SciTex Learning - Science Curriculum for Texas.

We have all been extremely busy here at LJ Create over the last few months, getting ready to launch our new web resource "SciTex Learning". Scitex Learning is hosted on the new website www.SciTexLearning.com and is aimed at education providers in the State of Texas.

Our development team has been working at full power to get a whole range of lessons ready to allow teacher to teach physics, chemistry, biology and IPC topics to their students.

This has been a major task and it has been great to see pretty much the whole of the creative team within LJ working so hard on a single project.

The teaching resource consists of online lessons in HTML format, PowerPoint presentations that can also be delivered remotely in Flash format, and online assessment. To back up all of the curriculum, we have also produced many interactive applications and simulations that will help teach the science theory.

In all my years at LJ Create, I have not seen so many teachers, editors, graphic designers, animators, technicians, technical authors, software engineers and web developers working together on a single project. It is however a project to be proud of.

Each of the lessons map directly to the learning objectives specified in the Texas State standards, and we have also provided the instructors with an easy to use tool that helps them to quickly find learning materials for each objective.

This resource can be found at http://www.SciTexLearning.com

Routes into STEM, Watford Football Club

I was pleased to be invited, along with two of my colleagues from LJ Create, to help run the first two “Routes into STEM” events at Watford Football Club in South West Hertfordshire (UK), on the 3rd and 10th of November 2010.

The two STEM days were organised by the South West Hertfordshire SAPG. Each of these events consisted of a full day of combined Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics tasks for teams of students from a number of schools around the Watford area.

The school boys and girls, aged between 12 and 15, worked in teams of 4 or 5 to investigate a number of problems that we set them.

The United Kingdom, like many other countries around the world, sees the importance of promoting the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) to school children in order to produce a strongly equipped workforce for the future. The aim of the Routes to STEM is to demonstrate to the school pupils that all four subjects work together in order to solve real world problems. The secondary aim of the day was to show the teachers who had attended how LJ Create’s resources could be used within problem solving activities.

Five students from the local college acted as mentors for the school pupils. At the beginning of the day, before the school kids arrived, we trained the college students on how to use the equipment. We also briefed them on the safety concerned regarding activities involving fast moving parts or high heat. The students were then able to join the school pupils as they arrived and supervise the activities. On the second day (which involved a much higher number of school pupils), the college students were joined by four helpers from a high school to provide us with a further supply of willing helpers.

The college and high school students did an incredible job as mentors, working with the school pupils during the activities. They were able to guide them through the technical parts of the activities and asked them questions about what was happening during the practical activities. A couple of the students showed a really strong teaching aptitude.

Teachers from the schools involved were free to observe or join in with any of the activities taking place, and chat with the students about the problems that the students were solving. It was interesting to see the pupils explain to their teacher why they had made a wind farm with their wind turbines in a specific configuration, or how they could program a robot to sort parts on a conveyor belt.




The Activities:
Here is a quick description of some of the activities. I won’t give too many of the secrets away as we will probably be using some of these activities again in future STEM events around the world...

Students arranged a number of small scale wind turbines (from ST100, our Sustainable Energy module) to build a wind farm and measured the power output. They investigated organising the turbines in parallel and series circuits and watching the combined voltage readings. They discovered what happened when turbines blocked each other. Some students were able to observe turbines that were not in the flow of the “wind” (an office fan) turning with the power generated with the power from the turbines that were in the flow of the wind

Each team of students used Tactic, a large-scale plastic construction kit to build a catapult capable of throwing a beam bag at a pyramid of plastic cubs.

The students were asked to use a variety of materials to build a crash buffer for a magnetic levitation train (part of our ST150 – Research and Design module). The students worked as a team to test the train with a large assortment of different buffers made out of balloons, cotton wool, folder paper, rubber bands and drinking straws. I was surprised at the variety of novel solutions that the teams came up with. Every team had a completely unique solution and could prove their designs using the impact sensors on the track.

