Are you an NQT searching for a way to put your stamp on the way education is delivered? Do you wish to incorporate educational technology into your lessons?
Then you’re in the right place.
We understand that teaching doesn’t stop at the school gates. Hours of preparation, planning and marking are put into every lesson, meaning you need the absolute best resources available to assist you in delivering your lessons.
That’s why we’ve compiled this list of the top online teaching resources available to spice up your lessons and make life easier this September. Ready?
Tes
The top online teaching resources: Tes
Tes is an online teaching resource allowing you to download and print worksheets.
On offer are both paid and free worksheets, suiting the budget of any teacher or school.
With over 1 million worksheets available to cater for early years, primary, secondary and SEND learners, TES offers an excellent range of high-quality resources, with all made for teachers, by teachers.
Tes is also perfect for finding a new job in teaching and conducting courses to help with your teaching – so it’s more than just of the top online teaching resources!
Your pupils will all love to watch YouTube videos, and we can guarantee they will all be engaged as soon as they see the red logo appear on your interactive whiteboard. It’s a fantastic tool in a teachers arsenal to educate children in an easy and different way to usual.
Twinkl
The top online teaching resources: Twinkl
Twinkl provides teacher-created resources to provide lesson planning, worksheets and assessments for teachers to use.
Over 525,000 resources have been created so far, meaning that there are choices in abundance for you to decide which to use in your lessons.
With all resources are tailored to the UK curriculum, Twinkl is truly one of the top online teaching resources around.
Teachers Pay Teachers
The top online teaching resources: Teachers Pay Teachers
Teachers Pay Teachers is a resource available for educators to find the resources, knowledge, and inspiration they need to teach at their best.
Over 3 million resources have been created by educators, so the resources available have been made by people who understand what works in a classroom.
Despite their name, Teachers Pay Teachers offer both paid and free resources, meaning whatever your budget, they’ll be able to cater to your needs.
Seymour & Lerhn
The top online teaching resources: Seymour & Lerhn
Step back in time and view how our ancestors lived, shrink down to the size of dust mite and visit their microscopic hiding places, or curl up and explore a narrated fairytale story in 360!
With a library of UK curriculum-based educational 360 experiences for school children, Seymour & Lerhn is one of the top online teaching resources available.
Teachers can deliver VR, AR and 360 experiences through hardware schools already own (such as laptops, tablets and smartboards), meaning no expensive VR headsets are required!
A range of content is available, catering for primary, SEND, and early years, meaning no child misses out on experiencing immersive, virtual tours.
Now you’re an expert on the top online teaching resources!
Utilising these top online resources mean you’ll be delivering the highest quality lessons, and saving valuable time on planning and creating resources at the same time.
With this arsenal of resources at your disposable, you’re ready to bring education into the 21st century.
For the first time in 169 years, visitors can take a 360 tour around the Crystal Palace, the venue of the formidable 1851 Great Exhibition held in Hyde Park – but this time without leaving your home.
Seymour & Lerhn have joined forces with The Royal Parks, the charity which manages London’s eight Royal Parks, to create the first virtual tour of the historic building, on location in Hyde Park.
The giant building hosted the thousands of global exhibits of The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, the brainchild of Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, to celebrate the industrial technology and design of the Victorian age, showcased to more than six million people.
And now, 169 years since the exhibition opened, visitors can step back in time and explore the building once again, using their phone, tablet or PC.
A combination of CGI and 360 photography which overlays the historic building onto the present-day site, allows visitors to switch between then and now.
Users can marvel at the huge scale of the site. People can discover intriguing stories as they navigate: you can find out about the first-ever public toilets and the lady who walked from Cornwall to attend, becoming a celebrity in the process.
The building was regenerated digitally using The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851’s archive of plans and images, as well as The Royal Parks’ historical documents such as old maps.
The Royal Parks was the winning entry to a competition set by Seymour & Lerhn, which invited organisations to put forward proposals for a virtual reality education resource and built the virtual reality tour of The Crystal Palace as the competition prize.
