Outline case studies

Open Week:

• From September 16th - 20th 2002, Teesside CLC held an open week. This was aimed at teaching and support staff across 4 LEAs as well as members of the general public.
• For the whole week, at least one (and often two or three) activities or events were held every hour from 10 am until 7 pm. These sessions ranged from classes on using the internet for varying purposes, through to activities using dance mats.
• The week proved very popular and sessions on web development, robotics, interactive whiteboards, digital imaging and digital video editing were particularly well attended.
• The open week did much to raise the awareness of the CLC with teachers across Teesside but also kick started our community membership scheme. The official opening of the Centre was also held on the Tuesday of that week and was carried out by the Mayor of Stockton along with a pupil nominated by each LEA on Teesside.

Exam Buster evening for Year 11 Parents:

• As part of EiC week and in conjunction with one of our spoke schools, we held an 'Exam Buster' evening aimed at helping parents of Year 11 pupils support their children in the exam process.
• Sessions included 'ICT and Revision', 'Mindmapping and Creative Thinking' and 'Revision and Stress.' The evening was a great success with over 140 parents attending. Parents found the experience worthwhile and had learned a number of things which would be useful in supporting their children.

Professional development day:

• At the start of the Autumn Term, we held a professional development day for the 90 teaching and support staff of Grangefield School. The day had an ICT theme and sessions included 'Using Electronic Media in the Classroom', 'Video Conferencing in the Curriculum', 'Assessment Manager Software', 'Thinking Skills' and 'Use of Interactive Whiteboards.'
• The day itself was very successful in both raising the awareness of innovative ICT in education and in motivating staff to think about using ICT to change teaching and learning. This has come to fruition over the last half term with many staff using ICT in the Centre in ways which would not have been evident prior to the PD day, e.g. PE staff supporting their GCSE pupils in using digital video to analyse performance.
• Two more spoke schools have now booked PD days and we have created programmes to suit their requirements, again with the aim of raising attainment through the innovative use of ICT.

Robotics with a special school:

• We have recently held a Robotics day for a number of pupils with behavioural difficulties from Homewood Special School in Middlesbrough.
• Using Lego Mindstorms equipment, a programme for the day was put together which allowed pupils to build robots and learn how to program them to carry out various tasks.
• The day was a great success. The pupils were very motivated both by the work they were carrying out and by the surroundings which made them feel 'very special'. They produced some excellent work and were on task for all of the day, something not always the case with these pupils.
• At the end of the day they were each given a certificate marking their work that day and photos of the day were displayed on the plasma screen in the cyber café area during lunch and at the end of the day to reinforce that 'special' feeling. They all cannot wait until their next day in the CLC.

Video Conferencing with Middlesbrough CLC:

• During the summer a media suite with large screen projection and video conferencing equipment was installed in our CLC. We have a few events planned, for instance linking up pupils from our spoke schools to other schools and the public records office in London to explore the topics of the Domesday Book and the Battle of the Somme.
• On Sat 12th October we held our first lecture via video conferencing. Dr David George gave a lecture to parents entitled 'Supporting Your Child to Reach Their Potential'. Dr George is a leading author and consultant in the area of gifted education. This lecture explored issues surrounding supporting gifted children and provided tips to support parents/carers in enabling their child to reach their potential.
• The lecture from Middlesbrough CLC was broadcast via video conferencing to Teesside CLC. The lecture was very worthwhile and, just as importantly the technology worked. The session also allowed us to look at the issues surrounding the video conferencing of such an event.
• A few lessons were learnt particularly with regard to protocols etc, however, we are very excited about using this technology to widen the participation in lectures and other events not only across all 4 CLCs in the Teesside area but to other CLCs and EiCs nationally.

Thinking Skills with Year 13:

• In September we were part of a Year 13 Student Conference held at the University of Durham, Stockton Campus. Our contribution to the day was to run workshops on thinking skills. Working with the EiC Excellence Challenge Co-ordinator, we devised a programme which looked at thinking styles and ways to improve thinking skills.
• Armed with 15 laptops, we delivered a number of sessions showing students how to use mind-mapping software to support their learning in general and revision in particular. The whole event was evaluated and the sessions we delivered were at the top of the list for the most useful parts of the day. It was very rewarding to arm such students with a tool which clearly supported their learning.

Video editing on location at Cambridge University:

• On September 26th-27th 2002, along with the Excellence Challenge and Gifted and Talented Co-ordinators from Stockton EiC, we took 25 pupils to Kings College, Cambridge, with the aim of raising aspirations as regards further study.
• As part of the programme, we asked the pupils, in groups of five and supported by a student from Kings College, to produce a two minute video selling Cambridge University to potential students. This activity proved to be very enjoyable and at the same time focussed the pupils' attention of issues surrounding going to university.
• On return the videos were edited and a DVD produced which was shown at the launch event of EiC week in Stockton alongside some pupils who talked about the visit. We are soon to hold a reunion for the pupils, their parents and their friends where we will share the videos and other experiences from the visit. A copy of the DVD has been sent to King College and we look forward to similar visits in the future.

Japan Study:

• Whilst the World Cup was taking place this summer, we worked with Year 6 pupils from a local primary school looking at Japan and its culture. Along with internet based research, we involved a local teacher who had recently taken part in an OPD to Japan. He talked to the pupils about his experiences, engaged them in activities such as dance and even dressed up some of them in authentic Japanese costumes relating this to their culture.
• The pupils really enjoyed the day and staff from the school relayed how beneficial it had been for the pupils’ learning. Some of the activities were videoed and a DVD produced from this.

Technology Colleges Trust Day:

• A North East regional event was organised by and delivered at the CLC on behalf of the host school in February 2003.
• The theme of the day was innovation through ICT and over 60 Head Teachers (or delegates) from all over the North East took part in the a number of workshops involving digital video work, interactive whiteboards and video conferencing. A number of guest speakers took part, including those from Apple Education and the DfES Video Conferencing Project.

Life and Times of Stockton - a digital 123 Project:

• Every Friday morning, a group of elderly adults have been working with us to produce a short video on Stockton - its past, present and future. Working with still and video images and Apple imac computers, they are currently putting the finishing touches to their work which will then be displayed and presented in a number of different ways.

Beacon Council Bid:

• The CLC and its Director have been actively involved in supporting the Borough Council in its bid for Beacon Status. A video was produced, part of which illustrated TCLC and an interview with its Director. A visit was made to the Centre by the Deputy Prime Ministers Office as part of the process. This was followed by a delegation from the Council, including the TCLC Director, being interviewed at the Deputy Prime Ministers Office.

Family Learning Programme:

• A programme of ICT based family learning activities is running in conjunction with a local Primary School. A number of sessions have already taken place involving parents and children together working on Robotics, Video Production and Web Development projects. Between 30 and 50 people attend each session and this format is proving very popular.

Thornaby EAZ:

• TCLC has run a 10 week programme of twilight sessions for pupils of four primary schools within Thornaby EAZ. Robotics and Creative Video were the topics on which the programme was centred. Outcomes were very favourable and both pupils and staff learned much from the experience.