The students used the Energy Simulator (also from ST100 – Sustainable Energy), a strategy computer game developed by LJ Create that would allow them to plan a green energy installation for a tropical Island used as a holiday resort.

A computer controlled robot and conveyor belt (from the ST240 – Robotics and Automation module) was used for one of the tasks. The school boys and girls were given a program that would select a part on a production line. The students had to add more lines of code to the program to make th robot move the part onto a conveyor belt and then turn on the belt to send the part to a sorting bin at the end of the belt. This activity was so popular that all the children involved wanted to stay after the activity had finished and program the robot do other things.

The students used the Beam Designer Simulation software from the ST121 Structures and Materials module. The teams configured the application to compare different types of beam structures and work out what type of beam can hold a specified mass and be made for a specified cost. This activity was a challenge for the students and I heard several cheers from the teams who worked out solutions to the problem.

One of the pneumatic panel trainers from ST270 - Pnuematics was used for the events. Students were asked to use the components on the panel trainer to construct a pneumatic door that operated using a button. The students were given a scematic diagram to work from and the activity involved identifying the pneumatic components on the diagram. Some of the groups not only completed the exercise, but went on to configure their doors to open and close at different speeds.

Conclusions
I was delighted to see the impact the event had on all the students, teachers and other guests who attended. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. I couldn’t see a single student who was not involved with the activities. The students worked so well in their teams.

It was quite funny to see the school kids trying to get back to the activities as soon as possible during the refreshment breaks. I observed several students trying to drink their drinks as fast as possible, or wolfing down their biscuits, so they didn’t miss a minute of the tasks.

Another interesting observation was made whilst watching a team made up of students from two different schools that did not know each other before the event. After just one of the STEM activities, they were able to work as a team and even went on to win a prize for the best team of the day.

We had some really good feedback from the students and teachers who took part in the day and from the South West Hertfordshire SAPG who had invited us to the events and we are now all looking forward to the next one.

LJ Create at the BETT Show

We are busy getting everything ready for the BETT Show. It is our biggest event of the year as we expect to see several hundred visitors on our stand over the four days that the event runs.

The BETT show is a massive event and gets bigger each year. It is no longer just a British Show as people come from all over the world to see the latest educational technology in the London venue.

This year we are focusing on the subject of ICT used alongside hands-on learning. I will be presenting at the show alongside a number of others from the LJ team.

It will be good to catch up with all our friends who come to see us on our stand and to make some new ones. Come and see us on stand D66.

Bassetlaw 14-19 Engineering Diploma Consortium Reach for the Sky

The Bassetlaw 14–19 Consortium has developed an exciting project to support the delivery of the Engineering Diploma in the North Nottinghamshire area, called ‘Reach for the Sky’. This collaborative project aims to give the learners an exciting and engaging experience of the engineered world. The delivery includes the chance to examine aerospace technology up close through the resources and expertise on offer at North Nott’s College and Gamston Airport.

Alongside this real world exposure, the consortium was keen to develop an interactive e-learning resource that would compliment the real-world information, in order to meet all of the requirements of the Engineering Diploma.

The ‘Reach for the Sky’ project utilises LJ Create’s ‘ClassCampus’ online learning resource that was deployed with the Engineering Diploma in mind. It enables students to access contextualised learning resources reducing the need to travel between schools, college and workplace providers.

One example of these online resources is the Hydraulics material. Students are introduced to topics and demonstrations in the lead centre and then access virtual simulation tasks via the online system that relate directly to their experiences in the classroom.

Since starting delivery in September 2009, the consortium has accumulated over 500 hours of tracked online study on their Engineering Diploma and Motor Vehicle courses.

Gareth Nadin of the Tuxford School had this to say.

"LJ Create’s Engineering Resource has been one of the most significant technological advances for us in years.

The ClassCampus system is used specifically by the Diploma students across the consortium. We use the chat and email facilities to ensure that the students have access to a “duty tutor” on nominated evenings during the week.

