Nicola McCorkindale is new to digital video technology but is running an after school video club for eight of her primary 3 children. Together they are learning to use a digital video camera and Pinnacle, an editing software package. The club is meeting for the fourth time and the children in the club are acting as mentors to other primary 3 children, passing on their filming and editing skills. She aims to use digital video to support story making.
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Teacher profile
Nicola McCorkindale has been teaching for six years, all of them at Gardenrose Primary School. She is currently teaching a primary 3 class. She uses ICT daily in her teaching. There's a PC permanently in her classroom and children use maths and language software (for example Number Plan, Word Shark and Tizzy's Toybox). She devised an interview project to teach word processing skills - children conducted audio interviews with school staff based on a questionnaire they had drawn up on the computer.
Nicola went on a three-day residential Masterclass but otherwise has developed her ICT skills by exploring the technology in her own time. There is an ICT coordinator at school and the education authority ICT coordinator is also very helpful, particularly with the video club project.
School profile
Gardenrose Primary is one of three primary schools in the small town of Maybole in South Ayrshire. The school is a modern one storey building with glorious views to the hills from the playground. There are 209 pupils, 33 of whom have free school lunches and 3 are recorded as having special needs. There are no pupils with English as a second language. The school has 25 PCs – at least one in every classroom – and a new interactive whiteboard which is not yet in use. Part of the headteacher’s general remit is to act as ICT coordinator for the school and the education authority’s ICT coordinator is also available to offer help and advice. The council provides a one-day ICT training course for staff who can also do a voluntary course leading to the European Computer Driving Licence.
