Digital Integration Needs a Rethink!
SportsI am an EdTech demonstrator delivering live online lessons showing the impact that EdTech can have o…
What would you want to do if you saw the sign ‘Please do not climb or peer over the fencing? ‘ Probably peer and climb!
Fundamental to everything I do is this fascination with motivation. and how we might trigger better learning behaviours in our students. Research has given us huge insights into what pedagogy is effective in improving exam performance, but it is not so simple as just putting it all in place and expecting brilliant outcomes. We are dealing with complex and irrational beings with a host of other drivers.
A hearing loss forced me from the classroom where I loved being an Advanced Skills Teacher in challenging schools- Terrible title, but wonderful job. So I became an educational consultant and the more I learned, the more I realised I had and still have to learn. But digital tools have enabled me to effectively teach again and have opened a whole host of new opportunities.
My approach is to challenge and provoke. As a physics specialist I deliver lessons to people with erroneous belief systems and unless they see you as a deity you cannot simply preach knowledge with the expectation that this will change their belief.
I feel scientific literacy is as important as literacy and numeracy, but is not given the same credence. Our students need to ask ‘Where is the evidence?’ and ‘What might happen if?’ I use my Brilliant Rubbish Science to develop scientific thinkers and problem solvers. I have worked with the Australian, Vietnamese and Malaysian governments on innovation and getting underrepresented groups into STEM. I have worked with schools and universities across the world. My experience as a Gender Balance Officer gave me a fascinating insight into gender issues and strategies in dealing with some of the most talented, but least resilient students – High achieving girls.
These ideas are also effective for other underrepresented groups and I run a ladder of role models workshop. I currently fulfil a similar role at Physics Partners
My background in challenging schools led me to develop the physics of activities students found engaging such as football, surfing, and skateboarding, You can teach most of the forces topic using a skateboarder doing an ollie and the skaters will listen to you!
Digital tools so clearly should facilitate great learning but rarely seem to. In the 90s I got very excited by the prospect that the internet could remove classroom walls and redefine education, but that really has not happened. I was a digital consultant on the DfEs EdTech project. I am now mapping digital tools to proven pedagogical practices and am looking for collaborators for a research project.
Redefine what can be done, starting with great pedagogy and then see how digital tools can support learning. Support and Demo lessons available
Either teacher/department CPD or delivering sessions to classes. The physics of football or other sports is another option
Getting girls into physics and underrepresented groups. Ladder of role models workshops can be transformational.
Use rubbish to solve real problems and learn to think like a real scientist. Connect globally to learn collaboratively
Developing Brilliant Scientists capable of solving real problems. Helping create food, water and health security.
Researching what really works in Digital Education
Improving teacher subject knowledge is crucial.
Too many students think that physics is “Not for people like me’ What can be done?
Per Lesson (for a series)
Demonstration How to use EdTech or teach science
Online Supply Quality Learning guaranteed
Revision Sessions Exam preparation
Multiple Classes Delivering lessons across. year groups
Per Session
Departmental Training Improving Teaching and Learning
Physics CPD How to teach it properly
1:1 Training Technology or Science
Digital Integration: That supports real learning
Numeracy in Science For when students cant do the calculations
Per Day
Whole School CPD contact for prices
Departmental Improvement Observation, reporting and demonstration lessons
1:1 Support ~Teaching and Learning/physics/behaviour
‘Having collaborated with Neil Atkin several times already, I can wholeheartedly state that Neil is an outstanding educator and science facilitator. His ability to both entertain and engage his audiences with puzzling inquiry-based tasks while at the same time creating an exceptional educational environment is unparalleled. Neil’s approach to education is highly innovative, evidence-based, and inclusive on every level. Indeed, Neil ensures that all participants of his workshops leave the room happy, inspired and with a smile on their faces.’
Jeff Weiner Head of Education at CERN
Having collaborated with Neil Atkin and seen his demonstration online lessons I can testify
to his fantastic, innovative approach to embedding EdTech tools into the classroom. Neil
delivers what others only do theoretically. It is not about the tools, it is about the learning,
R. Sparks e-Learning Strategy Manager at Academies Enterprise Trust
Neil Atkin is our Primary Science trainer and for each cohort, we ask him to talk to our Trainee Teachers about Rubbish Science. It is clear that Neil’s vision for Rubbish Science is to have a huge and sustained impact on children around the world and he has the passion to increase the scope of Rubbish Science, which is already having an impact both globally with Operation Orphan, and in the hearts and minds of teachers and children who have benefitted from his training.
Our trainees gain a huge amount of knowledge and understanding from Neil’s sessions with us and our end-of-training surveys speak very highly of the impact his talks have had. His sessions are highly engaging and our trainees gain a real sense of how to use waste products to teach problem-solving in science and to give their pupils scientific literacy in their teaching of scientific concepts.
T. Smith Buckingham University PGCE Lead
Neil Atkin’s passion for science teaching is a joy to behold. His innovative approaches and extensive pedagogical knowledge will make you keen to get back to your classroom to try things out.
H Reynolds OBE Probably the best physics teacher on the planet and published author
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I am an EdTech demonstrator delivering live online lessons showing the impact that EdTech can have o…
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Broad Haven, Wales, UK
By the beach! But available online