How Schools Can Prepare Students Best for Information Technology Jobs and Careers?

November 25, 2021

best-ways-schools-prepare-students-for-information-technology-jobs-and-careers

Time and time again we have seen countless jobs get replaced by technological advancements with each revolution. Here we discuss how can schools prepare students for IT jobs.

Careers in information and technology can help children to future-proof themselves against further innovation and allow them to embark on a challenging and fulfilling journey.

We have teamed up with Taunton Independent School to discuss how schools can prepare students best for information and technology jobs.

As educators, we don’t just have the responsibility of producing the next generation of data scientists, developers, doctors, engineers, and key workers. We also have the duty of shaping children into brilliant young people that can fill the jobs that don’t yet exist.

While challenging, there are several ways that we can do this.

1. Create Innovative Learning Opportunities

All too often we hear ‘I don’t know’ and straightforward cookie-cutter answers. To help children become dynamic young people and the forward thinkers of their times, setting innovative tasks is essential. Not teaching children what they need to learn but teaching them HOW to learn. Let us explain.

In the real world, the problems that we face don’t have simple solutions that can be Googled or looked up in a textbook. They are complex and can be tackled in any which way. They require critical and outside-of-the-box thinking in order to make the correct decisions.

To help your students think innovatively, ask them open-ended questions that can be looked at from a range of different angles. Get them to brainstorm and let them take the lead in their own learning as opposed to setting traditional tasks.

In preparation for later life, get your students to stretch beyond the content taught in the classroom by promoting self-directed learning. This can help them to engage in deeper levels of thinking and teach them how to think creatively, critically, and pragmatically. You can do this by asking a young child about what water can do and allowing them to experiment. This is known as Montessori teaching.

2. Lessons on Artificial Intelligence

Schools across the world are helping children to get AI-ready with classes to prepare them for what is expected to be the 4th industrial revolution. The UK is thought to be trailing behind in comparison which has led to the release of a new initiative by the national center for AI in tertiary education.

There are many websites and online learning games and apps out there that you can introduce to your students and their parents to feed their curiosity and understanding of AI. Websites such as Machinelearningforkids.co.uk allow children to teach their computers how to play video games and explore pre-trained AI.

3. Coding Games

To get the best out of your students, find learning activities that engage. Coding games are a great way to do this which makes learning what would otherwise be a boring subject, fun and practical. Something that is particularly important when planning lessons for kinaesthetic learners.

Games that you can explore with your students are Algorithm City, Think and Learn: Code-a-Pillar, Daisy the Dinosaur, and Scratch JR which are all free to download on Google Play Store. Games like Algorithm City teach children about command sequencing, loops, and functions so that they can solve problems and earn gold. Others can expand your child’s knowledge of Javascript, Swift, and Python.

4. Arrange for More Project-Based Learning

The world of work calls for individuals that can work independently and cohesively in a team. Group work can open children up to new perspectives while teaching them how to collaborate with others as they would do in the field of tech through real-life experience.

Again, this should be exercised with tasks that are open to interpretation to be effective. This can help your students to develop thinking skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity by giving them freedom of thought.

5. Field Trips

Experiential learning gives children the opportunity to solidify their learning with real-life experiences and the chance to talk with local experts and organisations. This can give children an insight into how the world works by offering a deeper level of understanding by allowing them to think about problems contextually. To help your students in their information and technology careers, you can arrange for school trips to a software and development agency or think tank organisation.

6. Stay Ahead of Developments

While we can’t predict the future, we can stay abreast of the latest developments in the job market and the skills needed for it to be filled. We pave the way for our students in the teaching that we deliver and better prepare them by working towards producing great leaders, inventors, and kind young people. So long as your teaching methods allow your students to build the four types of thinking skills needed to be dynamic and innovative, you have done your job as an educator.

Final Thoughts

Most educators will already work hard on exposing their students to more digital and tech skills-related learning materials, however, as this sector evolves at such a fast speed, it is difficult to remain on top of the latest trends in EdTech. Hopefully, we were able to inspire you to educate your students about the career skills needed in the near future.

Has Covid-19 Signalled a Change in the Structure of Assessments in Education in Scottish Schools?

Harry Richardson

November 5, 2021

covid-pandemic-changes-assessments-in-education

2019 and 2020 saw different types of assessments and exams being cancelled for the first time ever across Scotland.

This led to a change in assessing pupil performance across the academic session. Instead of an exam as formative assessment, teachers were required to assess pupil performance with coursework submitted by pupils throughout the year.

This has caused a passionate debate concerning teacher stress, quango mismanagement, Government accountability and grade inflation. All this came at the time of the OECDs controversially delayed report into the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), Scotland’s all-encompassing curriculum from 5-18.

This article will look at exams as a method for accountability and the possible alternative assessments to exams.

Formal Exams as a Mechanism for Accountability

Removal of formal exams is seen as a necessary step for the future of Scottish education. After league tables in Scotland were scrapped in 2002, there has been an ongoing debate, covered by the BBC News, that there are too many assessments, to maintain a perception of accountability. The only league tables available in Scotland are published by newspapers however, the Scottish Government is quick to criticise them as their only criterion is a percentage of pupils who attained 5 Highers as reported by The Times.

The Scottish Conservatives were quoted by the BBC News saying, “the best and fairest way we have to measure educational attainment”. Similarly, Dr Keir Bloomer, who led the study, said to the BBC News: “Anonymous marking is effectively insurance against the sort of rapid grade inflation that ultimately only ends when every pupil returns straight. As, which would do no favours to either individual pupils or the country as a whole”.

Indeed, grades over the past two years have risen sharply with an increase of 16.1% of pupils achieving an A grade since 2019.

(BBC News;2021)

Accountability is seen to be an important factor by parents to put pressure on schools to improve and for some parents is the only way they can hold their children’s teachers to account since there is no opportunity for formal feedback unless a meeting is arranged which takes time and is inconvenient for all parties involved as debated in this McCormack et. al. paper.

However, teachers feel that their ability to teach is being inhibited by satisfying performance targets at the compromise of teaching.

