Uncategorized Archives - Infiniti Platform

Infiniti Platforms is Integrated into GLUU

May 11, 2022

Infiniti Platforms is a leader in delivering advanced digital learning solutions to support teaching outside of school. GLUU spawns partnerships between schools and industry to co-curate solutions which give teachers more time to do what they do best, teach. Together, the partners have merged to accelerate pupil recovery post-COVID by supporting the ‘Whole Child’ both academically and emotionally; addressing a student’s readiness to learn

UK Government has allocated over £1.2bn to support pupil recovery this academic year alone, with the flagship programme being the National Tutoring Programme (NTP). However, within this there is no joined up strategy to address the ‘Whole Child’, and the partners wish to build upon existing initiatives to create extra capacity for schools.

With many pupils having lost up to five months of schooling due to the pandemic and facing challenging circumstances, the partners are to develop unique solutions which combine tutoring, curriculum planning, digital content, assessment and – crucially – online support for mental health and wellbeing. It means that schools will be able to focus on better serving their communities by extending support into evenings and weekends and beyond the traditional classroom offering.

Christine Major, CEO of GLUU says, “We need to use digital tools to help better engage our children. By combining the expertise of two pioneering businesses we can accelerate much-needed support to school leaders to help bring extra capacity to the system and reduce teacher workload.”

Alastair Fisher, Founder and MD of Infiniti says, “This is a worrying time for so many schools, teachers and pupils globally and the need to provide extra high-quality support will continue for a long while yet. We are glad to be able to build innovative digital platforms in partnership with GLUU to help save teachers time and to ensure that all children are able to access the very best resources available, anywhere and anytime.”

askOLA

May 11, 2022

by infiadmin Uncategorized

GLUU integrates Infiniti Platforms and launches a new well-being and academic support platform: askOLA. A new way of supporting students by offering a safe and secure environment for them to seek out help online, whatever the issue may be.

How can askOLA help me?

askOLA is the extra conversation that you’ve not had time for in the school day – supporting the whole student, both academically and emotionally; addressing their readiness to learn.

Teachers have never been so busy.

Developed in collaboration with school leaders and mental health experts, askOLA provides an extra layer of support to underpin and strengthen any school’s existing curriculum. Students receive academic and pastoral support from vetted learning assistants, addressing gaps in knowledge whilst supporting pupils’ readiness to learn.

To learn more about askOLA visit www.askola.io

Effective ways to teach STEM subjects online

August 17, 2021

by infiadmin Uncategorized

If you have never taught mathematics or any of the natural sciences online, then you would be forgiven for thinking that it is pretty much like teaching any other subject. But alas, it is not! Teaching mathematics online, for example, I would venture to say, is arguably one of the more difficult and challenging to teach effectively. In this blog article, I would like to give you a few pointers and tips as to which are the best tools and practices, given all the experience I have after accumulating several thousand hours of teaching mathematics, physics and chemistry online over the last 15 years.

First and foremost, you need to make sure that you have a great virtual classroom, such as that of Infiniti, which allows you to seamlessly upload and invoke different materials at the relevant times according to the context. You may be doing a one-on-one lesson, or you may be doing a group lesson; you may be teaching theory, and therefore need to do a lot of writing and drawing; or you may need to prompt your students to interact on the whiteboard. So, the most important thing is to have all your teaching materials ready before you enter the virtual classroom – you can upload all the appropriate files before you or your students enter the Infiniti classroom. This is akin to a teacher entering a physical classroom with a bundle of books, notes and maybe tests under his arm, always ready to improvise and move with the flow of the class.

No matter what anyone says there is no substitute for handwriting when it comes to teaching. It has also been scientifically provenⁱ that students remember facts and notes when they are handwritten rather than just served up in print version. And that goes for students physically writing up their notes and similarly for teachers writing their notes in real time, just as they would on a blackboard in a traditional school classroom. And here comes the first challenge: how does one confidently handwrite in a virtual classroom

Visualiser

A decent visualiser is an absolute godsend for teaching STEM. Like a cobra’s head, the camera sits over the paper and you can write as you normally do on the paper and with the camera feed the student can see what you are writing, simultaneously with another cam on your face. Highly recommended is the IPEVO visualiser https://www.ipevo.com/products/v4k which I have been using for years. The other great thing with these visualisers is that you can screenshot the notes you have written during the lesson and save them in the LIBRARY section of your students’ LMS – so handy!

If you cannot manage to get hold of an IPEVO then second best is OKIOLABS https://www.okiolabs.com/okiocam/ or there is a great work around (the most economical) with the camera on your mobile phone which can be mounted on a stand such as this https://www.amazon.com/Ajustable-Cellphone-Streaming-Sketching-Recording/dp/B0863L2QSZ?&currencyCode=EUR

Graphics tablets

If you do not have a visualiser then you can use a graphics tablet which is compatible with the Infiniti virtual classroom whiteboard. Now graphics tablets can get very, very expensive – these are for those professional graphic designers and not necessary for the more mundane demands of writing up chemical structures or mathematical equations. So no need to shell out a small fortune for a graphics tablet. I have tried a vast array of graphics tablets and have found that the most effective (and very affordable) is the Wacom ONE graphics tablet that comes with its own stylus. It does take a little getting used to as it is not the same as writing on paper but after not too much practice it is highly effective. If you are looking for the cheap and cheerful then look no further than the HUION which can be had for around 20 euros but then the quality, responsiveness are not as good as that of the Wacom ONE. There are some very fancy offerings out there, but the prices can become eye-wateringly high. Frequent and significant advancements are being made to the extent that if your pockets are deep enough then a Remarkable tablet will render the same experience as writing on paper (no joking!), or for that matter a high-end iPad with accompanying stylus.

Whatever you write/annotate on the Infiniti virtual classroom whiteboard can be downloaded by the students directly onto the hard drives or directed to their libraries in their LMs, all consistent with our AIOP (all-in-one-place) philosophy. The student fully concentrates during the lesson, knowing that all the notes are being conveniently filed ready for reviewing after the lessons.

I personally have both a visualiser and a graphics tablet which I regularly toggle between to deliver the very most effective and engaging lessons.

Again, if your budget permits, then I would highly recommend having two monitors, one as large as possible and the second a typical 13” laptop – this allows you (the teacher) to more easily monitor and control the view that the student sees.

There are no set formulas as to the best possible use of either visualisers or graphics tablets but with practice and experience you will find that with these marvellous tools the humdrum, ordinary mathematics lesson can become extremely efficacious, enjoyable and interactive for the students, who can be encouraged to have their own graphics tablets and/or visualisers so that they can interact.

I have personally taught numerous students Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry for A levels, IGCSEs, SATs, APs, etc. exclusively online and many of these students have gone onto some of the highest ranking universities in the world. Fellow teachers, the proof is in the pudding: the requisite tools are there to be had and they work very well. With a little patience, practice and experimenting you will find what works best for you. Happy online teaching and if you would like any more specific tips then please do not hesitate to reach out to us at Infiniti. Remember: only a bad workman blames his tools!

https://www.fastcompany.com/90618464/ditch-the-digital-notes-handwriting-is-way-better-for-memorization-and-speed
https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/handwriting-better-for-notes-memory-typing

National Tutoring Programme 2-Apply Now!

July 15, 2021

by infiadmin Uncategorized

The new Open Access Scheme for AY 2021/22

The National Tutoring Programme is a government funded scheme that is aimed to provide tutoring support to disadvantaged children. Tutoring agencies who apply for a grant need to follow certain criteria.

The closing date is 5th August 2021 (no applications will be accepted after this date).

