In the few short months since Michael Wilshaw left Mossbourne for Ofsted, he has managed to alienate almost the entire teaching profession by showing himself to be wildly out of touch with teaching today.

So much so in fact, that he chose to visit a £30k a year public school yesterday to deliver another statement designed to anger the teaching profession. Dare I say that if he went elsewhere he may not have been welcomed with open arms.

What did he tell the Brighton College Education Conference of independent school heads? He said teaching jobs weren't stressful. He legitimately pointed out that not having a job was pretty stressful, that having more than one job was also pretty stressful but then he went all Monty Python on us.

"Stress is what I was under when I started as a head in 1985, in the context of widespread industrial action – teachers walking out of class at a moment's notice – doing lunch duty on my own every day for three years."

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‘The e-Learning Foundation would accept that inappropriate use of mobile phones should be dealt with by schools. However banning a technology that has such potential for learning, communication and child safety appears excessive. A ‘Luddite approach’ to modern technologies simply misses the point – mobile devices are here to stay and our schools should be helping young people to use them appropriately, effectively and with consideration. ’

If you would like to contact us to discuss how to deploy modern technologies to the benefit of both the students and the school please email us on: info@e-learningfoundation.com

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The current ICT curriculum, which teaches how to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations, is to be scrapped and replaced with one focused on computer science and programming.

Announcing a consultation on the reform in January, Gove said there is a significant and growing base of evidence, not least from Ofsted inspections, demonstrating there persistent problems with the quality and effectiveness of ICT education in schools.

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Chris Baldwin is the Progress Leader of Year 7, teacher of music and co-ordinator of Opening Minds at William Allitt secondary school and here raves about a groundbreaking curriculum that has triggered a learning revolution in his school.

The English education system has received its fair share of sensationalism in the press over the years, which has led to some people to have skewed ideas on what schools are really about.

The image of poorly managed, failing and crumbling institutions full of scandal and intrigue has threatened to blot out the reality for the majority of schools.

Well, let's put all this to bed shall we? I am proud to say I am a teacher. I am a Progress Leader of Year 7 (Head of Year), and I co-ordinate an innovative groundbreaking conceptualised curriculum called Opening Minds, which I have an overwhelming urge to tell people about. So here's how it really is...

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There's an old saying in business: if you don't know who the sucker in a room is, it's probably you. A similar adage can be applied to technology: if you don't know how to control the systems you're using, these systems are probably controlling you. As John Naughton argues in his special report for this week's New Review, Britain is in danger of producing a generation of technological suckers: people who know how to word process a letter, buy apps for their iPhones and to search in Google, but have no understanding of the inner workings of these services.

This is, above all, an issue of education and training. For more than a decade, the teaching of information technology in schools has focused on using software rather than understanding systems; and on treating computers more like magical boxes than tools to be programmed and critiqued. With the government's recent decision to throw away this old syllabus and replace it with something better fit for 21st-century purpose, we have an opportunity to rectify a dangerous imbalance and set a new standard. It's an opportunity we can ill afford to miss – and that touches on some of the most fundamental questions surrounding what role computer technologies can, and should, play in 21st-century life.

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A survey by LapSafe of 100 UK schools, colleges and universities found that 27 per cent had IT equipment stolen in 2011, and while 83 per cent had an ICT security policy in place, 19 per cent did not include guidelines for physically securing devices.

Laptops were the most common devices to be stolen over the three-year period (42 per cent), with 11 per cent of institutions victim to netbook theft since 2009. Only four per cent reported tablet computer theft.

Denise Crouch, director at LapSafe Products, said: “Our research suggests that theft of laptops and other mobile ICT devices from UK schools, colleges and universities is on the rise. Although the exact reasons for this increase are unclear, it is likely that the economic downturn and the fact that education establishments are often hotbeds of technology are somewhat responsible.

“It is vital that educators have sufficient plans in place to reduce the risk of mobile ICT theft. This should include measures for physically securing laptops, netbooks and tablets, and should be supported by regular IT security training to help avoid the negative consequences of having devices stolen.”

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Merlin John writes:
Does the Government need a policy or strategy for learning with ICT?    ...it seems not
Michael Gove MP at BETT 2012

How strange that, so soon after education secretary Michael Gove MP finally acknowledged the importance of technology for education, and pledged a shake-up of the ICT curriculum and computer studies in his speech at BETT 2012, the Department for Education appears to have disbanded its Technology Policy Unit,

It's understood that unit team leader Vanessa Pittard, who also had responsibility for science, has moved to cover STEM (science, technology and maths) and her four other team members are to be redeployed elsewhere because a DfE review of the unit considers there is "no business need in year ahead".

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After feedback from headteachers, chairs and clerks, SGOSS has developed its Online Governor Recruitment Service to allow schools to register their vacancies on their website. This package also provides access to resources for parent governor recruitment. The Online Governor Recruitment Service is completely free and can be accessed at www.sgoss.org.uk/schools.

Schools Minister Lord Hill said:
“School governors play a key role in driving up standards in our schools and so I am very grateful for the work that the School Governors One-Stop Shop (SGOSS) does.

Their new Online Governor Recruitment Service is the first of its kind, providing an online resource to support schools’ recruitment of all types of governors. Schools will be able to use the self-help tool to help them find a new governor with the skills they need. It will also give them the opportunity to think about the structure and capacity of school management, helping with school improvement.” For more information about the School Governors’ One Stop Shop, visit www.sgoss.org.uk.

It may be a story from South Africa but it is a story that resonates in the UK.

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The pupils of Chesterton Community College ICT class have been invited to road-test the long-awaited Raspberry Pi computer.

A projector throws the image of what the Pi is generating - a simple game of Snake (available on any Nokia phone near you) - onto a whiteboard. The atmosphere is feverish as the 12 year olds compete for the keyboard. Crucially, they are not just playing the game - they have created it by writing their own computer code.

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We are very pleased to welcome Keith Hanks who has joined us as our new Head of Fundraising.

Keith joins us from 'Parents and Children Together’ where he held the position of Business Development Director. He brings with him an extensive background in both IT and education as well as having worked with several charities.

Keith can be contacted on 01932 9796260 or
keith@e-learningfoundation.com

For once, the internet buzz had got it right. Apple announced iBooks 2, digital textbooks and iBooks Author. I tracked down the keynote video on You Tube and it was a typical Apple promotional video: cheesy and packed with the usual spin but undoubtedly exciting and well made.

So what does a digital textbook look like? Well, fantastic, on the evidence of LoE. Opening with an inspiring, attention-grabbing video, it is incredibly immersive. The content is excellent with plenty of text and images. There are more videos to watch, imbedded interactive Keynote presentations and a quiz at the end of the second chapter. It was certainly a very satisfying experience.

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It has helped Gowerton become the first secondary school in Wales and one of just 15 in the UK to win a Third Millennium Learning Award.

But it is not the only one in Swansea to scoop the award, because Casllwchwr Primary School has become the first Welsh primary school to receive the honour. They have integrated iPods, iPads and computers into the everyday classroom experience for pupils.

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"She has gone from being a little girl who had no way of showing us how much she knew, to a little girl who now has a portable device she can laugh, play and engage with," says her mother Sam Rospigliosi, from Edinburgh.

"Who knows, she might even use it as her voice in the years ahead if she never learns how to speak again."

Veronica is six years old and severely affected by autism. She has significant learning difficulties and finds many social situations very difficult. She lost all her speech three years ago.

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“Today’s announcement must not serve as a smokescreen to hide the fact that cuts to capital budgets have had a serious impact on the money available to schools to spend on technology. This comes at a time when the national curriculum review highlights the need for ICT to underpin and support learning in all subjects.

“With many schools now struggling to keep their ICT suites open, there is a need to tackle the issue of access to technology. We need to ensure all children, no matter their background, have access to technology both at home and at school. Over three-quarters of a million children are still unable to go online at home and are therefore seriously disadvantaged when it comes to their education.”

If you would like your school to be involved then you should contact Niel McLean, Business Development Director - Digital Products on Tel: 020 3194 3468 or email him at niel.mclean@tsleducation.com.

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Despite some fantastic work by many schools and local authorities to modernise the education system, some are still missing out on opportunities to enhance learning.

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Sobering estimates suggest nearly half of council and housing association tenants in England, including some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, do not have access to the internet or have never gone online.

People in online households can save more than £200 a year shopping online and are 25 per cent more likely to find work, while children with internet access achieve two grades higher than those without - so it's clear that many low income households are missing out.

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• Watch his presentation here

We are pleased to be able to attach a letter confirming this from Lord Hill to Lord Willis below.

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The study, from the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA), found that while teachers were concerned there was no central policy for taking ICT forward, they were using the expertise and experience from the last 15 years to make decisions.

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Statistics published by the Department for Education show that 18 per cent of pupils in England failed to make the progress expected of them in maths between the ages of seven and 11.

The figures also reveal a continuing gender gap, with boys falling farther behind girls in English, but outperforming girls in maths.

Overall 86 per cent of girls made the expected progress in English compared with 81 per cent of boys - a gap of five percentage points. Last year the gap was four percentage points.

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Only a quarter of adults have level four qualifications (degree equivalent) which is the second lowest rate in the country by region.

While only 25 per cent of those pupils across the region who are eligible to receive free school meals achieved five A*-C GCSE grades including English and maths in 2010, more than half – 56 per cent – of those pupils not on free school meals achieved five A*-C GCSE grades including English and maths.

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Parents have a hugely important role to play in helping their child to succeed at school. They are their child’s first teacher, and their own attitude to learning has an enormous influence on their children’s own ability to learn and their academic success.

The challenge to schools is how to support parents in this vital role – and that has not proved easy in the past. However, today’s technology allows help to be provided to families in exciting, innovative and cost-effective ways. Digital Families is an innovative programme, supported by the Nominet Trust and delivered by national charities the Campaign for Learning and the e-Learning Foundation, that will provide thousands of families with exciting and engaging activities to help them express interest in their children’s education, develop new media and technology skills, build their understanding of how their children learn, and get involved in ways that will support their children’s progress at school.

The e-Learning Foundation will work with participating schools to ensure everyone can take part through good home access to a computer and internet access at home, including low income families who currently are missing out on the benefits of technology for learning.

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The 2011 survey of 1,324 UK schools (772 primary and 552 secondary), which was conducted in July 2011, also found that 10% of schools note that nearly all pupil-time will involve exposure to ICT, and that 49% of primary and 33% of secondary schools said that they were to maintain or increase their planned ICT investments for 2011/12.

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