With the introduction of technology into the classroom over the last few decades education has changed dramatically – and never as dramatically as seen over the last year due to the pandemic. For centuries education was fairly rigid; we attended school each day, were given topics to learn by rote and then tested on our skills of retaining that information via exams. All that changed when computers entered classrooms and new ways of learning were explored, such as e-learning online.
Over the last year you have likely heard many terms banded around, especially ‘hybrid’ and ‘blended’ learning – oftentimes they’re used as one and the same, which is definitely not the case. But what are these new ways of learning, how do they differ from one another, how can they impact your teaching, and more importantly your students’ education? 

What Is Hybrid Learning?

As the name suggests, hybrid learning is a combination of more traditional face-to-face education coupled with offline and distance learning techniques. The combination finds the balance of face-to-face and online techniques to ensure the content meets student needs and maximises learning. For example, a five class a week course would meet once face-to-face and the remaining four classes a mix of distance learning such as e-learning online, online assignments or a Zoom lecture.

What Is Blended Learning? 

Blended learning is the mix of both online and offline – using online instruction as a way to supplement or support traditional face-to-face learning, but not replace it. For example, a five class a week course would meet five times face-to-face but the educator would supplement the learning with online assignments. 

Hybrid vs Blended: The Differences

As we previously mentioned the terms ‘hybrid’ and ‘blended’ are oftentimes used as one and the same, mainly because the subtleties between them are fine. While blended learning focuses on the combination of offline and online instruction with a lean toward face-to-face, hybrid learning seeks to find a balance that ensures the best experience for students needs via any possible learning technique. 

The Benefits Of Both Hybrid and Blended Learning

Due to the similarities of both learning styles and the offering of online interaction the benefits are also similar. The main benefits of blended and hybrid learning are:

• Accessibility 
• Flexibility
• Class capacity
• Tracked learning
• Scalability
• Increased engagement
• Ownership of education

The benefits don’t just extend to students, there are many benefits for teachers too:

• Increased collaboration
• Better work life balance
• Cost saving
• Ability to track and measure student abilities easily
• Expansion of educational topics and courses

The differences between hybrid and blended learning can be fairly subtle however, the outcome and overall lean towards technology are very different. All in all, no matter where or how students are learning, it shouldn’t hinder their needs or what they can achieve.
With schools preparing to return to classrooms from 8th March, you may be wondering how your students can benefit from a hybrid or blended learning approach. Jotter Learn could be just the solution you need. Read more about the platform here, or contact us if you’d like to arrange a demonstration with a member of our team.

The sight of high school pupils sitting motionless with eyes closed is becoming commonplace in classrooms across the UK and beyond. The practice of meditation or ‘mindfulness’ is being taught to help children deal with stress and to help them focus. While some old-school educators may see this as an excuse for pupils to stop working and mess about, studies are confirming that the effects of meditation have numerous positive effects.
The practice of being mindful is generally attributed to Buddhism, although other forms of meditation are linked to Hinduism and Taoism. The practice of modern mindfulness tends not to be spiritual in any way. The purpose is to focus the mind on breathing and the five senses, letting thoughts drift in and out passively.

Research

Apart from psychological effects, physical changes take place in the brains of meditators. An eight-week Study by Harvard University at Massachusetts General Hospital found that grey matter actually increased from regular meditation sessions. The increase was sited in the area responsible for memory and learning. A study by UCLH discovered that people who regularly meditated for twenty years or more had better preserved brains than people who did not. While data on the effects of mindfulness on children is limited, an extensive meta-review compiled the results of 15 studies covering 1800 pupils from the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, Taiwan and India. They found an overall improvement in well-being, social and academic skills. Furthermore children reported higher levels of optimism and self-identity. Meditation appeared to help them cognitively as well, with improved processing, focus, memory and creativity.

Campaigns

The Mindfulness Foundation is a founder member of the NCB Partnership for Wellbeing and Mental Health in Schools and is running the Mindfulness in Schools Campaign. The Mindfulness in Schools Project is a charity who support the teaching of meditation in schools. They run courses for teaching the techniques to pupils from 7 to 18 year olds. Even adults who have never meditated can learn how to teach the techniques in just a few days.