The Great Exhibition opened on 1st May 1851 in London’s Hyde Park to showcase the arts, science and technology of the day, yet nothing remains of the structure now.
So, 169 years later we’ve harnessed today’s technology to bring the Royal Parks’ heritage to life, uncovering the park’s past for everyone to enjoy, especially those who aren’t able to visit in person.
The Royal Parks will seek funding to further develop the project by populating The Crystal Palace with the artefacts of The Great Exhibition.
The Great Exhibition of 1851 ‘Crystal Palace’ was a truly incredible feat of engineering, and we’re delighted to see it brought to life on its 169th anniversary!
With the lockdown continuing, the virtual tour offers a unique way for people to ‘get out of the house’ and explore the history hidden within Hyde Park – all without actually having to leave their homes.
Whilst considering how VR can help education, it’s key to know that education has always been at the base of a healthy society, as the transfer of knowledge has been a priority for people.
We are constantly looking for ways to make the transfer of knowledge quicker, easier and more effective.
Times have changed with the growth of digital media, meaning we can teach better than ever before with the benefits of technology. Virtual reality (VR) appears to be the logical next step to enhance education.
In this article, we’ll look at how VR can help education, hence contributing to the growth of society.
VR in today’s society
VR is currently used in society in numerous ways, other than the education sector. Examples include gaming, health and property development, where VR is already introducing huge benefits to those industries.
Whatever the industry VR is used in, it helps to develop new models, training methods, communication and methods of interaction.
The potential of VR is massive, with endless possibilities.
Implementing VR is unfortunately not as easy as it sounds, as it does come with its costs and technological limitations. VR systems can also be expensive and time-consuming to develop – plus there are issues reported of motion sickness, which are associated with wearing a VR headset.
However, if these problems are solved, there could be an exciting future for VR.
There are a number of reasons why VR could help education, solving certain issues that education is currently facing.
We thought we’d go through a few of these ways how VR could help education.
1. Emotional learning
Engaging students with current teaching methods is a problem we’re facing. Studies show that the human attention span is now less than ever before, which is therefore having a negative effect on education.
VR helps solve this issue by engaging students by making learning more memorable, meaning the information is retained for longer and in greater detail.
This adds value to your teaching ability as emotion triggers creativity, meaning your learners could channel their emotion into creative writing, hence improving the quality of their written English.
2. Better understanding
Understanding how things work is extremely beneficial to the education of a child, which is difficult for educators to put across with standard teaching methods.
However, with VR, learners can obtain a greater understanding of how things work. Teachers can show students things that the human brain cannot comprehend, such as how large the universe is, or how small microorganisms are.
When children understand things better, they tend to improve the quality of work, hence benefitting the overall education of your students.
3. Visual learners
It’s well known that students need a variety of learning mechanisms to understand what they are learning about, with visual learning one of the main learning methods.
VR helps education by taking visual learning to the next level, with students being able to see things that are impossible to see without the aid of VR.
This could mean that VR increases the inclusivity of your lessons by incorporating the power of VR into them, as offering visual solutions to your lessons makes them much more accessible for children with a visual learning style.
4. Children love tech!
When people say VR, the first thing that usually comes to mind is VR gaming.
This makes us ask the question, why fight a losing battle of trying to stop children using technology?
Embrace the change and adapt it into your teaching style!
Children yearn to use devices and technology, and by harnessing their passion for all things tech you can teach them without them even realising they’re learning.
5. Experiencing > reading
Students tend to read things, then forget about them without putting them into practice. It’s also not uncommon to find that students learn to pass a test, not put what they’ve learnt into practice.
Reading is still a vital part of the curriculum, however, learning by doing could add more value to their learning experience.
VR helps make education a more memorable experience, so when learners come to apply what they’ve learnt, they’ve already experienced something similar through VR.
Therefore through the ability of VR, your student’s learning could vastly improve through having more engaging, memorable experiences in your lessons – meaning information is retained for longer, and in greater detail.
Examples of how VR could help education
As we’ve mentioned, the possibilities of VR in education are endless. However, we’ve looked into a few specific ways of how VR could make a huge difference to how teaching is implemented.
