ICT for Education - Belfast; March 2012

ICT for Education is rolling out a national conference programme that will cover 14 regional locations this year. 

The first conference was held in February 2012, attracting a crowd who were keen to share their experiences of ICT in the classroom and take new ideas back to school, and speakers including regional education leaders, ICT practitioners from local schools and experts on national ICT education issues.

The ICT for Education national conference programme reaches Belfast on Wednesday 7 March at the Park Avenue Hotel, 158 Holywood Road, Belfast, BT4 1PB. The conference runs from 7.45am to 2.15pm and attendance is FREE for all delegates.

Drawing on both regional and national ICT expertise, ICT for Education has sourced a great line-up of speakers who will address ICT challenges faced by both teachers and schools. The Belfast event will also present a Question Time style debate on a topical and timely ICT issues and will include ICT Reviews Live!, a live product review and panel discussion that puts popular products through their paces.

Alongside the conference, ICT for Education will host a vendor exhibition showcasing solutions to meet your ICT needs.

The conference, which is free of charge; gives you the chance to meet the experts, network with peers, solve practical problems and discover new resources in just one short day!

ICT for Education , Belfast Conference = Big name speakers, independent advice, school ICT solutions, product reviews and much more.

Game to Learn/Key Stage Two have now confirmed attendance at the ICT For Education Conference, Belfast.

Game to Learn is a classroom learning and homework management system that enables primary school teachers to manage school work more effectively.  It is Game to Learn’s initiative to bring learning into the 21st century, and the experts at Game to Learn believe ‘gaming’ can improve performance, through increased engagement within young people of primary age.

Game to Learn offer learning solutions for Key Stage One & Key Stage Two pupils and do so through effective track-able gaming solutions.  These solutions integrate gaming as well as learning into a single package, which is the most comprehensive platform for primary education.

Some benefits of Game to Learn include saving time, school cost reductions, environmental considerations, strong links to I.C.T learning, improved & track-able class and individual performance results, better grades, and easy to use software; as well as full access to the one stop tutoring market place!

You can learn more about Game to Learn by visiting the website at http://www.gametolearn.net

 ‘Like’ the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/gametolearn

Or follow on Twitter via @gametolearnuk

Representatives from Game to Learn who are attending hope to see you there at the ICT for Education conference, Park Avenue, Belfast.

TeachMeet Belfast - March 2012

On Friday 2nd March 2012 Stranmillis University will host the first TeachMeet to be held in Northern Ireland.

TeachMeet is an un-conference ‘for teachers, organised by teachers’, and this year for the first time it is being held in N. Ireland. 

Come along to the CELIL building in Stranmillis College on Friday 2nd March where the organisers are hoping to welcome as many interested (and interesting) teachers as possible to the event where they will have the opportunity to either present something that they’d like to share with their fellow professionals, or simply enjoy the evening and take home some great ideas.

If you are curious about teaching and learning where you can share teaching ideas, ask questions and interact with others why not come along to the evening from 6.30pm to 8.30pm, with nibbles being served from 6.00pm.  The venue for the ‘meet’ is The Centre of Excellence for Leadership, Innovation and Learning at Stranmillis University College, Belfast.

Following the TeachMeet will be a social gathering to which everyone is invited.  If you are unable to attend the event, the organisers hope to live stream the event and have a recording available for download afterwards.

What is a TeachMeet?

Learn something new, be amazed, amused and enthused. TeachMeet is an informal gathering of those curious about teaching and learning. Anyone can share great ideas they've trialled in their classrooms, ask important questions or simply sign up to take part in learning conversations. It is about being engaged and inspired by our immediate colleagues and a whole bucket-load of networking to boot!

Attendees can sign up on the night to give a 2 or 7 minute presentation on a topic of their choice: amusing, amazing, questioning or enthusing.  And remember the presentations do not have to be ICT-themed.

Collaboration, sharing ideas and spreading best practice are common to most jobs, whether organised through formal structures or informal conversations.

TeachMeet runs in many other locations, with primary and post-primary teachers coming together to share with colleagues and take home other people’s ideas.

The organisers suggest that “with the ever-shrinking education budget on the horizon … this will be an excellent free Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunity for teachers”.

Representatives from Game to Learn will be attending the event and hope to see you there.

Game to Learn is a classroom learning and homework management system that enables primary school teachers to manage school work more effectively.  It is Game to Learn’s initiative to bring learning into the 21st century, and the experts at Game to Learn believe ‘gaming’ can improve performance, through increased engagement within young people of primary age.