Teachers find themselves under increasing pressure

One teacher said, “We are put under a lot of pressure, and we are continually monitoring and assessing the children and there is a greater workload because of the paperwork that has to be filled in. As teachers you are continually under pressure to fit in all the things you must in a week and sometimes you don’t have the time. You are continually thinking I should have fitted in this particular lesson, and you are worrying about fitting everything in otherwise perhaps they won’t reach their target.” (Murphy M & Skillen P; 2015).

There are also concerns expressed from teachers that they are teaching students to pass exams rather than teaching students to learn. From personal experience, I remember vividly teachers saying, “You don’t have to understand [the topic], you just need to be able to remember it”.

This is a phrase many people will have heard and is reminiscent of a factory; teachers producing pupils on a conveyor belt to pass exams, yet this has become the accepted form of accountability as people demand value for money, especially from public sector services.

These issues call into question the philosophy of education and education under the framework of new managerialism and whether accountability should be reconsidered within the field of education.

Is there an Alternative to Exams?

Although scrapping exams may seem attractive to pupils and markers, there are many questions surrounding alternative forms of assessment.

First, most OECD countries use and will continue to use external examinations to assess pupil learning and development including Finland (regarded as having one of the best education systems in the world) and New Zealand (a model OECD country for education).

They are seen to the general public to be the most objective form of assessment and mitigate potential teacher bias and have been the primary model of assessment for centuries in the UK. To attempt to shift the perception of external exams to alternative assessments may prove difficult for politicians to justify to the general public, creating political dispute and may be difficult for employers if hiring students straight from school.

What are possible alternative assessments?

The most natural one would be an extension of the current assessment

Reweighting the added value units/research projects to 50% from 30-33% seen in the social sciences and sciences. This way exams would still be in use but there would be less stress and more fairness to those who may struggle with knowledge recall and the ability to think quickly. It also allows pupils to investigate topics more in depth and create connections and develop their ability to research, analyse and synthesise.

This style of assessment is typical of universities in Scotland and would better prepare students should they wish to enter higher education. This is one of the OECD’s recommendations from their 2021 report.

The only assessment that has a 100% external examination is mathematics. This is not to say a research project could not be viable in this subject. A possible example could be to take a theory learned in the curriculum and apply it to a real-world example e.g., Pythagoras’ Theorem. This would follow the same framework as the Physics project e.g., applying Newton’s 1^st law to car seat belts.

Note: Not being a teacher myself I do not know the feasibility or resources training that would be required to accomplish this.

This may however prove costly because it would require teachers to work for longer and would require more teachers to mark the exam scripts.

Would more focus on research mean less time to cover the rest of curriculum? Would this mean the curriculum focus more on depth or breadth?

These are questions that have not been fully answered by the OECD and require serious consideration.

The second and less likely option is teacher judgement

This was used during the pandemic and created much controversy and perpetuated the debate of grade inflation and legitimacy of pupil’s results, not to mention the stress which was put on teachers who had very little time to understand the new format

Either way, this does not look good for the Scottish Government. The new exam system was introduced in 2014 and has been under fire for most of those years, particularly the infamous 2015 Higher Mathematics Paper 2 (BBC News; 2015).

Now 7 years later, the OECD has proposed National 5’s (equivalent to GSCE) could be replaced with a School Graduation Certificate, meaning a pupil could go through school without sitting no formal exams.

Whatever happens, it is important not to rush into any new policy initiatives. Too often education suffers because of headlines and politician rhetoric and as a result short term policies are implemented only to be deemed unsatisfactory a few years later. A major overhaul in assessment cannot and (hopefully) won’t happen overnight because if the government doesn’t get this right, we all suffer.

3 Creative Ways for Teachers to use Google Forms for Google Forms Quizzes or Google Forms Surveys and more

Manuela Willbold

November 2, 2021

Welcome to the 21st century! Here we discuss how to use google forms.

Today, search engines have replaced yellow pages. TV and cinema halls have been replaced by Netflix and YouTube.

Magazines have become blogs. And your classrooms have given way to Google classrooms offering teachers a wide array of online tools to enhance learning.

Also, project files have now become PDF files. Classroom presentations through a projector are now done on Meet classes with the ‘Present Screen’ option.

There is no blackboard anymore; the interactive Whiteboard or Jamboard has taken its place.

While a lot of aspects of the modern online learning method are making lives simpler for students and teachers, there is a lot that still requires a little getting used to. Especially for teachers who have spent years teaching via traditional formats, the mixed learning models are challenging.

But just like everything else, Google has a free, functional (and fun!) tool for making life simpler for teachers – Google Forms.

By now, most teachers have learned and mastered the art of creating simple Google forms surveys and Google Forms quizzes.

So, in this piece, we will be showing you three cool, creative, and useful ways to make the most of Google Forms for your lessons, no matter what you teach.

Read on.

1. Use logic branching with Google Forms

Digital education sessions don’t have to be bland and boring. By following just a few simple steps you can add a gamification element to your class.

So, here’s what you need to do.

While creating the Google Form, click on the three dots as shown below:

Select the option as shown:

You’ll now get an option to select what happens based on what answer your students select.

Choose from the options to decide what happens based on the answers:

With that, you can set up logic branching in your Google forms. And once you know how to set it up, the sky is the limit as to how you can possibly use it in class.

Some ideas to get you started:

In a comprehension-based test, students that answer a question correctly are directed to the next question and the ones who answer incorrectly are taken back to the reference text. This will give them a hint to read the passage carefully and attempt the question again.
You can use logic branching to suggest books and give out reading recommendations to students. Based on which authors the students have read before and what genres they like, you can suggest books to your literature students. Or based on which questions your students get right or wrong, you can take them to sections suggesting which chapters they should be re-reading.
Another fun use of logic branching could be to create an escape room through Google Forms. You can send out a list of hints and clues to your students and based on those they will have to figure out a set of codes. Upon entering the right code in the Google Form, the students will be allowed to submit the form and they’ll know they understood your hints and cues. The students who enter the wrong code, meaning they couldn’t crack the hints, will be shown an error message that tells them to think harder and try again.
If you want to use Google Forms to create surveys for students, parents, or colleagues, you can watch this video tutorial:

2. Use Google Forms for attendance tracking (foolproof strategy)

It gets tough to keep a track of which student attended the class and who didn’t. Also, the smart students of the 21st century often have multiple tricks under their sleeves with which they try to get attendance for even the classes they haven’t attended.

