Meet Jennifer Uddin. She is ICT, Website & Online Learning Platform Lead at Green Dragon Primary School in Brentford. By recording instructional videos on how to use DB Primary, and hosting video meetings during lockdown to help confused parents understand the platforms functions, she sure has gone the extra mile to get children, teachers and parent alike onboard with DB Primary.
How has DB Primary been used within a specific project/topic?
“Something that comes to mind is a science projects that our students were to complete at home. The teacher was able to upload a video of herself giving the instructions, and the children could then involve their families in the project from home. Some students chose to upload videos of their own, showcasing how they did, others made PowerPoint presentations or uploaded written documents.
“It’s great for the parents as well, as they can see the given task as well as the completed homework on their child’s homepage. We like using the pages for sharing content like that; we do assemblies for Easter and Christmas for example, and it’s nice for any parent that were unable to attend to be able to view it online after the event.
“In the classroom we use the Learning Library to get conversations going after completing a task together, or we create spelling tests. Really, the fact that teachers can upload their own videos means that we can use the platform in so many ways and always add to it’s content.”
What feedback have you had from DB users about its impact on learning (teachers, parents, children)? How do you get feedback?
“Having hopefully left Covid behind us, I still get new parents asking what we would do in terms of home learning in case of another outbreak – and that is a very valid question. I’m glad that I can explain how DB Primary is, and will be used for both homework and home learning. I have personally recorded a number of videos explaining how to use DB Primary for parents, and we link to these on our website, so that anyone who is new to our school or needs a reminder can find the information required to support with any home learning and homework.
“We did a survey with the students, allowing them to list the things they like and use on the platform, and during parent evenings we hand out surveys too. It’s great to see that parents are comfortable letting children use the platform. The self-marking activities is a huge plus for many of them!
“We also invite parents to workshops where we look at DB Primary and the Learning Library together to agree on lessons and content to use. It has been great for us that we are able to limit access to lessons above a child’s year group so they can only see content that is age appropriate.”
Has DB Primary been helpful when teaching Online Safety? If so, how?
“For us, DB Primary is a large part of our online education. We have cyber safety weeks as well as relationships online, and again, we love using videos for both the children and their parents. It’s important to us that parents understand what we are teaching, how and why – we can easily upload and link documents that explains what their children will be learning and when so that everyone feels involved.
The tools developed in DB Primary for children to be safe online such as profanity filtering and the golden whistle are great. We did have some students misunderstanding the whistle though; they thought they were meant to press it when a task was completed. This however led to some great conversations about using it to highlight inappropriate behaviour and why that is important to flag.”
How has your relationship with New Era been since signing up to DB Primary?
“Since day one I’ve had a great relationship with the company. Since I work closely with parents to get input into what they want from the platform, and how it should be used, I have shared feedback with New Era, and I’ve always felt heard. Any issues I’ve run into has been resolved quickly and the customer service team are always friendly.”
