With a forward-thinking approach to education, in 2007 Little Hoole Primary School, located near Preston, Lancashire, introduced an interactive maths teaching aid from Learning Clip.

Deputy Head, Andrew Foster explains how the technology has revolutionised the school’s standard of teaching, and reveals how it has significantly helped improve pupil performance and achievement.

What is Learning Clip + Learner Response?

Used in conjunction with Promethean’s ActivExpression wireless handset, Learning Clip is an online resource which helps improve the way that maths is taught to primary school children.

Incorporating every area of the primary maths curriculum, the software provides teachers with a comprehensive base of colourful and stimulating activities, which use fun characters to provide explanation and pose multiple choice questions. Teachers simply log on to the Learning Clip website and choose a maths activity to be projected onto the classroom whiteboard. Children then use their wireless handsets to provide answers.

Amongst other benefits, the technology instantly provides teachers with a new level of insight into the performance of each individual pupil in their class, and means all children have the opportunity to answer the same question in group activities.

Immediate and invaluable

Learning Clip Learner Response was initially introduced to Little Hoole’s Year 3 students to help make maths lessons more fun and engaging, but the school soon found that the benefits extended much further.

"After reviewing the range of content and ease of use of the system, it was clear that this wasn’t just another high-tech teaching fad," said Andrew Foster, Deputy Head.

"In truth we expected Learning Clip to have only a minor impact on classes but it’s actually revolutionised the way we teach maths."

Year 3 teacher Janet Atkinson was one of the first teachers to use Learning Clip with her class.

"Admittedly, I was slightly apprehensive at first but it’s proven to be absolutely invaluable - it’s definitely helped me improve the standard of my maths lessons.

"It’s important to stress though that the technology doesn’t reduce the need for pedagogic skills as I still need to make sure children understand a topic first.

"But once I’ve introduced the topic, I can then simply choose an appropriate Learning Clip activity to bring it to life in a way that really stimulates and engages children."

Both teachers and children took to the interactive software very quickly and it wasn’t long until teachers began noticing substantial improvements in confidence and motivation.

"In almost all classes you have children who won’t get involved in lessons or won’t put their hand up to answer a question because they’re either scared of getting it wrong or are struggling to grasp the subject," added Janet.

"Learning Clip really boosted confidence in those pupils because they were suddenly able to answer questions without that worry.

"After each question, anonymous results are given on screen and children can gauge how well others are doing - this provides encouragement and reassurance to those who are struggling because they can see that they’re probably not the only ones."

Innovative and instant

With a forward-thinking approach to education, Little Hoole is always on the look-out for new ways to improve how it monitors pupil progress and Andrew explains how Learning Clip has been invaluable in helping the school do this.

"For years, the only real way teachers have been able to get an idea of a pupil’s performance has been through marking exercise or half-term tests.

"With Learning Clip we can now effectively monitor every single pupil’s understanding of a topic in real-time because every answer they provide on their handset is instantly fed back to the teacher’s computer.

"This gives us a much clearer idea of exactly how the class, or indeed a specific individual, is performing and allows us to take immediate action."

"As a consequence, pupils cannot fall behind to the extent traditional lessons have allowed."

Interactive and involved

Not only has the interactive maths software given Little Hoole the ability to react to pupil performance much more quickly, it’s also helped improve attentiveness and overall behaviour within its classrooms.

"The effect Learning Clip has had on classroom behaviour has been extraordinary," said Andrew.

"Children who were previously not very interested in maths, or found it hard to concentrate, were suddenly captivated by it.

"The interactive, hands-on format naturally appeals to children and coupled with the software’s colourful characters, it’s made learning much more fun and engaging. In fact, what we’ve found is that it’s made maths cool and we now see kids genuinely excited about maths and really looking forward to the lessons."

"Since using Learning Clip, we’ve even had parents commenting on positive changes in attitude toward school work amongst their children."

A phenomenal impact

Learning Clip’s direct impact on achievement at Little Hoole is demonstrated no better than in the case of one pupil who had lost confidence in maths and fallen over a year behind:

"This pupil's understanding and confidence improved markedly when we started using Learning Clip.

"The activities grabbed his attention and made it much easier to concentrate and we were able to provide him with instant feedback on his answers.

"After a year using the system, the progress was phenomenal - making 24 months headway and catching up with the rest of the class again."

Ongoing improvements in pupil achievement have since seen Learning Clip rolled out to Years 2, 4 and 5, in 2010.