Please see what Wendy said about the project

Wendy Sullivan8 April 2013 11:10

This is such a fantastic idea. I caught your seminar at BETT and I've been telling anyone who will listen in Co. Wicklow that we should do this. I will trial it next year with some of the schools I work with.
Thanks for the inspiration!

RiskIT Week: Feedback focus

If you are new to the project and have been taking part over the last two years, here is some info you might find relevent.

As staff have grown in confidence using the technolgy "with" students, the focus has become more and more on the output ie: IMPACT of the technology rather on the learning. althought this is a contentious issue and can be hard to prove, it is however easy to notice learning taking place and improvement over time can be evidenced.

The innovative use of ICT under RiskIT Week strategy cannot be just for the show, using the technology for the sake if technology. It must support the learning and teaching and in line with the school's ICT Strategy development.

Staff are free to chose what ICT to do during the weeks of RiskIT, however as a school we have a focus element that they implement as part of their activity. This year, the focus is "FEEDBACK". how can we improve feedback, that means students giving feedback to their peers and staff giving feedback to students.
This coincided with the new VLE we are using Sharepoint (KLZ).

The only rule for RiskIT Week is: staff have to use something new in ICT with students.

So why don't you take part in this year's RiskIT Week and see the benefits to your students.
for more info please contact us using the link from the website www.riskitweek.com

Lastest news

RiskIT Week is going global, schools from as far as Bangkok have taken part in the project. I am very pleased to see colleagues from primary, secondary, academies, private and special schools, all having a go and taking the risk.
RiskIT Week is Free and liberating, it has only one thing in its heart:
"try something "ICT" new you have not used before with students", the rest will fall into place.

Of course the purpose is to change the school culture when it comes to ICT, but as they say "Rome was not build in a day" so to change the culture you have to "Start" somewhere first.

RiskIT has a far reaching impact, it allows the whole school to work as one unit and all staff to be innovators, not scared of technology. they should offer the best opportunities to their students and prepare them for the life after school.

As technology changes by the day, teaching tends to get into comfortable habbits or routines. this is not always heatlthy when working with students whose attention span is moving as fast as the technology at times and teachers struggle to keep them on task and on target.

Schools in general tend to showcase their technology to visitors things like: iPads, Laptops, Tablets, IWB, Voting Pads, 3D Printers etc. show the wealth of schools just like the Empires of the middle ages.

These are no doubt important, but the  invisible" are sometimes more effective: software, Wireless,  educational websites, speed of network,  online access from home and even students mobile devices (not purchased by school).
RiskIT forcuses on the ideas, not the technology. Creative ideas are more important that hardware because if you have the idea then it does not matter what means you use: hardware or software become just an intrument.
RiskIT will help schools value ideas which in turn command technology.

There is however a question of time and confidence. I will leave that for another time...