Physical Computing and Project Based Learning for all

Delighted that Bridlewood Primary have joined our TPAT Trust. We will soon be exploring crumble kits together – to add physical computing fun to their upcoming school Design Technology project.

Literature Alive – from Digital Writes – is now well underway. Keith and I enjoyed our first visit to St Mary’s on Thursday – coinciding with World Book day. From next week we will begin working with a selection of pupils from St. Mary’s to develop the interactive game book. When asked, during our assembly, what would be different about our book to other books, the answer came back: “everything”!

The Digital Writes pupil-powered creation is well underway: bringing new meaning to the phrase “immersive”, our Literature Alive project is demonstrating what Unity software can enable children to accomplish, even when they may have decided previously that reading or writing was not for them.

Key Stage Three pupils at the School Of Solutions – a vitally important alternative provision unit which is part of The Park Academies Trust – are experiencing cutting edge ‘world-building’ software whilst contributing their creative ideas towards a digital book like no other.

It is a virtual game book – a successor to the ‘play-your-own-adventure’ stories that allow multiple routes through the text. Turn to certain pages and the book becomes an active 3D world, based on the content of the story that is unfolding and which they can then explore.

A total of four Swindon schools, two Primary and two Secondary – as well as the Museum of Computing – are taking part in this Arts Council funded project. Full details are here, with a great demonstration video (2 mins) to be found on YouTube here.

Thank you to Laura and the team for a great welcome to the BCC building in Chippenham. This is the UK’s first Business Cyber Centre. We were there to talk about physical computing, but it was also fascinating to be shown around this super high-tech space with ‘living walls’ and soundproof booths!

I am very much looking forward to supporting our wonderful LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) over the months and years ahead. Please see this link for more information about how physical computing can be supported in your school.

Huge thanks to Pete for an immense array of Micro:Bit ideas today. Thanks also to Jenny for hosting us – the Enthuse Partnership gained great guidance today with seasoned educationalists aplenty to inspire us throughout the afternoon.

https://www.digitall.charity

..because the tweeting might sound better here: @flickernet@techhub.social

https://techhub.social/start

I am so excited to be joining Keith and the team at Digital Writes. Over the year ahead I will be helping with their wonderful mission to encourage reading and writing through the creation of interactive game books: imagined, planned and built by pupils from multiple schools and community groups.

This will be the first time that Flickernet has teamed up with a different organisation in this way:

• providing guidance on the innovative uses of technology to promote learning
• being a part of session delivery
• recording then editing the journey into a video documentary.

Delighted and excited to be offering App-building for Key Stage 3 pupils with a new after-school club.

goIT is an internationally recognised initiative to inspire young people to learn to develop their own solutions in the context of the UN Global Goals. We will be using MIT AppCreator as well as following the goIT design development principles.