The effective use of minibooks
to enhance mathematics
teaching and learning
Simon Preston
James Coughlan
Bishop Challoner Catholic College Birmingham
Overview
1). Background.
2). Virtual learning: Where we were?
3). Virtual learning: Where are we now?
4). How did we get there?
5). Staff/student experiences.
6). Future challenges.
1). Background
Mission
• At Bishop Challoner our aim is to develop
a cutting edge education for our pupils.
• We are therefore investing heavily in New
Technologies which are going to be at the
heart of education in the future.
• We are developing an E-Learning strategy
that will equip pupils with the skills needed
for the 21st century.
Whole School Virtual Learning
• Virtual learning environment (VLE) is
highly developed.
• Moodle operated.
• Experts in each department provide
support to staff working in their area.
• All staff have a basic level of VLE training.
Traditional Maths Teaching?
The future of teaching…?
Or maybe something of both?
The Netbooks are coming!
2). Virtual learning: Where we were?
• Two years ago all of year 9 were given net
books.
• Problems with wireless system – large
sums of money invested to improve the
network across the school.
• As teachers – were we ready for this new
technology?
• VLE mainly a resource dump that lacked
interactivity – students were using it.
• Too many VLE courses.
3). Virtual learning: Where are we now?
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Exciting, engaging, interactive courses.
A powerful learning environment.
A vastly improved wireless network.
Teachers who are trained and confident to
deliver to classes with net books.
How did we get there?
What would make an effective
VLE?
• 6 key areas:
– Diagnostic Assessments
– Practice, Practice, Practice.
– Investigative work
– Differentiation
– Cross-curricular opportunities
– End of topic assessments
4). How did we get there?
The learning curve
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What have we learnt?
Start small – skeleton courses.
Communication has to be good.
Distribute leadership across the department and
empower staff.
• Pool resources - Not reinventing the wheel –
work smarter not harder.
• Reflect on your practice.
• Trial in the classroom.
What about staff development?
• Flexibility and support of SMT.
• Providing time to work with the VLE and
minibooks, making it a key component of
department meetings.
• Collective planning/peer mentoring.
• Use the VLE to develop minibook training
courses. If it works for our students it should
work for our staff!
• Using NCETM funding to bring in expert trainers
e.g. Google Earth/GeoGebra training.
5). Staff/Student Experiences
Anticipated Staff Experiences
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Issues with battery power.
Start up issues – locating VLE courses.
Netbook malfunction.
Internet problems.
Netbooks vrs textbooks.
Having to use Netbooks in every lesson.
Taking Netbooks away as a punishment.
Novelty wearing off.
Discipline issues.
What do our teachers really say?
“For the pupils to have the ability to access
both the internet and dynamic maths
worksheets at the touch of a button is as
good as a second teacher in the room.
Pupils can learn for themselves without
being dependent on a teacher and enjoy
the experience at the same time.”
“In-class tasks are no longer static and
students can work at their own pace. Work
completion rates have also improved.
Students actually retain more focus when
using minibooks.”
The reality
• Powerful but lively learning environment.
• Students progressing at their own pace.
• Netbooks complementing usual practice not
replacing it.
• Students showing higher level of engagement.
• Logistical issues soon overcome.
• Higher level of work completion from students.
• Students fix their own problems!
More importantly…..What do our
students say?
“I love the idea of minibooks and I would
rather use minibooks more than using
exercise books.”
“I think using netbooks in maths is very
useful because you can practice at your
own pace without having to wait for
others.”
“I think we can improve using minibooks by
creating our own questions and then other
people could use the questions you made
and work them out.”
“I think the way we use minibooks in maths
is great. I like the fact that we don’t use
them constantly and that we rotate from
book to minibook and so on.”
“I really enjoy using minibooks in maths
because we can use resources like
GeoGebra and we can play games that
use maths but still we are having fun. I
really like using the minibooks because we
are doing independent learning and when
we use GeoGebra we all have a different
set of questions and we can mark
ourselves.”
“I think that mini-books in maths is a really
good idea … it means we can go at our
own pace instead of being rushed or
slowed down. To improve how we use
minibooks we could have questions that
need answering on screen instead of
transferring all the data into our books.”
Student Benefits!
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Enjoyment.
Interactive and engaging.
What is that useful for?
Chance to play and explore maths interactively.
Developed ICT skills.
Increased organisational skills.
Improved confidence in presenting new ideas.
Able to work independently at home.
6). Future Challenges
• We believe we are already ahead of the game – but only
just.
• Netbook use in the classroom will be a reality for many
schools in the not too distant future – many schools have
already invested in this technology.
• Can we keep up with the students?
• Can we keep up with technological advancement?
Encouraging teachers reluctant to change.
• How can we ensure New Technologies benefit our
students and help them to become independent
learners?
Thank you for listening!