Streetsense2.com website


Organisation: Road Safety Scotland
Date uploaded: 15th July 2010
Date published/launched: Pre 2009


The site illustrates a complete menu of interactive games at every level, from instruction speech bubbles and audio, to fully interactive games for children to learn about road safety.

Evaluated
In the summer of 2008, phase one of www.streetsense2.com went fully live. This followed a trial period over the previous six months when small scale studies were carried out by focus groups of teachers and young people from different local authorities. Phase two of the site followed soon after.

This site was developed using an existing paper based resource which was adapted to become a highly engaging, interactive, flash based, educational, online and offline (CDROM ) resource.

The site illustrates a complete menu of interactive games at every level, from instruction speech bubbles and audio, to fully interactive games for children to learn about road safety. It enables Streetsense2.com to be delivered in a contemporary format using modern classroom technology, smart boards, IT suites and interactive white boards. The need to keep abreast of current classroom practice is essential for all learning. We are now approaching the start of Phase 4 of the site, where more games, video and other information can be added to the existing earlier phases of the site. This is a living education resource which has grown to be pivotal for road safety education in primary schools in Scotland.

Streetsense2.com was nominated for a Roses Advertising Award in the Best Website Category, following the completion of Phase 3. Against huge competition from other websites with massive budgets, Streetsense2.com gained a Roses Bronze Award. It encourages creativity by introducing young people to animation, enabling them to make their own animated movie.

All the material on the site links to Health and Wellbeing across learning in line with Curriculum for Excellence, and all levels Early, First and Second, support literacy and numeracy, innovation and creativity.

Over the last number of years Scotland has seen a remarkable decrease in the number of children killed and injured on the roads. Whilst no one education resource can claim credit, it is worth noting that 257 children were killed or seriously injured, of whom 5 died, in 2009: 69% below the 1994-98 average (target of 50%) and 15 less fatalities than in 2008.

www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/statistics/Browse/Transport-Travel/Publications

One of the advantages of having a website approach to learning is that the number of visits to the site can be captured. The information captured demonstrates the huge increased popularity of Streetsense2.com in the first half of 2010 compared with the same period in 2009.

In 2006, an independent and comprehensive evaluation of Streetsense was commissioned by the Scottish Government. The evaluation involved detailed examination of the use of Streetsense in over 400 schools.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/136182/0033751.pdf

The recommendations found that;

• Suggestions for additional resources typically involved more interactive facilities to aid discussion.
• Web-based interactive materials were seen as the way forward.
• The web also has the potential to allow children and teachers to share their work,
• The need for photocopying was a significant issue in some areas. Others just accepted this as normal. Time and costs were the main issues.

Work began early in 2007 to build the website and construct the games to make them engaging and appealing to young people.

Teachers and parents alike, have the opportunity to consolidate road safety messages, use different learning styles, and provide extension work at school and at home. The website also enables an opportunity to promote partnership working with Travel Plan Coordinators giving teachers guidance on the support network that is available for School Travel Plans.

Streetsense2 has been in schools throughout Scotland for almost five years. With the recent addition of Streetsense2.com, it has established itself as the flagship road safety education resource in primary schools in Scotland. It has evolved to match demand and has responded to change both in terms of the current education climate and the needs of the modern classroom. The website can be updated and refreshed to reflect current and future trends.

For more information contact:
Kate Wheaton
T: 0131 472 9204
<: 07825 225 121

External links:

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