But with Google Forms (and using it with Google Sheets), you can capture the actual student attendance in any class.

Here is how you can use Google Forms to create a foolproof attendance sheet.

Start by creating a simple form that requires students to enter their names and the date for which they are marking their attendance. (Don’t forget to make it a requirement to enter the name to be able to submit the form.

You can change the format of the date question to ‘Date’ from the drop-down menu.

Your Google form will look something like this:

After creating a Google form, click on the Excel icon in the ‘Responses’ tab

You can now either choose to create a new Google Excel sheet to add an existing sheet where the attendance records will be collected.

Now, when you get the responses from the students, all you must do is go to the Google Excel sheet, and there you’ll be able to see a list of all the students who attended the class and filled the attendance sheet after class.

However, the best part is that in the first column of the sheet, you can see the timestamp of when the form was filled.

So even if students try to show that they attended the class on 23rd or 24th October by submitting an entry for it on 29th October, you’ll know exactly when the entry was made.

And when you see students entering incorrect dates in the attendance records you can send them a warning email to mend their ways and actually attend their class.

This cool little way to keep students under check will sure earn you the title of ‘tech-forward teacher’ in your class. Watch the video tutorial below for more guidance:

3. Collect Lab Data with Google Forms

Science lab sessions are fun. Collecting data is not.

Google Forms has this really cool feature that lets you see a summary of the data that you have collected through the forms.

So, when you have a Science Lab or STEM session, make sure you ask the students to input their findings in a Google Form. And when everyone is done submitting the responses, you’ll automatically see the numerical results in a graphical form.

This not just helps you get processed data but also ensures that you have a proper record of who did what and how in the lab.

More useful tips and tricks for using Google Forms:

Want to know when students submit their forms? Keep the ‘Get an email notification for new responses’ option checked.

You can see this option upon clicking the three dots in the top right corner of the Response tab.

Check the ‘Limit to one response’ option to prevent students from taking the test/quiz/survey multiple times. The option is available in the Settings tab:

Use the toggle to activate the 1 response limit.

While it is common knowledge that you can share the Google form via a link or an email, know that you can also use it on a website or landing page.

Click on the ‘Send’ option
Go to the third section
Click on ‘Copy’ to copy the code and then paste it into the code editor of the webpage where you want to see your Google Form.

Want students to answer a question based on their understanding of a video? You can also add a YouTube link directly to your Google form.

Click on the icon shown in the image below.

It will then give you an option to add a YouTube video which will then be embedded into your Google form. It will look something like this:

The video will be played in the form itself, which is safer as students will not be taken to YouTube where they may be exposed to content that is not relevant or suitable.

With that, it’s a wrap on the best ways for teachers to use Google Forms in a unique way. And surely you will come up with even more creative ideas so get in touch with us if you’d like to share them via our UK Education blog.

What Private Schools Can Do To Improve Attendance After the Pandemic Over The Coming Years?

Shirley Owen

September 22, 2021

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The entire education market has been impacted since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, and private schools are no exception. Here we discuss what private schools can do to improve attendance after pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has cost the private school industry heavily and left many schools to face an uncertain future.

There are thousands of private schools in the UK currently, and as parents struggle financially and consider cutting down on fees to save money, the market will be more competitive than ever before throughout the remainder of 2021 and further into the future.

If you’re managing or supporting a private school, then you’ll understand the importance of being proactive during these uncertain and challenging times.

To help, we’ve put together some practical ways that your school can work to improve attendance and boost its income over the years to come.

This list isn’t exhaustive, but it should help you to identify ways that you can boost enrolment and help to keep existing pupils at your school throughout their educational lives.

Create The Perfect Website

Your school’s website is the first thing that any prospective student’s parents will see, so it needs to be perfect. It should provide all of the information that they require and be easy to navigate. You also need to consider SEO- by creating a website that runs correctly and meets search engine requirements, you can reach your target audience and show them that your school is a viable option for their child. Concept4 offers specialist school website design that could help you to improve your digital marketing and entice new parents to see your school as a viable option for their children.

Offer A Payment Plan

Many parents will now be facing financial hardships that they’ve perhaps never encountered before. As such, having a robust and flexible payment plan could be the ideal way to set your private school apart from the competition. Consider setting up a payment plan page on your website offering parents the chance to create customised plans that work for them. Make sure that you and your administrative team are vigilant and work closely with parents to ensure that fees are paid in a timely manner according to the terms of the payment plan. Private schools can also offer scholarships and bursaries to support families financially and there are different ways to apply for them.

Provide A Wider Array Of Classes

Offering a wide range of classes that can be used to supplement the curriculum and offer pupils new skills through an additional language, sports, or music classes, could be an ideal way for your private school to stand out from the rest. To offer these classes, you will need to attract the very highest caliber of teaching staff, including international teachers. Currently, private school teaching salaries are exceptionally high, with many teachers paid more than £100,000 per year. As such, you need to make sure that you find the best teachers and that you advertise their skills to show prospective pupil’s parents the variety of classes that you have to offer. All staff with their degrees and additional skills should be portrayed with an image on your school’s website. Any outstanding achievements or awards could also be listed.

Promote Your School’s Alumni

Current and former pupils can be a valuable asset to your school’s enrolment drives, as their achievements can be used to highlight the school’s dedication to excellence. Use their achievements to promote your school by including them on your website and in any other promotional materials that you offer, such as brochures and email newsletters. As the saying goes, a picture says a thousand words, so include images as well as statements to make a bigger impact on potential paying parents.

