Interactive Teaching: Ysgol Gyfun Gwyr
An interview with Gareth Edmonds, IT Teacher at Ysgol Gyfun Gwyr on Interactive Teaching at Ysgol Gyfun Gwyr
Newline screens create a dual-purpose solution to teaching in Ysgol Gyfun Gwyr. Gareth Edmonds believes the screens are “Fantastic” as students can see from the back of the classroom clearly and open the doors for interactive teaching.
The school grounds have a wide range of WIFI which also reach the schools sport pitches, allowing internet access whilst moving around.
“With the Newline screens it’s all digital again, but with these you are able to get the screen on but using a normal pen to write. A lot of the older schoolteachers still like using the whiteboard.
But the kids like it and they see what we put an investment in, and these Newline’s are fantastic. We have put an order through for 25 more with Comcen. The kids can see the quality!”
Interactive Teaching Solutions
The school are expanding their technology uses across all subjects, from iPads for language lessons resulting in reduction of printed dictionaries, saving paper. iPads for P.E sessions along with greenscreens and apps for sporting activities and events, as well as art and drama.
“It does increase engagement because they want to get up, they want to take part, they want to use the new technology. We’ve got new technology in Welsh, the teachers using it, so the pupils use it and quite often you’ll have a teacher going I don’t know how to use this, and one of the kids, will go, well It’s easy Miss, I’ll do it for you”.
Within IT classes there are options for pupils to be pupil technicians, where Gareth will support them by providing training, so that they are able to assist and fix issues in real life situations.
Interactive learning creates a teacher – student learning process using the same screen at the same time with multiple pens or sharing screens. With parents’ evenings and the pandemic moving in class learning to home learning, the school quickly moved to using Teams, where they are able to share screens, printed work, and can teach through modern technology.
“We’ve started pushing the new reading software, which is part of teams where you’ve got departments like Spanish that can put up full paragraphs and the pupils can read it and it and it automatically marks it for them. But you’ve also got the immersive reader which, for pupils that struggle to read off the screen, it will read the screen for you.
So, when I put an assignment upon screen, they can click it teams will automatically recognise that it’s Welsh and it will read it out to them. For parents at home over lockdown we were all putting stuff up in Welsh and it would translate in real time what it actually says.”
Having technology that teachers are confident using has a knock-on effect with pupils gaining confidence in their teachers. “The Newline screens are self-explanatory”.
Welsh Lessons
The Welsh departments enthusiasm has been “renewed” because of the investment. Gareth is looking towards having screens at the entrances of the school so that when people walk in, they can see pupils work and information.
8 Newline boards are up and ready for the maths department to move in which are being used and enjoyed by other departments. English and Science will be the next departments receiving the Newline screens, and Humanities and Design Technology will follow. The school are also reusing used short throws and fixing them up to be used for Modern Languages.
Frank, AV Sales Team Manager at Comcen has started a new relationship with Ysgol Gyfun Gwyr along with Nicola, Sales Account Manager at Comcen.
“He’s lovely and brilliant, he took the time. Nicola is really good as well, she’s patient and answers my emails. it is only recently we have rebuilt our relationship with Comcen, Matt is absolutely brilliant, kept in touch with me every step of the way. We do preach Comcen now, and we are fans.”
