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Cathy Flynn, Early Years Advisory Teacher, takes a look at how digital cameras can be used in the Foundation Stage

Using ICT for assessment in the Foundation Stage
 

 Practitioners in the Foundation Stage will be familiar with using post-it notes to record assessments and may also use digital cameras to take photographs of children and their work, to provide evidence of their achievements.  But have you considered the learning that a photograph can’t capture or provide evidence of?  Have you ever thought of using digital video to capture those moments?

Six Oxfordshire Foundation Stage settings have recently taken part in a nationally funded research project to investigate how digital video can be used to support assessment practices.  Due to its accessibility, ease of use and ‘child-proofness’ we decided to use the digital movie maker or digital blue camera to take video clips of children and their work. 

The aims of the project were to develop current observational assessment practices through the use of ICT, to capture evidence of pupil learning, particularly in the areas of Communication, Language and Literacy  (CLL) and Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED) and to use videoconferencing to communicate between the settings.

Though the aims of the project were the same for each setting, each of the Foundation Stage settings involved found a different focus for their use of digital video with some fascinating results, with all of the practitioners feeling that the use of digital video had enhanced their practice. 

The findings from the project highlight some of the ways in which the use of digital video can enhance assessment practices.  These include:

·           Focussing on a particular area of the setting and recording children’s progress over time, for example role play area, workshop area, circle time sessions

·           Providing practitioners with more comprehensive evidence of children’s achievements

·           Tracking particular children about whom there may be concerns and focussing on their behaviour and interactions

·           Using video clips as training tools, including moderation of assessment observations and using them to discuss how children’s learning can be moved forward

·           Annotating video clips with the evidence they provide of a child’s achievements in a particular area of the Foundation Stage curriculum

·           Sharing video clips with parents, to demonstrate how their child has settled in to the setting, made progress to help to explain to parents ways in which they can support their child’s development

·           Enabling children to use digital video to review their own performance, particularly in the area of physical development

·           Children can use the cameras to make records of their own work

Children’s own photographs as a record of their temporary sculptures

Other findings from the project identified that:

There were two particular areas that several settings captured very successfully.  One was children sustaining their concentration over a period of time, an action that could not be captured so effectively in any other way.  The second was children’s physical development, particularly in giving children opportunities to watch and review their performances.

·           Digital photographs can be taken using the digital video camera and annotated to store as evidence records in pupil profiles

·           In school settings, practitioners have shared their use of digital video for assessment with teachers in KS1 and 2, where teachers have used digital video for recording and evaluating work in PE and Speaking and Listening

·           Videoconferencing provides an excellent opportunity for pupils to develop their own speaking and listening skills, talking and interacting with children in another setting

One of the crucial factors in the success of the project was the time practitioners took to watch the video clips back, either alone, reflecting on their own practice or children’s achievements, with other members of staff, discussing assessments and observations or with children, promoting recall skills, recognising themselves and others and evaluating performance.

If any schools or nurseries are interested in developing assessment practices in the Foundation Stage through the use of digital video please contact the ICT team for more information.  The full report and case studies from the project will be available on the Primary Strategy website.

There were two particular areas that several settings captured very successfully.  One was children sustaining their concentration over a period of time, an action that could not be captured so effectively in any other way.  The second was children’s physical development, particularly in giving children opportunities to watch and review their performances.