VIRTUAL CLASSROOM TOUR Documents Web Links Innovative Teachers Date Title Creator/s Homepage Objective/s Measuring the Impact of ICT in Children’s Education To evaluate ICT practice in early years settings and to give information for the effective planning of staff development to follow on from the Early Years Masterclass initiative. To determine: If ICT is being used efficiently as a tool to promote the development of children’s learning If a range of ICT resources are being used to develop concepts at the same time as ICT skills The level to which ICT is being integrated into the curriculum The factors which inhibit ICT progression If inclusive practices are evident November 2007 Theresa Mungall, Visiting Specialist: ICT (Early Years) RationaleEY Settings in Dundee EY Masterclass in Dundee

Learning Together in Dundee Innovative Teachers VIRTUAL CLASSROOM TOUR Background/ Rationale Documents Web Links About Jan Baxter, Early Years ICT Curriculum Support teacher, Falkirk Council, adapted a selection of questions from the MIICE toolkit to undertake an assessment of the success, or otherwise, of using ICT in five early years settings. This was the first use in Scotland of MIICE in early education. (Click the link below to go to the MIICE website where you can download the report and find out more about the MIICE toolkit.) Stage 1 Dundee decided to adopt and adapt the Falkirk selection to create a toolkit that would meet the needs of the authority. To consider this an online community was set up and the first discussion was hosted within the Glow portal. The invited members of this community were asked to download the MIICE materials, consider them in relation to their practice and contribute to the discussion. The discussion lasted four weeks and the posts made were collated into a report. The information from this was used to adapt the MIICE materials. Adapted MIICE Materials MIICE Discussion Report

Learning Together in Dundee Innovative Teachers VIRTUAL CLASSROOM TOUR Documents Web Links About continued … 1 Stage 2 Minor adjustments suggested in the discussion were made to the MIICE materials and five settings were selected for piloting them. Two staff members from each of the nursery settings were interviewed. To gain a broad view, they were identified so that the selection reflected a mix of experienced, new and inexperienced users, ICT co- ordinators and SMT. Each interview lasted approximately 20 min. The questions were sent in advance so that staff would have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the content if they wished. It was thought that one of the questions relating to learning styles may cause problems with some staff. To aid understanding, information about this was made available. Prior to the interview the purpose was made clear to each of the interviewees, they were assured of anonymity and would be given copies of their responses to check for verification before they were collated into the finished report. A set of extra questions were also devised. The purpose of these was to evaluate the toolkit to determine practical issues such as, was it a viable resource for general, regular use, was it too time consuming, were questions too wordy or obscure etc. Extra QuestionsLearning Styles

Learning Together in Dundee Innovative Teachers VIRTUAL CLASSROOM TOUR About continued … 3 Are the children learning about programmable and interactive toys and applying that learning to other areas?

Learning Together in Dundee Innovative Teachers VIRTUAL CLASSROOM TOUR About continued … 4 Are the children working well, negotiating access, taking turns and managing the activity?

Learning Together in Dundee Innovative Teachers VIRTUAL CLASSROOM TOUR About continued … 5 Are the children taking care to carry out tasks which meet or exceed the standards set for the task? What do you think?

Learning Together in Dundee Innovative Teachers VIRTUAL CLASSROOM TOUR Documents Web Links About continued … 6 Stage 4 The second discussion was organised. The Glow portal was not live at the time so permission was given to create a forum with the LTS Early Years Online Forums. It is planned to keep this forum live for a short period of time to focus on the progress of the pilot with the MIICE materials, to discuss issues as they arise both in relation to ICT practise and administration matters. To also determine if, for example, the materials would be useful, usable as they stand, suitable for regular use, would need parts to be simplified etc. Using this forum will have advantages and disadvantages. The pros are it can be accessed at any time, anywhere and from any machine, the con could turn out to be that anyone and everyone can too. However, this may promote some lively cross- Authority debate! Early Years Online Discussion 2 Report

Learning Together in Dundee Innovative Teachers VIRTUAL CLASSROOM TOUR Next Steps Documents Web Links Next Steps This project demonstrates the authorities wish to assess the impact of ICT in early education and at the same time to evaluate the effectiveness of MIICE as a tool. The toolkit lays emphasis on general learning skills rather than specific ICT practical skills. It reflects the range of benefits which good use of ICT can deliver by listing and describing 13 ‘learning outcomes’ and their components. The pilot of the Dundee early years cut down version of the materials is planned with a dual purpose - to test the validity of the questions as a form of self-evaluation and to provide a baseline for future comparisons. Pilot Report - ICT in the Early Years Curriculum

Learning Together in Dundee Innovative Teachers VIRTUAL CLASSROOM TOUR