|
 |
 Press Release ArchivePress Releases 2005
Press release navigation - Latest Press Releases | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001
09-12-2005 BETT 2006 will see Birchfield Interactive (Z56) playing host to Keith Phipps, MBE, and winner of the 2001 National Teaching Award for Most Creative Use of ICT. Keith's areas of interest cover a broad spectrum, from personalised learning to e-Learning and the use of digital media in the classroom. At BETT 2006, Keith's main focus will be accelerated learning through the use of multimedia. To reflect his interest in this area, Keith will deliver presentations on how to successfully use multimedia to engage and educate learners. By looking at the developments in neuroscience over the last 20 years, and educational theory about how we learn, Keith will reflect on how pupil understanding is enhanced by the use of multimedia in the classroom. A senior teacher at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys, Keith is Head of geography and Head of Year. He is a keen advocate of the 'anytime, anywhere learning' concept and is currently a member of the Birmingham e-Learning and Building Schools for the Future steering committees. In between Keith's talks, visitors to the Birchfield stand can also catch live demonstrations of multimedia education in action, using the plethora of software titles designed and produced by Birchfield Interactive. Keith's talks will be taking place on the Birchfield stand (Z56) every hour, for approximately 20 minutes, for the duration of the exhibition.
09-12-2005 Birchfield Interactive plc - the creator of high-quality educational software - has expanded its impressive PSHE and citizenship portfolio with a brand new title, Human Rights. The human rights movement has had a profound effect on 21st century society, and this new title from Birchfield is set to ensure that future generations of students continue the good work begun by their forefathers. Human Rights combines curriculum content, animation, video footage and narration to explain the key issues behind the human rights movement. Designed to promote action and understanding, Human Rights aims to help students learn that humans deserve the right to life and the right to an education, whilst also making them aware of groups of people who try to defend or contest these rights. The Human Rights program begins by introducing the human rights ethos, providing comprehensive background information for those who are unfamiliar with the history of the movement. Each section concentrates on a different aspect of human rights, starting with the 1998 Human Rights Act, before investigating the rights of children throughout the world. As part of the new Lesson Kit range from Birchfield, Human Rights comes in a comprehensive PC DVD-ROM package which contains all the resources teachers need for effective teaching, pupil interactivity and instantaneous assessment. The software features two lesson delivery options; Instant Lessons are designed to provide staff looking for a simple teaching solution with a wide selection of ready-made class work modules packed full of engaging content and activities. Alternatively, the Lesson Builder provides teachers with the tools and resources to create their own tailored lessons with ease. Teachers keen to meet their assessment for learning requirements can monitor class and pupil activity through both the Instant Lessons and lessons created using the Lesson Builder through the Birchfield Assessment tool. This automatically monitors pupil and class progress and collates detailed reports detailing the time spend by pupils and results achieved. Jonathan Case, Chief Executive, Birchfield Interactive plc, enthused, "The social and political importance of the human rights movement could never be underestimated. This latest title from Birchfield brings this vital issue to the forefront of curriculum teaching, stimulating debate and discussion throughout the classroom and beyond."
