Hayley is the newest addition to the BrainPOP UK team and she’s mega keen on all things gaming and ICT-related so last week she popped along to Channel 4’s 2010 Education Conference.
The Conference “focussed on the latest Government policies and the Opposition’s plans; explored how innovators in education are responding to the challenges, and showcased some of Channel 4′s new education projects on citizenship, science and games.”
So, bearing in mind the large variety of topics covered on the day, e.g. “free schools”, here are some of the highlights from Hayley’s day…
I’d never actually been to the Channel 4 building before so I was more than a bit surprised when I saw their huge “4” sculpture made of umbrellas – just like their adverts!
As a bit of a self-professed geek, the part of the day I got most excited about were the presentations by Matt Locke and Alice Taylor. Matt talked about what Channel 4’s been up to over the last year like their 1066 game, which surprised them all with its popularity, and Science of Scams.
While last year’s projects are interesting, it’s what Channel 4 education is up to this year that I got really excited about.
One that stood out was “The Curfew”. Really intriguing, it’s a game that looks at surveillance and authoritarianism set in an Orwellian near-future Britain. Immersive and interesting, it certainly looks like something I’ll end up playing when it comes out later this month. Plus, anything that helps young people engage with politics is a good thing!
Author of Fun Inc, Tom Chatfield, gave a really interesting talk about the role of play in learning and how it transforms the notion of failure into opportunities, from “I failed” to “I haven’t done it yet.”
I’ll leave the final note to Zenna Atkins, Chair of Ofsted, who summed up the general feeling of the day quite nicely by saying (and I paraphrase),
“good teachers are absolutely vital and good teachers will use these instruments (new technology) to enhance what they are teaching.”
We’ll make sure to keep an eye out for the transcript of the conference which should appear on the Channel 4 website soon and we’ll post a link here when it’s ready.
July 2nd, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Each carrier has strengths and weakness within their network and operations.Any training and education too will also help you understand other people’s viewpoints.Great idea regarding educational conference! Highly recommended.