Running an independent school can be an expensive endeavour, and as such you have to make sure that your fees reflect this and that you achieve the enrolment numbers that you need to fund your work. Use these tips to boost your private school’s success after the Covid-19 pandemic over the coming years, no matter what happens.

Top 4 Fastest-Growing Careers in the US That You Must Know

Shirley Owen

September 16, 2021

In the current world, one ought to be careful about which career path to take.

Rapid changes in technology, such as artificial learning are putting a lot of individuals out of a job.

If you want to remain relevant in the job market, you need to focus on gaining relevant skills as well as experience in the fastest-growing careers.

According to the bureau of labor statistics, there exist several job opportunities that are growing exponentially. Are you wondering which jobs there are? Below you’ll find these are the fastest growing careers in the U.S. that you should be aware of.

Physician assistant

This is one of the booming careers in the health care world. The demand for health care will never seize. Doctors need an extra hand while attending to patients, thus the need for physician assistants.

They take full responsibility to examine, diagnose and treat patients. In other situations, they may take up the role of physicians in their absence. The expected growth rate is 37%. Median pay was $108.610 per year according to the BLS in 2018.

Nurse practitioner

Nurses play a crucial role in the medical system; that’s why it’s among the fastest-growing jobs. They often advance in practicing nurse and can take up some duties performed by the doctor. Nurses often create patient’s care plan, complete physical examination, order diagnostics tests as well as analyse results, among other responsibilities. For registered nurses looking to further their career and expand their scope of practice, an RN to NP bridge program can offer a streamlined path to becoming a nurse practitioner, enabling them to take on even greater responsibilities within the healthcare team.

To become a nurse, you can undergo vocational training. It will assist you to get the relevant skills as well as an internship. Upon completion, you get a licence to become a practitioner. The expected job growth rate is 36% while the median pay per year is $107.030 (see reference link in previous paragraph).

Software application developer

Here is another field with excellent job opportunities that have the potential or increasing earnings. According to BLS, the expected growth rate is 31%. That’s not all. The median pay is $103.620 per year. Pursuing a career in software application development will enable you to create software products and implementing them.

Various industries need software systems to ensure smooth running. The demand for these specialists is quite massive, ranging from computer system designers, software publishers to manufacturers, among others. Upon completion of training, you are a hotcake in the IT departments within large corporations, government agencies as well as private institutions.

Mathematicians

If you love crunching numbers this is the career path to take. The expected growth rate is 30% and the annual median pay is $101.900 according to the bureau of labor statistics in 2018. Mathematics principles are essential in analyzing data as well as addressing issues that affect the economy. By going through various formulas and theories, one can get a better understanding of probabilities that affect the society

These fastest-growing career opportunities should be considered if you want to stand a chance of securing a job upon training. Always contemplate these are the most promising careers in the US due to the demand that’s predicted in the near future.

You should search online and note which career is your best choice. Career counsellors come in handy when you find yourself stuck between which career paths to follow.

But do your own research and read more articles on our UK Education Blog like https://education.clickdo.co.uk/best-online-courses-for-lucrative-career/ to ensure you’re following the career path that’s right for your future.

5 Best Ways to Entice Your Kid to Learn Coding

Manuela Willbold

September 15, 2021

Coding is the future. This is why here are some tips to learn coding.

You might not be aware of it, but modern living is built upon coding, from the apps and online games you use on your smartphone to the Internet of Things to electric cars.

And by the looks of it, coding will not go away like some passing trend. Wouldn’t it be nice if your child becomes a part of that future?

3 Top Benefits of Learning Coding as a Child

According to various studies and statistics, there is a shortage of professionals who are well-versed in coding in the UK. Worse, that shortage is seen to linger for a long time. But for every setback, there’s an opportunity – children who learn how to code have a leg up over those who did not acquire this valuable skill later in life when they enter the workforce.

Coding is now being taught in most British schools as part of the English national curriculum starting at primary school. However, at times schools lack adequate resources and well-trained staff to teach the best and most advanced coding skills.

What are the reasons for the importance of children learning to code?

According to Software Academy, one of the UK’s leading coding course providers, there are plenty of reasons why young kids should learn to code, apart from lucrative career opportunities waiting for them.

1. Your child learns to be a better problem solver

In work and life, a problem solver has a distinct edge over their peers.

When a young child learns how to code, they understand that the problem at hand can be approached using different perspectives.

Apart from that, when a program is stripped down, they’ll see that the code can be modified or even improved.

More importantly, your child can become more confident in solving problems, knowing full well that they can find an optimal solution with patience and creativity.

2. Your child learns to accept failures more graciously

As you grow older, you learn to accept that failures are part and parcel of life. But to a young kid, trying your best but ending in failure can be frustrating.

One great thing about learning how to code is your little one learns to accept failures more graciously. That means that instead of moping or getting angry, the better approach would be to revisit that problem and try new things.

3. Your child learns to embrace their creativity

More often than not, solving a problem entails trying new approaches and experimenting with new methods. If one thing is not providing the expected results, what’s the sense of using it over and over again.

Coding can help your child to develop and embrace their innate creativity. By fostering an open environment where young people can try new things without being reprimanded or curtailed, they build confidence in and out of the computer room.

5 best ways to encourage your kid to learn to code

Now that you know a few of the benefits of learning to code, the next order of business is convincing your little one to give coding classes a try.

Some kids will warm up to the idea without much resistance, driven by their love of technology. Others may be hesitant or downright hate the idea of going to coding classes.

If your child belongs to the latter camp, there are a few things you can do to motivate them to try coding tutorials. Listed here are a few helpful tips.

1. Make it about creativity

Your little one might be hesitant to enrol in a coding course because they think it’s all about science and math.

While they’re not entirely wrong, coding goes beyond those core subjects. At the core of the subject matter is creation, including games and apps. Emphasize that coding is for everyone to learn and enjoy. More importantly, tell your young ones that they’ll get to create loads of cool stuff.

2. Let them try it

Another way to gently nudge your kid to learn to code is to try different computing online courses, or online games and apps, some of which are free. These can give them a glimpse of what’s in store for them should they wish to try coding tutorials more extensively.

