Northampton Inspire is part of the Stem to SteAm project at the University of Northampton.

From Stem to SteAm: Integrating Technology and the Arts in the Creative Classroom

Project Overview:

The use of technology and digital media continues to rise in importance as a key cross-disciplinary skill. A goal of this project is to test an approach to developing visual culture via a forum for the creative exploration of the arts and technology in the primary curriculum. Academics, teachers and students will share strategies through face-to-face workshops, and populate an open online space with a virtual exhibition and a repository of resources. A key outcome will be a series of quality videos capturing practice and pedagogy shared on the Learn4Life web TV channel (L4LTV), a bi-weekly series of magazine-style micro-broadcasts for teachers.

Key Activities

University staff, students and primary teachers working together to:

• Share planning and strategies through face to face workshops
• Participate in blended media CPD
• Populate an online space with resources
• Create videos for L4LTV, a new source of CPD: ‘the world’s first brand new Teacher to Teacher CPD web TV Channel’.
• Carry out projects in schools (supported by student volunteers)
• Produce an exhibition (virtual and physical)

Supporting priorities

• Inter-disciplinary links between technology and the arts
• Development of online resources
• School partnerships (ITT Partner Schools and UCEE Core Schools)
• Student employability
• Support primary curriculum changes through CPD

Project Outcomes

• An online space populated with classroom resources, ideas and discussion on the theme of technology and the arts in education.
• A series of videos shared on the Learn4Life web TV channel and archived as an OER.
• A group of trained student student volunteers supporting the integration of arts and technology in schools.
• A screening event and exhibition of work at the NN Contemporary Gallery.
• A paper to disseminate internally and at conferences evaluating the approach and sharing ideas and outcomes.

Extending the project

• Partnerships between local enterprises and educational settings through a series of real world challenges to inspire genuine creative outputs from pupils.

tv.l4l.co.uk