Be Very Afraid: Pupils showcase their work on connecting with a school in Little Cayman
Two pupils from Stepping Stones, Dominic and Amie were fortunate to represent the school at a National Digital Creativity event called Be Very Afraid in London. The venue for this event was the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and is an ideal setting to hold this prestigious event. Now in its fourth year, Be Very Afraid has attracted a great deal of interest from professionals in Education, policy makers, ministers, the media and also from the gaming world. Stephen Heppell of heppell.net, which runs and organises this annual event, invited 13 schools in the UK to come along and present their work.
This is the third year that Stepping Stones have been involved and they had the opportunity this year, of showcasing their work on connecting with a small learning community on Little Cayman. The pupils demonstrated how collaboration in this way enhances teaching and learning and how this has a direct benefit on the self esteem and confidence of young learners. Arrowe, a 10 year old student at the Little Cayman Education Service, woke very early to join in via video conference, therefore demonstrating the power and delight of Apple's iChat technology. No longer are pupils in the hands of technicians and network administrators for connecting schools via expensive and unwieldy video conferencing equipment.
The Apple iChat software is a very empowering technology for learners in the 21st Century who need and want to be in control of their own learning. This means they need to be empowered to make the connections themselves and build relationships with pupils in the driving seat. During the event which ran for most of the day, we were able to link up with the Minister of Education, Hon. Alden McLaughlin in Grand Cayman. Stephen Heppell, Chair of Trustees and Director of heppell.net, spoke with pupils in Little Cayman and the Minister in a multi-way video conference. Stepping Stones are incredibly fortunate to have established this connection.
This international project is the first of many for Stepping Stones as we hope to connect schools in Africa, Russia and other regions of the world where children are in disadvantaged settings.
Stepping Stones School opened in September 2004 with the intention of providing an education for children with hemiplegia. So far it has changed the lives of children where mainstream education simply hasn't worked.
Read more about the Be Very Afraid event here:
View photographs of the Be Very Afraid event.