Start Here

The Digital Ecosystem

This is an image I often use to describe how the different parts of ‘Digital’ can fit together.  I have found it helps give an overview of where we are headed with Digital and supports us to better understand where best to start or move forward.

For consistency, this blogsite is structured around the Digital Ecosystem elements.

The Foundation Layers

These are often the first priorities for Digital as they provide the toolsets by which we organise and deliver Digital, and the means by which we can evidence progress.

• Infrastructure.  The school network, internet connection and the hardware and software resources.
• E-Safety.  This must always be one step ahead of practice to ensure that our practice is safe.  The 360 Degree Safe framework represents a class-leading approach and has been adopted by Hwb and Welsh Government.  Estyn have received training around the framework.  It is strongly recommended that schools engage meaningfully with 360 Degree Safe.
• j2e (Hwb).  The j2e on-line learning platform is part of Hwb and is specifically designed as an educational tool.  In my opinion, j2e supports the way we work in the classroom, provides a way of easily organising digital content and adds a great deal of educational value to that content.

The Progression Layers

These are about the use of Digital across the spectrum of subject areas and how we develop life skills for a digital world.

• Digital Literacy and Citizenship.  Put simply, this is about developing the skills, attitudes and behaviours to be an empowered and positive member of the internet community.  It’s vital because it’s the gateway that allows us to move away from a command & control approach to pupil use of the internet to one which is about rights and responsibilities.  A scheme of work detailing around 6 activities per year is available on Hwb to deliver this.
• Cross Curricular.  Whilst this is about delivering the full breadth of the National Curriculum for ICT, the great majority of this is achieved in a natural way through non-ICT subjects.  The j2e toolset in Hwb contains a wide range of applications in one place to support these activities and share the results in ways that pupils find very motivating, for example using QR codes.
• Capture, Motivate, Enhance. There are a number of apps that can enhance the classroom experience in a natural way.  These can;
  • Capture children’s work, which can be saved in their j2e folder.
  • Motivate children to engage in particular activities, such as reading.
  • Extend an activity for differentiation, for example recording a self-evaluation of a poem.
• Pupil Voice.  The digital arena provides a unique forum to enable pupils to have meaningful input into areas that, well, they may know more about than us teachers!  It’s nothing to be concerned about, in fact it can be used as a strength.  An example could be the use of pupil Digital Leaders, who help other pupils and staff use apps and software effectively, or take on the task of looking after iPads.  But the heart of Pupil Voice in Digital is to integrate pupils formatively into the Digital development of the school, valuing their opinions and expertise and allowing them to contribute in an authentic manner.