Virtual field trips
Virtual field trips allow learners to visit any place on the globe, go inside a fairytale or fictional story, or travel back in time and experience an event from the past.
VR and virtual field trips aren’t here to replace actual field trips, as the benefits of children getting out there and experiencing the world are important.
However, the ability to take children to the other side of the world, back in time, or into a fictional land for a low-cost could be an important tool in your teaching arsenal.
This includes creating virtual tours available to be viewed on devices such as interactive whiteboards, tablets and laptops, where numerous learners can involve themselves in the learning process at once.
Learning together allows students to discuss their experiences and learn from one another, making the experience much more valuable.
What VR must be to help education
For a VR platform to function to the best of its ability, it should meet certain criteria to help education.
These criteria include:
Immersive
VR should help education become more immersive; as without immersing your learners, what’s the point in bringing VR into your lessons at all?
The more immersive education is, the more information is retained – and the more information is retained, the greater the learning experience is!
Easy to use
VR must be easy enough for teachers, teaching assistants and primary school students to use.
The reality is that if VR is not easy to use, then it won’t be used.
It’s therefore important for all educational VR developers to ensure that their system is easy for teachers and students alike to understand, not just the boffins in their office!
The best VR resources are the ones that are the most accessible, and that’s where VR could add value to education.
Meaningful
Teachers should implement the use of VR in their classrooms if they believe it will add value to their lessons, and improve their standard of teaching.
Therefore time must be allocated to research which VR solution is the best for your needs.
There are advantages and disadvantages to all VR solutions, so be sure to take your time to make the right choice!
Adaptable
Virtual reality must be easily adaptable to different lessons, scenarios, situations and teachers.
The best VR platforms are the ones that offer a wide range of benefits to all teachers in the school – not just a singular department, such as ICT.
You, the teacher, must also be adaptable when using VR in your lessons.
It’s likely to be a new experience for yourself and your students, and only the forward-thinking educators will be ready to embrace virtual reality.
Measurable
There are ways to measure the benefits of using VR in your classroom.
One way to do this could be testing your children’s knowledge from a standard teaching lesson, to a VR lesson.
Theory suggests that a VR lesson should be much more engaging and memorable for the children – hence the information is greater retained.
It’s worth a try!
Do you want to help VR flourish?
Well, you can!
Share this article with your friends, family and fellow educators to help bring awareness to the impact VR could have on education.
With the Government expected to further back the use of EdTech in schools, following a £10m investment into EdTech in 2019, we look at how schools could implement the use of virtual reality (VR) and VR headsets in the classroom.
We’ve researched several ways in which you could make use of VR or VR headsets in your classroom, with each finding you a solution no matter your school’s budget.
Purchasing VR headsets
VR headsets allow for a fully immersive VR display, with no additional mobile device needed to teaching engaging lessons.
The experience of using a VR headset is unique, offering each individual learner an experience like no other.
However, this is the most expensive option for schools to consider, with a VR headset costing around £194, then multiply that by the number of children in your school or classroom!
Some VR headsets can also be fairly heavy, meaning they could be difficult for children to wear. There’s also the issue of motion sickness which can be experienced by whilst using a VR headset. However, the human brain is fantastic at adjusting to cope with new experiences, so this can be solved by taking it steady to begin with.
Renting VR classroom workshops
If you can’t afford to outright purchase VR headsets for your classroom, why not rent some out for a lesson to give your learners a taste of something different?
A tailored workshop for each class can be created, with passionate educators conducting the lesson meaning you don’t have to learn to use something new.
Immersive virtual learning
VR can have a meaningful impact when built in conjunction with the curriculum, whether you’re inspiring creative writing, explaining how something works or making children more sympathetic to historical events.
Renting VR headsets could be great for a one-off treat for your children, however, these experience days only offer learners a one-day solution.
Accessing VR through a headset can also only be experienced by one person at a time, taking away the shared experience that the modern-day classroom currently offers.
