Future minds
The Interactive Digital Magazine from CLEAPSS
CLEAPSS NEWS
Welcome to the summer 2024 edition of Futureminds.
Over the past few months, we have been working on a number of projects here at CLEAPSS.
The spring edition of Futureminds was all about AI – this has continued to be an area of interest for us, and for teachers around the country. This term we have started to investigate the use of Mixed Reality headsets.
Mixed Reality is a term that encompasses virtual reality, where the user is immersed in a computer-generated environment, and augmented reality, which is where the computer adds images to the real world, as viewed by someone wearing a headset or digitally enabled glasses.
Over the past few weeks Trudi and Dave have been experimenting with Meta Quest 3 headsets. These provide high-definition video via two screens directly in front of the users’ eyes. They also have stereo speakers, which further augment the feeling of being within a mixed reality world.
Apart from the devices being great fun, there is a more serious side to why we have been investigating their use.
There are a number of educational applications, some of which are free, that can be used by both teachers and pupils in lessons, for example:
Gravity Sketch – this is a drawing app which enables the user to draw in 3D.
Arkio – an app for designing environments, such as buildings, interiors or virtual spaces.
Stellar – an app for environment design and creating VR spaces.
There are apps that can supplement science lessons, language lessons and even a virtual library, that can be used for research… and there is even virtual welding.
One area we have been looking into is virtual meeting spaces. Rather than just having talking heads on a screen as you might with Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet, we wanted to find out more about attending and hosting meetings where those attending can feel more like they are in the session.
We wondered whether this may have significant impact on online training, as it is possible to set up a virtual room, invite people to attend, and then use interactive boards to share information. Participants can share their screens as you might in a Zoom session, you can interact with your neighbour, you can take notes on your own device, whilst accessing the keyboard through a ‘pass through’ window to your own desktop.
We have attended a few international sessions in this virtual world, and even hosted our own session for CLEAPSS staff and it is something we will continue to work on over the summer.
If you have a virtual headset that you use in school, please let us know, we would love to talk to you - we could even meet up in the ‘metaverse’…
You will have seen in the spring edition that we held another ‘National Leader Roundtable’ meeting with the Awarding Organisations and other significant stakeholders, regarding the future of D&T. This was well attended, and we are grateful for the input that everyone provided. We host these meetings to provide an opportunity for open discussion and debate, idea and project sharing and above all a chance for our major organisations to network and collaborate.
CLEAPSS is hosting another of these meeting at the end of June. We are also hosting a practitioner meeting in June, at which, we have invited a range of teachers and curriculum leaders from state and public schools across the country. We hope the discussions and debates from this group will then feed into to our national leader group. We also hope the practitioners will have the opportunity to share and network with each other. If you are interested in joining either group, please do email us.
Notes from the last roundtable meeting:
CLEAPSS: Health & Safety updates and emphasised the importance of staying updated with curriculum developments, particularly in AI and virtual/augmented reality.
Department for Education (DfE): Highlighted the importance of appropriate spaces and equipment in teaching Design & Technology (D&T).
Design Council: Discussed their policy paper on renewing D&T education with a focus on sustainability.
Design and Technology Association: Reported significant growth in primary membership and discussed the KS3 rotation model and parent perceptions.
Oak National Academy: Introduced plans for free curriculum resources aimed at addressing skills and teaching shortages.
Textiles Skills Academy: Shared their research and recommendations for textiles education.
British Nutrition Foundation: Emphasised the need for an advanced food education qualification and ongoing primary teacher training.
Nottingham Trent University: Presented their Archer Exchange initiative for consultancy and research, including decolonising the D&T curriculum.
General Points Discussed: Various efforts to support evidence-informed practice and lifelong learning for teachers, with common threads including a focus on sustainability, the importance of quality resources and spaces, and addressing skills shortages in education.
Meanwhile, the day to day work at CLEAPSS has continued and we have produced a number of new guides for teachers and technicians, as well as updating dozens of MRATs.
New guides:
This edition of Futureminds has some fantastic articles from a wide range of contributors. If you would like to provide something for future editions or have an idea for something we could do some further work on, please get in touch: dt@cleapss.org.uk or use the comments and questions link, or Helpline.
Don’t forget that we have a wealth of past editions of Futureminds, all available from the Futureminds tab on the website.