Apps

There are some interesting and useful apps on the market, specifically aimed at meditation for young people. Smiling Mind is a free app that has been developed by educators and psychologists to help bring balance to people’s lives. There is also now Headspace for Kids, a subscription-based program that’s split into three age ranges: 5 and under, 6-8 and 9-12. The availability of apps means that children can choose a guided meditation that suits them. For those teachers who don’t feel comfortable leading a guided session, classrooms that use iPads or have a BYOD policy can have pupils plug in and just ‘be’. Schools could also easily create their own mindfulness programs and deliver them via a flexible VLE.
The message is that pupils find the sessions calming and focusing. They report that they consider their actions more, resulting in better behaviour. The overall positive effects aren’t just beneficial for pupils; the knock-on effect must improve the lives of teachers and parents as well.

We bet you love your new multi-function school website, with it’s attractive theme to match your branding and its ability to act as a VLE. (PS. If it’s not multi-function, it’s not School Jotter.) All the content has been installed and you’ve uploaded the data to comply with  statutory requirements. Have you forgotten something? Apart from the more obvious information to have on your site such as the school’s contact details and a link to your most recent OFSTED report, there are a few more obscure items that you shouldn’t forget.
Bats and Balls
If your school receives the PE and Sport Premium Funding, you must show how you have or intend to use the money, as well as stating how this has affected your pupils’ involvement and attainment. Providing a larger and more varied range of equipment can help inspire children to become more active, which is a plus point for your school.

Governors Laid Bare
Not literally of course but it’s important to include details of governors’ financial and business interests on the school website. If they get a kick out of being part of a governing body and are on multiple boards, this must also be declared.
Attention or Detention?
Whatever strategies you’ve implemented to deal with challenging and unruly behaviour, these need to be outlined in detail. Parents will want to know how the school approaches bullying and any form of bigotry, which is in the news on a daily basis. This of course should be in keeping with your school ethos.
Levelling the Playing Field
Pupil Premium Funding may seem inadequate but at least it goes some way to helping schools provide extra support for disadvantaged pupils, in the hope they can reach similar attainment to their peers. Details of how and why this is spent, together with evidence of how it has helped disadvantaged pupils’ attainment must be on your school
website.
Touchy Feely
While you might think it’s obvious to prospective parents what your school is all about, it may not be. In any case, it’s imperative that you spell it out on your website. What values do you promote? Do you place most emphasis on academic attainment or pastoral care? As parents and carers browse school sites, most seek out a school’s ethos and values first, rather than the latest SATs results. Don’t just tell them what they want to hear; make it personal and relevant to your school, and your way of doing things.
Regardless of whether you think anyone will ever read the statutory requirements, they’re not an option. To see exactly what should be included, visit the Government website.

As a retired primary teacher I find it unsurprising that numerous studies show a gender gap where girls are significantly outperforming boys in literacy. One of the latest studies, commissioned by Save the Children, has found that the female advantage is established even before they step foot in the classroom. Understanding the Gender Gap in Literacy and Language Development was undertaken by researchers from Bristol University’s Graduate School of Education. Apparently in the 2014/15 school year, one in four boys were behind in language at age five and started Reception without being able to follow simple instructions or speak a full sentence. The report also states that for those children who start school behind, few will catch up.

