EDINBURGH Napier University has welcomed the first intake of students on to its newly-launched Professional Graduate Diploma in Education programme.

The university will provide training in key science and technology subjects, supported by the Scottish Government as it looks to address teacher shortages in priority areas.

The first cohort of 46 students to arrive at the Sighthill-based School of Applied Sciences will follow new secondary teacher education courses in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Physics.

The curriculum has been developed in consultation with practicing STEM teachers and will use the latest teaching tools, including video analysis of body language, verbal communication and practical skills.

The students will also develop an understanding of how issues like dyslexia, inclusion and mental health impact on life in the classroom.

The year-long programme – which has attracted recent graduates and mature students looking for a career change – will also include school-based placements to help develop core teaching and classroom management skills.

Andrew Gallacher, the university’s Head of Teacher Education, said: “We are hugely excited about getting this postgraduate programme under way, and look forward to producing people who will be a real asset to Scotland’s local authorities.

“We will help students develop their confidence and communication skills so that in time they will be ready to embrace the diverse demands of the job and inspire children to thrive in the classroom.” 

The university plans to expand the General Teaching Council for Scotland-accredited programme by offering courses in Computing, English and Modern Languages over the next three years.

Many Schools Have Unsecure Wi-Fi Networks That Can be Easily Hacked

August 6, 2019. Internet-connected classrooms have transformed the learning process in schools all over the United Kingdom. But it’s also given rise to new dangerous online threats. Much like other public Wi-Fi networks, school Wi-Fi might be vulnerable to hackers.

There are a few recorded cases of hackers and other shady internet personas getting into a school’s Wi-Fi network. In such a case, hackers may be able to access student devices and get hold of their photos, documents, and other sensitive data. They may also get in contact with the students.

“The truth is that public Wi-Fi networks are usually so unsecure that even a seven-year-old kid with an interest in tech can hack them,” says Daniel Markuson, digital privacy expert at NordVPN. “School Wi-Fi networks are no exception. Loads of online tutorials provide tips on how to do that.”

In 2015, ago a 7-year-old girl from London showed how easy it is to break into a public Wi-Fi network. It took her less than 11 minutes to infiltrate the hotspot by setting up a rogue access point. Hackers frequently use this technique to activate a ‘man in the middle’ attack and begin eavesdropping on the traffic.

There are approximately 32,000 in the United Kingdom, and almost all of them have Wi-Fi networks. The problem is that the authorities usually have very few ways of knowing if and who is hacking them. That’s unless the cyber criminals are caught using student data or other information.

According to NordVPN’s expert, it might be a good idea to bring up the question of Wi-Fi security at school. Another step is getting a virtual private network (VPN) for your kid. A VPN, like NordVPN, is an encrypted tunnel between the Wi-Fi network and a child’s device. Most importantly, you should talk to kids and help them understand online security threats and the importance of digital privacy.

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Independent schools can now provide further support to children struggling with their reading skills, thanks to an exclusive partnership between Endsleigh Insurance Services and Bookmark Reading.

A literacy charity dedicated to helping primary school children develop the skills they need to succeed, Bookmark volunteers provide dedicated support to children to help them read to the expected standard. According to the charity, poor literacy can lead to limited job prospects, poor health, and low self-esteem. Low literacy levels cost the UK economy approximately £36 billion each year, and with more than one in four children in England unable to read well when leaving primary school, its work is of utmost importance.

Endsleigh’s partnership with the charity will see the insurance provider make a donation equal to 1% of any premium paid by an independent school, in respect of fees protection, pupils’ personal possessions and pupils’ personal accident, to the charity.

Every £10 donated to Bookmark will gift a child in the UK with dedicated reading support for a week. As the exclusive general insurance provider to partner with Bookmark, working with Endsleigh means independent schools can further their commitment and provide additional support to hundreds of children.

Will Brunwin, Head of Travel and Schools, said: “Supporting small charities and the education sector is extremely important to Endsleigh, and we are looking forward to partnering with Bookmark and watching it grow as a charity. The help it provides children, families and schools is invaluable and we hope our relationship will help continue this success story.”

Kitty Higgins, CEO of   Bookmark, added:  “We have ambitious plans to provide reading support to the children who need us – but can only achieve this with generous support from partners, volunteers, and donors. We are thrilled to have entered this partnership with Endsleigh, whose donations will allow us to help more children, in more communities.”

Endsleigh has anticipated that it will have helped more than 90 children with poor literacy to learn to read well within its first year of the partnership.

For more information, please visit www.endsleigheducation.co.uk/bookmark/

An East Sussex Primary School has saved £6,000 in print costs after following advice from technology specialists SOS Systems – and is using the money to upgrade pupils’ computer equipment.

Saltdean Primary, in Brighton, has considerably cut costs since installing the latest Canon machines with new print management software, which includes the ability to attribute print costs to individual users, devices and different departments.

The result has been raised awareness among the 90-strong staff of personal paper usage, and significantly reduced print volumes – the equivalent of 62 trees. 

The new system also saves time as staff can now easily print to any device on site, reducing queuing; and document security has been maximised as printing is only released when an authorised card is presented to a device, eliminating print errors and the risk of sensitive documents being left on machines in line with GDPR legislation.

Saltdean Primary’s Business Manager, Mark Woodley, says: “For a school of our size to save £6,000 in a year is quite incredible and the change has been really well received by staff, many of whom have said to me they have noticed the reduction in paper use throughout the school.”

He adds: “SOS Systems always do their best to save us money and the savings they have achieved for us have allowed us to find a major computer replacement programme which means so much to everyone.”

Commercial Director at SOS Systems, Graeme Savage, says: “We love helping all clients save money, but it is especially rewarding when we can help schools.

