Granada Learning's "Simulation Explorer" is unanimous winner at BETT Awards 2006Granada Learning’s Simulation Explorer science program has unanimously won the BETT Award 2006 for Science at Key Stages 1 & 2. Designed to introduce children to computer simulations, the resource follows the criteria set in QCA ICT Unit 3D (Exploring Simulations) and allows children to explore situations that would be difficult or impossible to in practice. Sixty-eight judges reviewed the BETT Award entries on many different criteria, including design and cost-effectiveness, as well as the support of effective learning and teaching styles. Ray Barker, Director of BESA and joint Chair of judges said, “The standard of entries has never been so high for the BETT Awards 2006, but the judges made it clear that there was only one winner – and no shortlist - in the Primary Science category. BESA congratulates Granada Learning for maintaining its consistently high standard of innovative learning materials available to schools in this challenging area.” Simulation Explorer allows children to make changes to conditions in six separate environments and observe the results. This proves especially valuable for real-life activities that are difficult to mimic or take a long time to complete. The exploration aspect encourages children to collaborate with each other, investigate different outcomes, develop discussion skills and progress their high order thinking skills. Jenny Darby, Primary Publisher at Granada Learning, said: “Prior to the development of the program, we found that schools were crying out for high quality simulation software that could enable children to see events that cannot easily be created in the classroom. The areas covered in Simulation Explorer answered a need, and gave a real purpose for using ICT.”
“It was a pleasure to watch the children using the program. One year 5 pupil said, ‘Let's check out our results!’ and, as a group, they clicked the results tab to analyse their findings. It was great listening to their conversation as they discussed their results, made predictions about what might happen and worked together to decide what to try next.” Andrew Thraves, Publishing Director of Granada Learning, said: “ Granada Learning’s products are created by practitioners for use by practitioners, and are extensively trialled within the classroom during the development stages. Importantly, they also fill a real and identified market need. With the Government's renewed focus on promoting innovative e-learning content, we are very pleased that the BETT Awards judging team holds Simulation Explorer in such high regard.” Six different simulations Simulation Explorer features six distinct activities: Alien Plant, Braking Distance, Circuits, Pond Habitat, Throwing Snowballs and Tooth Decay. Each activity can be accessed at two levels, covering the needs of both lower and higher Key Stage 2 pupils. Teachers can also make use of lesson plans provided with the program and extension activities to reinforce learning for pupils. To illustrate how the program works, the Tooth Decay simulation allows children to experiment with changing variables to see how this affects the amount of bacteria on the teeth. This is a powerful way to demonstrate how bacteria causes tooth decay and how this can be avoided. Classroom activities on dental care could not demonstrate the impact of different foods in such a compelling and persuasive way. Extension activities link to graph plotting, predictions and analysis. In this particular simulation, pupils discover:
• When the teeth are brushed after eating a particular food, each 30 second interval reduces the bacteria by the same amount • Brushing for two minutes after the snack removes all the bacteria. Longer brushing times make no difference Further features of Simulation Explorer include: • Spoken questions and instructions guide the children throughout, allowing them to work independently. • Fair testing is at the heart of each simulation as the 'lock' feature encourages children to change only one variable at a time • The program has been designed to help teachers deliver the Exploring Simulations QCA unit from the ICT scheme of work and is especially valuable during the integrated task section where children are asked to explore computer simulations as part of their work in other subjects. • The results table supports predictive skills by showing children what they have tried before so they can decide the next course of action. • Worksheets help children to evaluate the simulations and identify the rules and patterns on which they are based. Additional extension sheets are provided for the most able to extend their knowledge of the particular topic covered. • When all questions are answered correctly, children have the opportunity to print out a colourful reward certificate that also shows the level achieved. • Teacher information sheets give a description of the activity, details of the rules and patterns on which the simulation is based and a detailed breakdown of curriculum links for the English, Irish and Scottish curriculum.
- ends – If you would like a review copy of Simulation or to feature the program in a competition in your publication, please email danielle.morgan@granadamedia.com . Notes for editors: • Simulation Explorer costs from £49 (single user licence). • The BETT Awards represent a partnership between Becta, the Government’s lead agency for ICT in education, BESA, the trade association representing educational supply companies, Emap Education, the organisers of BETT - the biggest educational technology show in the world and EC&T, one of the major magazines in the school ICT marketplace.
Background on Granada Learning: Granada Learning provides resources for the full spectrum of teaching and learning. It develops and publishes curriculum software, resources for children with special educational needs, revision guides and home learning materials, assessments, school management tools, learning platforms and professional development materials. These are used in all sectors of the market from nurseries, primary and secondary schools through to colleges and universities. For further information, please contact: Danielle Morgan PR Manager, Granada Learning Tel: 020 8996 3632 E mail: danielle.morgan@granadamedia.com
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