A brief introduction

My e learning journey began quite a long time ago I guess.  Whilst I was studying to become a primary school teacher I bought a PC with Windows 3.1 on.  Even without the internet it transformed the way I worked.  Assignments were word-processed and printed off; the difference in the presentation quality was amazing.  But I did not just used it for assignments I would play!  Spend hours just messing about with it trying to work out how to do stuff....learning and developing my IT skills all the time.

By the time I got my first teaching post I was confident enough to be supporting the majority of my colleagues with their ICT lessons.  In fact when the dreaded NOF (New Opportunities Fund) training took place I quite often supported the trainer!  I enjoyed ICT and enjoyed sharing my skills with the children and staff.  When an opportunity arose in a local education authority for a Primary ICT Consultant's post I leaped at the chance to support schools to develop their use of ICT across the curriculum.  Unfortunately this first post wasn't to be successful; I only had 2 years teaching under my belt but after a move to another school and a few more years experience I was successful in gaining a similar post with another LEA.

For several years I worked as a consultant supporting schools to develop their use of technology initially the interactive whiteboards but then other media such as digital video and audio as well as a great project involving a multi user virtual environment called Barnsborough as a stimulus for writing.  The project was a big success engaging pupils and teachers, raising attainment in writing and demonstrating that these new technologies had a place in schools.  Guy Merchant from Sheffield Hallam University was part of the planning group and presented at many conferences about it as well as producing an article in Educational Research about it.

During this time I was fortunate enough to go to many conferences and as result able to organise a conference in Barnsley for Alan November to talk to primary and secondary school headteachers about e learning and digital literacy.  These conferences and training days were instrumental in exposing me to new Web 2 sites like voicethread and highlighting the 'Shift Happens' agenda.  I used the original Shift Happens clip to create a regionalized version for Barnsley schools which was used as a stimulus to for discussion about how the curriculum in schools needed to change.  Another video which was pivotal in developing my thinking was the Vision of Students Today which again was used to sway people higher up the food chain in the LEA that things needed to change.

As my career developed I organised a local film competition for primary schools called the BOSCARS which ran for 5 years and is now carried on by schools.  I also became an accredited SMART Board trainer and an ICT Mark Assessor.

Since working at Bradford College I have been involved in teaching both ICT and the new computing curriculum to the teacher trainees, also primary mathematics and have tried to promote both the effective use of interactive whiteboards and other technologies within my practice.