Game to Learn offer learning solutions for Key Stage One & Key Stage Two pupils and do so through effective track-able gaming solutions.  These solutions integrate gaming as well as learning into a single package, which is the most comprehensive platform for primary education.

Some benefits of Game to Learn include saving time, school cost reductions, environmental considerations, strong links to I.C.T learning, improved & track-able class and individual performance results, better grades, and easy to use software; as well as full access to the one stop tutoring market place!

You can learn more about Game to Learn by visiting the website at http://www.gametolearn.net

 ‘Like’ the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/gametolearn

Or follow on Twitter via @gametolearnuk

Revision Key Stage 2

Are you set Key Stage 2 revision?

Below are some useful tips that you can incorporate into your child’s education.  It is good advice to successful home revision for children at Key Stage Two level.  Key Stage Two is the level of education for pupils aged between 7 and 11. 

First of all, find a good place for your child to work. Ideally it will be quiet and uncluttered, well-lit and free from unnecessary interruptions! Together with your child, draw up a revision timetable – this is very important. The odd sporadic hour here and there isn’t enough to make a real difference.  Perhaps you could even incorporate a treat for your child on completion of the study timetable on a weekly basis.

Your child needs a revision plan that is realistic, easy to stick to and includes breaks and meal times, getting the balance is crucial to your child’s success. Use monthly, weekly and daily planners to help plan out the days systematically, as it can help prevent your child feeling overwhelmed.

When you are planning the study schedule and timetable, mix up your child’s weaker subjects amongst their stronger subjects so your child does not attempt all the difficult topics at once –it’s really easy for them to lose confidence when revising, especially if they are focusing on consecutive difficult subjects.

Set achievable targets each day and have your child tick them off as they reach them - this makes your child feel a sense of accomplishment which is an important factor is successful revision.  It also helps them move forward in small, baby steps towards the bigger goal in each subject.

Encourage your child to make revision notes as they listen and learn, as they write their notes they are subconsciously learning at the same time.

Your child’s notes should be short and sharp – clearly identifying the main points, and by putting notes on one side of the paper it makes them easier to remember. Get your child to write key facts on post-it notes and pop them on the walls in your kitchen or bedroom to promote learning.  Even something as simple as a colourful ‘Times-Table’ poster on their bedroom wall will boost their multiplication skills effortlessly.

Together, you and your child can make up make up funny clues or rhymes to help them remember important dates, words or facts.  I.E – I before E, except after C, when spelling, (although there are some exceptions to this rule)!

With your child you can test them, where your child is not permitted to look at their notes; this can help identify areas which could benefit from more learning and revision. 

Do not allow your child to overdo the amount of time they spend studying, to do this you could allow a regular time for physical exercise, a walk with the dog, a bike ride, listening to music or something they like, to change their environment and give their brain and eyes a break.  A break like this gives a feeling of refreshment and helps make them ready to absorb information again.

Until you have reached the optimum level of studying techniques you and your child can experiment with different styles of revision, to see what works best, as every child is different.

Remember to instil a setting so your child always gets a proper night sleep; ensure the same non-negotiable bedtimes are adhered to on school nights – proper sleep is really important for your child in school, to help them get through the day with good energy levels and no feelings of tiredness.  Sleep is very important to a child’s wellbeing, and although there is no set amount of hours per night a child should be sleeping, the NHS state that between 9.5 and 10.5 hours per night is ideal for a child aged 7-11. 

And remember…… have fun!

This information was brought to you by Key Stage Two.com, an online learning environment for children aged 7-11.   Key Stage Two.com successfully manages to combine fun games with education, making sure academic and non-academic children benefit greatly, whilst being compliant with the National Curriculum in Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. 

Key Stage Two.com offers benefits for all; including schools, parents, teachers, tutors, councils, local authorities, and most importantly, the pupils. Visit the website at http://www.keystagetwo.com to … learn more!

Game to Learn at BETT 2012.

Game to Learn exhibited for the first time at the BETT show earlier this month at the Olympia Exhibition Centre in London. 

The BETT show is the world’s leading event for educational technology where education professionals can evaluate and purchase a comprehensive range of ICT products and services.

The exhibition began on Wednesday 11^th of January and lasted until Saturday 14^th. It was anticipated that around 80,000 delegates attended the event, with a large number being international visitors. With it being our first year at such a large event, there was great excitement about how the exhibition would unfold.

We met many interesting people from all around the world, including education authorities from Ghana, Israel and Russia. The international need for the educational software was staggering and our belief in Gamification has been further reinforced by the feedback we received. From a young age children are becoming interested in games and without doubt there is an opportunity to use games to develop their learning for a wide range of subjects.

The BETT conference gave us a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate our new Game to Learn Ipad App as well as MyDoodle Game, an early release version of our Build a Game software.

MyDoodle Game enables young children to use their imagination to tell stories by building their own game (now available on iTunes and PC). Both of our demonstrations were well received and some interesting questions were raised. We were given a number of new requirements for our next release including foreign language and problem solving elements.

BETT provided us with the chance to meet exhibitors who share a similar vision to ourselves of using innovative software to engage young children and promote learning. A highlight was our meeting with Titus from Ingenio, a company based in Singapore. Ingenio provide a software called Moomba that teaches music to pupils aged 4-7.

The delegates and exhibitors we met emphasised just how much technology and innovation such as Gamification can have such a profound impact on learning. We are taking these positive messages forward with us as we look excitedly on what will be a big year for Game to Learn.

We were also invited to workshops and listened to discussions on various topics including new techniques to improve the performance of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. A particular focus was placed on the benefits of mobile technologies such as Ipads in the classroom. The most inspiring workshop was hosted by Achievement for All, a UK charity which supports schools to improve the aspirations, access and achievement of learners and young people. The workshop discussed the recent Achievement for All initiative in 450 schools which was shown to have had a profound impact on the outcomes of pupils with Special Education Needs and Disabilities.

If you were there at BETT we hope you enjoyed the show as much as we did. We look forward to BETT 2013! Watch this space for more exciting developments…

You can visit the Game to learn website at http://www.gametolearn.net and ‘Like’ the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/gametolearn for more information!

Northern Ireland Web Company is Game to Learn

Bangor based business, Omnisoft Services, which specialises in social media and gamification, was at the BETT (British Education and Training Technology) exhibition in London to launch a major new education initiative called Game to Learn. Pictured is Peadar Loughrey, researcher for Game to Learn and Shirlee Beggs, Operations Manager at Omnisoft.

A Northern Ireland web company has launched a major new education initiative called Game to Learn. Bangor based business, Omnisoft Services, which specialises in social media and gamification, was at the BETT (British Education and Training Technology) exhibition in London last week to launch ‘Game to Learn’ and its sister initiative, Game to Change which is aimed at community groups. Game to learn offers learning solutions for Key Stage One and Key Stage Two pupils through trackable gaming solutions that integrate gaming and learning into a single package which can be used in the classroom and at home to complete homework and extend the learning experience. Andrew Cuthbert, CEO of Omnisoft Services which created the online learning tool, said “Through Game to Learn we are trying to bring learning into the 21st century. Gaming has been proven to help improve children’s performance through increased engagement in a fun and relevant medium and is a great way to encourage pupils who may not be interested in traditional learning methods to take part in classroom initiatives. We have worked closely with teachers and the national curriculum to create a solution which works for educators and the children benefiting from it and we’ve had very positive feedback from the schools currently using online tool.” Game to Learn is an interactive game to encourage learning. Through the online game, pupils can create and personalise their own online character and persona. They can then log in to their own account both in school and at home when completing tasks and homework. The online learning tool allows pupils to enter virtual worlds, engage in quests and adventures whilst completing educational questions along the way, before progressing onto the next stage or adventure. Game to Learn evolved from a pilot exercise involving up to 250 schools across the UK with teachers regularly providing feedback that their pupils enjoy using Game to Learn as it has proven to be a great way of getting the whole class to interact with the learning process. Typically, in any class, there will be pupils at risk of falling behind because they don’t enjoy school or can’t relate to the subjects and the method of teaching. By bringing gaming into the mix, it provides a new and fun method of learning and gives pupils control over their education because they can use it at home too. The online learning system includes thousands of questions written by teachers which are preloaded into the software and is compliant with the National Curriculum in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Teachers can also set additional questions specific to their subject areas. Gamification refers to the use of game design techniques for non-game related tasks and can be used to help solve problems and create processes for engaging a target audience, for example alcohol awareness and social responsibility among young people. Omnisoft’s Game to Change software package can be used to tackle social issues and aid the behavioural development of young people, a generation which typically uses modern technology to communicate and interact. You can visit the Game to learn website at http://www.gametolearn.net and ‘Like’ the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/gametolearn for more information!