3. Take your child’s interests into account

Perhaps you’re having difficulty convincing your child to learn to code because you’ve been emphasizing writing codes.

The great thing about coding is that it can be used in various interesting fields, including web development, designing games, and animation.

4. Enlist the help of their peers

It can become easier for your child to give coding classes a try if they know that their siblings and friends are also interested to learn. Having people around them, that share the same love for coding will help sustain their interest.

5. Encourage problem-solving

Although coding allows people to produce cool stuff, at its heart, it’s all about the joy of solving a knotty issue.

To entice your kid to appreciate and love coding, it would be helpful to present them with opportunities for problem-solving constantly.

It can be as easy as providing them with puzzles or encouraging them to experiment and try new approaches. Free online games like Solitaire may not immediately strike you as a coding activity, however, they encourage problem-solving and creative thinking skills that are a precursor for coding, plus children apply computer skills too while playing.

Learning how to code means investing in your kid’s future

As a parent, you want to give your precious child everything they need for a brighter future.

And although some kids might not want to pursue a career related to coding, the benefits that they get from learning to code can help them find success in various aspects of their lives, now and beyond. Because understanding the building blocks of what we use every day such as smartphones and computers, can greatly help them to be safer online and use digital devices with more confidence.

Scottish SQA and English National Curriculum Qualifications: What’s the Difference for Students in Britain?

Manuela Willbold

September 3, 2021

scottish-and-english-high-school-qualification

Scottish SQA and English national curriculum high school qualifications are of course connected as both are part of the UK, and have a huge number of similarities in terms of their country-specific education systems.

For many, the difference is fairly superficial – terminology and titles. Age, stage, and level of challenge all follow and align pretty well with each other too and young people who cross the border for reasons such a family relocation – switching schools in the process – often don’t take long to adjust.

Before we consider the upper end of High/Secondary School, let’s look at the start of schooling first in both countries and the differences in the national curricula.

Starting School in England and Scotland

Most children all over the UK will attend some form of education before starting primary school at the age of five. In England this is known as reception, it’s also known as nursery and this terminology applies to the same in Scotland.

The Scottish Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) kicks off at this point at the starting level known as the “Early Level”. In Scotland and England, a young person will move on to primary school around the age of five, completing seven years of learning. In Scotland, this is aligned with CfE’s first and second levels. Primary years in Scotland are known as P1, P2, and so on all the way to P7.

In England, these levels are known as Year 1, Year 2, and so on, and whilst the young people here don’t access the Scottish CfE, they learn very similar content via the National English Key Stage (KS) curriculum, covering KS1, 2 and in some cases 3 before completing secondary school. Again, terminology and titles seem the main, and perhaps only difference here.

Moving into Higher or Secondary Education

When primary is complete, everyone moves on to High or Secondary School. This is where children in Scotland go back to one! So, from P7, they go to S1! For learners in England, they keep the numbers going and move on to year 8 and so on – both journeys are linear with progression, pace, content, and challenge increasing as learners move up through the levels.

The Scottish Curriculum for Excellence spans nursery, First, Second, Third, and Fourth being completed for most young people by the end of S3 – the equivalent to Year 10 in England. It is important to note that achievement of Fourth Level CfE learning outcomes by the end of S3 can be earlier for some or later for others. These five levels of learning in Scotland are known as the Broad General Education (BGE).

In England, year 11 is when young people prepare to embark on their GCSE courses, and in Scotland, this is the same, again though, the courses they do are known as National 4 or National 5 – depending on that young person’s current level of academic ability.

The number of National Qualifications a young person in Scotland acquires in S4 (age 15/16) depends on the school they attend; some schools offer as few as 5 with others allow their learners to do up to 8 National 5 courses in S4. National 4 courses have no final exam and are assessed internally by teachers with appropriate moderation. They are ungraded too so there is no A, B, or C, it is simply awarded or not.

National 5s however, have a final exam, which is marked and graded by the SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority) and some subjects have coursework items that must also be sent to the SQA for external marking – English/Art portfolio or Physics and Biology Assignment for example. These do form a weighted part of the final grade too, so are vitally important.

On completion of the GCSEs in England or National 5s in Scotland, young people can then progress to A Levels or Highers respectively.

Higher Education in Scotland and England

Highers vs A Levels

Scottish Highers and A Levels are the main qualifications that allow students to progress into higher education or gain employment after secondary school. Nowadays, a lot of people, parents especially, often get confused with the difference between these academic levels. We’ve put together this blog post to cover what these are and what exactly the differences are.

What are Scottish Highers?

Scottish Highers are the courses that students in Scotland sit after passing National 5 courses (“Nat 5s” can loosely be compared to GCSEs). Students typically sit around four to five Highers and start them in the fifth year (S5) of secondary school. Highers can also be sat in the sixth year too alongside advanced Highers, allowing students to add to the existing collection they hopefully gained in S5. Achieving the Highers and grades that are required for university at the end of S5 can land students an unconditional offer for a place on a degree course.

Advanced Highers

If students pass higher courses in S5 they can then go on to study for Advanced Highers in S6. The average amount of Advanced Highers students sit are two or three. Advanced Highers aren’t necessary to get into universities in Scotland, however, they can improve chances and help students get an unconditional offer. Many Advanced Highers can replicate the level of challenge a young person will face in year one of university – they can be tough!

UCAS points for Scottish Highers

What are A-levels?

A-levels stand for Advanced Levels and these are the courses that students in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland sit after GCSE level. These courses are taught at schools, sixth-form centers, and further education colleges. Like Highers, students tend to sit three to five A-level courses.

What are AS-levels?

AS-level results would previously count towards a student’s final A-level result. A2 courses would then be added on to an AS level at the end of Year 6 and each of these would form the final result of A-levels. However, this recently changed and now AS-level results no longer go toward A-level grades. They are a one-year standalone qualification.

UCAS points for A Levels

What are the differences?

