With many schools well under way with the 1-1 Chromebook roll out there have been many examples of great practice. One Inverness school has thrived from the  moment they received their devices and their story is really quite incredible.

Raigmore's attitude to Digital Technology was one that allowed the children to be the leaders of their own learning. Upon a successful appointment of Digital Developers 10 children began the journey that would lead the school to dizzying heights and an approach that would be recognised and appreciated by schools all across the country. 

Raigmore's hard work and success has now been recognised and labelled as a 'Google Reference School' and the children of the school welcome many visitors, staff and pupils to observe how they learn and how they have embedded Chromebooks into their school life.

This school understands that this is just the beginning of their journey, and one that has engaged children beyond belief. To keep up to date with their story follow them on Twitter @RaigmorePS​.

Please see below for more information about February’s Safer Internet Day 2018.
 We are planning to provide some more info on local happenings in and around Highland and indeed, if you have any plans already in place which you would like to share and are happy for us to help promote further, please let us know.


Good afternoon colleagues
 
Can you please help spread the word about Safer Internet Day 2018!

With less than 3 months to go until Safer Internet Day, we're excited to see that over 200 organisations have already registered their support for the day!

Now is an important moment to reach out to schools and other organisations to make sure they know about the day, and we'd appreciate your help in doing that!

In this update we include some resources to help you reach out via your blog, newsletter, social media and wider. 

Help us build up the momentum by registering as a supporter now!

Best wishes,

Will Gardner

Director, UK Safer Internet Centre
CEO, Childnet
5 things you can do now to help spread the word!
#1 Share these messages on social media

We're supporting Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 6th February 2018! Find out how you can get involved here: http://bit.ly/2h1bcvL #SID2018
 
See what you can do to create, connect and share respect for Safer Internet Day 2018! http://bit.ly/2h1bcvL #SID2018

#2 Include this in your newsletter
 
Safer Internet Day

Safer Internet Day 2018 will be celebrated globally on Tuesday 6th February with the slogan ‘Create, Connect and Share Respect: a better internet starts with you.’ 

Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre the celebration sees hundreds of organisations get involved to help promote the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.

Visit www.saferinternetday.org.uk to get involved and join the supporters list. 

#3 Share this letter with key stakeholders/ partners

Use our introductory letter and SID2018 briefing to reach out to your key partners and other stakeholders to encourage them to get on board. 

• Letter (PDF)
• Briefing (PDF)

#4 Post this blog on your website

Use our template blog to promote the day via your website and help encourage your networks to get involved in the day.

• Blog (Word)

#5 Add these banners to your social media and emails

Use the banners in our Campaign Toolkit for your email footer, Facebook profile and Twitter profile. 
 
Register as a supporter

Launching in December:

• Educational resources and films 
• Join the social media campaign

I was recently asked by a primary head teacher if I could share some quick tips that they could share at an upcoming CAT session with staff. Below are some quick tips I thought teachers may find useful...

• If you have something on the smartboard and want to carry on doing work on your PC normally you cant because its mirrored. You could hold down the Windows Key (bottom left corner on keyboard) and press the letter P. You can then select to extend your screen which effectively gives you an extra monitor. A lot of staff do this so emails and SEEMiS info doesn’t show up on display to kids. 
• If your staff shared area is hard to find anything on. Instead of you digging through folders each time you could right click on the relevant folder and go to ‘Send to’ and then click on ‘Desktop (create shortcut)’.

• Instead of you scrolling through your start menu trying to find a program you can click on the start menu and just start typing the name of the program and it will appear.

• CALL Scotland have a load of posters that you can download for your classroom with IT tips and relevant apps to help with reading, writing, dyslexia etc. http://www.callscotland.org.uk/downloads/posters-and-leaflets/  

• I would encourage staff to show videos from YouTube or wherever on the teacher smartboard instead of getting them to watch it as they normally get distracted or spend more time trying to find the relevant video.

• If you are on a document that you want to print you can push the ‘Ctrl’ key and the letter P as a shortcut. You can also save a document with Ctrl key and press the letter S.

