Introduction to Connected SchoolsConnected Schools believe in the concept of connectedness within schools and between “connected schools” around the world

Connectedness within schools

Being a Connected School, means being a school where all stakeholders, and in particular students, are empowered through technology, and encouraged to participate more actively than ever in their learning experience.

Connected School

“Connected Schools” are a network of schools that share resources and exchange expertise between each “Connected School”

Education Philosophy of Connected Schools

A pragmatist philosophy where technology serves Education in an ever changing teaching & learning process.

Aims

As holistic as it can be

learn and interact continuously outside school through social networking platforms and other open source utilities.

Interactive environments provided by networked systems and mobile utilities

How do we do it

Creating a learning environment where the ratio of pupils per teacher is 20:1 maximum and per connected device is 1:1 at the very least

Ensuring that the connection between a teacher and his/her students are extremely strong where there is a 37% contact time between a pupil in and outside school

School Organization

Small Schools (300-400 @ primary school) (250-300 @ preparatory school) (300-400 @ secondary school)

very little hierarchical separation between the

leadership team and the teachers with individual

responsibilities and school ownerships/partnerships

School Organization

school year is divided in 6 terms of 7 to 5 weeks

Every teacher is a coordinator in a way that they coordinate an aspect of the school life, such as the provision for a particular subject or for blended learning.

Approaches to Teaching

Incorporate ICT within a new pedagogy for e-learning

Visualization, and the ability to move backward and forward through the different stages of a process

Creating learning objects, learners to recall the stages of learning.

Constant feedback the learner is able to take greater responsibility for improving and refining learning.

Inspiring Curriculum

RSA Opening Minds Curriculum – www.rsaopeningminds.org.uk RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) has been

a cradle of enlightenment thinking and a force for social progress for over 250 years The Curriculum is divided in five categories of competences: learning, citizenship, relating

to people, managing situations and managing information. Emphasizes the ability to understand and to do, rather than just the transmission of

knowledge.

OCR – www.ocr.org.uk OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations) is a leading UK awarding body Committed to providing qualifications that engage learners of all ages at school, college, in

work or through part-time learning programmes to achieve their full potential.

School Qualifications

Primary School (internal certification to move up)

Preparatory School (internal certification to move up)

Secondary School (International Baccalaureate)

Community

Connected Schools aim to have a positive impact on the community.

School's aspiration is to foster responsible citizen, Excellent provision to help toward supporting learners at home. For instance, offering

evening classes to their parents will mean that they will be better equipped to help them with their homework.

Sections of the school’s facility are available to partners and to the community after school.

Teachers and learners are encouraged to donate some of their time to the community, to teachers and learners in other Connected School for training among other things.

Unique Aspect of Connected School

The Cloud as a blending tool

Online services, from email to calendar passing by online storage offer pupils the opportunity

To access what they have learnt and done during a lesson to communicate about it and to organize themselves from virtually anywhere and at

any time.

This means that they can share a piece of work with their teacher for evaluation.

If they choose to do so, it also means that they can share their work with other students and expect to receive constructive feedback.

Unique Aspect of Connected School

Social Networking as a connection tool

Under the right circumstances, a school wide social network can extend the support pupils already give each other inside a single classroom to the whole school.

As a consequence, the exchange of knowledge between individuals with various level of understanding, depending on the subject and topic being covered, is bound to benefit the helper as well as the one receiving help.

Curatr (www.curatr.co.uk), the Connected Schools Social Learning Platform, will make this possible.

Unique Aspect of Connected School

Twinning as a citizenship tool

There no better way to open minds than by celebrating someone else’s differences and similarities.

There is no better way to raise awareness about various issues than by comparing viewpoints from different countries.

There is one fantastic way to foster world class citizens who will understand the importance of their education for their country’s future, and it is by twinning schools and the building of other connected schools in other locations

Unique Aspect of Connected School

Video as an engagement tool

When it comes to giving a sense of purpose, the use of video is a great way to motivate pupils by tapping in their desire to put their boundless imagination to good use.

Offers them the opportunity to share their understanding of a specific aspect of a topic within a subject with the rest of the school.

Organization of a festival at the end of the topic, semester and/or even year will give them the opportunity to be recognized for their hard work.

Make it possible to learn effectively and collaboratively without even noticing it