A common misunderstanding is that Scottish Highers and A Levels are exact equivalents to each other. Although they are similar, there are a few differences, aside from being for students in different countries – although both in the UK and next-door neighbors!

A-levels are two-year courses: Students in England must sit A-level courses over two years, starting in year 12.

Scottish Highers are one-year courses: Students in Scotland only have one year to sit Highers. If they fail a higher in S5, they have the option to resist it in S6 – if the school allows them and the timetable can fit!

Scottish Advanced Highers are equal to A-levels: Most people assume that Scottish Highers are equivalent to A-levels. This is incorrect. When comparing the UCAS points, A-levels sit somewhere in-between Highers and Advanced Highers. In fact, the lines are blurred with all of these comparisons, but it is still useful to align them.

Higher, A-level and Advanced Higher UCAS points compared

It is important to note that most English university’s entry requirements do not distinguish between A-levels and Advanced Highers.

A-level subjects vs Higher subjects

The type of subjects that students in Scotland and England can study vary greatly. Students in England can benefit from a wider variety of subjects – 123 in total.

On the other hand, Scottish students have almost half that number with 72 courses available and this number varies from school to school, with most centres offering a small range to choose from.

There are a lot of specialist subjects offered at A-level, for example, ‘Biblical Hebrew’. The core offer in both countries remains the same with physics, maths, English, etc all on offer in both countries.

The SQA subject catalog can be found here

For a full list of Scottish Highers available, see here.

For a full list of Scottish Advanced Highers available, see here.

For a full list of English A-levels available, see here.

This article has been provided by the team at Saturday School Ltd, Scotland’s premier tutoring school and SQA-approved education center offering tuition, revision, qualification, and awards in SQA National 5 and Higher courses.

How to Learn A Level Biology: 5 Simple and Effective Strategies

Carla

August 23, 2021

The Higher 2 (H2) science subjects are the central pieces of the Singaporean science curriculum at the A-Level. Here we discuss how to learn A level biology.

Here students learn the science of life on a systems level from Primary 3 to 6, on a physiological level from lower secondary to O Level, then at a cellular and molecular level at A Level. This is comparable to the learning in STEM subjects in the United Kingdom.

Upon reaching the A Level, a student is expected to be able to have a good grasp of what they have learned thus far and that they will be able to apply their previous knowledge as they tackle life on a more microscopic level.

For British expats with children that are about to take on Biology for the A Levels in Singapore, here are some simple and effective strategies on how to prepare them best.

1. Set a Schedule for studying Biology

First and foremost, biology would demand time and attention. To conquer A Level Biology, you should set a study schedule where your child would be able to dedicate their attention and focus. During this time, your child should be free from distractions and should be equipped with the right resources so they are able to study effectively.

2. Find the learning Tool that works for your Child

As much as there are many different learning styles, there is also a myriad of learning tools available – even for biology. You and your child must work together to find the right learning tool for them.

To some students, making their own biology flashcards helps as not only will it be used later on for quizzing oneself, but the act of doing it helps in recalling the concepts they are writing and learning about.

Another common learning tool is note taking and writing down what they read, or even summarizing what they have read. It’s really a matter of finding methods and resources for learning that work for your child.

3. Find Opportunities for your Child to discuss or present what they learn

Actively communicating one’s knowledge of a subject, including Biology, helps the child recall the topic. Find opportunities where your child may be able to present to you, and then you can ask questions later to confirm their knowledge of the subject matter. Work together with your child during times when they have problems in elaborating a thought or are unable to answer your questions. This will also help to build their confidence.

4. Work with Practice Exams

A Level Biology comes with learning assessments to gauge your child’s understanding of the course. It is ideal to expose your child to various practice exams in subjects like Biology on a regular basis so they will become familiar with the usual topics and questions that they will face when taking official assessments. Your child would also be made aware of the format of the A Level exams so they will not be taken by surprise and feel ready and confident.

5. Seek Professional Help

The first 4 strategies are helpful in their own right. But if you want to identify the best strategy in helping your child master A Level Biology in Singapore, it is advisable to consult experts such as A Level Biology tuition services. British expat parents who may not have as much experience with Singapore’s education system will receive helpful information and advice about country-specific academic requirements.

The specialists in A Level Biology tuition know how to best apply the first 4 strategies, and would take it up a notch, further boosting your child’s education. They are also equipped with the necessary credentials, resources, and tools to teach biology to your child so that you will be sure that they get adequate guidance to learn Biology and other sciences on a deeper level.

Why Is Note Taking Crucial For The Modern Learner In the Tech Era?

Katherine Hamilton

August 18, 2021

Why is Note Taking Crucial For The Modern Learner In 2021

Note taking is often underestimated hence why in this article we highlight the role it plays in creating deeper connections between students and their learning and in which ways. Here we learn why is note taking crucial for the modern learner.

What do we mean when we talk about learning?

How do we define it, and how can we understand the process behind it better?

Can we improve it?

With emerging technologies impacting the way we study and learn; it is time to redefine what a modern learner is. We’ll look specifically at how note taking impacts learning.

Learning isn’t just another Word for Remembering

“Learning is an act of curiosity and transformation. It is the powerful lever between your current world and a new world where you have a new experience.”

– Charlotte Crowther, Learning Expert & Advocate

Simply remembering information isn’t the end goal of learning. And in the connected digital age, it’s become less important than ever. With the ability to draw upon an unlimited library of information through the internet, we don’t need to absorb information as personal knowledge anymore; our smartphones can do that for us.

The faith we have on the internet as the source of all knowledge is increasing. In a paper published in 2012, it was found that 44% of students consult Google if they want help with coursework, versus only 36% seeking out a faculty member. In the years following, this gap has undoubtedly widened further.

The dominance of the internet can cause us to forget its presence (and power). As one researcher put it, ‘online practices have been part of young people’s lives since birth and, much like oxygen, water, or electricity, are assumed to be a basic condition of modern life.

“‘With the development of technology, our access to knowledge is different, so the demand on our skill of learning is different’”

– Charlotte Crowther

What does this mean?

Modern learning has a new emphasis.

