Digital Resources and Opportunities for Schools and Educators

TeenTech helps young people understand the opportunities in the science, technology and engineering industries, no matter what their gender or social background. Their lively, focused age appropriate initiatives help young people 8-18 understand their potential and raise their aspirations.

An in-person Lancashire Festival for 300 young people is planned at UCLan for 20th June 2024 and a online event for 1000s of young people on the 6th Feb 2024 –  More details available here or talk to your Enterprise Coordinator.

More information on the Awards Scheme and City of Tomorrow resources, can be found on the TeenTech website or YouTube Channel.

Watch the highlights of the 2023 Festival at UCLan below.

CyberFirst. Part of National Cyber Security Centre and aim to develop the UK’s next generation of cyber professionals through their student bursaries, courses for 11-17 year olds and competitions. There are a range of nationally run activities and resources (numbers 1-4 below) and locally In4 Group and Lancaster University run a CyberFirst Programme for Schools and Colleges (5+).

• Girls Competition – CyberFirst competition for teams of four Year 8 girls – entries open in September each year. Need to be supported by a responsible adult who can act as the team guardian but this person needs no knowledge of cyber or be an IT or computer science teacher.
• CyberFirst’s Programme of free Summer face-to-face and online courses – during the summer holidays CyberFirst has a programme of opportunities to help young people explore their interests in tech. These are available for a range of year groups. Most are held on line but the Advanced Residentials for Year 12 students are held at Universities around the country – with one at Lancashire University. To be the first to hear about these residentials and to ensure your students get early access to signing up for them – sign up to The Smallpeice Trust Newsletter .
• CyberFirst Student Bursary – Offers undergraduates studying any degree at a UK University up to £4,000 per year and paid cyber skills training to help a young person kick start a career in cyber security.  Annual application process – usually between September and November.
• Cyber Explorers – “a fun, free and interactive learning platform for future digital superstars”. Aimed at KS3. Alongside the platform, there are a series of free teacher resources which can be accessed separately and including lessons plans with links to interactive elements such as Kahoot! quizzes, and homework activities. Through the Cyber Explorers site you can book a free virtual Cyber Explorer Workshop for your school

CyberFirst Schools and Colleges North West Programme Guide – to find out more about what is available to you in the North West – click on the programme guide below. For example, schools could benefit from a CyberFirst Day for students which can be hosted in Salford at Host, on the Quays or some are hosted at Lancaster University. Schools and Colleges can apply for CyberFirst Schools/College Recognition – which brings a whole host of benefits. And there are big 400-500 young people Empower events, held once a year in the County – premier events which bring young women and CyberFirst employer partners together for an action packed inspirational day of tech activities and meeting inspirational women in tech.

The STEM Ambassador programme is THE STEM Engagement programme in the UK, funded by Central Government and facilitated Nationally by STEM Learning UK. Lancashire and Cumbria’s STEM Hub works closely with our Science Learning Partnerships in Cumbria and Lancashire to create a unified provision of STEM support to education and business.

Through the STEM Ambassador programme volunteers are recruited from STEM backgrounds and industry. These volunteers are passionate about helping to raise awareness of the amazing opportunities within Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths and are FREE for schools and other youth organisations to utilise.

• FREE for teachers (Primary and Secondary) and Youth Organisations to join
• FREE to request support for your organisation
• FREE Industrial Links and CPD Opportunities

For information and to sign up click here.

The iDEA Award (The Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award) is described as an international programme that helps you develop digital, enterprise and employability skills for free.  A student (staff or parent) completes a series of online challenges and collect badges when successful. Each badge has points and 250 points gets you your Bronze Award, an industry-recognised award. Read more about it here.

Get two free points by claiming the Lancashire Digital Skills badge by clicking ‘Redeem’ and entering the badge code:  D1G1LANCS18UP if you’re 18 or over, and D1G1LANCS18UN if you’re under 18.

The National Centre for Computing Excellence has a range of options to support teachers to upskill to teach GCSE Computer Science confidently.

Computer Science Accelerator Programme

The Computer Science Accelerator Programme is a supportive development programme to help teachers confidently teach GCSE Computer Science – designed for teachers from non-specialist backgrounds who want to improve their knowledge of computer science and teach it at GCSE Level.  Forty hours of CPD online and some face to face training. Cover paid for.

Bursary

Bursaries to state-funded schools and colleges across England that cover the cost of time out of the classroom for teachers attending CPD. These bursaries can contribute towards associated costs, including travel and supply cover. (£1500)

Online CPD

Online courses hosted by FutureLearn are available.

Network of Computing Hubs 

The National Centre for Computing Education is establishing a network of up to 40 Computing Hubs to deliver a school-led system of leadership of education across England.

Tech We Can is a programme of free learning materials to be used by teachers to inspire young people about a future career in tech. It is aimed a 5-14 year olds. Ranging from animated lessons for 5+ ages, on-demand lessons for ages 8-14 and lesson packs for ages 10-13 – covering subjects from art and geography to music and drama. They also have role model videos, virtual assemblies, after school club resources covering tech for cyber security, tech for space, tech for helping people and more.

Changing the ratio from Tech She Can on Vimeo.

Computer Education: Machine Learning – AI for Kids

A HP Tech Takes /… article on AI for kids is a great resource to use to start teaching about what AI and Machine learning is. After an introduction to what AI/Machine Learning is and its history, the article links to 30 other resources including lots of useful video clips. Click here to read the article.

Thanks to Aubree for sharing this article.

EXA Foundation

A variety of tools and lesson plans to help teach children about connected technologies are available on their website. In addition, EXA Foundation have an online platform aimed at supporting those teaching and studying the J276 Computer Science GCSE, helping teachers effectively utilise flipped learning techniques.

