College boosts core subjects

Released 12/03/2009

Technology is used to engage students in science and maths

By 2014, Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants to double the number of secondary school students taking triple science. He also emphasised the economic importance of protecting the investment in science. So how can schools use technology to help engage students in subjects such as science and maths?

Everest Community College, a secondary school with 535 students and increasing up to 750 within the next few years, has introduced interactive technology into a range of year groups across the curriculum to add an element of enjoyment.

Oliver May, science teacher, uses Qwizdom's learner response system to run warm-up quizzes at the beginning of science lessons, establishing what students have understood from previous lessons. He comments: "It's a particularly useful teaching aid for topics such as 'the rock cycle' or 'the brain' which have limited scope for experiments - a quiz usually works better than note-taking or text-books to get the class going."

This school's advice to other schools when purchasing interactive technology is to spread the cost over 12 departments, making it a cost-effective cross-curricular resource.

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