Making the most of your learning on this course

It’s important to us that your learning experience on this course is a positive one. What follows are a range of ways in which you can make the most of your learning and the inclusive community that we’re excited for you to be a part of over the next four weeks.

Engaging with research

‘Effective use of evidence and research has enormous potential to help schools and teachers improve educational standards and outcomes for pupils. Used well it can offer a way to make more informed decisions, to evaluate and understand the impact of changes, and to improve professional learning and development of teachers’ (Chartered College of Teaching, 2018).

This course offers an opportunity for you to read and hear about some of the research evidence that underpins the effective use of technology to support teaching and learning. We’ve carefully selected research that is relevant, concise and accessible. The core readings each week will be accompanied by a suggested reading list should you wish to learn more or share these with colleagues in your own setting, where running a journal club or [online reading group] (https://my.chartered.college/2020/03/education-reading-groups-top-tips/) might be of interest to you.

Whenever you engage with a piece of research on the course, you may find it useful to make a note of anything that either resonates with you or challenges your own thinking. You’ll be given questions to consider each time you read to prompt reflection. The learning from this engagement with research might lead into a discussion with colleagues within this community or back in your own context. We’d love for you to share pictures of your notes with us on social media using the #FLEducationTech hashtag.

Exploring case studies

When exploring case studies, reflect on your own practice, previous experiences, and current challenges and focus on case studies that are most relevant to these. You can always return to others later. Reflect on the challenge the technology solves for you and the potential impact you think it might have on your pupils’ learning and/or your workload — it should be helping at least one of these, and if not, perhaps it’s not a useful solution.

Exchanging practice

In a discussion space:

• Answer questions honestly to build trust with your peers
• Add in questions of your own to generate responses from your peers
• Respond to peers with positive encouragement AND suggestions for further learning

When you are ready, click the ‘Mark as complete’ button below. This will update your progress page, and will help you to keep track of which steps you’ve done. Any steps you’ve completed will turn blue on your To Do list. You can then select ‘Reflect on your practice’ to continue your learning.