True learning in 2021 is a process of understanding and digesting content, making new, personal connections along the way, with the rote memorization of info being only a small part of it.

In fact, modern learning is just as much about filtering out information as it is absorbing it. With endless streams of content facing learners, the key to the development of an effective learning process is finding an antidote to information overload.

Learners must find the gems – the truly valuable and reliable pieces of insight – and use them to move from comprehension of the material to application beyond it.

In short, it’s about creating something new.

Creating new Connections

By the time students leave college, we want them to be able to apply what they’ve learned to the outside world. That’s why understanding the learning process and helping students navigate it is so important.

To recap:

Learning is a journey; from comprehension to creation, a learner’s relationship with new material shifts and changes as their grasp of it strengthen.
Designing learning and note taking should account for this journey, especially given that…
Learning doesn’t just come from the text on a page or words that were spoken in a class.

“‘Learning how to learn is a meta and super skill which applies to all aspects and stages of our life – from learning how to walk to learning how to build friendships, to learning how to care for a child, to learning a new career. Students having the experience of the learning process, and the skills and approach best suited for each stage will help them navigate the adventure of life!’”

– Charlotte Crowther

Information is fluid & comes in many Forms

If we want students to journey towards deep learning, we need to be aware of how to achieve it.

What can educators and support staff do to strengthen these connections between learner and class content to teach more career skills?

Here are a few points to consider:

Learners access information in a variety of ways. A lot of this information is consumed in an ambient way, through social media, digital learning platforms, and other means.
Great changes to education in 2020 have seen most students learn through video, live, and recorded, for the first time.
Learners need to be able to make use of more dynamic approaches and tools to fit the climate.
This is where note taking has a huge impact on the learning process.

Enter: Note Taking

Despite everything that’s changed in teaching over the decades, one thing’s remained constant. Students still use notes to structure their learning.

But if you were to visualize a set of notes, you’d probably picture the same thing as someone asked to do so 30 years ago. The only difference might be the use of a laptop rather than a real notepad.

When thinking about modern learning, however, note taking is the missing piece of the puzzle.

Why all the Fuss about Note Taking?

Good note taking is just like learning itself. To take good notes is to follow a process that leads to true, individual understanding.

A good note taker not only captures the information they need from a lecture or class but works with those notes in a way that makes them incredibly effective study tools after the class.

In effect, they move through the learning process by taking notes.

But, as every student discovers, note taking is hard. Very hard. In fact, one study claims ‘note taking can be as cognitively demanding as expert chess playing’.

Part of the problem comes down to the live stream of information students receive in a lecture.

The Problem with Notes

You can’t pause a professor. You can’t immediately know what pieces of information to prioritize in your notes. And there’s always a trade-off between trying to get down as much as possible and focusing on absorbing the content at the moment.

But, as one student told us, ‘Everything the professor says is essential’. Not necessarily because everything spoken in a classroom is going to be important for everyone in it, but because the need to select things to note down will necessarily involve having to choose things to leave out.

What taking effective Notes means for Learning?

The important thing to understand is that note taking has two core functions.

One is the storage of information. This describes the act of preserving material for later.

The second is encoding. This function describes the immediate benefit of taking notes in the first place – the benefit that’s immediately gained from the act.

Effective note taking means getting the most from both of these functions in a way that aids the movement from understanding the content to applying it.

In a wide-ranging review of note taking research, 17 of 22 important studies found that reviewing notes resulted in higher test performance. The problem here is that if students aren’t recording enough material in class, they’re not leaving themselves enough information to review afterward that they may not find elsewhere.

Having a structured approach to note taking is therefore crucial.

Hopefully, you are more enlightened about how note taking can be used to foster deep personal connections between students and their course content.

With an awareness of what a modern learner is and how note taking technology can help scaffold the learning process and make student independence more accessible than ever, you should be able to utilize this knowledge for your own learning benefits.

5 Best Games To Learn Coding For Free From Home As A Family

Manuela Willbold

July 23, 2021

5 Best Games To Learn Coding For Free From Home As A Family

Coding used to be all work and no play. Thankfully that has now changed. Coding is now seen as a pastime or a hobby that might one day change to a promising vocation.

If nothing else, an understanding of coding through the best games to learn coding allows the development of logical thinking and learning coding languages such as Python. This helps children to develop the digital and career skills that will be required by the future workforce.

What can be more fun than an evening spent playing the best coding games with your kids?

Think of it as an activity such as playing Monopoly – just more modern and keeping with the times.

Video games are the perfect gamified atmosphere for kids to learn new skills. The accumulation of points provides motivation to learn more and perfect the craft. Moreover, you ensure that your offspring are engaged productively and not wasting time on social media or scrolling through endless hours of YouTube videos.

5 Best Games that up your and your Kids’ Programming Skills

1. SQL Murder Mystery

SQL or Structured Query Language is used extensively for manipulating databases. The SQL Murder Mystery starts with a story about a murder and a lost crime scene report.

The player is given the date 15th January 2018 and the place SQL City where the crime happened.

The first table that helps is the crime_scene_report from where the name and address of witnesses are extracted, and the game proceeds through a series of queries.

To progress in the investigation, the detective must ask the correct question, seek its answer from the available database and proceed to the next clue.

It is not only a programming tutorial but also a sort of augmented reality-based learning.

To its credit, the game is fast-paced, engaging, and quite addictive.

Skills taught with SQL Murder Mystery

You and your child can develop a great understanding of databases and how information is stored, and that helps in several professions from finance to market research analysts or cloud computing as more and more data is processed by computers and machines.

2. Elevator Saga

Elevator Saga The gamer must program a set of elevators to carry the maximum number of people to the specified floors with minimum trips.

The gameplay is through JavaScript and starts at Level 1 and goes all the way through 18. These are known as challenges, and almost all of them are solved on GitHub.

But that is the last resort. Unlike SQL Murder Mystery, Elevator Saga is more of a riddle challenge and optimization problem.