Factors
While the gap appears to exist for all socio-economic groups, it was wider for those children eligible for free school lunches. Whereas the overall ratio was 25% of boy starters unable to answer simple “how” and “why” questions compared to 14% of girls, this escalated to 35% and 23% for lower income families. Several of the schools where I taught had ‘breakfast clubs’ before school, run by volunteers. It was a sad fact that this club was bursting at the seams. Whether this was simply due to poor time management by parents or because of economic factors, cereal and toast were gobbled up greedily. Once the children’s blood sugar levels rose, behaviour improved and they stayed on task longer. But where gender difference is concerned, evidence from the Save the Children study couldn’t definitively point to biological, developmental or social causes. An earlier study in 2008 by the Institute of Education (part of the Millennium Cohort Study) found that for both sexes attainment was better for children with two working parents, particularly if they held qualifications. Pupils in stepfamilies or with one parent had lower achievement.
Department for Education
The DfE produced a report in 2009 entitled Gender and Education – Mythbusters Addressing Gender and Achievement: Myths and Realities where they tended to refute most of the gender gap findings, however the evidence spoke for itself when it came to girls attaining higher in English. At key stage two, the gap is considerably wider for writing than reading but this is hardly news to me, as I repeatedly felt like I was hitting my head against a brick wall trying to get boys to write. The DfE say that increased provision has been made for Early Years practitioners to try and redress the gender gap but is it too little, too late?
Solutions
I recall an old study that maintained girls were better communicators because female babies tended to be carried facing inwards, whereas boys faced outwards. Facing inwards allowed babies to see their parents’ faces and be spoken to directly. They would learn to read facial expressions and understand nuance more quickly than if carried outwards. Somewhat controversially, the Save the Children study advocates treating boys more like girls. Girls tend to be sung to and have nursery rhymes recited to them. The researchers want to boys to experience this in equal measures, as well as having storybooks read to them and being given rewards for good performance. More creative activities such as painting and drawing are also seen as a way to help with cognitive development. But is it fair to lay all the blame at parents’ feet for the gender gap in attainment? Schools need to build a trusting relationship with parents and carers, working with them to promote the importance of one-on-one activities at home. Pupils need to be taught the value of being self-reliant and independent learners, which will raise self-esteem.
Role Models
There are relatively few male Early Years practitioners in UK schools. It’s more typical for men to teach at secondary level, with a view to obtaining headships. With so many single parent families where dad is seldom seen, a positive male role model is vital. In my last primary school they had no less than four male teachers out of 12, one of whom was in Early Years. This state school had some of the best behaviour I’d experienced and the male teachers certainly contributed to that. They provided a different caring style and allowed children to see a more natural gender mix, representative of society. Surely the DfE should do more to recruit male teachers into primary and particularly Early Years.
Methods of Delivery
There is little doubt that even the youngest pupils relate to technology, as it can be exciting and varied. In my KS1 class, while girls would often grab a book and sit in the reading corner, the boys competed for the two computers where they could play games, albeit with an educational objective. More provision should be made at Foundation Stage for pupils to have access to a virtual learning environment. Lower achievers could work through specially designed modules to help them catch up with language skills. As many schools may not have the funds to provide sufficient portable devices to use, a BYOD (bring your own device) policy could be introduced, so that pupils could bring in a tablet or smartphone from home. If boys are more reluctant to read and write, interactive storyboards and gamification could provide the catalyst needed to spark their interest. The beauty of BOYD is that any elearning content can be easily accessed at home as well as at school, hopefully encouraging parents to get more invested in their children’s education.

It is important to acknowledge that students are already interested and engaged in using technology, this creates many amazing opportunities for schools and teachers to benefit from integrating some forms of technology in the classroom and to make teaching and learning more effective. Here are some of the main benefits of using technology in the classroom.

Improves engagement

When technology is integrated into lessons, students are expected to be more interested in the subjects they are studying. Technology provides different opportunities to make learning more fun and enjoyable in terms of teaching same things in new ways. For instance, delivering teaching through gamification, taking students on virtual field trips and using other online learning resources. What is more, technology can encourage a more active participation in the learning process which can be hard to achieve through a traditional lecture environment.

Improves knowledge retention

Students who are engaged and interested in things they are studying, are expected to have a better knowledge retention. As mentioned before, technology can help to encourage active participation in the classroom which also is a very important factor for increased knowledge retention. Different forms of technology can be used to experiment with and decide what works best for students in terms of retaining their knowledge.

Encourages individual learning

No one learns in the same way because of different learning styles and different abilities. Technology provides great opportunities for making learning more effective for everyone with different needs. For example, students can learn at their own speed, review difficult concepts or skip ahead if they need to. What is more, technology can provide more opportunities for struggling or disabled students. Access to the Internet gives students access to a broad range of resources to conduct research in different ways, which in turn can increase the engagement.

Encourages collaboration

Students can practice collaboration skills by getting involved in different online activities. For instance, working on different projects by collaborating with others on forums or by sharing documents on their virtual learning environments. Technology can encourage collaboration with students in the same classroom, same school and even with other classrooms around the world.