Luckily, there are alternatives out there for a permanent low-cost VR solution!
No VR headsets?
No problem!
It is possible to bring VR into your classroom without having to purchase or rent expensive VR headsets.
We have developed virtual tours that allow children to be transported to another world, developed to hold their attention for longer and meet their key learning objectives.
The platform is designed to make lesson planning easier, as virtual tours have been developed alongside their very own downloadable lesson guide and activity worksheet, to extend the VR experience.
Instead of VR headsets, our content is delivered on devices that schools already own, such as interactive whiteboards, laptops and tablets. If you really want VR headsets, but don’t have the budget available, cheaper alternatives are available.
A truly immersive VR headset experience is unmatched. So, schools with larger budgets would suit purchasing VR headsets, as they are available for each classroom to use.
There is, however, still room for the Seymour & Lerhn eLearning platform in your school when all the VR headsets are booked out by another class!
We’re excited to announce that we’re exhibiting at the Schools and Academies Show Birmingham, taking place on the 13th – 14th November 2019 at the NEC, Birmingham, where we will be exhibiting at stand B23.
Why should I attend The Schools and Academies Show?
The Schools and Academies Show provides a platform for the education community to discuss ideas, have hands-on experience with innovative educational technology (EdTech), and speak to providers of education services.
The show is a must-attend education event for your calendar, and you’ll gain knowledge from a large range of high-level speakers, talk to leading suppliers and receive practical advice for your school, academy or educational institution.
The Schools and Academies Show aims to provide senior leadership teams with practical advice and solutions to overcome their school’s biggest challenges, and we believe Seymour & Lerhn goes a long way in assisting this in an affordable, engaging and immersive way.
We’ll be showcasing our educational platform, by giving you the chance to experience what we have to offer via our VR headsets, tablets and other devices which our content is available on.
Come and experience immersive VR on our headsets!
You’ve convinced me, but are there any other reasons for coming along?
Yes! A discount will be available for all that attend the schools and academies show, who sign up for our services in our launch month of January.
This will provide you with full, discounted access to Seymour & Lerhn content for an entire year!
At Seymour & Lerhn, we’re all about delivering immersive, educational VR content at an affordable price, and we’re looking forward to meeting you on the 13th and 14th of November!
Visit the Demo Hub for a taste of what our content is all about.
SEND stands for special educational needs and disability, and technology can assist the support which learners receive in numerous ways:
Physical barriers to access
Physical barriers include all things related to obstructing access for getting to a classroom for SEND students.
Examples of ways that schools can improve their access for SEND learners include having automatic doors, electric wheelchairs and lifts available. This allows learners to overcome barriers to learning and gaining access to the education they require to develop their learning.
Despite what you may think, virtual reality (VR) is not a new concept. This article will provide an insight into the history of VR, misconceptions, and practical uses in the past, present, and future.
So sit down, have a drink, and prepare to be enlightened!
Here we observe the very early history of VR, as we begin to see the origins of present-day VR use.
Stereoscope
You’d have to go back to 1838 to begin the history of VR story, with Charles Wheatstone creating the stereoscope. This device allowed the user to view two separate images for each eye, creating a larger 3D image and a sense of depth in their minds.
The view from a stereoscope
The Stereoscope: The earliest example of VR in use
Kinetoscope
Thomas Edison and William Dickinson invented the kinetoscope in 1881. The kinetoscope allowed users to view images at 46 FPS (frames per second), as a piece of film was sent between a lightbulb and a lens to form an image.
Did you know? Thomas Edison first believed that the kinetoscope was a silly toy. However, it was an immediate success deeming him a pioneer of the motion picture.
Link Trainer Flight Simulator (LTFS)
The LTFS created by Edwin Link of the Link Piano and Organ Company in 1929. He’s widely known today as the man who invented the flight simulator and kick-started a multi-billion pound industry.
The machine involved only a plane fuselage (the main body of a plane) that simulated the movement of an aircraft. This aids pilots to experience being inside a cockpit, and also recreated the realistic dangers of air travel by using pneumatic pumps (a mechanism which uses compressed gas to create movement).
