Weston Park Interactive Trails – Feedback

Museums Sheffield

As you may be aware from previous posts, the museum at Weston Park has a number of Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPCs) – essentially computers you can carry around with you, and two interactive trails to accompany the exhibits. The two trails are Ancient Egypt and Animal Adaptation and are aimed at year 6 pupils. This summer the UMPCs have been available for family groups to use during their visit.

The feedback from the primary school and family sessions has been excellent:

“Great way of getting children to interact with the artefacts.”

“Kept them on task and directed their activity, at the same time allowing them to work at their own pace and in any order.”

“Recording answers verbally instead of writing them was much better for the SEN group. Higher achievers could use the audio facility to add expression and be creative, such as making it like a news report.”

If you are interested in taking part in one of the Trails with your class, see the previous post here for details, or contact Pauline Sharkey on 0114 278 2655, pauline.sharkey@museums-sheffield.org.uk.

Science Trail

Weather Enquiry at Meadowhead

Year 7 geography students at Meadowhead School investigated the best place to put a new bench in the school grounds using Glofiish M700 Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). They used WildData software to log information at each site, such as temperature, wind direction and aspect, as well as taking photos of the sites. This was collated and transferred into Excel for analysis in the classroom.

The majority of the students enjoyed the experience, with all of them keen to do a future project using the PDAs. Generally they found it better than using pen and paper, “because it’s more active”, although some were nervous about dropping the equipment. There were some technical difficulties, with the screen being hard to read in the sunlight, and a couple of PDAs froze, but the pupils managed to complete all the tasks well. Matt Podbury, teacher of Geography at Meadowhead, enjoyed the experience, adding that “the students were very responsive.”

Weston Park Interactive Primary Trails

There are now two possible trails that can be completed by primary classes at Weston Park using Ultra Mobile Computers (UMPCs). There is the History Trail, looking at the museum’s collection of Ancient Egyptian artefacts, and a Science Trail, which investigates animal adaptation. The trails are aimed at year 6 pupils, with students working in small groups to complete interactive exercises and record their findings.

There will be an INSET afternoon at the museum on the 24th June (12.45-16.00) for year 6 teachers. The session is free and supply cover will be paid for. The INSET will provide teachers with an opportunity to follow the animal adaptation trail, learn how to use the UMPCs and provide feedback on the trail.

From September 2008, Museums Sheffield will only offer the UMPC sessions as part of a full day package (the other half of the day will be a led workshop about the same curriculum area) for which there will be a charge. As an attendee of the INSET day, you will be able to book your class onto the full day package free of charge in the next school year. Alternatively, you may bring your class for the free half-day session this summer term.

• To find out more about the UMPC sessions or to book a place on the INSET afternoon, please contact:

Jacqueline O’Neil, E-Learning Co-ordinator
0114 2782653
jacqueline.o’neil@museums-sheffield.org.uk

• To book a half-day session for your class to attend this summer term, please contact:

Pauline Sharkey, Learning Bookings Administrator, 0114 2782655

The UMPC project has been supported by the South Yorkshire e-Learning Programme and Sheffield South CLC, and funded by the European Union Social Fund.

Science revision for SATs using PDAs

Fifty-one year 6 pupils from Sir Harold Jackson Primary School took part in a project to revise what they have learnt in science lessons using Glofiish M700 PDAs (personal digital assistants – i.e. small, handheld computers) last week. They worked in small groups, following a trail around the school, with experiments and questions on their surroundings at 6 stations. For example they answered questions on the life cycle of the frog at the pond, and grappled with forces in the adventure playground.

Despite the showery weather, all of the pupils reported that they enjoyed it. One pupil said she enjoyed it “because you could get involved and experiment with the items.” Another said “it is good to be outside for learning and it’s a really fun idea.”

The year 6 teachers were all agreed that it was good revision and the pupils were engaged throughout.

If you are interested in undertaking in a similar project, contact Catherine at the CLC (0114 2587728).

Ancient Egypt Trail

SSCLC have been working with the South Yorkshire e-Learning Programme (SYeLP) to create an Ancient Egypt Trail at Weston Park Museum using ultra-mobile computers (UMPCs). The computers are smaller than a laptop, and are ideal for carrying around the museum to complete the work. SYeLP created some interactive content to go on the computers, including images of exhibits, videos of the curator, and interactive quizzes and games to help the pupils learn. Pupils recorded their voices to answer questions about what they learnt.

A class of year 6 pupils trialled the Trail last term, and they really enjoyed using the computers. Their teacher said “Giving the children a chance to record their voices really focussed them on what they were trying to say.”

A number of primary teachers will be attending a training session on using the Trail on the 22nd October at the museum.

Photo by Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust