ICT blogging

OCR Nationals or DiDA

July 10th, 2008 by misterel

I am at an impasse. DiDA has been my KS4 life for the past 3 years. I like the course. I like the way it is developing pupils abilities to think independently. I like the eportfolios and the fact that it is virtually paper free….. However, DiDA is an optional subject so I am therefore left with very mixed ability groups.  For those not aware of the DiDA structure you can take up to 4 units and each unit is worth 1 GCSE.  Each unit is either taught at a foundation(C-G) or higher level(A*-C).  This means that in a mixed ability class I can end up teaching both courses.

This is where all my problems begin.  The foundation and higher units follow a similar theme but the end results are different.   This means that you therefore become a schizophrenic teacher and at some point one or both groups get a bum deal.  Then there is the fact that DiDA is run by Edexcel. For some reason (profit???), it becomes a financial nightmare trying to do their exam submissions and by the end of year 11 neither you, your exams officer or headteacher have aclue how much it has cost you and what the pupils are likely to get.

The main reason that I am now in a world of indecision is that I have been offered (for £300) a complete scheme of work that will cover 6 units of the OCR nationals and will almost certainly guarantee, if the pupils follow it properly and can demonstrate their learning, a decent grade at GCSE, and the potential for more than one GCSE.  The units offered are diverse and interesting and the administration seems a lot easier.  With the benefit of having your own moderator coming down and telling you whether you are doing it right.  On the downside, OCR is perceived to be a lot easier, less interesting and motivating for the kids.

So now I don’t know what to do….

• ditch DiDA and the admin and teaching hell it gives me
• adopt OCR Nationals, get good results, but potentially teach a boring course….

If by any fluke of the magic of the web, someone out there reads this and can give me some advice it would be vey welcome.

Posted in Generic, Teaching & Learning | tagged DiDA, GCSE, indecision, motivation, OCR Nationals, teaching | | 3 Comments

moodle…implementing a VLE whole school.

July 7th, 2008 by misterel

Virtual Learning Environments are one of the big things kicking around schools at the moment.  About a year ago we as a school decided to opt for moodle.  There were a variety of reasons, the main one being that a good friend of mine was already running moodle so I therefore had a contact when it all went wrong.

Moodle, is free.  We host it internally and therefore have had to pay for a server to run it on.  We managed to get our LEA to pay for it, due to some funding initiative linked with diplomas. So far moodle has been reasonably easy to use. However our original set up has caused a few issues.  (At this point I would like to point out that I am extremely out of my comfort zone when discussing all things techy… I am a user of software, resources etc and let my technicians get it working).  Anyway, our technicians felt it was necessary for moodle to be run via a https set up rather than http for security reasons…linked to the active directory. This coupled with an RM network (although for fear of being Belshawed -lol, it might not have anything to do with the RM network), means that certain aspects of moodle don’t work, unless you use firefox.  The frustrating thing is I have no idea why. Some powerpoints won’t open, attachments linked to news forum posts won’t open. Some flash won’t play….

I am writing about moodle tonight, because tomorrow we are upgrading it, changing the server, removing the https and figures crossed getting a fully functioning VLE.  It is extremely important to me, that it is working without any glitches.  In the school at present, moodle is being used predominately by the ICT dept and also by the sixth form.  I need to roll it out to all departments over the next 12 months as part of my performance management.  As I have found to my cost, when rolling out something new in the world of ICT, staff need to be:

1. 100% sure there is a benefit
2. positive it will work
3. find it easy to use
4. make their life easier

Personally 1,3, and 4 are a dead cert. Quizzes, online assessments (self marking), surveys, lessons, forums, games, gradebooks, accesss from home etc etc make moodle a great asset.  If number 2 doesn’t happen over the next couple of days then I’m not sure what I am going to do….

I came across a moodle bookvia twitter(thanks iusher), posted on issuu, and have linked to it below. I am hoping that it will be an invaluable tool in the training of staff in the use of moodle.

Posted in Resources, Teaching & Learning | tagged moodle, staff, teaching, training, VLE | | 2 Comments