IF Chris Tarrant should tire of hosting one of the nation’s favourite quiz shows, a science teacher is ready to step into his shoes.
Richard Heppell from Beauchamp College, Oadby, Leicester, has turned questionmaster, tapping into the phenomenal success of ITV’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire quiz game to stimulate his pupils’ interest in his subject.
He has written a computer program based on the series which he projects on to an electronic whiteboard in the classroom.
A pupil is invited to the front of the class to answer a series of questions. If help is needed the pupil can ask the class or phone a friend - if the pound;32,000 question is answered correctly the pupil wins 10 chocolates. So far, however, no pupil has got this far.
The gameshow simulation was cited as one example of Mr Heppell’s innovative use of technology by the judges who gave him the secondary subject teaching award in the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency’s first ICT in Practice awards.
The judges of the award, sponsored by BT and supported by The TES, praised Mr Heppell for being a gifted teacher who uses technology to boost his skills. P> Almost 200 teachers were nominated for the eight award categories, which honour commitment to ICT in teaching and learning.
The winners were presented with cheques for pound;2,500 and another pound;2,500 for their school by the General Teaching Council chair Lord Puttnam at the BETT exhibition in London yesterday.
The Becta website at www.becta.org.uk has further details of the awards
BECTA AWARDS
Subject teaching (primary): David Baugh, Ysgol Frongoch, Denbigh, north Wales.
Subject teaching (secondary): Richard Heppell, The Beauchamp College, Leicester.
Advice and support: Kathryn Buckby, Redcar amp; Cleveland ICT Centre, Redcar.
School management (primary): Jenny Noel-Storr, Redhill primary, Telford.
School management (secondary): Jackie Story, Sanday community school, Orkney.
SEN (primary): Helen Crawford, Murphy Crescent School, Durham, and Christine de Graft Hanson, Hedgewood school, Middlesex (joint winners).
SEN (secondary): David Hampton, James Brindley School, Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
Widening participation in further education: Peter Funnell, CREATE, Suffolk College, Ipswich.