Skills taught with Elevator Saga

Most of the work that programmers do is to solve problems and make a fixed input produce maximum output. Unfortunately, the idea that most people have of programming is of whiz kids typing lines of codes on monitors and hacking banks.

Programming is very often quantitative, and through Elevator Saga, a learner comes face to face with problems very similar to real life.

The trick is not only to write the code but also to learn to debug and compress it to as few lines as possible. The game extensively uses “true/false” and “if/then” steps that are handy tools in all programming languages.

3. Screeps

Screeps Once you have mastered Elevator Saga, it is time to learn a little bit of AI. After all, what can be cooler than saying – I was programming AI avatars with my kid?

Screeps is an acronym for “scripting creeps.”

Everything starts in your own “canyon,” and nothing will happen until you begin scripting in Java. It is a bit like playing God. You get to set up the colony, create workers, direct their tasks, and watch what they do.

Skills taught with Screeps

Some prior knowledge of JavaScript is needed. But the cool thing is, as the player proceeds, they can find how much more sophisticated their coding becomes.

Now for more fun. You can also open your server – that is, start your own game to invite friends. The game is in MMO format sandbox, and more participants make it merrier.

The Screeps site has plenty of written documentation about FAQs, how-to articles, and API.

4. Flexbox Defense

Flexbox Defense Websites are the backbone of the internet, and CSS is the backbone of websites. CSS or Cascading Style Sheets place HTML (HyperText Markup Language) elements on responsive web pages.

Flexbox is a part of the CSS 3 design that allows elements of a webpage to be laid out perfectly irrespective of the screen size.

Skills taught with Flexbox Defense

Flexbox Defense is a tower defense game that makes the player understand the effectiveness of grids and axis through a turret shooting game theme.

The game has been developed by Channing Allen and requires no installation. Just open the browser, point it at the URL, and start coding. Bear in mind that this game is more suitable for children with previous coding knowledge.

5. Minecraft

It is the most well-known sandbox game made by none other than Majong and Microsoft. It can be equally enjoyed regardless of age because even young children can learn with Minecraft. It is for good reason that it has been ported to every major gaming platform and has 220 million subscribers, making it the most popular game of all time.

The gameplay revolves around picking up blocks and creating three-dimensional objects – from a house to a city.

The game has five modes – survival, hardcore, creative, adventure, and spectator, and the variations of programming can last years.

What makes Minecraft so appealing is a large number of tutorials, here’s one to get you started from the experts at ClickDo.

In addition, from Github to Reddit, there are communities that are thousands strong and make learning this game a cooperative effort.

Skills taught with Minecraft

Minecraft is a sandbox game that makes the player create an animated and virtual realm for their gameplay.

Minecraft’s virtual world-building platform offers much more than just learning to code in different languages such as SQL, Python, JavaScripting, and CSS. It also teaches communication and social skills as players have to collaborate in groups to build worlds together. Players learn other digital skills like internet etiquette when chatting to others online, how to keep safe online, and basic computing skills like downloading files for example.

However, bear in mind that this game is more suitable for children with previous coding knowledge.

Play Them All

You would have noted that our list has no overlaps. Each of them requires a specific coding skill, from SQL and JavaScripting to CSS.

Hence, we cannot say one is better because each brings you a different aspect of coding. However, what is apparent to the reviewer is that they are a lot of fun interspersed with excellent skills that are invaluable in real life.

Of course, not all of them are free, and neither is that fair to expect considering the amount of work that has gone into creating them.

The most expensive is Minecraft, priced at $27, and that is certainly not a high price to pay for the hours of entertainment and education. Plus, schools may be able to offer their students free access to Minecraft, if they have the subscription.

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UK Education Blog

UK Education Blog

UK Education Blog

1. Create Innovative Learning Opportunities

2. Lessons on Artificial Intelligence

3. Coding Games

4. Arrange for More Project-Based Learning

5. Field Trips

6. Stay Ahead of Developments

Final Thoughts

Formal Exams as a Mechanism for Accountability

Teachers find themselves under increasing pressure

Is there an Alternative to Exams?

What are possible alternative assessments?

The most natural one would be an extension of the current assessment

The second and less likely option is teacher judgement

1. Use logic branching with Google Forms

Some ideas to get you started:

2. Use Google Forms for attendance tracking (foolproof strategy)

3. Collect Lab Data with Google Forms

More useful tips and tricks for using Google Forms:

Create The Perfect Website

Offer A Payment Plan

Provide A Wider Array Of Classes

Promote Your School’s Alumni

3 Top Benefits of Learning Coding as a Child

1. Your child learns to be a better problem solver

2. Your child learns to accept failures more graciously

3. Your child learns to embrace their creativity

5 best ways to encourage your kid to learn to code

1. Make it about creativity

2. Let them try it

3. Take your child’s interests into account

4. Enlist the help of their peers

5. Encourage problem-solving

Learning how to code means investing in your kid’s future

Starting School in England and Scotland

Moving into Higher or Secondary Education

Higher Education in Scotland and England

Highers vs A Levels

What are Scottish Highers?

Advanced Highers

UCAS points for Scottish Highers

What are A-levels?

What are AS-levels?

UCAS points for A Levels

What are the differences?

Higher, A-level and Advanced Higher UCAS points compared

A-level subjects vs Higher subjects

1. Set a Schedule for studying Biology

2. Find the learning Tool that works for your Child

3. Find Opportunities for your Child to discuss or present what they learn

4. Work with Practice Exams

5. Seek Professional Help

Learning isn’t just another Word for Remembering

What does this mean?

Creating new Connections

Information is fluid & comes in many Forms

Enter: Note Taking

Why all the Fuss about Note Taking?

The Problem with Notes

What taking effective Notes means for Learning?

5 Best Games that up your and your Kids’ Programming Skills

1. SQL Murder Mystery

Skills taught with SQL Murder Mystery

2. Elevator Saga

Skills taught with Elevator Saga

3. Screeps

Skills taught with Screeps

4. Flexbox Defense

Skills taught with Flexbox Defense

5. Minecraft

Skills taught with Minecraft

Play Them All

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