps in understanding. Any misconceptions were addressed and re-recorded onto the map.
Digital audio recordings allowed students to provide more elaborative responses and gave me a deeper insight into their understanding. Keeping the focus on pedagogy is a key message when I coach teachers as technology can sometimes be gimmicky if not utilised in a meaningful way. As a result, I created several more audio maps for other key texts in the curriculum.
How has educational research influenced your use of graphic organisers?
Understanding Cognitive Load Theory has allowed me to take into account the cognitive architecture of human memory. I challenged myself to reduce extraneous load and increase intrinsic load within all my learning materials. My graphic organisers chunk and arrange information into containers and paths that show clear relationships. I decrease the volume of words, simplify visual representations and streamline my colour palettes to achieve visual clarity and create powerful learning experiences for students.
Affinity Designer (iPad)
Whilst I use Keynote to create my resources, I realised Affinity Designer on the iPad was a useful app for high-quality illustration. Check out my first attempts!
Organise Ideas: Thinking by Hand, Extending the Mind
Recently, I have had the honour of contributing to Oliver Caviglioli and David Goodwin’s book ‘Graphic Organisers: Thinking by Hand, Extending the Mind’. The experience opened my eyes to ways in which graphic organisers — or more specifically, word-diagrams — can help students capture transient information and support learning. This book has inspired my recent work on audio maps - you can purchase Oliver and David’s book on Amazon now. I highly recommend it!
The Science of Learning: Top Five Tech Tools
In recent years more and more educators are engaging with evidence from cognitive psychology and introducing research based practices to support teaching and learning. Here are my top five tools and apps that support research from cognitive science.
In recent years more and more educators are engaging with evidence from cognitive psychology and introducing research based practices to support teaching and learning. For one, the movement towards research based pedagogy has inspired me, and transformed many aspects of my day-to-day teaching . As Director of Digital Integration at a Catholic private school, the recent revolution has left me questioning how technology can be used in meaningful ways to support key research on the science of learning.
After reading Daisy Christodoulou’s book, Teachers vs Tech? The case for an ed tech revolution, it is clear that technology has the potential to be a powerful educational tool providing it is used to inform teaching and support independent study. Of the many points made by Christodoulou, here are three main takeaways which resonated with me:
Well designed content and explanations can be supported by frequent end of unit quizzes and in-video questions to check understanding.
Students are not experts and therefore cannot independently identify the steps to take to improve. Adaptive technologies can assist in quizzing students in order to identify weaknesses, and subsequently generate targeted questions to personalise testing.
It is important to reduce students’ cognitive load by closely integrating text and images together. Removing irrelevant information gives students more space in the working memory.
I personally believe technology has a more balanced role to play in giving students innovative ways to demonstrate learning. Nevertheless, I certainly value Christodoulou’s argument that securing background knowledge is key before students can pursue more creative project based tasks.
So without further ado, here are my top five tools and apps that support this research:
1. Quizizz
Quizizz is a low-stakes formative assessment tool that allows you to create (and find pre-made) quizzes. This app lets you check results to inform your teaching and provides options to download and save data. It is beneficial for students to make a revision timetable to help schedule quizzes on a range of topics on a regular basis. Quizizz also allows you to create or assign ‘Homework’ quizzes to students so that they do not have to do it live in class. The digital gamification of quizzing can make learning fun and add an element of competition.
Cost Free
2. Edpuzzle
Edpuzzle is one of my favourite educational apps. It allows you to embed multiple choice questions, open-ended questions, notes and even your own voice into videos. You can use videos from YouTube, Khan Academy, Crash Course and more. If you'd rather record and upload your own video, you can do that too. I tend to add questions to selected short YouTube videos to test students’ knowledge like in the example below. It’s a fantastic and engaging way to check students’ understanding. Check out this example.
Cost Free (paid features are available)
3. Quizlet
Quizlet is a digital flashcard app that allows users to create free study sets which assist in learning key ideas and concepts. Research in cognitive psychology has shown that using flashcards can help students memorise information more readily (as opposed to simply reading over notes). Quizlet includes other effective features such as ‘Match’ and ‘Learn’ comprehension features. Upgrade to the paid ‘Teacher’ account to allow the integration of images to your cards.