The Link Trainer Flight Simulator influenced the creation of modern-day simulators
View-Master
William Gruber and Harold Graves’ stereoscopic 3D photo viewer, known as the View-Master, was invented in 1938. The device took stereo photographs, giving the user an illusion of depth by providing each eye with a slightly different image, meaning an image formed in 3D in the mind of the user. According to ViewMaster.co.uk, the device was originally created as an educational tool, however, it developed into other markets such as children’s entertainment.
The View-Master’s potential was recognised by the US Military, as ten’s of thousands of View-Master’s were purchased to aid aircraft identification during the second world war.
Did you know? The View-Master brand name was once recognised by 65% of the world’s population. However, one of the inventors of the product, William Gruber, hated the name! He believed it sounded too familiar to kitchen appliances available at the time!
An original View-Master in use
The History of VR: Late 20th-century progress…
The 1960s to the 1990s bridge the gap between the history of VR and its present-day use, highlighting the technological progress made during this era.
Telesphere Mask
The telesphere mask was developed by Morton Heilig in 1960 and was the first-ever invention of a head-mounted display, paving the way for modern-day devices such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Samsung Gear VR and Playstation VR. A huge step forward in the history of VR! This was the first of its kind to incorporate stereoscopic technology, stereo sound, 3D imagery, and widescreen vision into a single device. It did, however, lack the ability to be interactive.
The definition of virtual reality: VR is the creation of a virtual environment presented to our senses in such a way that we experience it as if we were really there (According to The Virtual Reality Society).
Headsight
A year after the telesphere mask was developed, Headsight was invented by the Philco Corporation during 1961. Two engineers from the organisation (Comeau & Bryan) took Heilig’s head-mounted display one-step further, adding interactivity to the device by adding motion tracking. A magnetic tracking system tracked the head movement of the user, which was linked to a remote camera.
The practical use of Headsight included immersive remote viewings of dangerous situations by the military.
Sensorama
Morton Heilig developed his VR offering to the world by inventing the Sensorama in 1962. The Sensorama was a machine that included a stereoscopic colour display, fans, odour emitters, stereo‐sound system, and a motional chair! This provided one of the earliest examples of immersive, multi-sensory technology.
Will the cinemas of the future become more multi-sensory?
The device was built for entertainment purposes, and dubbed ‘The Cinema of the Future’. Initially, 5 films were on offer, including a bike ride through New York, with the user experiencing the feeling of wind blowing towards them, whilst the aroma of hot-dogs and petrol fumes would be recreated by chemical aromas.
The Sword of Damocles
Soon after the Sensorama, The Sword of Damocles was created by Ivan Sutherland in 1962. This was a head-mounted display that was connected to a computer for the first time, as opposed to a camera. The headset was extremely heavy to wear, so it had to be hung from the ceiling in order for it to be comfortably worn. This lead to the device’s name, as in Greek mythology the Sword of Damocles hung above the King’s throne to symbolise that with great fortune and power, comes great danger.
Airforce Super Cockpit Program
Thomas Furness designed the airforce super cockpit program in 1986, which projected computer-generated 3D imagery into the head-mounted display of the user, infrared and radar imagery, and avionics data to create an immersive, 3D, virtual experience.
Furness is considered one of the pioneers of transitioning simulator technology from real-world imagery to virtual reality.
Virtual Group Arcade Machines
The not-so-distant history of VR (1991) saw the launch of virtual group arcade machines, which used magnetic stereoscopic visors and joysticks. This allowed for multiplayer gaming in both standing and sat-down scenarios.
The gaming console giants of their day, Nintendo and Sega, took the leap of faith by launching their own virtual reality headsets, the Virtual Boy and Sega VR. Like today’s complete immersive experiences, the 1990s VR experience was delivered through a headset. This, however, was where the similarity between VR of the past and present begins and ends.
The ultimate failing of 90s VR was down to the poor technology on offer at the time. The headsets delivered their virtual services with an extremely low-resolution display, meaning low-quality images were formed causing a less immersive experience than the modern VR offering.