18-11-2005 As with all schools across England, King Edward Camp Hill School in Birmingham was keen to meet the new Government initiatives introduced over the last few years, including personalised learning, home-school learning and embedding ICT in the curriculum. The school consulted secondary software specialist Birchfield Interactive, to determine what solutions the company could offer that would match its requirements. The Government's 'Every Child Matters' initiative has asked teachers to consider developing teaching methods that are both inclusive and personalised. It has become vital that classroom activities are designed in such a way that students can develop personalised learning, which allows them to work independently from the teacher and at their own pace. At the same time, these activities must allow students of all abilities to become engaged and involved in the learning experience. Consequently, a solution had to be sourced that provided content that was useful, regardless of each student's individual learning style, whilst also being suitable for independent study and whole-class teaching. There has also been a heightened interest in home-school learning. To cultivate the communications between parents and teachers, and to encourage students to take responsibility for their own education by working outside of the school day, there has been a greater demand for solutions that allow students to engage themselves, and their parents, in their school work in the home. The Government has now put pressure on schools to bring themselves into the 21st century, by embedding ICT into the curriculum. ICT appears to be at the root of the Government's agenda for improving school, and schools now have to demonstrate to inspectors that both their students and teachers competence in ICT reaches an acceptable level. With the introduction of the Fulfilling the Potential initiative in 2003, schools have been looking for successful and cost-effective ways of introducing truly cross-curricular ICT, which is simple to use for pupils and easy to implement for teachers. The software provided by Birchfield Interactive is designed to be used in a number of ways, in order to meet the specific teaching styles of different teachers. It provides an effective learning tool for whole class teaching when used with an interactive whiteboard and also for individual student learning with stand alone personal computers. The software can be used on a school network and all content is also provided separately in a SCORM-compliant format making it compatible for use on a virtual learning environment (VLE). A VLE is a software system that is used to manage the delivery of online learning materials and assessment, and is used by schools to facilitate the involvement in e-Learning by students and management. Access of this kind means the home-school divide can be bridged, by making the software available to students outside of the school day. Keith Phipps, Head of Geography at King Edward VI Camp Hill School enthused, "Using an interactive whiteboard, I can effectively deliver Birchfield software to a wider audience. The software explains subject content through a series of animated images and films which illustrate the spoken text. This combination brought about a genuine understanding in topics pupils had formerly found difficult. The students love the software. They continually ask when we shall use it again. Using the software for whole class teaching has speeded the learning process so that I now have to spend less time on key topics." One of the key elements of the software is its use of multimedia for multi-sensory learning. In recent years, so much has been discovered about how the brain learns. This software builds on the knowledge of preferred brain learning styles and scaffolds new learning for visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learners. One piece of software in one classroom can create a learning environment for all preferred learning styles and multiple intelligences. When the student has control of the software on a personal computer you have reached the ultimate goal of personalising learning. Keith Phipps continued, "Birchfield software answers so many of the questions we have had in education about the appropriate embedding of ICT in the curriculum. At any stage, you as the teacher can go into the software and see individual or group progress through the Birchfield Assessment Tool. This provides an immediate insight to individual progress and how we can individualise further student learning. It also provides dynamic personalised learning whereby the students have control over their learning in a way I have never seen before by any other software." "Students display great pride in their achievements which are displayed to parents on an open evening. The student groups collaborate and present their multimedia creations to the rest of the group via the interactive whiteboard and they are peer reviewed and assessed. This gives us assessment for learning as well as assessment of learning."
14-11-2005 Ten exceptional educators were named winners at this year's Teaching Awards, held at the prestigious Theatre Royal, London on Sunday 16 October. Hosted by Eamonn Holmes, the Teaching Awards are the 'Oscars' of the teaching profession, and aim to celebrate excellence and promote best practice in education. As one of the supporters of the event, Birchfield Interactive was proud to donate educational software titles worth £1,000 for each of the ten national winners and software to the value of £250 for each of the regional winners. The Teaching Awards National Ceremony was attended by the 142 category winners from across the UK, all of whom were honoured at local ceremonies in June. National winners were announced in ten categories including:
The Teaching Awards are open to every education establishment in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Nominations for the Teaching Awards 2006 are now open for anyone to nominate schools, inspiring Headteachers, teachers, teaching assistants and governors online at www.teachingawards.com.
07-11-2005 Birchfield Interactive (BETT Show, stand number: Z56) is set to make teaching the secondary curriculum significantly easier with the launch of its Lesson Kit range - 187 updated curriculum software titles (PC DVDs) for secondary education. The new range features two lesson delivery options - Instant Lessons are designed to provide staff looking for a "quick fix" with a wide selection of ready-made classwork modules packed full of engaging activities. The Lesson Builder, a program that provides teachers with the tools and resources to create interesting tutorials featuring stunning high quality 3-D animations, narrated text, voice-overs and music. Integral to both options is the Birchfield Lesson Assessment tool, which automatically monitors pupil and class progress and produces detailed reports itemising time spent and results achieved. Spanning 14 curriculum subjects, Birchfield Interactive's award-winning portfolio of secondary titles is already used in 80 per cent of all UK secondary schools, is matched to current syllabuses and is suitable across all exam boards. Ideal for whole class teaching on an interactive whiteboard or independent study, Birchfield's ready-made Instant Lessons combine engaging curriculum content, animations, narration and challenging activities to create an engaging environment designed to appeal to visual, kinaesthetic and auditory learners alike. Written text is supported by high quality 3-D animations to help visual learners understand challenging concepts and all text is fully narrated to support auditory learners. Exam style tests, useful for kinaesthetic learners, provide the facility to carry out summative assessments and can be found in the Extended Question Zone. The Drag and Drop zone also contains several formative assessments which are based on the academic content. The number of attempts is monitored and a percentage score is calculated. Knowledge across different sub-topics can be tested within the Quiz Zone, which features a range of different games-based activities. Banishing the need to surf the internet for hours on end, Lesson Builder provides teachers with the tools and resources to create visually stunning lessons, featuring high quality 3-D animations, text and voice-overs. Lessons created by teachers can be exported to PowerPoint® with the minimum of effort and individual resources can be imported into Word® or Excel®. These individual resources can also be shared between departments or uploaded to a Virtual Learning Environment. A key driver in developing pupils' thinking and creativity skills, this resources module can be used by students to create original multimedia presentations and websites. Teachers keen to meet their learning assessment requirements can monitor class and pupil activity using the Lesson Assessment tool. This software manages data from all Birchfield titles on each PC or network and automatically collates reports detailing the time spent by pupils and results achieved. Reports are presented in a mark book format or displayed as graphs, saving Teachers significant time. Data can also be exported to any spreadsheet package for further manipulation and voice-recordings or typed responses can be replayed or viewed. Pupil strengths and weaknesses can thus be identified and a more personalised approach to learning adopted. Commenting on the launch of The Lesson Kit range, Jon Case, Chief Executive, Birchfield Interactive said, "We've listened to feedback from our users and developed our new range of software accordingly, incorporating a wide variety of key enhancements requested by the education community. The Lesson Kit range is a truly all encompassing solution to classroom teaching and pupil coursework needs. With site licences for titles starting at just £149.95, the new range also represents exceptional value for money."
01-11-2005 Educational software specialist, Birchfield Interactive plc (www.birchfield.co.uk), has been shortlisted for a science accolade in the prestigious BETT Awards 2006 - the most coveted awards in the educational ICT calendar. The company's complete subject solution for chemistry, aimed at 11-16 year-olds, has been nominated for a prize in the Science Key Stage 3 & 4 category. The company's Version 3 Chemistry series is a set of interactive programs ideal for creating an inclusive learning environment that engages all levels and abilities. Covering 11 topic areas of the science curriculum, the programs also include quizzes, experiments and exam-style questions to develop and test students' knowledge. The software is fully matched to the current national curriculum in England and is suitable for all exam board schemes of study. Catering for all student learning styles, including visual, auditory and kinaesthetic, it is suitable for whole class, group work or individual use. Jonathan Case, Chief Executive, Birchfield Interactive plc said: "We are delighted to have been shortlisted for this award, which is one of the industry's highest accolades. To be nominated is an achievement in itself and reflects the commitment that our team makes to ensure our products set the standard for excellence in this sector." The BETT Awards, launched six years ago, have become the benchmark for ICT product development. The awards recognise and reward creativity, innovation and commitment in developing the highest quality and most effective educational ICT resources. The winners of the BETT Awards 2006 will be announced at the BETT Awards Dinner, on 11th January 2006.
04-10-2005 Anti-social Behaviour, a highly topical CD-ROM for secondary students studying citizenship, is just one of three new titles to be launched on Stand D4 by Birchfield Interactive plc at the Specialist Schools Trust Conference and Exhibition. Also featured will be Places of Worship - Buddhism, the sixth title in the Places of Worship series, and Fibres and Fabrics, a new design and technology program developed to assist the teaching of textile technology. All three CD-ROMS combine engaging curriculum content, animations, narration and challenging activities to create a lively learning environment designed to appeal to visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learners alike. Designed to instill in young people the human rights and responsibilities that underpin society, Anti-Social Behaviour aims to cultivate pupils' knowledge and understanding of the legal and moral laws by which citizens must abide, as well as developing skills in enquiry and responsible action. Capitalising on the success of previous titles in the series, Places of Worship - Buddhism examines the features and uses of Buddhist temples, allowing pupils to develop knowledge of the different types and to identify characteristics of a temple shrine room. Fibres and Fabrics - the latest program in Birchfield's portfolio of 13 design and technology titles - covers the fibres and fabrics topic within the textile technology curriculum. It provides a comprehensive investigation into the origin of fibres and the processes which turn them into fabrics, enabling pupils to make informed choices about fabrics for individual projects. With an 187-strong portfolio of titles that spans 14 curriculum subjects, Birchfield Interactive's award-winning titles are already used in 80 per cent of all UK secondary schools, and are matched to current syllabuses. Each title comes as a three CD-ROM pack, containing all the resources for effective teaching, pupil interactivity and instantaneous assessment. Ideal for whole class teaching or independent study, Birchfield's ready-made lessons on disc one combine engaging curriculum content, animations, narration and activities to create an engaging environment designed to appeal to all learning styles. The second disc contains a digital library that holds an array of multimedia components featured on disc one, designed to be exported into presentations or worksheets with ease. Teachers keen to meet their assessment for learning requirements can monitor class and pupil activity using the Birchfield Assessment tool, contained on disc three. This software manages data from all Birchfield titles on each PC or network and automatically collates reports detailing the time spent by pupils and results achieved. Commenting on the new titles, Jon Case, Chief Executive, Birchfield Interactive plc said, "At Birchfield, we have always endeavoured to provide effective ICT tools that engage and stimulate pupils. With great animations, voice-overs and quality content, these new titles continue this effort, allowing teachers to totally embed ICT into their teaching practice."
29-04-2005 Birchfield is proud to announce that its Modern Foreign Language (MFL) software, 'French: Myself, Family and Friends' recently featured on the new Teachers' TV channel (Sky 592, Telewest 240, NTL 803, KIT 70, HomeChoice 845 and FREEVIEW 47). Teachers' TV is a channel for everyone who works in education, from Heads to Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs), Governors to support staff. Programmes aim to show how teachers are bringing the curriculum to life in the classroom and improving schools. Birchfield's software was featured on the 'Resource Review' programme which consisted of a teacher panel evaluation of computer resources available for MFL. The panel review resulted in a recommendation of Birchfield's Myself, Family and Friends software. One of the panel members, Ruth Wilks, County Adviser for MFL at Buckinghamshire County Council commented: "If I was taking into account broadness of scope and opportunities for exploitation in the classroom and with individual learners, I would go for Myself, Family and Friends because it does give lots of opportunity for development in all four skill areas." Birchfield's French: Myself, Family and Friends series (also available in Spanish and German) is designed to deliver a fresh and modern approach to the teaching of MFL in the classroom. The software combines state of the art technology and curriculum content written by practicing teachers to create a new and unique learning environment that will capture and hold the attention of the classroom. Video footage and diagrams are used to illustrate the key points and features, while an extensive array of interactive exercises help to promote class discussion and challenge individual knowledge. All four key skills - reading, writing, speaking and listening, are catered for. In response to the teacher panel recommendation, Jonathan Case, Chief Executive, commented: "We are overwhelmed by the positive reaction to our product." The software series can be purchased for £250 (full site licence) and covers topics such as personal details, nationalities, family members, animals, physical descriptions, personal relationships and jobs.
|
Flexible educational software for teaching engaging and interactive lessons across the curriculum
©2008 Birchfield Interactive plc
About Birchfield | Useful Links | Privacy Policy | Approval Policy | Terms & Conditions | Credits
Registered in England and Wales No. 3439052 VAT Reg No. GB 701 0109 13