Cost Free (paid features available)
4. Green Screen (iMovie)
Providing you have the right equipment, you can create powerful videos using green screen to support learning. By cropping out irrelevant information, you reduce the load on the working memory. At my school, Year 8 Science students used pop-up green screens to explain how the heart works. Students used iMovie to layer the animation with the footage of themselves reading their explanations. This is also a powerful way for teachers to deliver content.
Cost Free (iPadOS and macOS only)
Student example of a green screen used to explain how the heart works.
5. Education Perfect
If you school has the resources then Education Perfect is an effective and powerful adaptive learning tool. You can check students’ progress in real time and the software automatically generates extension or support activities based on student performance. Spaced repetition and gamification enhance knowledge acquisition and retention over time and the hundreds of Smart Lessons support learning with scaffolding, engaging images and videos. Fantastic for independent study.
Cost Subscription Model
Top 10 iPad Apps for Revision
We all know revision is not easy! The good news is that students can make use technology to help organise, process and memorise learning effectively.
We all know revision is not easy! The good news is that students can make use of technology to help organise, process and memorise learning effectively.
Check out my top 10 iPad study apps to recommend to your students.
1. Quizlet
Quizlet is a digital flashcard app that allows students to create free study sets which assist in learning key ideas and concepts. Research in cognitive psychology has shown that using flashcards can help students memorise information more readily (as opposed to simply reading over notes). Quizlet includes other effective features such as ‘Match’ and ‘Learn’ comprehension features.
Cost Free with option to upgrade to premium features.
2. Adobe Spark Post
Make revision less tedious by creating professional graphics to represent key information. Adobe Spark Post allows students to transform their ideas into visual stories, which helps them remember key information. Whether they are learning quotations in English, or key terms in Science, this free app has hundreds of templates.
Cost Free with option to upgrade to premium features.
3. Loom
Loom is a free screencast tool which allows recording of a screen while adding annotations. Students can use the tool to display digital notes/presentations. They can then record themselves adding explanations. Questioning ‘how’ and ‘why’ and adding their own explanations helps students to think carefully and interrogate the information. This means it is more likely to be stored in the long term memory.
Cost Free
4. Quizizz
Quizizz has lots of searchable quizzes on hundreds of topics. It is proven by cognitive psychological research that regular quizzing improves the recollection of key ideas and concepts. With this in mind, it is beneficial for students to make a revision timetable to help schedule quizzes on a range of topics on a regular basis. Quizizz also allows teachers to create or assign ‘Homework’ quizzes to students. Check it out.
Cost Free
5. Popplet Lite
Students can use Popplet to create beautiful mind-maps to help visualise a topic or present key ideas. This app allows students to organise facts, thoughts, and images and develop relationships between them. In this free version, only one Popplet can be created. When students are finished, tell them to save a screenshot and start a fresh Popplet on a new topic!
Cost Free
6. Padlet
Padlet is a great practical tool to use when students are studying with friends or a larger group. Digital bulletin boards can be created and collaborated on in order to share or brainstorm ideas on a topic. This is often a great starting point before getting into the nitty-gritty of memorising ideas, facts and key content. Once students have finished collaborating, they can save their work as a glossy PDF to share with everyone.
Cost Five free Padlets with option to upgrade to premium features.
7. Numbers
By deleting the default table in Numbers on iOS, students can create a blank canvas to write, add images, and videos. This is a great (free) alternative to other note-taking apps which can be costly. Adding tabs to the Numbers document can help students separate and categorise their notes onto different sheets. This is perfect for brainstorming and sketching key ideas and concepts. Students can also screen-record their notes and view later using the screen-recording tool built in to iOS.
Cost Free
8. Canva
Canva allows you to create stunning professional visuals using a range of pre-made templates. Students can use this app to summarise topics, key ideas or concepts by creating infographics with dot-points, visuals and headings. Research has proven that combining visuals and key words gives students a greater chance of remembering key learning.