• Instead of you searching through a PDF, website or document you can push the ‘Ctrl’ key and press F. You will then get a box to type in the word you are searching for.

• Adobe Spark https://spark.adobe.com/ is a website that works on Chromebooks or normal desktops and allows staff and pupils to create amazing/professional looking posters and social media pictures in such an easy way. You can sign in using your Google account. You can create videos, posts or websites and they are all really simple to do.​

Give a brief explanation of your project.
The use of Google Suite along with Chromebooks is being trialed through engagement in English classes, Business Management and Tutor Time. We have secured five Chromebooks through the Digital Fund and supplemented these with an additional ten bought through support from the Parent Council. Three members of staff attended the Google for Education training day in Kingussie in order to generate ideas for how the Google Suite may be introduced to their classrooms. This also provided a core group of staff with a working knowledge of how the physical hardware of the Chromebooks effectively interacts with the software included in the Google Suite, enabling them to be first points of contact with other staff.
 
Tutor Time is being used to introduce the use of Chromebooks to a select number of pupils who will be early adopters of the technology within the school. These pupils will form the basis of a lead group who will cascade to staff, peers and parents on their experiences with the technology.
 
The use of the Chromebooks in subject specific environments is designed to be an introduction of the practical applications of Chromebooks in classes around the school. The use of Google Classroom and other features of the Google Suite are to be introduced before the distribution of Chromebooks across the school in order to ensure a smooth transition and a staged approach to a digital learning environment.
 

How has the technology enhanced learning and teaching within your school/department?
Initial pupil engagement with the technology has been focused on the potential of the devices for collaborative work and formative assessment.
 
In an Advanced Higher English class, for example, pupils benefitted from the collaborative nature of the Google Suite, and particularly Google Docs in preparing for classroom tasks. Once in the classroom, the use of the Chromebook devices ensured that there was a seamless transition from work done in study periods and at home to work which was being carried on in the classroom.
 
Pupils have expressed an interest in using Chromebooks and the Google Suite for self-reflection and recording their learning. This has been duly noted and will become a key focus on the development of Chromebook use in Tutor Time through the pilot development of E-Portfolios. The user friendly nature of the technology has so far ensured that pupils not only adapt to the Chromebooks, but actively embrace them and seek out ways to develop their use in the classroom.
 
The development of these core groups of users is key to the future rollout of the Chromebooks, as it is our intention to put teaching and learning firmly in the ownership of pupils through pupil led training sessions for staff and the community.

Any tips for other schools looking to do a similar project?
Begin with small, core groups. Pupils are often leaders in understanding technology and use this to your advantage when exploring the possibilities presented by its use.

Next steps for the project...
Embed the use of Chromebooks in Tutor Time. Review and consolidate the progress being made with the introduction of the Google Suite in English and Business Management and decide how to appropriately begin incorporating Chromebooks into both subjects.
 
Engage wider community of staff in the use of the Google Suite and exemplify how it is currently being used. Emphasise the importance of the Chromebook in fulfilling the full learning potential of the Google Suite.

I received an email from Diane Miller who is a tutor in Colorado Springs this week complementing the Highland Digital Learning website for its access to digital learning tools....

Hi Stephen!
I just wanted to send a quick thank you for your science tools page, some savvy kids and I are getting a lot of use from it! Our summer STEMjuniors camp always spends part of our day playing online games or webquests involving different science themes so we're always on the hunt for fun activities. This week our search took us to your page here, http://www.digilearnhighland.co.uk/science-tools.html ..it's been tough finding non-spammy sites for the group so you have our thanks! Plus your page gave us some great research ideas
 
As a token of our thanks we wanted to share another resource with you that one of our superstars Mia shared with us- it's a lengthy list of games and interactive sites that educate kids about the body and immune system. We found the print outs helpful. Maybe you might even find it useful for your page? Let us know what you think:
 
Nurse training: immune system games:
http://onlinedegrees.bradley.edu/nursing/msn/nurse-training-immune-system-games/
 
Hopefully you like it too! If you do decide to add it I'll be sure to show Mia and the gang you liked her find. We love sharing so if you have any needs or cool project ideas please feel free to pass them along. Thanks again and sorry for rambling, I'm excited about this connection! :o)
 
Cheers and well wishes,
 
Diane Miller

The resources that Mia has shared with us have now been added to our Science page and I would welcome anybody to email us with great resources to add to our growing list.