Students should be placed in groups of 2 or 3 and taught by 1 tutor. 1:1 lessons are also encouraged for more specialized help.
Tutoring agencies should provide support in English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities, Modern foreign languages, and Primary level support (reading, writing, maths and science), although schools are primarily expected to have a strong interest in supporting English and Maths.
The preferable teaching approach entails the offering of both face to face and online lessons, thus tutoring partners should ideally have both options available.
Applicants must meet all 13 of the quality standards included in the table below, and all 14 if applying to provide internationally based tutors.
Pricing should be reflective of current company provision.
Applicants who are not successful will be informed of the reasons by Randstad after the application has been reviewed. The report will include the area/s of the quality standards and/or requirements they did not meet.
NTP is available to all state maintained schools from Yr1 – Yr11.

The £579m School-Led Tutoring Fund.

The amount of funding that successful candidates will receive will be proportional to the number of Pupil Premium students they have enrolled. For the following academic year, the grant will be calculated to cover 75% of the cost of locally-sourced tuition, and schools will contribute the remaining.
With School-led tutoring funding, a typical primary school of 200 pupils will receive £6,000 while a typical secondary school of 1,000 pupils will receive £35,000.
All state-funded primary, middle, and secondary schools in England, including academies and free schools,will receive £203 for 60% of pupils eligible for Pupil Premium, from Year 1 to Year 11.

You can access the scheme via the NTP website https://nationaltutoring.org.uk/

Table source: https://d3vgwsfdkj1ams.cloudfront.net/documents/Open-Access-Scheme-guidance-Quality-Standards-Accreditation-criteria.docx.pdf?mtime=20210707123107&focal=none&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=139290979&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-v3Vm8kGHzXNovlzVCW9ygPL2sK9mWFScfbSBhVnlBYof2eYrUweOqyEoPVEDhHJYOPA1dBzYOqv02A9ID2eemGytU0izvq6jUpGPycTYVIlemHoQ&utm_content=139290979&utm_source=hs_email

Data loss : A new hassle for tutors!

July 14, 2021

by infiadmin Uncategorized

Data loss can happen– and it can happen more often than you think. Sometimes it is accidental. Sometimes it is not. It can be a hacker, or it can simply be your wife! As a matter of fact, Hemingway recounts the horror of this experience in A Moveable Feast: “I was sure she could not have brought the carbons too….It was true alright and I remember what I did in the night after. I let myself into the flat and found it was true.” Back in 1922, Hemingway’s wife, Hadley, lost his works in progress and his carbon copies when they were stolen during a train ride to Switzerland. This could be the first off-site backup in history despite the fact that it ended in a misadventure!

Saving back ups in different locations is a strategy described by the 3-2-1 rule. Interestingly, we have a professional photographer to thank for the 3-2-1 backup strategy that many companies employ today. Peter Krogh, originally shared the concept in his 2009 book The DAM Book: Digital Asset Management for Photographers.

The 3-2-1 rule recommends that you keep at least three copies of your data. You need to store two of these copies on separate media devices and at least one additional copy at an off-site location. An off-site location is important due to potential physical threats such as hardware failures, theft, fire and water leaks. Doom and Gloom scenarios can happen in real life! A fire at a French cloud services firm recently damaged millions of websites, including government agencies’ portals, banks, and news websites. When disaster strikes, you’ll be able to restore your data thanks to your remote copy. Some writers even swap external hard drives with each other once a month for safekeeping. This may sound like an extreme solution, but it is how Pixar saved ‘Toy Story 2’ from almost complete deletion. Restoring your data from an off-site backup can save your work, but this means that you need to keep this copy up to date.

On the other hand, a cloud backup is a convenient and automated solution. You no longer need a manual processes or calendar reminders, and you can avoid the risk of human error. There are many affordable Cloud backup solutions such as BackBlaze ($5/month), Carbonite ($59.99/year), Mozy ($5.99/month), and Crashplan for Small Business ($10/month, per device), and some of these services will even send you a new hard drive with your files. Tip: When you first sign up for one of these services, let the cloud backup program run when you’re not using your computer. Don’t be alarmed if you notice your system slowing down as the program needs to upload every file you have. However, future backups, which ought to happen behind the scenes as you go about your work, won’t require as much bandwidth since the service only will only need to upload new or updated files.