Cost Free with option to upgrade to premium features.
9. Clips
Clips is a free creative video app which allows students to make quick, professional-looking videos. Challenge students to create short and simple explanation videos to support their study of a topic or concept. A range of features such as images, key words, stickers, and Live Titles can be added to help them visualise and enhance their ideas.
Cost Free
10. Class Timetable
Class Timetable does exactly what it says on the tin. It helps students to organise their assignments, add deadlines to projects and record homework notes etc. For revision purposes, encourage students to create a revision timetable and colour code each topic so that they can space their learning and and return to old topics over their scheduled weeks. Simple and effective!
Cost Free with option to upgrade to premium features.
Learning with Digital Green Screen
You might have seen recently on Twitter my example ‘Macbeth’ animated quotations made with digital green screen in Keynote and iMovie. I found the process of creating these can be a powerful method for students to explore the main quotations deeply whilst engage in deeper thinking.
I love teaching ‘Macbeth’. Like all of Shakespeare’s plays, it’s full of imagery and beautiful language that students can sink their teeth into. As I teach the play nearly every year, I'm always looking out for new and engaging ways to explore the text. While I love discussing, explaining and teaching key knowledge, I believe there is always scope for students to engage with ‘Macbeth’ creatively and meaningfully.
I first came across the digital green screen technique last year when Apple integrated the ‘Green/Bluescreen’ feature into iMovie. At the time, it ignited an explosion of tweets showcasing various ways it can be used with students - from wormholes to fun animations. Scrolling through Twitter, I appreciated the excitement and creativity on show - however, it brought me back to a question I tend to ask a lot: why? Two principles I stand by are:
Good pedagogy should always precede the use of technology.
Getting students to think should always precede getting students to do.
With this in mind, I was reluctant to introduce green screen at first. I always want my students to be excited about English and think deeply about layers of meaning but I was afraid that tinkering with green screen would just be a fun exercise. That’s when I saw a tweet by my good friend Lou Cimetta (@Blueprintlearn) who showed how green screen can be used to open a window to reveal deeper understanding. This got me thinking…
How could my students engage with deep thinking and subsequently present their understanding in a creative and visual way?
You might have seen recently on Twitter my example ‘Macbeth’ animated quotations made with digital green screen in Keynote and iMovie. I found the process of creating these can be a powerful method for students to explore the main quotations deeply whilst engage in deeper thinking.
1. Analyse & visualise first by dual coding
Before getting into the creative stuff, students really need to know the ins-and-outs of the quotations they will present. This will enable them to visualise them properly when it comes to creating their green screen animation. I often ask students to ‘explode a quotation’ and break it down into individual ideas, words and images. This is followed by a sequence of simple sketches supported by words from the quotation to help them form visualisations. Dual coding is a powerful way of helping students develop a deep connection and consolidate their understanding of key concepts - this is an important step before beginning a digital green screen project.
2. Have a go yourself and live model examples
When students are ready, walk them through the process of creating a digital green screen (I’d advise you to have a go yourself so that you know how it works). Live modelling the main steps and providing a simple instructional slide can also help to direct students through the activity. What’s more, tutorial videos are always helpful because students can rewatch them as many times as they like. Luckily, I have created two tutorial videos for both beginners and experts - you can find the YouTube playlist below!
3. Ask process questions & encourage metacognitive talk
Once completed, challenge students to explain their animations and narrate their thinking processes throughout. Prompt them to respond to process questions like - why did they choose a specific image? What insight does it give into the mindset of the character? What words have you captured in your image and why? Why did you choose that particular sound track? You can also take this further by asking students to write an analytical response to the work they have animated. If you have structured the activity effectively, you might be surprised at the quality of responses you receive.
Feel free to reach out on Twitter if you have any questions - I’d love to see some examples of what your students come up with!
Unleashing Digital Creativity
Term One of our Digital Creativity course has come to a close. Read all about the way our Year 7 and 8 students are implementing iPad skills inspired by Apple’s Everyone Can Create curriculum.
Term One of our Digital Creativity course has come to a close and students at Corpus Christi College have loved it. Over the past ten weeks Year 7 and 8 students have ignited their creative spirits by freely expressing imaginative ideas in innovative ways. Based on Apple’s Everyone Can Create curriculum, the course has empowered students by teaching them core iPad skills which encourage learning through photography, drawing, audio and video.
![Sketches 4[1].jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c47c0b3e17ba324ad0c9d7f/1555038955722-7EC72RM69XP0PU46HEHD/Sketches+4%5B1%5D.jpg)
Each week, students have learned new techniques such as how to take and edit stunning photos making proper use of angles, lighting, contrast and composition. With Apple Pencil, students have used the Mark-up tool to add drawings to photographs to tell stories. Sketch-noting has enabled students to draw concrete examples of abstract ideas and Apple Clips has allowed students to record videos that include words, effects and graphics.
“The Digital Creativity Classroom is one of fun, excitement and engagement where the class time is always too short and students don’t want to turn off their devices and end the lesson even after the bell has gone.” Rhonda Armenti (Digital Creativity Teacher)
Digital Creativity supports the College’s Vision for Learning, ‘Ignite the Spirit’ which has connection, curiosity,challengeand creativityas its pedagogical foundation. By building a culture of creativity with iPad, Year 7 and 8 students have discovered new talents and developed innovative ways to show their learning. As a knock-on effect, we have also seen drawing, photography, video and audio being integrated into curriculum classes.
“I like learning these skills because they will help me use them in other subjects – for example, I used Clips in a Science project to make it more interesting.”Xavier(Year 7 student)
If you’d like to see more Digital Creativity, check out the hashtag, #CorpusCreateson Twitter for snap-shots of the course in action. You can download Apple’s Everyone Can Create project guides free from Apple Books.
Until next time.
Digital Creativity for ALL Learners
Our new Digital Creativity course for Year 7 and 8 has made a massive impact on our students with disabilities at Corpus Christi College. The course is based on Apple’s Everyone Can Create curriculum and is designed to provide students with core digital skills in photography, video, audio and drawing.
Our new Digital Creativity course for Year 7 and 8 has made a massive impact on our students with disabilities at Corpus Christi College. The course is based on Apple’s Everyone Can Create curriculum and is designed to provide students with core digital skills in photography, video, audio and drawing.
Every week, students participate in two Digital Creativity lessons to help consolidate their learning. Students have loved showing off their newfound creative talents by teaching staff and older students with disabilities how to execute the perfect photo, draw a realistic self-portrait and map-out a detailed sketch-note of their favourite holiday destination.
“As Digital Creativity has given the students the opportunity to showcase their learning in different formats, we have seen their confidence and self-esteem sky-rocket. Students are able to engage and communicate in different ways which simply weren’t possible before.”- Frances Whiting (Educational Support Teacher)
As well as developing their fine-motor skills, creativity with iPad has also empowered the students in showing their understanding of a topic. For example, in Science they use Mark-up to annotate and draw on a photo to show how electricity works. In Life Skills class, they draw on photos in Keynote and insert audio to explain how to tell the time.
If you’d like to see more Digital Creativity, check out the hashtag, #CorpusCreates on Twitter for snap-shots of the course in action. You can download Apple’s Everyone Can Create project guides free from Apple Books.
Until next time.
'Teaching with iPad: Keynote Practical Pedagogy' on Apple Books
I’m really excited to share my latest collaboration with the talented Lou Cimetta. 'Teaching with iPad: Keynote Practical Pedagogy' is the first book in a series exploring how Apple’s core apps can enhance teaching and learning.
New on Apple Books!
I’m really excited to share my latest collaboration with the talented Lou Cimetta. 'Teaching with iPad: Keynote Practical Pedagogy' is the first book in a series exploring how Apple’s core apps can enhance teaching and learning.
In the book, we reveal our top ten strategies for using Keynote effectively and meaningfully. Regardless of ability, our practical examples are supported by clear visuals and step-by-step instructions so that teachers can easily integrate technology into their classroom.
The book is free to download from the Apple Books store and is a wonderful addition to the Corpus Christi College library.