Learning Score - a tool for planning

I've been playing around with John Davitt's Learning Score since BETT at the start of term. I like it very much! Here are two examples of how I have used the tool and my thoughts about it.

Year 8 Impacts of Tourism Lesson

This lesson used a range of media: two video clips and an example annotated PowerPoint slide. Learning Score makes it easy to group resources together. This is a great help during the lesson as double clicking the icon launches the resource within Learning Score. I like this aspect of the programme very much! It also negates the problem of changing file formats in order to satisfy PowerPoint.

I also like the way that showing this at the start of the lesson is a different way of sharing the learning objectives. It provides a visual overview of the lesson, which the young people I have spoken to value.

The tool also has a classroom management impact. In this case, one of the classes was 'lively'. Having the Learning Score displayed behind me meant that the class could see the impact of their off-task behaviour: the time spent on the computers (an activity which they enjoy) was reduced. The students really liked seeing what their lesson looked like. One class even made modifications to the lesson as it went along as they thought they needed more explanation from me.

From the planning point of view, this is my kind of tool. The easy drag and drop interface works well, and it is easy to build up the lesson. In addition, any changes to the lesson brought about through assessment and evaluation, can easily be incorporated. In addition, the annotation tool allows notes to be taken. I used this to note that some classes hadn't met all of the learning objectives. Making a quick note meant that I could review and, most importantly, act upon this information later on.

I found that the two screen set up in my classroom meant that I could make more use of the tool. I also think that using Learning Score would be a great way to encourage trainee teachers to get to grips with lesson pace through the Play mode. I intend to do this after half term. Learning Score has great potential in removing the stress of lesson planning for new and trainee teachers.

PGCE Training Session

I was having trouble with panning this 2 hour session. By playing around with the icons in Learning Score, I was able to shift around the learning activities. If anything, using the tool in this way encouraged me to be more creative with the session. Again, the ease of linked to resources was a major plus point. In addition, I also used the play view to provide an overview from time to time during the session.

General Points.

I'm not a huge fan relying on online tools, especially if they are free. This is because you need to be connected to the internet and free tools have a nasty habit of disappearing. Learning Score is multi-platform and runs from a desktop version using Adobe Air (which also runs Prezi, Tweetdeck and a few other applications). I would have no problem in subscribing to this tool, and have installed Learning Score on some department machines.

I haven't fully explored the 'Play' mode yet. This is mainly because I tend not to stick to planned lessons to the letter. This is no problem with the tools though, as it is very easy to navigate to the resources that you need.

Learning Scores are easy to save and move viw Dropbox, although (and I may have missed this) I would like to see an option to publish the plans online. This could encourage sharing of resources and lessons etc. However, this is a minor niggle when compared to the benefits of using the tool

The only real downside (and it is a very minor one) is that I didn't like the printed output. In reality, I tend not to print out much these days, but it would be nice to have a slightly better formatted lesson plan. This wouldn't put me off subscribing though.

So, in conclusion, if you haven't used Learning Score yet, I thoroughly recommend it.