The DENapalooza London event was hosted on-board HMS Belfast by Discovery Education, a fast growing provider of digital content and professional development for schools.
Over 65 teachers from the UK’s leading digital schools attended the conference, which revealed the latest strategies for using digital media in the classroom. They were joined by colleagues from Discovery’s global network of education professionals with teachers from Sweden, Canada and the US.
Harbour Primary School (Newhaven, Sussex) staff: Matthew Wright, teacher, and Christine Terrey, Head teacher
Some of the latest educational technologies were featured at the event. Head teacher Christine Terrey, from Harbour Primary School in Newhaven, Sussex, led a fascinating session on radio communications and green screen technology, and showed how the special-effects technique inspires her pupils.
Christine commented: “We’ve been using interactive technologies such as green screen filming in our lessons for some time now, and they have had a huge impact in bringing learning to life for our pupils. We very much enjoyed sharing our knowledge with other progressive digital schools from across the UK.”
Coding was also a key focus of the day, and teacher Phil Nottingham from Springwell Park School in Merseyside, spoke about his school’s use of Discovery Education Coding – which allows pupils to create and share their own apps in a matter of minutes.
He added: “There was an amazing atmosphere at the conference, and it was great to connect with other teachers who are as excited about teaching with technology as I am. I hope that this will be the first of many Discovery Education conferences in the UK; the event really does provide a fantastic platform for teachers to share the latest edtech ideas and helps us all to prepare our pupils for the challenges of the future.”
The teachers attending the conference were from schools across London, the South East, Yorkshire and the Midlands, and all use pioneering digital technologies and content in their classrooms.
The event was the first time that a DENapalooza conference has been held in the UK. The event has already been running in North America for 10 years and the annual tour across US and Canada typically attracts over 1000 teachers.
Susanne Thompson, Vice President and Head of Schools Partnerships at Discovery Education said: “The demand for good quality, curriculum-matched digital content has never been higher, and we are delighted to be helping so many schools to transform their classrooms into dynamic digital learning environments. The Discovery Education Community in the UK is really growing, and gives teachers access to a global network of education professionals who are passionate about bringing teaching to life through digital media.”
The Discovery Education Community, which reaches over 2 million teachers worldwide, is one of the fastest growing online networks for teachers in the UK. The Community connects members in their own school, across the country and around the world through events, networking, idea-sharing and inspiration.