Who is the award for?
The award is completely free and open to educational practitioners in all areas of compulsory, vocational and post-compulsory education and training, including early years, primary, post-primary, further and higher education, initial teacher education, community and work-based learning organisations.
What are the advantages in applying for this award?
There are many advantages to applying for and receiving this award. It will provide:
- Industry and government endorsed recognition for the use of digital technology to support teaching and learning, collaboration and leadership;
- A comprehensive framework for building inclusion, equality, diversity, safety and resilience into digital learning and teaching.
- Systematic and comprehensive tools to reflect critically upon practice and its impact and to help individuals contribute to the requirements of HGIOS4;
- A forum for offering and receiving feedback, collaboration and support;
- A roadmap for personal professional learning in digital deployment and pedagogy.
A free, ready-to-go set of resources, contacts, links and support mechanisms to help you to continue to grow.
I am not employed in a school; can I still apply for the award?
If you are:
- involved in supporting learning or professional development and can provide evidence that you fulfil the criteria for the digital Educator Award, you can apply;
- involved in leading, innovating and or supporting educators to use digital technologies in their teaching, you may be eligible for the Digital Influencer or digital leadership award pathway.
How is the award peer reviewed?
Peer Review is a three-stage process:
- Once the submission has been completed, your chosen peer reviewer can view your submission and verify its completion;
- Verification, once carried out, is then validated (usually by a senior person in the school). Once this is completed, the DEAS programme coordinator may forward the sample and its verification for further moderation.
- Award sampling is carried out by independent education experts who ensure that there is standardisation and equity across the award programme. There may be occasions when the person undertaking a sample validation may ask to speak to peer reviewers or applicants. This is simply to verify and standardise outcomes.
What is a peer reviewer?
The award is based on collaboration within and, where appropriate, across organisations. On registration, each applicant should choose someone from within his/her/their organisation who is in a more strategic role or who has a good overview of the applicant’s role and work to act as peer reviewer. This role is completely voluntary and should be agreed in advance of any submission. Below are some guidelines for choosing a peer reviewer you should make sure that he/she:
- Is willing to act as peer reviewer and is aware of the requirements of the role;
- Has some working knowledge of the organisation’s digital strategy;
- Can provide positive, constructive and forward-looking advice;
I have no peers in my organization to review my award, what should I do?
It may be possible to ask a colleague from another organization or from a local education authority to view your submission. On request a DSA validator can be assigned. You should also know that your chosen reviewer may need special permission from your organisation, and it is possible that there may be a data protection barrier or a learner safeguarding issue which may influence how this happens.
What sorts of evidence should be submitted for the award?
Depending on your situation and learners, these could include a range of file types such as screenshots, links to online resources or content, training certificates, emails, images, audio/video files, recordings etc. Make sure each piece of evidence is supported by an explanatory statement providing some contextual information. For example, you could reflect on what ‘s gone well, how would you do things differently next time, whether what you did has made a difference to colleagues / learners / partners etc. What is the impact and is it measurable or evidenced?
How much evidence should I submit against each statement?
While it is difficult to quantify the amount of evidence needed, you should think more about how well the evidence represents the statements in each section. Evidence should also be selected carefully to represent your best practice. The following information may help you select the best evidence for your application.
- Avoid ‘pouring’ all your work into the submission for each statement;
- Select the best evidence for each statement;
- Make sure the range of evidence you submit reflects the full range of work you are involved in;
- Where appropriate, provide a short explanation to the reviewer so that he/she knows the context in which the work is undertaken;
- Try to show variety in your submission, using different forms of evidence where appropriate;
- Make sure you conform to data protection and safeguarding requirements for your organisation;
Must I complete the Intel SFI courses to receive the award?
No, but you should know what they offer, and you might wish take advantage of the wide range of support and information they offer to schools.
I have made many of my own resources - can I submit them for the award?
Yes. Particularly where they show innovation and imagination in their approach to digital learning and teaching.