Services like Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, and Google Drive provide plenty of free storage for your off-site backup needs as well. Always keep the 3-2-1 rule in mind because even Google can be hacked, and even its servers and built-in redundancies can suffer failure. For your second on-site back up you can invest in an external hard disc, connect it to your computer and learn how to use ‘’set-it-and-forget-it’’ software solutions and back up your entire hard drive. If you are a Mac user, Time Machine can help you recover not just the last version of a file but also previous versions. Backing up on a CD/DVD is not recommended as new laptops will not have a CD/DVD drive. If you think that a flash drive is enough for backing up your contents, make sure to purchase a reliable one. Once back up is complete, click on the drive icon and drag it to the trash. Do not disconnect the Flash Drive from your computer until the icon has disappeared from your desktop! Doing so may damage the files on your flash drive. If you are a Mac user you need to select a compatible external hard disc / flash drive. If not, you still have the solution to give it a compatible format. In case you want to backup your bookmarks we have useful instructions:

• Safari – Launch Safari. Click on the File menu and select Export Bookmarks. This will create a file that contains your bookmarks. Drag this file to your back-up device.
Firefox – Launch Firefox. Click on Bookmarks and select Organize Bookmarks. The menu bar changes once this selection is made. Then, go
to the File menu and drag to Export. This will create a file that contains your bookmarks for Firefox. Drag this file to your back-up device.
• Chrome – As long as you have logged in to Chrome with your Google Account and selected your sync settings there is no need to backup your bookmarks. Once you login from a new device your bookmarks will sync automatically.

Last but not least, do not underestimate the risk of data loss; you will never regret the invested time and budget dedicated to the safety of your learning contents!

Toddlers and Online learning- how to grasp their attention and keep them engaged.

July 6, 2021

by infiadmin Uncategorized

One of the most challenging aspects of quarantine due to the Covid-19 outbreak has definitely been the effect of it on young children. As a mother of a 4 year old and living in a country where school is mandatory at this age, I can tell you it has not been an easy ride. Having to tell your child every morning that there is no school but instead there is a laptop waiting in the kitchen for them to log in has had adverse reactions, from crying and screaming to simply walking away and not paying attention during class. Being a teacher myself, I have found it quite challenging to keep my younger students engaged and enthusiastic during an online session. This is why I have created a list of 5 pieces of advice for when tutoring toddlers online.

Number 1

Keep sessions short- maximum 35 minutes.

Toddlers cannot, and should not be expected, to concentrate for as long as adults can. That is why short sessions with regular breaks helps them become more engaged and is less tedious for them.

Number 2

Games, games, and more games!

Now is not the time for young children to get a head start on their maths and language skills but rather maintain a touch with numbers and letters in a fun and creative way. There are plenty of online resources where you can find age appropriate online games with numbers, letters colours, and amusing characters. So do not worry if your 5 year olds are struggling to learn the letter C or the number 9-they’ll get there as long as you help them maintain a positive attitude and enjoy their online classes.

Here are a few websites I like to use:

https://www.cbc.ca/kids/games

https://pbskids.org/games

https://global.cbeebies.com/

Number 3

Keep homework to a minimum.

Parents are already struggling to get their youngsters to join online classes, let alone do homework for online classes. Assigning homework on a daily basis may create pressure, anxiety, and tantrums at home, making children develop a negative attitude towards online learning. Try and give children fun projects to do with their parents over the weekend when kids are relaxed and adults do not have work.

I use the following website for homework ideas:

https://www.k5learning.com/

Number 4

Have fun with projects!

Paper, scissors, glue, shaving foam, hangers, pegs, and other household items can make excellent resources for projects. During class you can get young children to cut, stick, color, plant seeds, and use their imagination in a fun and creative way!

Number 5

Story time.

Once a day you can take ten minutes to tell your students a story. It will help them settle down and is a nice ending to the day. At the end of the story try asking them which part they liked, whether they’d change something in the story, and other questions to grasp their attention. You can also use short videos and pictures while narrating.

For stories with pictures try the website below:

https://www.storyberries.com/