What’s at stake in the classroom?

It’s no secret that teachers want to ensure they are able to provide quality content and deliver engaging learning experiences for their students. But that’s not all that is at stake in today’s classroom.

Teachers need to ensure their practice includes:

• Equity
• Preparing students for the 21C working world
• Collaborative learning communities

How can teachers accommodate these issues and deliver quality content in an already crammed school day?

In partnership with ClickView since January 2021, Troon Primary School educators have witnessed positive inroads in tackling student engagement, building learner confidence, and driving positive learner outcomes across the whole school.

How?

It’s simple; with easy-to-use access to a wide range of quality video content that is backed up with resources and support. Here’s what that looks like at Troon Primary School where together with ClickView, teachers are charging up the learning landscape at their busy school.

“As a leader, I’m excited about the potential of ClickView. The quality of content and the ease of searching has helped staff get on board. Combined with PD sessions that staff can access when it suits them, it has had a huge impact on staff across the school.”

Kathryn Alcroft
Principal

Five ways ClickView is making a difference at Troon Primary School

1. Easy access to quality content

When Lorna is planning her lessons it can be a simple case of ‘two or three clicks and I’ve selected a nice range of videos knowing that the material in the videos is free of any inappropriate material’, she explains.

‘I can select the video that I know will have no distracting and inappropriate YouTube ads.’

All ClickView video content is curated and curriculum-aligned, so teachers like Lorna know that the content is always age and stage-appropriate.

‘Before ClickView, I would spend ages filtering videos and still not find what I was looking for. If it’s too simple, students will disengage and lose concentration’, Kathryn adds.

Going a little deeper into how ClickView content is created and selected, it’s clear that Troon Primary School teachers appreciate that ClickView content is not generic.

Alignment with the National Curriculum is vital, this means that Kathryn is always confident in her choice of ClickView material:

‘When I go into ClickView I know I absolutely have the right lesson plan with the right material that correlates to appropriate benchmarks.’

2. Time-saving curriculum-aligned content

Like any busy school, there are days at Troon Primary School when lessons need to be covered at short notice: ‘If you have a variety of classes to teach as a supply teacher you can just get straight into ClickView’, shares Lorna.

What if a teacher was short on time and not quite tech confident, would they find their way around ClickView? ‘The categories are straightforward. Even if you’re not tech-savvy you’re still able to tackle it.’

It’s reassuring for teachers, students, and their parents that when there are unexpected interruptions at school, learning continuity is maintained.

3. Inspiring learning and enhancing practice

Diving more deeply into how video can deepen student understanding, there are key ClickView features that all three Troon Primary teachers enthusiastically discussed with Beverley.

Starting with the mode of video as a teaching tool, Beverley asked the teachers if they felt that video supports an increase in student knowledge.

‘Video removes a lot of barriers to learning. For example, dyslexic learners respond better to audio and visual rather than constant writing,’ Kathryn offers.

And the result?

‘A more inclusive learning environment’, she says. It’s clear that video with its audio and visual elements speaks to our digital native learners. Further, ‘the same tone of voice from the one teacher can be boring. Video enables us to vary the delivery of our content with different characters and visuals, and there’s a wide range of videos on ClickView to choose from.’

In terms of formative assessment, instant feedback can build momentum for learning. The embedded questions in ClickView videos mean that the critical time between task and feedback is not stretched.

‘To provide a video with the questions already embedded gives immediate formative feedback. Students are not waiting around. Instant feedback is important to them.’

Teachers know that when students are kept up to date on their progress, it empowers their learning. They’re more likely to maintain focus and motivation. Additionally, the ease of data storage means goodbye to the time-consuming sorting through piles of files and papers.

‘You’ve got the feedback that can be stored straight into your assessment file. And you can assess where they are and what they know which helps you to plan learning that is really specific for your class’, Kathryn adds.

Further, the embedded questions in ClickView videos open up opportunities for informal assessment settings.

‘It provides opportunities for us to formatively assess them with what they’re asking and with the answers they provide. Children don’t know they’re been assessed.’

Opportunities for informal assessment like this can relieve students of the anxiety that may be present around formal assessment. Students can respond authentically which gives teachers a more accurate picture of their understanding.

‘If you’ve got a quiet learner they may be too shy to ask a question. When they do the interactive you can see their answer. And it’s great for self-paced learning.’

In addition, the embedded questions on interactive videos can be customised to suit the needs of each class.

‘Teachers can change questions depending on what level you’re teaching, and you can make your own interactives as well’, Lorna adds.

4. Collaboration and community

There’s nothing more positive in a school than collaboration. The opportunities to collaborate using ClickView interactive video as a springboard dispels the myth that video is a static passive learning experience. In fact, it is quite the opposite:

‘When students build their own interactive videos they want to share and show their work so that others can take part. This builds their confidence and increases learner engagement. When they share with each other the learning is not just coming from us’.

That sense of a community of learning speaks to the ‘learners at the centre, teachers on the sideline’ pedagogy that extends beyond the classroom walls, and prompts opportunities for teacher collaboration such as the sharing of resources.

Engaging in shared practice such as this reduces teacher workload and saves time. The spirit of collaboration continues past the school gates when students need to undertake learning at home. It’s an opportunity for students to continue sharing their learning with each other and with their parents while working at their own pace.

‘For some students, learning at home doesn’t feel like homework!’

That sounds like music to everyone’s ears! Completing the triage of collaboration is the support that ClickView offers schools. In a large school like Troon Primary School, the support has been prompt and comprehensive. Troon Primary School Principal, Kathryn notes: ‘What’s made the difference is the support we’ve had. ClickView responds quickly to emails and we have support videos available. For me, the support has been key in rolling it out across a big school like ours’.

4. Partnerships and potential

‘As a leader, I’m excited about the potential of ClickView. The quality of content and the ease of searching has helped staff get on board. Combined with PD sessions that staff can access when it suits them, it has had a huge impact on staff across the school’, explains Kathryn.

‘ClickView boosts my confidence as a teacher. It gives me a platform where I can enhance my own learning’, Cara adds. Together with the potential rollout of individual devices for students, Kathryn predicts that ‘the potential for self-paced learning and assessment is huge’.

‘It’s going to really take off. It will transform the way we deliver our teaching and the benefits will be significant.’

In partnership with ClickView, Troon Primary School has already seen fantastic results and look forward to not only continuing but being further enhanced as their journey develops with one-on-one devices.