What do a former child model, musician, Girl Guide Commissioner, magician’s assistant, and cycling fanatic have in common? A passion for teaching and a collective 50 years working in education that will now be used to spark our own digital learning revolution.
Aside from interesting pasts and hobbies, Stuart Lennie, Gavin Morrison, Mari-Jane Paterson, Kerry Abercrombie, and Andy Auld are the driving force behind Connected Falkirk, the ambitious Council of the Future project that sits within Succeed Today, Excel Tomorrow.
With initial funding approved in May this year, the project aims to enhance learning and teaching by providing iPads as digital learning devices, bespoke training and improved connectivity in schools, which will help us deliver on our Communities priority and Digital Falkirk ambitions.
On your marks, get set, go!
The teachers, who are Microsoft Innovative Educator and Apple Professional Learning Specialists, came together in June to form the first Council of the Future Sprint Team.
The role of the team is to support the development of a digital culture and vision within each of our schools, provide ongoing training and support to help individuals realise the benefits of digital learning. They will also rollout 18,000 of the latest model 8th generation iPads to pupils and teachers.
The team has not only worked with Procurement to secure best value when buying the devices, they’ve ran visioning sessions with all 58 of our schools. These sessions have given the team a better understanding of where schools are on their digital learning journey, where they want to be, and how the project can help them get there.
Learning online
The pandemic not only accelerated the need to embrace digital learning, with lessons moved online almost overnight, it highlighted the important role digital now has in education.
What the Sprint Team aims to do is enhance teacher and pupil learning and increase user confidence and skills through a range of online resources available on the newly launched Connected Falkirk blog, which also provides an insight into the teams’ passion for digital.
Stuart Lennie, Project Manager, Connected Falkirk, said:
“The Connected Falkirk Sprint Team has created a wide range of online resources to support pupils, staff and parents, which builds on the initial training sessions provided.
“Each video tutorial and blog has been created to help learners and teachers on their digital journey – and they’ve all been produced in-house using the exact same device and tools pupils and staff will have access to. By doing this we reinforce the message that everyone can create high-quality, engaging digital content to enhance learning.
“All support material will be available on the website and on every iPad, making it simple and easy to access ongoing help and advice.”
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