I had the great pleasure of visiting Digital Leaders at Menston Primary recently and discussing what activities they had been engaged with since attending day one of the Bradford Digital Leader Academy programme. Oscar, Ellie, Sam, James, Alfie and Imogen were all excited to share their experiences and had clearly been very busy in the few weeks since the training.
They had decided E-safety was an area they wanted to focus on and had split into three subgroups looking to research and provide information to KS1, years 3 & 4 and years 5 & 6.
The year 5 & 6 focus is around use of social media and they had identified Snapchat and Facebook as specific content they wanted to research further. They were keen to help children manage and protect their personal information and understand the importance of talking to a trusted before sharing information online.
The year 3 and 4 emphasis was on playing online games safely and the importance of using nicknames and avatars to protect their real world identity.
In year 1 they were investigating simple tips to help children use the Internet safely and access appropriate content.
Once they have finished their research and development they will create resources and presentations to share with each of their target audiences through a face to face activity directly with the classes in each target group. I look forward to finding out how these activities went through Edmodo.
The Digital Leaders have been giving the responsibility of being the school ‘blogging team’. They will work with teachers and pupils across the school creating blog posts showcasing the activities the children are engaged with at school aimed at parents. They will also support this information sharing agenda by creating content for a regular year 4 newsletter.
The children meet on a weekly basis to share ideas and work on their planned activities and have shared with their year group their roles and responsibilities. They are also in the process of developing Digital Leader badges and Lanyards that will identify them throughout schools as Digital Leaders.
I was very impressed with the quality and the quantity of the work undertaken at Menston Primary school in such a short time period and look forward to regular updates and awarding Digital Leader badges and certificates in Edmodo throughout the year.
Well done Menston Digital Leaders!