Never too young: a digital vision for schools

I dutifully sat down as thousands of fathers do every week. When, after five minutes, we had exhausted my knowledge of tectonic plates and the Richter scale, we turned to the internet.

After a 10-minute trawl of just a few of the 70 million Google results we had still not found any engaging or reliable site that could teach a child of his age the simple facts he needed to know in a way that inspired his curiosity.

Children of this generation returning to school this week want to be able to see what they are learning about. They want to be taught in a format they most enjoy.

It is a far cry from the childhood so many of us remember. What I knew about the world around us came from watching brilliant Attenborough documentaries on Sunday evenings, rather than what I was taught at school.

Along with Sir David Attenborough, the likes of Professor Lord Robert Winston and Brian Cox have delivered a popular engagement and understanding of science that has enlightened a generation.

But there are too many distractions for this generation to enjoy the Sunday evenings of my childhood watching brilliant one-hour documentaries.

Children today need their information delivered more concisely and more directly.

And, crucially, if children at primary school age have not been engaged in the wonder of our world when they are at their most inquisitive, it is no surprise that they have no passion for the subject when it starts to get difficult in secondary school.

I worked in television for 20 years and put a team of young film-makers together with teachers to start creating films with the best footage from the BBC and many other archives, to explain just what a child needed to know.

In 2010, Twig was born, and with investment from the private media group DC Thomson we have since produced more than 2,500 short films to help children understand science. The films help teachers to prepare an intellectually impatient generation for its future in the information age.

Going back into schools for the first time in 35 years, I was surprised to see how little the learning experience had changed and how little assistance teachers really have to help create change.

The business world has been turned on its head by the internet. Yet despite billions being spent on computer hardware – such as expensive interactive whiteboards – there has been too little focus on the content to go on them.

Traditional book publishers have little incentive to be truly disruptive in delivering materials that relate to the modern mindset, and they lack the ready skills to make an impact on this new multi-media world.

As film-makers we know what needs to be done to engage our audience just as a gamer or musician may.

Three years after the release of our first films, Twig and our primary school product Tigtag are now used by more than 10,000 schools in more than 50 countries and in 14 languages. Children using their own devices in class break the barriers to entry set by government and established educationalists. Teachers and students can start to make their own decisions about the way they want to teach and learn.

It is a revolution that has been a long time coming.

Stem industries (science, technology, engineering and maths) are crucial for the economic growth of the UK. To maintain Britain’s position as a world leading economy, the UK needs to equip young people with the skills, knowledge and confidence to tackle the challenges of the future.

The skills developed through a good science education are vital for any future career, not just for scientists.

Web designers, electricians and managers need to assess the data and information they receive, they need to make judgments.

What you learn in science really matters far beyond school.

Anthony Bouchier is the CEO of Twig. www.twig-world.com

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