It was not just the quality of the images formed which hindered the experience, as the only colours visible on historic VR devices were black and red. This again decreased the overall experience obtained by the headset wearer, adding to why the new technology didn’t take off as it was expected to.
These reasons, along with the devices causing strain and damage to the users’ eyes, no multiplayer compatibility and extortionate costs, meant that 1990s VR was set to fail from the very beginning.
VR Today
How Oculus kickstarted VR back to life
On the 1st of August, 2012, Palmer Luckey launched a Kickstarter campaign in order to raise funds for his virtual reality headset to be created. He hoped to get around 100 VR enthusiasts to back his project, with his goal to raise $250,000.
Within 24 hours of the Kickstarter campaign going live, $670,000 was raised from 2,750 people.
2 days later, $1 million was raised.
By the time the campaign had reached its conclusion, Luckey had raised $2,500,000 to fund his virtual reality headset, known as the Oculus Rift.
Do you believe VR is the future of gaming?
The first version of the Oculus was no-where-near perfect, with no position tracking, a low resolution, and reports of motion sickness showing early signs of being familiar to failures of the 1990s. However, despite the first instalments flaws, the $350 price tag attracted 65,000 purchases of the Rift. A Sell out. Oculus could have made more, however, work had already begun on the second version of the Rift.
This offering completely distanced the Rift between the failed projects of the 90s. A higher resolution, added position tracking, and eradication of motion sickness launched the revitalisation of virtual reality technology.
Despite VR headsets being a prominent way to experience virtual reality in the 21st-century, people often forget that headsets are not the only form of VR available.
VR is the use of a computer to create a simulated environment, therefore meaning that VR can be experienced through a number of platforms, including mobile phones, tablets, PCs and interactive whiteboards.
Many sectors and industries are embracing the use of VR in their operations. The first which usually comes to mind is the entertainment sector, with companies such as Oculus and Sony developing VR headsets for gaming use.
360° Fishtank VR: Virtual experiences minus the expensive hardware
The education sector has also benefited from technological advancement and increased accessibility of VR. Here at Seymour & Lerhn, we make VR accessible by offering Fishtank VR. Fishtank VR focusses on shared and accessible experiences, where viewers experience a full 360° environment which can be static, video, real-world, CGI or a mixture of them all.
VR has also begun to be utilised in the construction industry, with EyeSiteView offering property marketing solutions. Virtual tours are available for housing developments to be explored before a single brick is laid.
Virtual reality’s use is also expected to grow in other industries such as education, with the UK Government announcing a £4.6 million investment in a push to improve the capacity for EdTech in schools. This highlights the benefits which educational technology brings to the classroom, as it enables large groups of students to interact with each other as well as within a three-dimensional environment.
Affordable VR Education is here!
The museum and heritage industry will also reap the rewards from taking advantage of VR, by employing interaction as a means of communicating information to the general public in a new and exciting way. The increase of involvement from visitors to a museum enhances their overall experience, making interaction one of the main features of museum exhibits.
The history of VR goes back much further than you think… we hope that you now understand VR a little more!
The beauty of Seymour & Lerhn, is it’s developed to work with the technology you already have, meaning there’s no need to invest in extra hardware that will ultimately add to the landfill issue.
We’re an eco-conscious company and make efforts to reduce our impact, where possible, including measures such as switching to recycled paper, recycling batteries and using low-energy lighting throughout the office.
We also invested in reusable steel bottles and signed a pledge to end our use of plastic bottles last year.
How can I be more tech-mindful?
Working at a school? Chances are you’re already using laptops or tablets in the classroom, or have an interactive whiteboard installed. They’re perfect for accessing our library of content, which is constantly updated to suit each age range.
Wanting a more immersive experience? No problem! Cardboard VR viewers can be picked up for less than £5; simply pop your phone inside and you’re ready to go.
How about museums and heritage attractions?
The majority of visitors will likely already have their phones out, snapping memories and sharing their day.
Boost their experience by making more of your attractions and exhibitions.
