Sharing a platform with big names

Literacy, New technologies, special needs, youth and community, , ,

I am very pleased to say that I will be presenting at the Literacy Forum at the Education Show in March. This features many well known names from the world of reading and children’s literature, including former children’s laureate Michael Rosen, Dr Rona Tutt OBE, chair of the board of trustees at the National Literacy Association, novelist Aidan Chambers and Wendy Cooling, who set up the Bookstart Project.

I am running a workshop in the afternoon, showing some of the materials and discussing findings from my book Screens and Pages published by NIACE.

I am particularly pleased that I will get a chance to meet Verna Wilkins, author and founder of Tamarind Books It is really hard to find books which reflect a West Indian heritage and I usually buy some titles at the special needs show in Islington each October for Christmas presents. One of my favourites is Princess Katrina and the Hair Charmer, a great celebration of the beauty of unruly curly hair.

Come and join us on Friday 5th March, at the NEC and help to shape a ‘manifesto’ publication. This will be co-ordinated by the National Literacy Association, supported by Pearson and will reflect the views of delegates and presenters on the day. The aim of the manifesto will be to change attitudes towards reading in the UK, in order to improve literacy rates and encourage more children to read for pleasure.
If you want to make a difference to literacy and have your views included in the manifesto, visit www.education-show.com/reading and book your tickets. Attendance to the ‘Future of Reading’ Literacy Forum is £150 plus VAT for the full day programme.

After the Forum, delegates can come to the drinks reception sponsored by Scholastic. See you there!

Bett Round-up 2010

BETT, software, special needs, , ,

Did you make it to Bett earlier this month? It was as busy as ever with over 30,000 visitors. There was lots to see and here is a round up of some of the key products. First there were my top ten products, ranging from Skin Deep by Northumbrian company Shoofly to My Zone, the nearest thing to a VLE for people with learning disabilities.

Then there was I Progress from Rising Stars. This was launched on stand at BETT and showed some really good resources for maths for gifted and talented pupils

Have a look at my review in the Guardian which is a round up of suppliers showing the latest products for pupil assessment and for literacy:

Those of you who are working with pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties and communication difficulties, might like to read about Laura Cryer’s class at Norfolk Park in Sheffield. They have built really good modules of work round a new piece of software called Pretty Things.

Don’t forget – next stop is the Education Show 4-6 March at the NEC in Birmingham.

Bett – The seminar …

BETT, New technologies, , ,

Last week I did a seminar at BETT. Because of the heavy snow I was quite confident I would have an audience of about 6 people, duly bedraggled and damp, and would struggle to keep going in an atmosphere of gloom and despondency. well I was wrong. There were about a hundred people in total, including those sitting on the floor and standing at the back and they were an interested, interesting and knowledgeable crew so I learnt some new stuff as well.
The seminar was called Technology and the Future of Literacy
It was based on the findings of the Niace book Screens and Pages -Technology and Reading for Pleasure •

It looked at iPods, e-readers, the internet and digital literacy and you can read a review here.

I will be doing it all again at the Education Show at the National Literacy Association Campaign for Reading Conference: The Future of Reading? on Friday 5th March at 3pm

Communication and PECs

BETT, New technologies, special needs, , ,

There was so much information and so many new products for BETT this year that I could not include them all in my Guardian article but some of the best of the rest will feature on the blog over the next couple of weeks.

It seems that some parents have created wonderfully innovative solutions for communication. Speaks4me® was created for Callum who has severe autism and learning difficulties and cannot speak. it has images which the user drags and drops to form a “virtual” sentence Click on “Speak” and Speaks4me® will speak the words. It is similar to the Picture Exchange Communication System or PECS™; so most users will adapt to using it quite easily. http://www.speaks4me.com/

‘Logan was a great user of PECS, the well known picture exchange communication system, but he had no speech and I wanted him to be able to order his own burger when we went out at the weekend.’ said Glen Dobbs, who has a 12yr old son with autism ‘There was nothing on the market that was easy enough for Logan to use or robust enough to withstand the rough handling I knew he would give it’ so says the creator of Logan ProxTalker. It is portable, very robust and easy to use, ticking all the boxes for use by people with autism, their families and school.
Logan Technologies is keen to set up some key user trials and like to hear from prospective customers who would like to try before they buy. To arrange to try a Logan ProxTalker or for more information contact sandra@logan-technologies.com or visit www.logan-technologies.co.uk

acoustics

BSF, special needs,

There I was writing an article for Special Children on acoustics and all of a sudden the government made an announcement. Maybe I should try writing about world peace next time. Anyway, I learnt a lot about the issues of acoustics, especially in new buildings which seem to favour large open spaces, glass, concrete and busy areas for people to congregate in. These large echoey spaces make it hard for deaf pupils but also cause problems for kids who are learning English or those learning a foreign language who need to hear pronunciation very clearly.  The National Deaf Children’s Society has been pressing for better buildings. Then there was Sir Alan Steer’s report which shows that poor acoustics are one of the causes of bad behaviour. Kids can’t hear, don’t pay attention and find something else to do in the classroom. We’ve all seen it happen.

Despite the overwhelming body of evidence that acoustics matter, the head teachers I have spoken to recently said they did not want to spend their money on improving acoustics. Then, almost out of the blue, last Friday -16th October- the government issued a press release, ‘Acoustic testing to be made compulsory in all Building Schools for the Future projects.’ Yep that will do nicely.