CompTIA’s future//of>>tech is a free & growing library of resources to help the creators of tomorrow understand the basics of emerging technologies such as big data, cybersecurity, digital health, internet of things and artificial intelligence. Useful for everyone from young people and parents to teachers, tutors and lecturers, businesses with digital apprentices (I think you get the idea!).

CompTIA will be adding future technologies so keep checking this out.

Check out this video cyber attack on a casino.

IBM SkillsBuild SoftwareDownloads

The IBM SkillsBuild Software Downloads, in IBM’s words, allows and encourages faculty, students and researchers at accredited academic institutions to leverage IBM tools, courses, and other resources in the classroom. Their mission is to “to enable students to graduate with direct hands-on experience on “industrial strength” tools that will help them in their chosen career.” Lots of resources to look at under the additional resources tab including:

• Machine Learning for Kids –Teach a computer to play a game!

There are many free digital or online educational resources available to use for home learning, online learning or blended learning – some focused on digital skills and others across a wide range of subjects (but still help develop confidence with the use of devices and the internet).

BBC Bitesize – help with homework, revision and learning -lots of videos, guides, activities and quizzes.

BBC Teach – Free website and home to thousands of videos arranged by age group and subject (and mapped to curriculum).

Be Internet Legends website features an interactive online ‘Interland’ game for primary school children, to teach them how to stay safe online, and a full list of our PSHE accredited teacher resources.

Big History Project – Aimed at Secondary age, Big History examines our past, explains our present, and imagines our future.

Blockly – Blockly Games is a series of educational games that teach programming. It is designed for children who have not had prior experience with computer programming fun and free.

Blue Peter Badges – A list of all the Blue Peter badges you can apply for and how to go about applying for them.

British Council – Classroom and teaching resources for English language learning.

Cbeebies Radio – Fun radio stories, poems, songs and listening activities for babies, toddlers and young children. Listen online or download the podcasts to take away.

Crash Course  – A US YouTube channel with video courses covering Astronomy to History and Anatomy & Physiology USA high school curriculum topics but still useful content.

Crash Course Kids – A US Youtube channel for younger kids that contains a bi-weekly show from the producers of Crash Course. Its USA gradeschool science but still very relevant in the UK. They look at Earth, Habitats, Space, Chemical Reactions, Engineering, and much more.

Crest Awards – CREST is a scheme that inspires young people to think and behave like scientists and engineers. Great awards scheme.

Dorling Kindersley – DK Find Out – Learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries

Duolingo – Learn 30+ languages online with bite-size lessons based on science. Web and/or app based.

Futurelearn – Free to access 100s of courses. Payment is only required to upgrade if you need a certificate to verify your completion of a course (own account from age 14+ but younger learners can use a parent account).

GoNoodle – GoNoodle engages kids with movement and mindfulness videos created by child development experts. Available for free at school, home, and everywhere kids are!

Khan Academy – Video lessons on a range of topics from science to maths for all ages. Excellent learning module on how to be an Imagineer!

Minecraft – If you head over to the Minecraft Marketplace, you will find some lessons from the Minecraft: Education Edition in a brand new Education category. These educational worlds can be played on your own, with siblings, parents or friends. From the comfort of your home, you can tour the International Space Station or even explore the inside of a human eye. They have also included ten worlds from our Marketplace creator community!

Mystery Science – Mystery Science offers free ‘open and go’ lessons that inspire kids to love and engage with science.

National Geographic Kids – Find amazing facts about animals, science, history and geography, along with fun activities, competitions, games and more.

Nature Detectives – From the Woodland Trust… some ‘out of the house activities’ a lot of these that can be done in a garden.

Openlearn – The home of free learning from The Open University… 60 second tasters through to 24 hour courses… mainly targeted at adults but suitable for young adults and students.

Oxford Owl for Home – Oxford Owl was created to support children’s learning both at home and at school. Great number of free resources for Primary age kids.

Prodigy Maths – Engaging, curriculum aligned math platform in USA grades, but good for UK Primary School age.

Project Gutenberg – Free eBooks – Project Gutenberg is a library of over 60,000 free eBooks. Choose among free epub and Kindle eBooks, download them or read them online.

Red Ted Art – Provides easy and fun art and crafts for kids of all ages.

Scratch – Creative coding and computer programming using visuals – great on a tablet or touch device. My kids love this!

Seneca – A homework and revision platform for those revising at GCSE or A level. A huge amount of free revision content. Paid access to higher level material.

Ted Ed – TED Ed is TED’s youth and education initiative. TED Ed helps with ideas of teachers and students around the world. Contains hundreds of good quality animated lessons.

The Artful Parent – A Facebook page of family activities that you can do right now with your family, while you are stuck at home during the coronavirus situation.

The Imagination Tree – A UK Primary School Teacher’s creative art and craft activities for the early years’ kids.

The Kids Should See This – A collection of 4,300+ kid friendly videos, curated for teachers and parents who want to share smarter, more meaningful media in the classroom and at home.

Tinkercad – Tinkercad is a free, easy to use app for 3D design, electronics, and coding.

Toy Theater – Toy Theatre is full of interactive online art, reading & math games for kids. Designed with the needs of kindergarten through third grade.

Wonderopolis – Wonderopolis is a place where natural curiosity and imagination lead to exploration and discovery in learners of all ages. A US oriented site but nevertheless some great content. Each day, they pose an intriguing question—the Wonder of the Day—and explore it in a variety of ways.

YouTube Learning Hub – a YouTube channel collating lots of video resources for teaching.