BEHIND THE HEADLINES INNOVATION
The academy director ABDUL CHOHAN Director of the Essa Academy, Bolton, Lancashire HIS VIEW
You might have heard of the Essa Academy. It made headlines, and drew criticism, when it bought iPod touches for its students in 2009. “The first criticism was that the children would simply go on eBay to sell them,” says Abdul Chohan, a director at the academy. “The parents were sceptical, saying it was a music device, but it’s so much more than that. So we invited them in and showed them what we were planning to do.” The iPods – none of which were sold on eBay – were part of a wider drive to turn Essa into a ‘learning environment’. “We didn’t want to be a school where the kids come in to be batchprocessed according to their date of manufacture. We wanted to be something more intelligent that fulfils the needs of all the different students in a classroom,” he says. Technology was a key part of this, although not the only focus. The staff had to get used to a new way of thinking. “Just because you now use PowerPoint to project onto a screen a worksheet that you used to print out for your students, doesn’t mean that you’re using technology effectively,” Abdul says. “For the leadership team it was about moving staff on from that point and saying: ‘Let’s see what we can do, let’s put YouTube clips in.’ ” The students were the first to cotton on to this new way of 24
We didn’t want to be a school where the kids come in to be batch-processed according to their date of manufacture
The computing teacher PETER KEMP MIS development manager and computing teacher, Christ the King Sixth Form College, South London
learning, Abdul adds. “You show new equipment to students and they get it straight away. ” The academy’s latest innovation is a move away from traditional textbooks and towards applications that allow teachers to compile their own learning resources, then upload them to individual students’ mobile devices.
HIS VIEW
“In this country we have pretty good provision of ICT. We have fast, modern-ish computers and powerful software including Microsoft Office. We have students who are keen to learn and love technology. And we have staff who want to deliver lessons that are
LEADERSHIP FOCUS ● JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012
22-25 Behind the headlines.indd 24
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