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2009_0191

A taste of former glories

BSF,

Last night I stayed at the Walpole Bay Hotel and Museum. I was in Margate for my new work for Accessible Futures Limited. Now Margate is very fashionable with the media at the moment. Think of The Apprentice with Howard and James trying to rebrand it as a gay resort and think of the Hotel Inspector, Alex Polizzi. I loved the episode where she and the hotel owner, Jane Bishop, battled it out. Honours were equally divided. Jane kept her ‘personal fiefdom’ intact and, while Alex did not grow to love the dismembered dolls, she did come to appreciate the values of this very quirky hotel.
(http://demand.five.tv/Episode.aspx?episodeBaseName=C5143960002).

So, last night I stayed in this lovely building which opened for business in 1914 and reflects the fashions and values of that era. I had a huge room with an old style gas fire and authentic sash windows which rattled all night as the winds came of the sea.

I slept in a high comfy bed with sheets which smelt as if they were fresh out of an old fashioned laundry. I wandered round the displays – photos, clothes, bric a brac -and went up and down in a lift which had the old style double metal mesh doors. This morning I finished my stay with sausage, egg and mushrooms in the restaurant which adjoins the veranda.

I’m back there on Wednesday night. It could become my new second home.

http://www.walpolebayhotel.co.uk/

BSF Here I come!

BSF, New technologies, ,

sal6smIt’s official! I have a new job. I am now an associate with a brand new company, Accessible Futures Ltd – ‘the new name in SEN ICT consultancy within Building Schools for the Future’. I will be working with special schools, local authorities, bidders and builders on BSF projects. Accessible Futures Ltd might not make the world a better place but, with a bit of luck, we can make some schools a better place for kids with disabilities.

The company is the brainchild of John Liddle who was Head of Services to Education at AbilityNet. He has a strong background in Higher Ed as well as in assessment, technology and BSF. So far he has signed us up to work with Wolverhampton and Kent and there are ongoing conversations with other parties.

Have a look at the_wsb_218x295_John_Liddle site http://www.accessiblefutures.co.uk/index.html It tells you all about the company and has a picture of me with new short hair cut for the autumn and John in work mode.

Selling Widnes to Europe

gifted and talented, New technologies, ,

I have just been interviewing  Dawn Coupar, a languages teacher at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic College in Widnes for gifted and talented article. She ran a great Apprentice style event in the summer term for K3 pupils who were studying French and German. They had to use their language skills to sell Widnes to a European company looking to set up an office in the UK. I don’t know what I am more impressed by –the language skills or the persuasiveness. I was born in Widnes and although it has its points, it would be hard pressed to rival the delights of Liverpool, Sheffield or Birmingham but these talented young people found lots of good arguments about location, facilities and local skills and then created podcasts with scrolling pictures  to extol the virtues of their home town.  Good effort all round.

Screens and Pages – new book is doing well!

Literacy, New technologies, ,
Screens and Pages

George Cole‘How do you like your books – dead trees or digital?  Printed books are being challenged by a new generation of electronic books – e-books,’ so says George Cole, in his review of technology on MJ online (ebooks).

He includes some comments about my latest book Screens and Pages which looks at how technology is changing the face of reading for pleasure. I am pleased to report that Screens and Pages has been well received. Lars Helljesen Senior Adviser with Vox,  the National Institute for Adult Learning in Norway, said, ‘I found the chapters on the publishing revolution and digital fiction especially interesting, and use them as a sort of a “handbook” concerning social media and reading.’   What a very perceptive man he is!

Order a copy of Screens and Pages from http://shop.niace.org.uk/screens-and-pages.html

Pitching and Dealing in Manchester!

training, , ,

Yesterday I went on a Pitch and Deal course run by the National Union of Journalists in Manchester. I chose Manchester for family reasons and had a great night out at Dimitris Tapas Taverna – a cross cultural confusion if I ever I saw one. Check out their website http://www.dimitris.co.uk/. You won’t thank me for this but it’s fine once you get past the first page.

Role Play

Anyway, on to the course. There were only 7 of us so we got a lot of practice at role play. I started the day off pitching a piece about technology for older people. Lisa, a freelance music journalist and photographer, obligingly played an editor. Each time the group stopped me and we started again, Lisa sounded more abrupt and short tempered – so like real life. In the end I would rather have chewed my arm off than pitch to her again. I resisted the urge to apologise for troubling her and tried very hard not to waffle on about my experience and why I was the only person who could produce the copy.

Good Networking Opportunities

One of the other course members was Louise Bolotin. We got talking about epilepsy. I have just finished a big article of Special Children and won a Responsible Reporting Award from the National Society for Epilepsy 2 years ago so it is a subject dear to my heart. Louise developed epilepsy a few years ago and has written Epilepsy: The Essential Guide. It was published by Need2Know earlier this year and the first edition sold out within a week. Louise is a very interesting person and in addition to her experience as a music journalist and a finance writer, she is also editor of Skin Two, a fetish magazine which produces a ‘coffee table’ hard back year book. Check out this multi talented woman at http://louisebolotin.com/

Armed and Ready

The Pitch and Deal course was really good. Humphrey Evans & Phil Sutcliffe, the tutors, really know their stuff and after surviving the day none of us are going to be palmed off by magazines which say they have no budget. Oh no – we know the inside story now. For future courses, have a look on the NUJ site .

The only worrying thing about the course is that the group reckoned I had a natural talent as a commissioning editor, so maybe I need to look for another job now.