​Stephen

Martyn Crawshaw at Millburn Academy has created some video tutorials explaining how to use Google Sheets for creating a graphs. These can then be embedded into a Google Doc and if there are any updates/changes to the data in the table then this will automatically update your graph in the document.

Below is another video from Martyn detailing G Suite uses for Higher and Advanced Higher Physics.

In the link below are 4 templates that you could use to personalise your Viglen 360 Chromebook.

There is a PDF, Google Drawings, Word Document and a SerifDraw document that you could use as a template. In all Highland secondary schools SerifDraw is installed and it could act as a good project for S1/S2 ICT/Tech to complete. You could use Microsoft Word/Google Drawings to add pictures/text inside the template and then print it out.

Another option is to print out the template and get the pupils to complete this using colourful pens/pencils.

To stick this cover to the front of your Chromebook you could use blue tac or a self-adhesive paper similar to this one from Amazon. 

Click here for templates.

Google have recently launched a Digital Citizenship/Internet Safety curriculum. ​The Be Internet Awesome site features a game called Interland. The game is set in a virtual world that students navigate by correctly answering questions about Internet safety.

Be Internet Awesome is based on five key concepts for kids:

• Share with care.
• Don't fall for fake.
• Secure your secrets.
• It's cool to be kind.
• When in doubt, talk it out. 

Give a brief explanation of your project.
We have created a Chrome stand in one of our classroom to help all our children become more familiar with using Chromebooks, setting up online profiles and using Google Classroom as well as the main other apps within Google.

How has the technology enhanced learning and teaching within your school/department?
Technology continues to have a huge impact on learning and teaching within our school.  The use of apps such as Google Classroom continue to help make learning relevant, personalised and provides further challenge.  Children have been further developing the skills they need for life, learning and work.  Children have been using the Chromebooks to research and consider career options using apps such as Hangouts to share research as well as using G Suite apps to present their information. 

Any tips for other schools looking to do a similar project?
We found that our children were already very familiar with the majority of G Suite and were very quick learners!

Next steps for the project...

• Continue to place technology at the heart of literacy and numeracy.
• Build on the number of devices that we have.
• Continue to further develop staff knowledge and confidence. 

P6 Intergenerational IT Classes
P6 pupils have been working alongside local residents on a 6 week project with Care Lochaber to share their digital skills. The children and adults have enjoyed sharing skills and knowledge before having a cup of tea, cakes and a blether!

​Topics covered include using email, searching the web, internet security, sharing photos and documents and using social media.

Above are two great short videos that highlight what a Chromebook  is and explains what it can do by busting some myths such as it cant work offline. Could be a great way to show staff what a Chromebook is as an intro.

Give a brief explanation of your project.
Hilton Primary school is a large school with approximately 500 children.  It covers a diverse catchment area with 90% of children in SIMD 1-7.  Some of our pupils and their families have limited access, or no access, to technology at home therefore we recognise the need and indeed importance of our role in providing learning opportunities to develop their skills in the area of digital literacy.

So our project was to purchase more Chromebooks in order to provide more opportunities for our children to access technology in the school.  We are going to timetable our 10 Chromebooks across all classes in the school.  This will allow pupils to develop their skills in using ICT equipment, it also facilitates the development of their skills for learning, life & work. 

How has the technology enhanced learning and teaching within your school/department?
The two P5 classes have focussed on logging each child on and creating their own account. The children have then used the Chromebooks for tasks linked to reading and IDL activities.

Next steps for the project...
The plan is to ensure all 120 children in P5 and P6 are familiar with Chromebooks, can confidently and independently log on and search for specific information.

