Empowering Teachers in a Digital Age
We translate the theory derived from research into actionable strategies for the classroom using apps, platforms and resources that are simple to use and available for free or at a very low cost to all teachers.
We will show you how to combine these tools in simple but creative ways to get the most out of them and to maximise their effect in the classroom.
However, we haven’t abandoned the physical stuff that works in the classroom. We combine digital tools with physical resources, like good old paper, to enable deep learning and rich encoding of concepts.
Evidence-informed Practice
The term ‘evidence-informed’ is being used ever more frequently in education and Government-funded education in particular. It is considered to refer to, “practice that is influenced by robust research evidence” (Coldwell et al., 2017).
There is an increasing expectation that educational planning and delivery are anchored in research-based approaches.
In this 2017 blog post, Daniel Muijs, the Head of Research at Ofsted during the time EIF was being created, reveals the research base that underpins the current inspection framework. The language of cognitive science is finding its way into Ofsted’s inspection handbooks.
Arguably, it is wise for all Government-funded providers to ensure their teams are conversant with the basic concepts associated with cognitive science and how these can inform planning and delivery in a beneficial way.
The Colourful Box approaches are ‘evidence-informed’.
We translate the theory derived from research into actionable strategies for the classroom using apps, platforms, resources and strategies that are simple to use and available for free or at a very low cost to all teachers.
A Colourful Box facilitator will come into your centre and frame the need for a transition to ‘evidence-informed’ teaching practice in a way that highlights creativity and possibility in the classroom, rather than just another onerous requirement that your teams would have to respond to in a begrudging and perfunctory way.
Good Teachers Have Good Instincts...
Many teachers demonstrate the characteristics of good practice without ever having undertaken a training programme, or for that matter, without familiarity with the principles of cognitive science. Good teachers seem to intuitively evolve effective strategies based on keen instinct coupled with an effective reflective capacity.
This isn’t really all that surprising. After all, the transference of knowledge and skills is inherent in human communities: “Humans are intensely social with powerfully evolved procedures for obtaining information from others and for providing information to others” (Sweller, van Merriënboer and Paas, 2019).
Good teachers seem to have this innate capability. However, every teacher we have ever known has inevitably improved their practice when they have been familiarised with effective strategies, and in particular, those considered to be ‘evidence-informed’.
Although a teacher can maintain a very effective practice without a working knowledge of the principles of cognitive science and educational research, we would argue that embracing evidence-informed practices will inevitably benefit the teacher and improve the efficacy of their practice.
Deliberate Simplicity
The resources that we use in training sessions and the tools that we use to create them are deliberately simple, ubiquitous, low-cost ones (ideally free). This is so that teachers can apply the knowledge and skills they acquire to plan and create their own resources both during and after the training session.
We use a variety of digital tools in creative ways to inspire and educate. We will encourage teachers to utilise digital tools and platforms in playful and inventive ways to enhance the learning experience, drive engagement and to derive valuable data for formative assessment purposes.
Rather than treating digital apps and platforms as standalone tools, we show teaching teams how these can be combined in simple but powerful ways, for maximum impact in physical and digital classrooms.
We offer face-to-face training and coaching, supported by online materials and additional training courses. These provide extra support and facilitate ongoing development. Wiliam (2016), stated that “learning requires forgetting” and in this way, we assume teachers will not retain all the information from their training sessions. However, convenient online modules allow teachers to revisit the material and reconsolidate it more effectively in long-term memory, building rich schemata in the process.
Our simple, multimedia instructional materials adhere to principles advocated in Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. We can teach you how to make your slideshows much more effective by revealing simple approaches and techniques informed by a comprehensive research base. Naturally, we will also cover the relevant theories that underpin these approaches, for example, dual coding and Cognitive Load Theory.
Digital Wizardry
Not all great teachers are experts in the digital realm and some digital wizards aren't actually great teachers. We believe great teachers are highly skilled in managing the complex human interactions that are an inherent part of the learning process.
However, we can help to build the skills, knowledge and confidence in digital pedagogy that great teachers will implement highly effectively in the classroom, particularly as formative assessment methods, to improve their practice further.