“The staff at Saltdean have really maximised the benefits of having the latest print hardware and software and should be proud of what they have been able to achieve in such a short space of time.

“The results speak for themselves and Saltdean is a fantastic role model for other schools.”

• Over two-thirds (69 per cent) of UK parents say their kids are more likely to look something up online than ask them for help with schoolwork
• 62 per cent of UK parents say they have, at least once, looked something up online and pretended they already knew the answer when helping their child with schoolwork
• 78 per cent of the UK’s working parents believe tech is helping to balance their careers and parenting lives
• 82 per cent in the UK believe today’s students already have a better understanding of tech than those teaching them

Lenovo, August 1, 2019 – New research released today by Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) shows how education around the world has been positively transformed thanks to smarter technology, creating a generation of independent learners and problem solvers.

The research, which surveyed over 15,000 individuals globally – including the US, Mexico, Brazil, China, India, Japan, UK, Germany, France, and Italy – reveals that over two-thirds of UK parents (69 per cent) say their kids are more likely to look something up online than ask them for help when it comes to a question about schoolwork. The countries where this was most prevalent was India (89 per cent) and China (85 per cent), both of which have also seen a rise in parents using technology to assist with their kids’ learning in recent years[i]. The least was in Germany, at 54 per cent, where according to the Lenovo survey people are reported to be more wary about tech in general, especially in the classroom. However, tech adoption is beginning to become more wide-spread in Germany following an initiative from the government in 2018, to equip more than 40,000[ii] schools with newest computers and software.

Parents depend on tech, too

On the flipside, 62 per cent of UK parents also say they have, at least once, looked something up online and then pretended they already knew the answer when helping their child with schoolwork. This was most common with STEM subjects such as Mathematics (45 per cent) and Science (38 per cent). And this may link to schools too, with 82 per cent in the UK believing today’s students already have a better understanding of tech than those teaching them.

Most UK respondents (83 per cent) agreed that advances in technology in education are helping students perform better in school. Likewise, a substantial majority of working parents (78 per cent) in the UK said current and new technologies encourage more parents to remain in the workforce due to the personal benefits it brings while also enabling them to stay more connected with their families.

Tech empowering a new generation of independent learners

While technology has many positives in aiding learning (use of high-speed Internet, automated translation tools, and accessibility features), 73 per cent of UK parents said they have concerns it could create dependencies in young people, potentially affecting social skills, and 71 per cent in the UK feel it is affecting memory skills of students as well.

On the contrary, 66 per cent of the UK said they trust technology is aiding future generations to be “more independent learners and problem solvers”. This notion was felt lowest in the US (59 per cent) and highest in India, with 91 per cent agreeing, which could be related to the country’s growing reliance on technology to help educate younger generations. A recent report[iii] established that the majority of mothers in India are using smartphones for parenting, with eight in 10 believing technology has made parenting easier. This suggests that parents in the country are seeing the true transformative power of technology, for example how some schools are beginning to adopt VR to create inclusive and immersive learning environments, supporting students facing physical, social or cognitive disabilities.

As for youths themselves, Gen Z and millennials in the UK generally feel that technology has had a positive role in their education, with 31 per cent agreeing it makes it easier to find out about causes or social issues they care about. The sentiment was shared by the general population, too, with almost half (48 per cent) in the UK believing technology will be “extremely important” in solving future challenges in education.

Psychologist and founder of Digital Nutrition, Jocelyn Brewer, comments:

“Not only has much of the curriculum taught across the globe been revamped and updated in recent decades, but pedagogy and ways of learning have shifted as well. Many parents regularly report feeling unequipped to help their children with aspects of study beyond moral support and emotional encouragement to achieve in school.”

“Parenting in a digitally saturated world can pose additional challenges for modern families, as educational technology might feel quite foreign to their own experiences of learning and socialising. Parents might feel overwhelmed and confused about how to best support their children to develop the academic, social-emotional skills that help them achieve life success as well as satisfaction. They are seeking practical and positive support that balances the value of technology to support learning and avoiding sources of distraction.”

Dilip Bhatia, Vice President of User and Customer Experience, Lenovo, commented:

“There is no doubt that the world of education is being transformed due to smart technology, offering children the opportunity to be adventurous and independent learners, who are empowered to find out the right answers themselves. As with everything, it is important to strike the right balance on and offline, but technology can be a uniting force for families. It is also important to remember that some parents are better equipped to offer children answers on educational subjects than others, especially in different regions across the world.”

“However, our technology solutions allow students to experience immersive, active learning that is not confined to the classroom. And so it’s clear to see that world-over, tech is a universal leveler, allowing more children access to a plethora of information sources rather than being reliant on the expertise of adults in their immediate proximity.”

About the research

Lenovo surveyed 15,226 people in eight languages across 10 global markets, including the US, Mexico, Brazil, China, India, Japan, UK, Germany, France and Italy. The respondent sample was nationally representative of the online adult population (18+) in each market.

The survey was conducted March 31^st – April 27^th, 2019 and the overall margin of error is +/- 1 percentage point (at a 95 per cent confidence level); the margin of error within each country is +/- 3 percentage points (at a 95 per cent confidence level). The survey probed respondents on how they view the role of technology in their lives and in society, both today and in the future.

About Lenovo

Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a US$50 billion Fortune Global 500 company, with 57,000 employees and operating in 180 markets around the world. Focused on a bold vision to deliver smarter technology for all, we are developing world-changing technologies that create a more inclusive, trustworthy and sustainable digital society. By designing, engineering and building the world’s most complete portfolio of smart devices and infrastructure, we’re also leading an Intelligent Transformation to create better experiences and opportunities for millions of customers around the world. To find out more, visit https://www.lenovo.com, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Weibo and read about the latest news via our StoryHub.

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