I first heard about Now>Press>Play from an IPC school in North London. The immersive audio experiences that they create sounded intriguing and I was invited to join in with one that had been planned for a Milepost 2 class in the following week. The children had learned with the now>press>play Experiences before, so were not phased when the class set of pink headphones were passed around, all very new to me though! After the very brief introduction from Alice Lacey, the founder of now>press>play, the Experience was started through a tablet and it was wonderful to watch an entire class instantly be so engaged. Then proceeded a 20 minute session which would have appeared silent to an observer but was in the middle of the Stone Age for all of us with headphones on. All children participated and acted out various parts for example when they were in danger; had to run from the woolly mammoth, collect their tools for hunting or search for a missing relative outside their cave shelter.
What was equally impressive was the learning that had clearly taken place. In the discussion following the experience, the children were brimming over with knowledge from the Stone Age; types of animals, ways of living, differences between then and now and also full of questions they would like answered.
Shortly after this, Alice and I met in EdSpace, a co-working office in which they work in East London. Alice knew about the IPC and we clearly shared a philosophy about education and how children learn. We wanted to collaborate to support schools that are interested in learning and teaching with both the IPC and now>press>play. We have mapped the existing Experiences from now>press>play to appropriate IPC units and as they increase, we will remap.
In talking with Alice about the Learning Process of the IPC, we both felt that the natural place for the experience to enhance learning was at the beginning of a unit with our Entry Points. All IPC units have unique suggestions for Entry Points designed as a hook for children at the start of a learning journey. The now>pressplay Experiences are a very engaging hook that complement our Entry Points really well. Some schools may wish to use the experience later in the journey of the unit, which is of course fine!
We are very pleased to have collaborated with an organisation that promotes active learning and a curiosity in learning more. We are also thrilled that now>press>play will be a part of our Festival of Learning in London this July. Our theme for the festival is Inspiring International Mindedness and Alice and I discussed recently how the development of multiple perspectives through their Experiences supports this well.
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