Nursery World - Learning & Development: ICT

Apps are becoming the latest must-have in helping practitioners with observation, assessment and planning, says Mary Evans.

The early years sector, which has not always been the swiftest at adopting the latest technology, is getting to grips with using apps for observations, assessment and planning against the revised EYFS.

There is already a range of applications available, and doubtless more are being developed. Broadly their aim is the same: to enable practitioners to observe, make notes, take a photograph, or make a short video, tag them together and file them electronically in a child's learning journey, thus doing away with scribbled scraps of notes and saving on the printing, cutting and sticking of photographs.

'It is super; it is a time-saving toy,' says Rebecca Chere, Foundation Stage co-ordinator at Engayne Primary School, Havering where staff are using the 2Build A Profile app. The app has just received recognition for its innovation and usefulness, having been voted the 'Best Early Years Resource or Equipment' in the Education Resources Awards, organised by BESA, the trade association for educational suppliers.

'It works like a technological Post-it note,' explains Ms Chere. 'You can log the spontaneous observation as if on a Post-it, but it will automatically be filed to the individual child's profile, whereas previously the observer had to then file the Post-it.

'The children have started using it to evidence their own work. If they have been working on a construction and it comes to the end of the day and it's time to clear up, they can take a photo of what they achieved. There is a facility to email images, but we are not using that just yet. We don't want to rush to use it all at once but we want to use it and develop with it.'

Scott Parkin, of Formative Data Solutions, is a former deputy head at Brackenhill Primary School, Bradford. He worked with a Yorkshore developer to create the Early to Primary Essence app and says the system is more time-efficient. 'It archives all the information that is logged so the practitioner can track learning sequences. If a child had been doing some mark-making, then three or four months later when the child is maybe beginning to write his name, you can call that up.

'You can also use it for benchmarking so the app could be used by the council to see where training is needed.'

Apps are also providing effective ways of communicating with families and enabling parents to become more involved with their child's learning via their smart phones and tablets.

Wendy McCormack, executive head teacher of Christ Church and Lewis Street Primary Schools, Salford, which uses the Orbit app, says, 'Orbit precisely targets one of my main concerns as head teacher, which is parental engagement in learning.

'I have seen first-hand the positive impact of discussing learning outcomes with a class teacher at 8.15am; sharing learning via Orbit streamed in from parents from home and then going into the playground at 8.30am to discuss this with parents and carers.'

QUALITY AND SECURITY

Ms Chere believes she and her colleagues are 'capturing more' in their observations now. 'We have free flow, so sometimes I am in the position to log an observation of a child from another class and that is now logged automatically for that child's teacher to see, whereas before I would have had to pass on a Post-it. As co-ordinator, when I am looking at an overview of all 91 children in the year group, I find the Excel spreadsheets thrown up by the app are very easy to use. You can see where evidence is lacking.'

However, purchasing an app will not make poor practitioners better at observation and assessment, warns Jan Dubiel, national development manager of training and resource company Early Excellence.

'I have never used these in situ,' he says, 'but my perspective is that something like this is only as good as the understanding of the person who uses it. It is undeniable that this technology will save time, be more manageable and be much more visual. The key is that the people using these apps have to have a thorough understanding of assessment and what it is for.'

He also voices concerns that the apps might lead practitioners to place undue reliance on the non-statutory EYFS guidance Development Matters, as some apps are mapped against the document.

'Development Matters is in no way a definitive view of child development,' he says, 'and so practitioners should not feel "bound" by the statements, but should bring their judgment and expertise to any assessment to ensure accuracy and authenticity. If a particular app relies on Development Matters to record judgements then this could be a problem. I would refer anyone to the bottom of every Development Matters page which states clearly that it should not be used as a tick list.'

All the apps in various ways address the issue of security in the wake of the Vanessa George case. For example, Mr Parkin says Early Essence cannot be used privately - only on the setting's device. 'Nothing is stored on the device. It encrypts the information logged on to it and sends it straight into the system. All users have a unique password and user name and the administrator can track at all times what users are logging.'

CASE STUDY

Staff at Mildand Road Nursery School and Children's Centre, Bradford, began piloting the Early Essence app last October. Initially head teacher Sharon Hogan asked for volunteers and now they are looking at extending the pilot to involve all the staff for at least some of their key children with a view to full implementation in September.

The Ofsted Outstanding setting became involved for a number of reasons, including as a means of developing stronger partnership working with families.

Ms Hogan says, 'When we were talking about it with our governing body, one of our governors said she had a granddaughter living in Sweden. Her daughter had given her a password so she can log online in Bradford and see what her granddaughter is doing at nursery in Sweden. Many of our children have extended families in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Eastern Europe. We thought it would be really exciting to be able to help them make those connections.

'We were also aware we were not making the best use of digital technology. I am quite a keen photographer and these days I rarely print a photograph, but here we were printing, cutting photographs and observations out and sticking them on to paper.

'We had a concern: the children enjoy looking at their records of achievement so would they enjoy doing so using digital technology? They are absolutely comfortable with it. I had a two-year-old in here with a touch phone scrolling through it.'

Early years practitioner Catherine Fortey, who has been using the app to record eight children, aged three to four, has just added another seven. 'I had never used an iPhone or iPad before but it was very easy to get to grips with it. The biggest benefit is I write an observation in the classroom and it goes straight to the child's learning journey. In my PPA time I maybe add in some extra aspects or statements about the EYFS and tag them to the observation but I don't have to do any extra writing. I don't have to spend my PPA time in a mad rush to write up observations and print and stick photographs. There is more time to reflect on observations and think about planning. It's then possible to go back and add to observations and record longer learning journeys. The key is the pedagogy and the quality of the observations of the practitioners making them.

'We are hoping to extend it to all the staff and all the children which will be exciting. People will be submitting observations on other staff members' key children, which gives an element of an internal moderation of people's observations as well as a shared perspective on children.'

Security is observed. The setting asked parents' consent before using the system for recording their children. Only Ms Hogan has the facility to look at all the children's records. She will issue parents with individual passwords so they can log on and look at their child's record and add information from home.

Ms Hogan thinks the app will be useful in the development of the two-year-old offer as family support is such a major element of it. But what impact does the app have on provision? She says, 'Fundamentally, it is always about the quality of practice in a setting and the practitioners and the strategies you use to ensure that staff are confident in making observations and about using their observations. You have to do the observation; you have to make the assessment. That principle remains the same.'

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