Students can learn useful life skills through technology

By using technology in the classroom, both teachers and students can develop skills essential for the 21st century. Students can gain the skills they will need to be successful in the future. Modern learning is about collaborating with others, solving complex problems, critical thinking, developing different forms of communication and leadership skills, and improving motivation and productivity. What is more, technology can help develop many practical skills, including creating presentations, learning to differentiate reliable from unreliable sources on the Internet, maintaining proper online etiquette, and writing emails. These are very important skills that can be developed in the classroom.

Benefits for teachers

With countless online resources, technology can help improve teaching. Teachers can use different apps or trusted online resources to enhance the traditional ways of teaching and to keep students more engaged. Virtual lesson plans, grading software and online assessments can help teachers save a lot time. This valuable time can be used for working with students who are struggling. What is more, having virtual learning environments in schools enhances collaboration and knowledge sharing between teachers.

To learn more about different ways of incorporating technology in the classroom, visit the Webanywhere website.

Teaching requires a great amount of patience, mindfulness, compassion and commitment. It is not an easy job as many would assume. Teachers usually have to play many roles and show many faces to enhance the student learning experience.
With that in mind, we have done some research on the top do’s and don’ts of teaching in the classroom, which we hope new teachers will find helpful.

Make your life easier with School Jotter, a great content management system and hosting solution that provides you with the necessary tools and apps to make your teaching outstanding.
Imagine a classroom, seemingly ordinary, where every student is deeply engaged, their eyes alight with curiosity. This isn’t a scene from an idealistic movie; it’s the reality created by a teacher who understands the subtle art of influencing young minds. This teacher knows that in the world of education, akin to Malcolm Gladwell’s concept of the ‘tipping point’, small things can make a big difference.

 1. Do: Connect Beyond the Curriculum In a small town, there was a teacher who found a way to reach a disinterested student by talking about skateboarding, a shared passion. This simple connection transformed the student’s attitude towards learning. Like the ‘stickiness factor’ in Gladwell’s theories, personal connections make ideas and lessons more engaging and memorable. Teachers who find common ground with their students create an environment where learning extends beyond textbooks.

 2. Don’t: Underestimate the Power of Expectations Consider the ‘Pygmalion Effect’ – a psychological phenomenon where higher expectations lead to an increase in performance. A study once showed that students, randomly selected but touted as ‘likely to succeed’, actually performed better. This wasn’t due to their inherent abilities but the changed expectations of their teachers. In teaching, the expectations set can either be a barrier or a catalyst for student growth.

 3. Do: Embrace the Mavericks There was once a student who constantly challenged conventional methods. Instead of suppressing this unconventional thinker, a perceptive teacher encouraged this curiosity. This encouragement led the student to excel in a project, inspiring peers to think differently. Like Gladwell’s ‘law of the few’, a teacher’s support for the mavericks can create a ripple effect, fostering a culture of innovation and critical thinking in the classroom.

 4. Don’t: Neglect the Small Moments Gladwell’s concept of ‘thin slicing’ – making quick judgments – is often seen in teaching. A teacher’s spontaneous decision to praise a student’s work can boost confidence significantly. These small moments, though seemingly insignificant, can be pivotal in a student’s academic journey. Teachers need to be mindful of these interactions, as they hold the power to change a student’s perception of learning and self-worth.

 5. Do: Cultivate a Culture of Curiosity A creative teacher once turned a rigid lesson plan into a journey of discovery, allowing students to explore topics beyond the syllabus. This approach resulted in heightened student engagement and deeper understanding.

Teachers who encourage exploration understand the ‘law of the few’; they act as connectors, mavens, and salesmen, spreading the virus of curiosity among their students.

In the world of teaching, just as in the dynamics of social change that Gladwell describes, the smallest actions can be the tipping points.

Whether it’s through creating personal connections, setting high expectations, encouraging unconventional thinking, paying attention to the little things, or fostering curiosity, teachers have numerous opportunities to make a significant impact. Just like a carefully placed domino can set off an entire chain, a teacher’s actions, no matter how small, can set the course for a student’s future.

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