We have been using the vehicle technology modules to deliver the BTEC First Certificate and the impact on lower ability students is outstanding. Each student is able to progress at their own pace and through the live classroom facilities the student is able to request assistance discreetly."

This project attracted funding from the East Midlands Development Agency as part of their “Catapulting Kids” initiative.

For information visit the East Midlands New Technology Initiative website

or read the BECTA Guide to the Use of eLearning for Diploma Delivery.

BBC Visit LJ Create - 30 Years On.

LJ Create, the educational resources development and manufacturing company, will be appearing in the BBC local East Anglia TV news throughout today (24th September).

A BBC Look East programme from 1979 was uncovered that featured Larry Rowe, the managing director of LJ Create Ltd, winning a competition for one year’s free use of a new factory in Bowthorpe, Norwich. The competition for local people who had good ideas for new companies and needed a helping hand it turning the idea into a business. Perhaps this was even an early go at a formula that has produced the incredibly popular Apprentice TV series.

Larry had been making electronic circuit boards for use in education for himself colleagues at City College, Norwich where he lectured. Through a network of friends, college tutors, other colleges heard about his work and commissioned boards as well. Before he knew it, Larry had a small production line running from his home and even paid his teenage son, Chris, pocket money to help solder circuit boards. Each board was branded LJ Electronics, with the LJ coming from Larry’s initials, L. J. Rowe.

It was Larry's son who suggested that Larry enter the competition to win the use of factory and make the giant leap from a cottage industry into a fully commercial operation. Larry eventually agreed to send the entry form in.

On the 6th June 1979, Larry was delighted to be presented with the key to his factory as the first prize in the competition, in front of a large gathering of local press and TV cameras. The judges were very impressed with Larry’s hard work to date, the innovational electronics teaching products he had designed, and the gap in the market he described.

Although Larry found out that one of the judges, TV’s business trouble-shooter John Swinfield, said that it was unlikely that an "ordinary man of the street" with no knowledge of running a business would be able to keep this sort of business running more than a year!

LJ Electronics Ltd was born. Larry was given a year’s sabbatical from the College and Chris took a gap year from the University at Aston to help Larry. They started to recruit help straight away as they knew that they would need a workforce to produce enough products to support the cost of running the factory when the free year ran out. 30 years on, Larry never returned to the college and Chris didn’t take up his place in Aston University.

In 2009, with a new name to represent a far more diverse product range LJ Create is going strong. LJ Create is now a multinational business with £14 million turn over. Students all over the world are using educational equipment, curriculum resources and high quality computer software from LJ to learn about science, IT, engineering, media design, automotive skills and of course, electronics.

BBC Look East came back to LJ to talk to Larry about his success and see how the company has grown. The head office is in the same industrial estate in Bowthorpe, Norwich where it was founded, but now the company occupies several larger units and has additional offices overseas.

Larry, who is still very much at the helm is proud of his company and told the BBC that he owes his success to a very talented workforce and luck. But we all know that the success of the company is due to Larry's 30 years of hard work.

The footage of the BBC program can be found in YouTube

 

LJ Create proudly announce their new Diploma Electronics Programme

This exciting new Electronics package has been created specifically to address the electronics requirements within the new Engineering Diploma at Levels 1 and 2.

It features a series of lessons designed to introduce components and circuits for real world electronic applications. The module focuses on practical skills with students constructing circuits using the various prototyping methods of breadboard, strip board and PCB. The student activities allow them to investigate circuit operation on our unique patching board/carrier mounted components and perform circuit simulation on a computer. The patching board also includes a system of fault insertion which is an essential requirement at Level 2 of the Diploma.

The module offers the added benefit of project tasks that meet the examination board unit assessment requirements. A marking scheme is clearly identified within these projects assisting the teacher with the assessment and providing an overall mark for the unit.

Due to be released in September, many Diploma Consortia members have already purchased the module for use in the new school year.

LJ Create are happy to provide demonstrations of the new programme, please contact Kerry Woods on 01603 748001 for more details. Or visit www.ljcreate.com/engineeringdiploma