Priceless artefacts on display? Visitors can hold a virtual version in the palm of their hand.
Remains of a period building? Step back in time and see how it used to look, as the landscape around you changes.
Chicken-keeper, Charlie, who’s Seymour & Lerhn’s Lead Creative Visualiser says: “We like to make sure our personal values reflect in our work, which is why we’ve created a zero-waste, multi-purpose platform for our educational content.
“We reuse as much as we can at Seymour & Lerhn, including saving fruit peel for my chickens and hope that our environmental efforts can trickle down into the services we provide.”
How green is your gadget?
Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics provides an analysis of what 17 of the world’s leading consumer electronics companies are doing to address their environmental impacts.
Classic classroom teaching styles aren’t suited to everyone, especially those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Children with autism can experience difficulties communicating, have different sensory needs and often have a need for routine.
As part of Autism Awareness Week, we’re highlighting the benefits of introducing technology to the classroom, to assist with learning and development.
Edtech has been hailed as an innovation in teaching, with the ability to craft a lesson in new ways to meet learning objectives.
Learning with SEND
Because Seymour & Lerhn’s educational virtual reality (VR) content can be accessed across a range of devices, it allows for both learning in groups and individually.
This means pupils can pick how they want to access the tours.
Whether using a laptop, tablet or mobile phone, pupils can navigate the content in groups or alone, with headphones for more concentrated learning.
Unlimited access to all Seymour & Lerhn content means videos can be viewed again and again, allowing pupils to get to grips with the objectives at their own pace.
Announcing extra funding for edtech last week, children and families minister, Nadhim Zahawi.
Speaking at an edtech conference in London, organised by the Education Policy Institute thinktank, Mr Zahawi said that “assistive technology” could allow pupils to access the curriculum and give them skills that “set them up for success throughout their life”.
During his speech, Mr Zahawi mentioned the Department for Education’s education technology strategy, which he said would allocate funding for EdTech development
“As part of this strategy, we will set aside funding for technology development to address those challenges faced across the education sector where we know technology’s impact can be far stronger,” he said.
Want a taster?
Take a peek at our range of immersive VR resources on our Youtube channel, where we’ve recently released our Education in 360 series; a collection of 360 videos suitable for Key Stage 1 and 2.
Simply visit our YouTube channel, load any of our Education in 360 videos and off you go!
Navigate round the video in 360 and explore from every angle, while our friendly mascots guide you through the lesson.
Need help?
If you’ve got any questions or comments, just drop us an email to hello@seymourlerhn.com
Today marks the day the UK was supposed to sever ties with the EU. However, almost three years after we went to the polls, uncertainty still swirls around how Brexit will affect every market in the UK, including how Brexit will affect the education sector.
A major area of concern is education, which is already facing several ongoing battles, with teacher shortages, a major funding crisis and a lack of prospects for such a critical sector.
A shortfall in places
Following the government’s sluggish response to a rise in the UK’s birth rate post-millennium, one in four primary schools in the UK are full or have more pupils than they should.
If the UK loses EU funding, this will impact the situation further.
There is likely to be a knock-on effect in the secondary sector, however parents have more options on secondary education than they do at primary level.
However, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has warned that there will be an impact on the quality of education delivered in schools that are over capacity.
It has also suggested that there will be a need for 80,000 more places in secondary schools and 200,000 more places in the primary sector in the next three years.
Attracting talent
Difficulties in recruiting home-grown teachers, means the Department for Education (DfE) has missed its own recruitment targets for the past five years.
Add to this the fall in applications to primary postgraduate teacher training courses – down 6.3% in March, compared with the previous year – and it’s clear to see that the government has major work to do to in both attracting and retaining new teachers.
Finding solutions
With funding and recruitment at an all-time low and schools forced to close early, there’s little budget remaining for introducing new technologies to the classroom.
According to TES writer, Will Hazell, schools might soon be forced to rely on YouTube videos to teach some parts of their lessons, as a result of the recruitment crisis.
Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said schools might have to assume “we’ll never have enough teachers”, and re-design their lessons accordingly with technology.
Mr Barton suggested that some students “might learn better from seeing a 20 minute YouTube video” and then “working in groups” under supervision by a teacher assistant.
He added: “You just have to watch the way children are learning, and see that lots of children will learn differently, and very independently. It frees the teacher up to be able to work in different ways with other youngsters.”
At Seymour & Lerhn, we’ve made it easy to find exciting and relevant learning content, with the introduction of our Education in 360 series.
More than 70% of YouTube watch time comes from mobile devices, which works perfectly with our content, as well as teaching younger pupils their way around technology.
Whether you’re using a tablet or mobile phone, you can swipe around our virtual reality (VR) tours and enjoy them just as much as you can on an interactive whiteboard or laptop.
Simply visit our Youtube channel, load any of our Education in 360 videos and off you go! Navigate round the video in 360 and explore from every angle, while our friendly mascots guide you through the lesson.
It’s yet to be seen how Brexit will affect the UK education sector, however we’re aiming to improve how education is delivered in the UK, whatever the affect of Brexit.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
__stripe_mid
1 year
This cookie is set by Stripe payment gateway. This cookie is used to enable payment on the website without storing any payment information on a server.
__stripe_sid
30 minutes
This cookie is set by Stripe payment gateway. This cookie is used to enable payment on the website without storing any payment information on a server.
_GRECAPTCHA
5 months 27 days
This cookie is set by Google. In addition to certain standard Google cookies, reCAPTCHA sets a necessary cookie (_GRECAPTCHA) when executed for the purpose of providing its risk analysis.
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement
1 year
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Cookie
Duration
Description
YSC
session
This cookie is set by YouTube and is used to track the views of embedded videos.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
Duration
Description
_ga
2 years
This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_ga_V4VS8XZGZV
2 years
This cookie is installed by Google Analytics.
_gat_gtag_UA_117859430_1
1 minute
Google uses this cookie to distinguish users.
_gid
1 day
This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visted in an anonymous form.
_hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress
30 minutes
Hotjar helps us to improve the website based on user interaction. This cookie is used to detect the first pageview session of a user. This is a True/False flag set by the cookie.
_hjFirstSeen
30 minutes
Hotjar helps us to improve the website based on user interaction. This is set by Hotjar to identify a new user’s first session. It stores a true/false value, indicating whether this was the first time Hotjar saw this user. It is used by Recording filters to identify new user sessions.
_hjid
1 year
This cookie is set by Hotjar. Hotjar helps us to improve the website based on user interaction. This cookie is set when the customer first lands on a page with the Hotjar script. It is used to persist the random user ID, unique to that site on the browser. This ensures that behavior in subsequent visits to the same site will be attributed to the same user ID.
_hjIncludedInPageviewSample
2 minutes
Hotjar helps us to improve the website based on user interaction. This cookie is set to let Hotjar know whether that user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's pageview limit.
_hjTLDTest
session
When the Hotjar script executes we try to determine the most generic cookie path we should use, instead of the page hostname. This is done so that cookies can be shared across subdomains (where applicable). To determine this, we try to store the _hjTLDTest cookie for different URL substring alternatives until it fails. After this check, the cookie is removed.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Cookie
Duration
Description
_fbp
3 months
This cookie is set by Facebook to deliver advertisement when they are on Facebook or a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising after visiting this website.
fr
3 months
The cookie is set by Facebook to show relevant advertisments to the users and measure and improve the advertisements. The cookie also tracks the behavior of the user across the web on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin.
IDE
1 year 24 days
Used by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile.
NID
6 months
The NID cookie contains a unique ID Google uses to remember your preferences and other information, such as your preferred language (e.g. English), how many search results you wish to have shown per page (e.g. 10 or 20), and whether or not you wish to have Google’s SafeSearch filter turned on.
test_cookie
15 minutes
This cookie is set by doubleclick.net. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
5 months 27 days
This cookie is set by Youtube. Used to track the information of the embedded YouTube videos on a website.
