Using Games based technology in the primary classroom

22nd May 2016

I have been fortunate enough to spend the weekend at the future classrooms lab in Brussels. It was a fantastic experience in which I learnt about many new web tools That can be used in the primary classroom.

The presenter Gert Lemmens was enthusiastic and engaging throughout the weekend.  He worked seamlessly  through tool after tool, providing time for us to experiment and develop our own resources.  The pace was perfect with a blend of teacher led and hands on experiences.

The weekend has enthused me to develop some of these resources for use in my class and also share some of these with others.  The importance of using technology in the classroom is how you use it to engage and develop pupils learning.  The session certainly showed how the tools can be used to develop the key skills pupils will need in the future.

Some of the fantastic tools we were introduced to were nearpod, a presentation tool in which you can load content from various sources and control the pace of the lesson.  This was clearly aimed at upper key stage two and beyond but I could still see the potential for using it within a key stage one class in a lesson when they all have access to an ipad or laptop.

Kahoot, is another great tool for developing quizzes with pupils.  This will probably be the first I experiment in my class as I can see how engaged the adults all were so I am sure my class will love it.

In terms of collaboration with the tools, the fact that some of these can be shared means that they could be integrated into etwinning projects.  This is something I will be exploring further.  The great thing about the weekend was working with teachers from around Europe who were keen to develop and learn.  I had the opportunity to talk about possible projects we could develop in September.  It is so nice to develop the links with teachers that will continue long after the weekend has ended.

eTwinning European Conference in Berlin

Having returned from the eTwinning European conference in Berlin I am trying to plan and organise how I am going to use and share all the inspirational things that I have learnt.  I have copious notes on my iPad including mind maps I made, lists of websites, apps and ideas that I wish to explore.  Alongside this is the idea of what education will look like in the 21st Century and how we as teachers can facilitate and foster this.
First I aim to look at the websites that were shown to us in the web 2.0 workshop and then decide which could be used in my eTwinning projects and other projects in school.  I will probably begin with getting one of my four children to use prezzi to do their homework and see how they get on.