SLN is delighted to have formed an association with the Dissolving Boundaries programme, which uses the ICT curriculum to develop links between schools in Northern Ireland and Ireland.
In August 2011, Roger Austin, the DB director from the University of Ulster, came to Bradford and worked with SLN on a sharing research day. In November SLN went to meet the DB team in Northern Ireland to have a look at how the programme works in schools.
Firstly, we have to say a huge thank you to all the wonderful people we met in Northern Ireland, who were fantastic hosts, and who gave so generously their time and energy. Teachers and children were clearly committed to the e-linking way of working and it has been completely embedded in school life. We were particularly impressed with the way the children were able talk to us about what they did and what they were learning. We learned so much on our visit and were inspired to come straight back and set up our own e-linking process.
So, SLN e-linking is now underway. A trial-link is already taking between two schools that have worked together for some time and were really keen to give it a go. E-linking enables schools to have much more frequent and regular interaction around their on-going shared work. Pupils are encouraged to take a lead in using a moodle to share work and ideas. Ideas for playing games by Skype video conference are being explored, using some well-loved SLN activities to establish possibilities for an e-linking process starting with exchange, meeting, leading to discussion and then deeper conversations.
E-linking allows school links to get become established very quickly, even if the schools involved are situated far apart. It is an invaluable addition to our work and an innovative way for new links to be created across the country.
We have been very lucky to secure some time from Steve Dale, ICT consultant with Bradford Council, and we are delighted to see the e-linking initiative progress with Steve at the helm. Our Spring newsletter will give much more detail about how to get involved with SLN e-linking and we will be demonstrating different e-linking tools and techniques at our network events in February.