The Digital Generation – Game to Learn

Game to Learn, an online primary school resource has helped to restructure the classroom experience, the way teachers teach, the way pupils learn, and how their learning is assessed.

The restructuring of educational institutions is necessary so that they become relevant to the current and future needs of children.
Because of the digital generation created in recent decades from constant exposure to electronic media, this generation is ‘not the students our schools were designed for and not the students today's teachers were trained to teach.’
Today's generation is the first to grow up with a mouse and the assumption that images on a screen are to be interacted with.
The children of today are wired differently to that of past generations ... they have enhanced visual memory, processing and learning skills, and are quick to understand new technological advances.


That technology, according to research, shows that the digital generation, by the age of 21, will have:

-Sent and received 250,000 emails and texts;
-Played more than 10,000 hours of video games;
-Spent 10,000 hours on digital phones;
-Watched more than 10,000 hours of television, and
-Viewed more than 500,000 commercials.


Growing up, older generations had almost none of these experiences. Their change was incremental, fairly gradual, and not rapid.

Game to Learn is the place to embrace the new digital reality.

Current assumptions about children and how they learn must be seriously challenged ...Research has found the majority of today's kids to be digital learners, not the auditory or text-based learners of the past.

Major shifts necessary to accommodate digital learning, must take place immediately, and because of this more and more parents and carers of children are seeking online activities and games to help their children better learn, in a fun and rewarding environment.

In comparing learning preferences of digital learners to establishing teaching styles, digital learners prefer receiving information quickly from multimedia sources.

Of course, it is important to know your children are learning and communicating in a safe environment, and Game to Learn ensures just that.    

E-Learning and Gamification is an excellent way to enhance the classroom and learning experience whilst being reactive to learners needs, and saving money. 

The software, which is compliant with the UK National Curriculum; provides an educational resource which is easy to keep up to date with, and can be delivered in a quick and efficient manner to all pupils.

Throughout the development, planning and trialling of Game to Learn, it has been proven that online learning offers a range of benefits in a fast-paced working environment, and that the virtual classroom can provide a useful resource to access information quickly and at the point of need.

Game to Learn is the new generation of e-learning using gaming, simulation and video, as well as animation, and has allowed for more complex issues to be explored in a fun and interactive way.

The system will be fully operational in 2012, but in the meantime you can visit the website at http://www.gametolearn.net or ‘Like’ the Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/gametolearn

And make your start in the future of learning!

Games technology in the classroom – Game to Learn.

The digital world has changed the way primary school children learn and understand the subjects they are learning in school. 

E-Learning and Gamification paves the way how children’s understanding develops because of learning alternatives offered through digital technologies.

These digital technologies open up a wealth of possibilities in education and learning, and as children work in that environment their learning develops, and thanks to these new technologies they can often learn concepts that are normally well beyond their age because they are exposed to them regularly and in different ways.

Traditional numeracy and literacy programmes are still critical to the school curriculum but new digital technologies are able to build on these with realistic problem solving tasks and interactive games which are powerful tools for children of all levels, including those with special education needs. 

Children and pupils who have been uncomfortable with tricky subjects in the past have also found it motivating to learn in a new, fun and rewarding setting.

Research has shown that complementing traditional classroom learning with digital technologies increases children’s motivation and risk taking, and they are motivated to explore problems in new and challenging ways.

Game to Learn, an online primary school resource has helped to restructure the classroom experience, the way teachers teach, the way pupils learn, and how their learning is monitored and assessed.

Over the last decade more and more parents and carers of children with learning difficulties are seeking online activities and games to help their children better learn.

Of course, it is important to know your children are learning and communicating in a safe environment, and Game to Learn ensures just that.    

E-Learning and Gamification is an excellent way to enhance the classroom and learning experience whilst being reactive to learners needs, and saving money. 

The software, which is compliant with the UK National Curriculum; provides an educational resource which is easy to keep up to date with, and can be delivered in a quick and efficient manner to all pupils.

Throughout the development, planning and trialling of Game to Learn, it has been proven that online learning offers a range of benefits in a fast-paced working environment, and that the virtual classroom can provide a useful resource to access information quickly and at the point of need.

Game to Learn is the new generation of e-learning using gaming, simulation and video, as well as animation, and has allowed for more complex issues to be explored in a fun and interactive way.

The system will be fully operational in 2012, but in the meantime you can visit the website at http://www.gametolearn.net or ‘Like’ the Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/gametolearn

And make your start in the future of learning!