Banavie Primary school in Fort William have been doing some exciting Computing Science work during National Digital Learning week. Below is a brief report from Leah Burns from Banavie.

P1-6 have taken part in an hour of code and between us we have been coding for over 100 hours, the children loved using their computational thinking skills and working in partners to navigate their way through the levels.
 
In Primary 1 they had to write algorithms for the baker’s business in Fairyland, he has been really busy and has just had to employ Little Miss Muffet, Little Bo Peep and Little Jack Horner however they are useless! Primary 1 had to create a simple algorithm for them to follow to make sure they decorate the gingerbread men properly.
 
In Primary 3/4 they have been learning about algorithms and have been creating lots of real life examples for their peers to follow.
 
In Primary 4/5 we looked briefly at how technology has evolved and came up with our own fantasy digital creations, there were lots of good ideas but I particularly liked a house that could shrink and move around with you so you never had to pack your suitcase or book a hotel again!
 
In Primary 5/6 they have been carrying out market research on what the younger children like and are using this information to make new BeeBot games. They will be making lots of games based on Fairy Tales and Castles and Knights, the primary ones and twos can’t wait to play them.
 
It has been a very busy week but lots of fun and everyone has learnt something new, including the teachers! 

At TRA we requested 9 Chromebooks to enable our students to engage more fully with G-Suite. In addition to:

• Providing training opportunities for staff who have already begun their journeys in google classroom and apps. 
• Provide enhanced resources for classes where appropriate.

 
How has the technology enhanced learning and teaching within your school/department?
S1, S2 and S3 ICT classes have all begun using Google Classroom and applications.  There  are courses now in place that have a high degree of coding  and during coding activities the mobile nature of the Chromebooks has allowed more flexibility for pupils to trial programmable devices such as the Makeblock mBots.
 
There has been some uptake in using mobile devices in maths to access graphic calculator applications for Sr Phase and and extension or reward activities in BGE. 
 
Sr Phase assessment also takes place online in Maths and Chromebooks have enabled us to meet individual assessment requirements more efficiently, maximising the opportunity for pupils to succeed.
 
A good proportion of staff have now engaged with Google and are looking forward to the big roll out.  These staff are enthusiastic and are growing more familiar with the devices to be best prepared to support the pupils. Google Classroom is now available in all departments and all departments have begun transferring course materials on to Google Classroom.
 
Use of Google Apps and Hangouts has identified Bandwith issues for the school in preparation for access to distance learning courses etc. This information has proved valuable and has allowed us to plan contingencies before the rollout of Chromebooks.

Any tips for other schools looking to do a similar project?
If multiple users are accessing a Chromebook they must remove their profile before other users sign in.

Next steps for the project...
Further integration of school systems with G-Suite and roll out of team teaching using Google Classroom. Chrome book access for Engineering Science and Digital Technology will enable pupils to use the Bluetooth feature to control programmable devices.

Give a brief explanation of your project.
As technology has been a specific area our school has been focussing on, we decided to join this with other Interdisciplinary Learning Topics, India, that had been covered in the P5-7 classes. The pupils were charged with creating some way of preventing or helping before or after a natural disaster that happens regularly in Asia, due to a wild and varied climate. Designs would have to be drawn up and prototypes made in 3D, before a presentation to other groups was given.

How has the technology enhanced learning and teaching within your school/department?
We applied for a Lego Mindstorms unit and a controlling Chrome Book, with our funding. This was then used so that children could create and program the robots to carry out the tasks their prototypes had been designed for. It allowed the child to research the pitfalls and problems of a real working model, as opposed to just a static one. Children were able to take designs back to the drawing board and recalculate how machines would need to function to be successful for their purpose.

Any tips for other schools looking to do a similar project?
There are a few bugs with the downloadable Lego Mindstorms Chrome Book app and the Chrome Book Bluetooth connection. However after some internet searching we found that it does work fine and it just need some other setting added within the app.

Next steps for the project...
As the Mindstorms come with a variety of sensors, the pupils want to investigate whether they can increase the effectiveness of their prototypes by incorporating more programmes into the coding.