Guest Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I was wondering what has happened in schools about using Learning Platforms with children in Reception and Year 1. We are going to be introducing ours in September and wondered how it had gone with the children. The authority has purchased Education City so there is some decent content on there but generally it is not really child friendly for young children. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 We have Education City and although I find it a bit boring the children usually access it themselves on the class PC (that or Ceebies). We also have Expresso is is nice has it has real life clips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 We have both of these in school and the children enjoy using them. It will be good that they can have Education City at home. There is some new content for learning platforms called Busy Things - www.busythings.co.uk - which is for school and home use. It is all the software by Q and D Multimedia which our children love. It is worth checking out and you can try it out for free Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I have used a LP (or VLE as it was known in my previous school) with Reception and Year 1 successfully. There was a similiar thread a bit earlier this year Learning Platforms, Do any of you have and use them in your school? I am about to start using a new one in my new school with my Year 1 class and have some ideas to use it as I have done in my previous schools - I'm not sure which one it is but will report back when I am in school. Lx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I have been using a vle with my reception children since January and have to say they love it and it has proved to be very succesful. Whilst we have been using education city for a few years it does not fulfill the governments requirements for a vle by 2010. we currently have ed city which runs alongside our vle studywiz which is provided by etech. whilst this requires alot of inital work by staff in the first few years eventually your vle should have a great depth of content. our vle is brilliant and as i am also a lead professional in ICT i have really embraced it. we have used it to reinforce learning through websites and publishing my smart notebooks for the children to access at home. we have also shared photographs of activities and trips throughout the year and the children have been able to give feedback on their learning and ideas. the parents have really appreciated a better insight into what their children are doing. the children have also taken it upon themselves to upload photos of things they have been doing at home - this has helped with their profiles too!! i have also set homework through this for example a shape treasure hunt where the chidlren had to find real shapes in the enviroment - a very successful piece and the children enjoyed sending it back to my electronically. they also have begun to email and i feel it has helped give some of the boys a reason to write and this has reflected in them picking up a pencil voluntarily. we are using the vle to support the chidlren's learning journys this year as we are able to have individual folders for the children - we are going to upload photos and comments so that parents feel more involved in their child's learning the aim being that they will begin to upload photos etc of things at home and this will then build up a better profile for assessment. there is a great potential for the development and use of vles particualrly with younger children as they are so keen and take everything on board like sponges, they are also more able than many children and you will find that their parents are the more supportive. education city and espresso are very good and i know that our county are working with these companies to include them in our vle. my children love education city and yes it is limiting but it reinforces the basics in a format of learning that is becoming more and more apparant in chidlren. I hope this helps and would be happy to talk to anyone who wants to know more. Lizzielou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catma Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Thanks Lizzielou, that was a really interesting - our ICT team are working on VLEs obviously across the LA but with Early Years they usually get me involved and I can only talk theoretically about this! Can I ask how you include children who may not have home access to a PC? Don't they get a bit left out? Cx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Thanks Fortunately I work in a very affluent area where this isn't a massive problem. However for those who do not have access to a computer they are encouraged to use the public library to access it or we will give them access to our system at lunchtime or after school through computer club. Our children have access to Studywiz throughout the day and some teachers are beginning to use this as a basis for specific lessons. lizzielou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts