Redbridge Primary ICT Consultant

The Last Post

2009-11-09T20:38:00.000Z

This will be my four hundred and sixth post on this blog. I have really enjoyed using this as a place to explore one of my biggest passions, ICT in the Primary School. This blog has taken me places and enabled me to meet lots of fantastic people. But sadly it now has to close.

My contract in Redbridge will not be renewed therefore it is time to move on. Thank you to all you who have read, commented and chatted further about the links, videos and thoughts on here. Nicholas and I have had a great time working togther and inspiring teachers, TAs, parents and ultimately children in this borough.More recently Dawn, Alex and Dan Lea have greatly enriched this fantastic little community of practioners, who I hope will carry on to do us proud.

However I won't be offline forever. Next month I take up a new post as Online Content manager at 2Simple Software, a role I am hugely excited about.

Bye for now.

Sketchup Unit

2009-11-06T02:16:00.001Z

I have very much enjoyed working with children in Years % and 6 on 3D Modelling during the last two terms. I have written up some of my ideas for using sketchup in the plan below> if you have any suggestions for improvements, do let me know. I must point out that I have stood on the shoulders of giants with this work, well Simon Haughton, who inspired me to pursue Sketchup in greater detail this year. I hope I have built on his work.

Help Videos to support the unit

Here is the draft planning: Google Sketchup Unit

Help Videos to support the unit

Dan Lea

2009-10-26T10:12:00.001Z

Last night, I watched the Teaching awards and I was thrilled to see Dan Lea, from Gearies Infants, receive the Next Generation learning award.

Dan is not one to shout about his work, he is too busy planning the next lesson or pondering his next creative idea and therefore many people won’t have heard of him. He is not on Twitter but he does share all his ideas and tried and tested projects on his blog.

To prove that Dan’s work is a cut above, take a look at his entry to last years Redbridge Film Awards, which was based on a project on refugees:

Dan has been an AST in Redbridge for some time and I am pleased to say he will be working with Redbridge Primary ICT to help us in NQT and Subject Leader events over the next few weeks.In preparation for these events and because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, I went to see him teach last term.

I have to say I was quite blown away by what I saw. For one, Dan never seems to set an ICT ceiling on his learners, they have long since given up following neat QCA units or working in a one size fits all environment. What struck me about this learning environment was that there was a good deal of autonomy and choice. Children were given clear input on how to edit and customise their blogs and edit with Movie Maker, but then they worked in teams to bring their projects to completion, tutoring each other along the way.And while this went on their teacher would intervene sensitively and where necessary with questions and challenges in order to push the groups on further. I must also point out that this cross-curricular work is backed up by weekly ICT lessons from the school ICT Coordinator Val Barker, who is equally dynamic and keen to be at the forefront of new tech.

In one 90 minute session, I saw a group editing their blogs, and lets be clear the blogs here were not substitute school websites they were journals of enquiry around science and environmental themes. These seven year olds knew how to blog too, they could quite happily lead blogging workshops for adults if they were asked. The girls I talked to didn’t need any help or advice from this professional blogger thank you.

Also taking place were groups of children transferring video clips from Flip cameras to Windows Movie Maker, and then editing down their film and beginning to consider their audience.

In an area outside of the classroom a group of children had created a cardboard city called New Paris, which a customised Beebot (it had a a Flip camera taped to it) was being programmed to film a virtual tour.

I managed to film these children explaining what they were doing, along with some other pupil attempting to explain how they had been using green SMART USB wristbands. These devices, which were kindly loaned by TAG Learning, store a copy of SMART Notebook student edition and allow children to create notebooks at home, which can then be shared in school on the board.

Links

Read more about Dan on the Teaching Awards Site- click here

Get the latest from Dan’s Blog -here

Watch the awards on Iplayer – for a limited time – click on the link

Walk to School Week and Walk with Me

2009-10-12T21:36:00.001+01:00

I visited a school today to help them think about how they could integrate ICT into Walk to School Week. Here are are a couple of tools we looked at:

We could use the Zero Footprint Site to help children to investigate and visualise their Carbon Footprint:

What this site does it to pose a series of questions about your lifestyle and the calculate your impact on the planet. You can then compare your data with the average use in your country. Note this is Canadian site but you can still look at UK figures and compare your footprint with National average.

I am not too happy with my results as it looks like i need to make some changes fast, my lifestyle is costing the earth!

On the whole this is a very good sight and looks like it could really bring data handling and environment education together. You may need to explain some of the Canadian questions, like ‘Do you have a cottage?’, but this is a small issue.

The other tool that this school will be using and on a small scale is -

‘Walk with Me’, for Nintendo DS. I can not believe that no-one has done anything yet with this game. Its another one of those games/tools that Nintendo market towards 30 somethings for self improvement and yet has real appeal for Key Stage 2 use.

With Walk with Me, you carry round an activity meter for a day and then download your step to the DS at the end of the day via infa red in the device. This is like twenty first century Data-Logging. Then the software displays your steps for the day and points out how long you have been still and ho long your were on the move. The great thing about this is that the game allows you to use your Nintendo MII to show your steps and you can use energy gained during the day to play simple games, like powering light bulbs. Extra motivation is given by attributing your activity level to an animal. In the last month I was mostly described as either a galloping horse or a busy ant, which feels ok.

During the summer I got very excited about the educational potential of this tool and emailed whoever I could get hold of at Nintendo. Just think what would happened if we gave a class of 30 an activity meter and they competed against themselves and each other during Walk to School Week. However it has fallen on deaf Nintendo ears as we still await a reply.

In the meantime in the school I visited today, they’ll be using two activity meters and pitting the head teacher against another member of staff to see who makes the greatest number of steps during the week. Perhaps Consolarium will pick this one up, or have already

Blogger Labels: Walk With Me,data handling,earth,environment,Nintendo,Activity meter,steps,energy,motivation

Learners Y Factor

2009-10-06T10:28:00.001+01:00

Yesterday was Day 1 one of the Handheld Learning Conference. This three day event offers some of the best formal and informal CPD and could probably teach other major ICT Conferences a thing or two. One of the best parts of the week is when children get up and share how they have been using Technology. This is the Learners Y Factor.

During the Y Factor, a number of schools take to the stage and showcase their work with handheld or other cutting edge technologies. Schools are then judged by two guests and the readings shown on a clapometer (an IPhone App which I have yet to discover).

I was privileged to be in the small room yesterday when this took place and I managed to capture just three of the schools and I include these below The first video shows Burnt Oak Junior school and their work with Ipod touch devices

Embedded below is a video of Loughton Scratch Club, its great to see an example of this brilliant software being used and being steered by children in their computer club.

Finally I have embedded the presentation form our own Oakdale Junior and their work with games, Nintendo DS and the Wii. Yes I am bias, but this was an entertaining and articulate presentation and shows why their teacher Dawn last night won an award for her work.

Teachmeet SUKE

2009-09-24T22:13:00.001+01:00

Never let it be said that Nicholas and I don’t know how to enjoy ourselves. Last Friday we sped down the M25 and then the M20 and some other roads to Teachmeet SUKE.

This was a real return to the heart of Teachmeet as I understand it , which is a few teachers meeting in a pub to talk and share. Ok, so the Hop Farm wasn’t a pub, but it was a simple rustic barn and there were probably only about 30 of us and lots of free tea. Makes a change from the last Teachmeet I went to, which took place in a tree.

In some of the larger and more impersonal Teachmeets you can be lucky to pick up any new tips or classroom applications. Whereas on this occasion, I felt I came away with a lot to share and indeed use in the classroom. Where possible I flipped (filmed) the proceedings, but it was impossible to get it all.

You could of course watch the Flashmeeting if you missed it:

Here is a round up of what I caught on Flip, though please see Mark’s blog for a more thorough run down of the night.

Mark Warner began with a talk about a great tool called, Memiary .

Memiary allows you to post your class activities online and look back at these over time. Mark suggested that teachers could create a wordle of these activities to share with pupils and parents. It also makes a great tool for reflection on targets, achievements and just memories.

I’ll let him explain this in the film below- apologies for the usual poor quality:

If you want to know more Mark has written a blog post on this some time ago.

Evans and Hughes Talked about APP and ICT and ended up giving out many copies of the sheet which Julian developed for us. One punter obviously liked this part as she commented on the Wikki

Joe Dale -

Talked about making Powerpoints engaging, interesting and interactive. I had battery failure in the middle of this,but I recoemnd you watch his Teachers TV programme which has a similar message to his talk, yet without the beard(sorry Joe)

Stephen Lockyer – Stephen talked to us about the Japanese Bansho technique, a different way of presenting ideas on the IWB or even the blackboard. This is worth watching and giving greater thought too, you’ll see Stephen’s efforts to evaluate and move on in his pedagogy using Bansho, while also pondering how to make this tool more interactive.

James Barrett

James gave a very interesting and entertaining presentation about some of his games and tools, that he has created and shared on his ICT Games site. I remember using the Calmness Counter from his site in my Y6 class to settle them down.I can also remember passing on the Change Exchange to teachers on my IWB courses and getting a great response. But tonight, James showed us some brand new tools, in the clip below you’ll see some IWB Word Bank tools a funky number line and a Key Stage 1 safe search tool.

James’s site is a vast treasure chest of resources, though its well worth familiarising yourself with all of it, particularly if you are a Key Stage 1 teacher or IWB trainer.

Danny Nicholson

Danny shared two exciting tools, first a count down clock from Class tools. This tool has a number of MP3s that you can use to accompany the descending clock, or you can upload your own track. I think I’d use this tool at tidy up time as an alternative to the class rushing round chanting “Tidy Up Time .. Tidy Up Time”. Danny also shared his use of Prezi with us, a wonderful presentation tool that allows presenters to zoom in, out and around their ideas, alongside the facility to seamlessly embed videos.

Can I just plug Mr Nicholson’s blog here, which is an essential feed to stick in your Google Reader? Danny keeps three steps ahead of what is happening in the world of whiteboards and always seems to have a new link or idea to share.

David Philips of ICT Cover Lessons showed us how to use a WII, or rather Sonic vs Mario Olympics to teach databases.Though he stressed this idea was intended for secondary, Nicholas and I thought we could see this context being used for Primary too. I am sure player data could be put into 2Calculate or 2Investigate. If nothing else I want to buy this game

And Finally here's a word from Mr Hughes on the DSI in his classroom

A huge thank you to Stephen, Danny, David, Leon and all who had involvement in the evening. An inspiring evening and well worth the scary drive home along those dark roads.

More on Assessment

2009-09-23T11:18:00.000+01:00

The group that is NEL or North East London ICT recently met to pool some ideas and resources together on the thorny issue of assessment. Both Terry Freedman and I gave a presentation on the day and his is embedded here for your viewing pleasure.

Terry gave a very interesting and pertinent series of points on the issues around assessing ICT Capability and what should be included in a toolkit for assessment.

Blogger Labels: Assessment,North East London ICT,Terry Freedman

Headlines and Newspapers on the IWB

2009-09-22T10:44:00.000+01:00

As a Year 4 Teacher, I kept a tatty paper folder full of newspaper clippings. They were well trusted scraps that I deemed appropriate to use to teach news media.When these became old and torn I’d ring the local newspaper and ask for 30 copies of the latest edition.Though I later moved onto scanning these pages in to my PC, I always hoped for an easier way.

And now for a Redbridge/Newham or Barking Teacher there is an easier way…

The Ilford Recorder have now digitised their news and past issues can be searched in order to find some relevant content. You can of course zoom in and out of these pages and use your IWB software to annotate or highlight. I gave this a go the other night on the back room SMART Board and I think the results speak for themselves.

Blogger Labels: Newspapers,Ilford Recorder,SMART

Microsoft Songsmith – Craft songs with ease

2009-09-15T10:18:00.000+01:00

Its been a long time since I was excited about Music Software. Back in the day (well 2003) I used to create dance music with my Year3s, using Dance Ejay. I am sure these tracks sound very dated now!

If I was working with a class on the old QCA ICT and Music unit now, what would I use? For kids reared on the Wii and PS2, some of our Primary software doesn’t really excite or look very credible anymore when pitted against Singster or Guitar Hero.

Well I probably would use some off the shelf games, though DJ Hero excites me more than Guitar Hero!

But I would also look at Microsoft Songsmith a free tool that oozes creative application designed by their research wing. With Songsmith children can compose their own tunes and mix in automated backing tracks.

There is great scope here to work on the Reviewing and Modifying strand of Primary ICT, as your first attempt will always need some further editing and polishing until you can finally publish your masterpiece.

And talking of publishing, you can save your work as a WMA for further play in Audacity or choose the option to export to Windows Movie Maker, prompting you to produce your own Music Video.

I have made a very naff video to illustrate my first go with this below:

I am not the first to blog about SongSmith,

read Lord Ollie of Bray’s blog for another take on the app

and also look at the UK Innovative Teachers Network blog.

You can also read my post on another free Microsoft tool Autocollage here.

2Assess Exclusive

2009-09-13T19:58:00.001+01:00

We have managed to obtain a copy of 2Assess, the new product from 2Simple. The cover image represents a bit of a departure from the familiar felt pen edge design, however it is a very original and highly collectible design.

2Assess is available very soon.

2Assess from 2Simple first look update

2009-09-07T21:30:00.002+01:00

Can we always say we know what our children can do in ICT? Probably not reliably and certainly not quickly. Assessment of Primary ICT has always been a headache and due to the lack of compulsory reporting or an ICT SAT test, levelling and reporting are often patchy and haphazard. At worst this amounts to nothing more than posting or pasting levels on a tracker spreadsheet, or ticking skills boxes.

There must be another way…

In the holidays I was lucky enough to have a look at the Beta for 2Assess, the new product from 2Simple. This suite of activities allows the teacher to set children tasks such as draw me a square using Logo, plot a graph for a given purpose, or create an effective spreadsheet formula for a menu or a party. Children then receive a score based on how they did, taking into account issues such as how efficient their sequence of instructions were and the time taken.

What struck me is that these activities are set in a very real context,so children work on a real database and real spreadsheets. And because they use ICT not a written test the activities are seen by children as being like games, they don’t feel like they are being assessed.

I knew one well-intentioned teacher who used to set the children a series of typed up questions following an ICT topic, they’d need to wait a while for the teacher to mark these and then she’d use a crude mark scheme to give a grade. With 2Assess, pupils and teachers would not have to wait or spend time marking they could instantly see how well the class had grasped an ICT skill and if this is coupled this with AB Tutor, Ranger, Net Opps,or some other screen sharing software, then one can bring all of the work up on screen and immediately have a discussion around what the class now know and what they need to know next.

Other tasks include responding to a series of emails,here children have to give the correct response in order to demonstrate an awareness of Esafety. The product boasts over 100 activities and they are not dependent on you having all of the 2Simple titles as the tasks measure generic skills that could be applied in a range of apps, regardless of supplier.

As a teacher I can award certificates for children based on their progress and I can see at a a glance how well my children tackled the task set. But I need to stress that at no point are children awarded a level. I think this is very positive and I can see the intention of the team that developed the software was to see 2Assess as part of the assessment process, but not the whole answer, teachers need to be fully involved in the process and not see 2Assess as the one stop shop for their ICT assessment. That said there is a lot here to assist teachers in assessing, and I keep coming across new features. Look for example at the feedback in the image below:

Above you can see one of the feedback features which allows you to generate a print out like the one above. allowing you to follow up the judgements with your own comments and those from the children. I think I’d keep a file of these to assist me in using APP or to just inform my planning week to week.

A further thought on levelling is to say that at a time when we are experiencing curriculum review, it would be unhelpful to number crunch the results into a crude level, as this could change in the coming months anyway.

To me the application would be a very valuable part of a Primary ICT toolkit, but it would sit next to my APP document or level descriptors and would operate alongside teacher questioning and pupil interviews, in order for me to build up a full picture and level.

For example, if we look at AF1 Planning, developing and evaluating:

Across a range of contexts pupils:

· Plan how they will use ICT to solve a problem

· Comment on success of their solution

· Refine and develop information using ICT tools and techniques to make changes

· Describe how they use ICT at school and how it is used outside school

Though 2Assess will help with analysing skills here, it should be clear that there is an implication that children need the opportunity to talk about their work and how they might have initially planned and then improved it.

I am quite excited about using 2Assess at the beginning or conclusion of a lesson as a sort of electronic formative assessment. With it, I can find out whether my children can for example remember how to query a Database, it goes without saying that good teachers will then use the evidence from the assessments to address misconceptions and plug the gaps in children's knowledge and ICT skills set, rather than ploughing through the next lesson.

I think we now have a very useful and exciting tool to assist us in Primary ICT assessment.

__________________________________________________________

Here is what 2 Simple say about 2 Assess

Do you find it challenging, demanding or time-consuming to keep track of your pupils’ ICT skills?

Ofsted has highlighted in the recent ‘Importance of ICT’ report that ICT assessment is commonly weak and requires improvement. We’ve created something to help you.

2Assess presents a time-saving and consistent way to help you assess ICT skills across your school. It is a formative assessment tool with 100 real activities to support discrete and cross-curricular ICT. All tasks are delivered within highly visual, contextual based scenarios and pupils are guided by short video instructions facilitating independent use.

Instant feedback on activities helps teachers and pupils identify strengths and areas for development. View summaries of class results and exported spreadsheets, while pupils celebrate their achievements with certificates.

· Provides base line testing results for whole class and individual tracking.

· Supports the requirements of Element 4 of the Self Review Framework, by promoting regular assessment, the use of ICT to track progress and opportunities for self-assessment.

· Enables teachers to identify where children may need further support or more challenges and differentiate planning accordingly.

To watch a short overview video, please visit www.2simple.com/2assess/video not live yet

Site licence -

Primary Schools: £249

Secondary Schools: £299

Primary School introductory site licence price- £199 if purchased before 15^th October 2009.

Available on 30 day approval.

Technorati Tags: Assessment of Primary ICT,Primary ICT,2simple

How is ICT Covered in your Primary school? - updated and fixed

2009-09-04T16:35:00.003+01:00

How does your school cover the primary ICT curriculum: discretely, embedded in other subjects or a mixture?

Miles Berry has posted this poll online via Twitter - Take part and then watch as the results update below.

What a great use of Twitter

The WII in schools

2009-09-04T10:37:00.001+01:00

Just following Derek Roberton’s tweets this morning on a WII project in nurseries in North Lanarkshire. How exciting!!

Looking forward to following our own Redbridge gaming network involving Wiis over the coming year.

Follow his thoughts from the morning here

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23nlbigwii

Blogger Labels: Redbridge,Wiis,nurseries

Back to School with Activ Primary

2009-09-02T12:23:00.001+01:00

Promethean Planet have kindly brought together a range of flipcharts, web links and a resource pack for the new term.

The resource packs are often very underused by teachers but they can save a lot of time in lesson preparation as they provide relevant

images, videos and flash applications that can be added to Promethean flipcharts. If you are a promethean school then it would be very worthwhile asking your technical support to download all of the resource packs for you and your teachers.

Click here to visit the Planet Back to School Resources

Technorati Tags: Promethean

Avatars -Here MII Are

2009-09-01T17:37:00.003+01:00

Do you want to quickly and easily create a classroom display that will allow your class to showcase their creativity, individuality and all in a very familiar context?

Are you looking for a great starter for your Key Stage 2 ICT lesson?

If you are, then visit or download the Avatar Editor, a free Adobe Air application that allows user to create avatars that look and feel just like Nintendo Mii figures.

The Miis that you create are not in a format that can be animated and moved around on screen as in Wii Sports, though they can be exported as Jpeg or PNG. Choosing PNG means that you can opt for a transparent background and hence more easily integrate the figures into presentations or Notebook files.

This shows 4 avatars exported as PNG onto a PowerPoint slide with a blue background.

Advice for New Primary ICT Subject Leaders

2009-08-13T15:46:00.001+01:00

In the midst of my Autumn term course planning, I am once again looking to my learning network to give me some advice that I can pass on to those who are new at leading Primary ICT.

In my own experience I was a PE Coordinator (hahah), and later Humanities Coordinator before taking on the role of ICT in my last school. I can honestly say it was (and is still) the best job you can do, second only to teaching 30 eager children each day. It is a subject that never sits still, (unlike the ICT National curriculum).

It is also one where you are constantly learning and pass on your knowledge to others. Though of course you could just turn into this geeky, aloof, leave me alone… go and ask the technician when they come in on Thursday type, but those coordinators don’t exist do they?

Anyway for an up and coming course for new Subject Leaders I have approached two local patriarchs of ICT to give their top tips. I hope you find them useful.

Terry Freedman

Dave Smith

If you have any other advice for those new to the role – do comment in the usual way.I suppose I need to rise to the challenge and record a video myself, but that’ll have to wait a few weeks.

Blogger Labels: Subject Leaders,Advice,Leaders,Coordinator,tips

Shape Collage

2009-08-13T13:49:00.000+01:00

I have come across this tool before, but its recently been updated. Shape Collage is a small app that once downloaded allows you to merge a set of images into a heart, circle or rectangle.

Well that is what I remember it did anyway, it has developed a bit since then. Now you can also customise the collage shape that the pictures merge into, this could be anything from a tree to an imported school logo or map of the borough. Also you are now able to pull in pictures from urls, though not Facebook.

In the examples below I have created 4 different collages, the final one I hope you recognise as a tree.

In the classroom this could be used as a way to display images from a residential or field trip or as a way of presenting images from across the school year. I think I would also use Flickr creative commons images or/ and my own pictures to create a collage of images to illustrate or inspire a poem. Of course this could be replicated with real images and pritt stick in Art and then compared with the on-screen version.

Blogger Labels: Shape,Collage,tool,images,heart,rectangle,pictures,tree,logo,borough,Also,Facebook,Flickr,poem,version,examples,collages

Netbooks and Scratch in PC Pro

2009-08-12T09:45:00.001+01:00

Visit your local Tescos and in amongst the racks of Computer Active, Web User and Wired magazine is this months PC Pro magazine.

The title: Give your Kids the IT edge caught my eye, as did the review of 20 netbooks.

I recommend picking this up for a holiday read as it gives a very different overview of what children could achieve at different Key Stages and some simple walk throughs. For this read blogging at Key Stage 1 and Scratch at Key Stage 2. It is great to see Scratch endorsed for Key Stage 2 in this way and the walk through should give less experienced teachers a good starting point for working with this interface.

The Netbook megatest is very good, though no mention of the Fizzbook. Also handy is a review of handheld HD Video cameras.

SMART Maths Beta

2009-08-11T10:03:00.000+01:00

SMART Board Maths Beta 3

I have been having a play with the latest update from SMART - Maths Beta

Before I elaborate further let me point out a couple of things, first this is just a BETA, you can download and play with this, but it will expire in the middle of ~~Autumn term~~ October 1st. After that you will need to pay for it. Also this is not an addition to the Notebook gallery as we have seen before, rather you now get a series of extra tools to play with, obviously Maths tools, hence the name!

With the Beta, you get the following:

A compass

A protractor

A ruler

A quick Regular polygon maker

A quick Irregular/ point to point creator

A line graph generator

A number line generator

Am I impressed?

The compass, protractor and ruler are very easy to drag around, re-size and generally manipulate. They are tools that Activ software has had for a long time and should really be standard, so I am disappointed that these will have to be bought as an add-on (do correct me if this is wrong). The shape tools are very handy as it can often be a bit of a faff drawing these on screen under the current toolbar. I most liked the number line generator which allowed me to quickly plot a negative to positive number line, which would take a very long and fiddly time under the current arrangements.

I was most let down by the line graph tool, this proved unwieldy to plot coordinates on and I wanted to have the ability to switch between line, block and bar graphs. It seems I'll have to stick with ITPS for this area.

If you have any questions re: this update SMART have got a FAQ here

Line Graph ITP

Data Handling ITP

Tone Matrix

2009-08-11T09:49:00.003+01:00

I have been chatting to @mbarrow about this tool that we have both come across that works brilliantly on the whiteboard. Tone Matrix is described as :

Simple sinewave synthesizer triggered by an ordinary 16step sequencer. Each triggered step causes a force on the underlaying wave-map, which makes it more cute.

via http://lab.andre-michelle.com/tonematrix

Here is a video of Leo using it some time ago to give you and idea of what it does. I think this would be a welcome addition to the Foundation or SEN classroom.

Visualiser Poster

2009-08-10T12:29:00.003+01:00

Here is a handy reference sheet to give out to your teachers to remind them of the benefits of using the visualiser. The Visualiser Forum have produced a list of 12 ways that a Visualiser can be used or as the forum put it 'create a revolution in your school'.

Download it from below, or here if the box.net app is broken

And visit their blog for more info

Control Pricing

2009-08-07T16:15:00.006+01:00

I have been looking at options for Key Stage 2 Control technology kits this week. What are the options for an ICT Coordinator to purchase for their school in 2009/2010?

Let me begin by asserting that while there are some excellent on-screen control applications, Scratch being one of these! I still think there is great benefit in children actually seeing their series of instructions/programming outworked in an external object or system. This brings programming to life and helps them see the relevance of what they have done it also makes it easier to understand and adds to the joy that is already there in this often challenging but stimulating area of ICT.

I have put together a Spreadsheet that outline the cost of the 3 most popular Control packages, including a site license and enough hardware for children to work in small groups. I also took some feedback via Twitter, which you'll see next to each option/application.

I hope you find this useful and if you have any feedback, or you notice any omissions or errors then do let me know.

Not on the list, because I have not seen it used yet is Lego Wedo software, a sort of scaled down version of NXT. This was featured in a recent Ictopus newsletter and looks like a great introudction ot object orientated programming for lower Key Stage 2 / Upper Key Stage 1.

LEGO WeDo - Click here for more free videos

Support for a Post Rose Curriculum

2009-08-04T15:53:00.000+01:00

In all my discussion both on and offline about the new/proposed Primary Curriculum, support and Training has come up as an issue.

I came across the following press release from the OU recently, which is very encouraging, though I'd like to know the finer details of access to these facilities it is certainly a step in the right direction;

New initiative will enhance professional skills of ICT and non-ICT teachers and help to transform ICT-related learning.

A nationwide programme to help teachers bring technology more effectively into the classroom is launched today by The Open University and e-skills UK.

Funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), the £5.6million programme will help education professionals, from primary through to secondary and college level, build their information and communications technology (ICT) skills, stay up to date with the latest developments and meet the needs of an increasingly technology-savvy generation of young people.

The new programme will help teachers of all subjects make effective use of ICT as an inspirational and effective learning tool, and boost the technology skills of their students.
There will be a special focus on building the professional competence of technology teachers providing them, amongst other things, with first hand experience of the ways in which IT is used in business and to drive innovation.

The programme brings together the world leading, virtual learning environment of The Open University with e-skills UK’s extensive employer reach and innovative education and IT skills programmes.

Karen Price, CEO e-skills UK said: “We live in a technology-enabled world. To prepare young people for successful futures we need to transform the way in which technology is taught and used in education. This places new demands on the skills and knowledge required of teachers. The UK already has many excellent technology teachers as well as teachers who are inspirational in their use of ICT in lessons. We believe that this programme will raise the overall standard to that of the very best, enhancing and enriching education for young people and their teachers.”

Professor Brenda Gourley, Vice-Chancellor of The Open University, said: “From Facebook and Wi-Fi, to iPods and YouTube, today’s school pupils are some of the most technologically savvy people in society. The Open University has been driving the use of innovative technology in education since it began 40 years ago and we are looking forward to helping teachers become even better at harnessing the potential of technology in their own classrooms.”

The programme combines state-of-the-art distance learning that can be tailored to individual needs, with face-to-face learning at local venues or hosted by employers. It will be supported by a dynamic online community.

The aims and objectives of the programme reflect the recommendations of the recent Rose and OFSTED reports to create a world-class learning environment in the UK by transforming the approach to ICT in education.

About e-skills UKe-skills UK is the Sector Skills Council for Business and Information Technology. We work on behalf of employers to ensure the UK has the technology skills it needs to succeed in the global economy. www.e-skills.com

About The Open UniversityThe Open University (OU) is the United Kingdom's largest university and the world leader in distance education. More than two million people have studied with the OU since it began in 1969. The OU has more than 200,000 students in over 40 countries studying for a variety of degrees and vocational qualifications ranging from short courses to PhDs.

Independent authorities have consistently ranked the OU in the top five UK universities for teaching quality and virtually all of the University’s research areas have received ratings of national or international excellence. OU students are more impressed with the quality of their courses and the support received than those at any other UK university, based on the findings of the National Student Survey. The OU has been at the top of the rankings every year since the survey began in 2005.

The Open University's style of teaching is called 'supported open learning'. ‘Open learning’ means that students learn in their own time by reading course material, working on course activities, writing assignments and perhaps working with other students. ‘Supported’ means support from a tutor and the student services staff at Regional Centres, as well as from centralised areas such as the Library or Open University Students Association. Some courses include a residential or day school, held at various times and locations.
E-learning – making intelligent use of media such as computer conferencing, email, CD-Roms, DVDs, the internet and of course, television and radio programmes – has always formed a major part of the OU’s courses and student support services, and the OU is regarded as Britain’s major e-learning institution.

Why Type

2009-08-01T15:34:00.000+01:00

I was recently working with some Y4 children on conventional 'All About Me' Powerpoint presentations. We discovered that many of them were hindered by poor command of the keyboard and many of you will know my thoughts on this, but on this occasions I decided to pool ideas form my Twitter network. Here below is the response to the question:

Why should my Year 4 Class learn to type?

ICT Coordinators Shopping List

2009-07-29T09:55:00.001+01:00

I've begun putting together a list of items that an ICT Coordinator, particularly one that is new to the role might consider worthy of spending that dwindling budget on.

So far the response from my Twitter network has been good, though as of 3pm on Tuesday I have around 10 items and could do with more. If you feel you could contribute to this list then email me and I'll send you an invite. Please bear the following in mind:

I am looking mostly for software that is tried and tested by you - not just product promotion

We have yet to include any decent Open source materials in the list - no Audacity as yet

Our list is a bit focused on Key Stage 1 and Foundation, what about Key Stage 2

If you want to contribute, we'll need your name, the product description and the best current price.

Thanks to Simon Haughton, John Sutton and Tricia Neal for their contributions so far

Video Central -new video sharing site from LGFL

2009-07-28T11:15:00.000+01:00

Last year I played about with the then Alpha version of LGFLs Video Central. It was frustrating because it just didn't seem to stream reliably. However now all the glitches appear to be fixed and it looks like it works.

Video Central is the LGFL answer to video hosting. It allows a maximum upload of 1024mb and works in a similar fashion to the podcast site,uploads are quick and the embed code is easy to locate and yes users need to dig out that Atomwide account to make it work.

So why not just use Youtube - of course Youtube is fine, but there are issues- many users are not clear how to tweak settings so that when you embed your video on a blog it avoids linking to so called 'related videos'. Also some parents have a negative perception of Youtube as it reaches a wider audience and though it contains educational content that content shares a server with some very undesirable clips. I still think Youtube is an excellent tool for educators and pupils, though users need to exercise caution when they use it.

Teachertube is an option but as the streaming is so slow it can take an age for a video to appear.

Here is a video that Simon Haughton made for me on Sketchup, lets see how it stands up to being embedded in Blogger.

I tested this yesterday and was puzzled that at first there was a no-show. I shouldn't have worried,I had forgotton that I was on the borough admin network, which blocks pretty much most things.When I got home it showed fine on my machine and after a call for help from my Twitter colleagues it seemed to show fine in New Zealand, London and Scotland. It should also work fine on Redbridge schools curriculum network too.

As there was no sound on this original video, I have now uploaded a second more tuneful clip of Leo using the IWB.

I think teachers now have a safe and easy means of sharing all those great clips on their blogs and MLE. I look forward to seeing these appear on Redbridge websites in the coming months.

vidtest

2009-07-27T17:23:00.000+01:00

Rose Review Conference

2009-07-13T15:47:00.004+01:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a conference on ' Transforming the Primary Curriculum'. An event organised by the DCSF, which included input from the National Strategies, BECTA, QCA and notably Headteachers.

I came away feeling very inspired and its hard to put into words what the key messages were and the impacts its had on me as a teacher. I guess it was one of this 'had to be there' moments really. Thankfully I did flip (badly) the best official presentation of the morning, which was from Tony Richardson of BECTA. He demonstrated how ICT has greatly moved on and talked about how many schools are now successfully embedding tools and technology within their curriculum. Furthermore he did this with such humour and passion, that he stood out as visionary and with an infectious passion for his subject, which up until that point was sadly missing.

Here are some note and comments that I have translated from my hurried typing on the day:

The new/proposed curriculum organisastional chart (sometimes called a Pizza or plates diagram) puts children at the centre

The curriculum aims to facilitate transition between EYFS into Primary and beyond to Secondary. This means Year 1 Teachers will need support on making greater use of a play based curriculum and they will also need to be involved in moderation of EYFS.

The classification of the curriculum into Early/ Middle and Late should not be seen as KS1, KS2 Lower and Ks2 Upper. Rather it is designed with flexibility in mind. It is like a series of learning ladders that should aid greater personalisation and differentiation. Though of course some teachers worry about the -if they teach the upper part when they are in middle, then what will I teach!?

One aim of the new curriculum is to develop life long learners. As Sue Horner from QCA commented there is a 'Google curriculum' ( Here she quoted a response seh had recently recieved from a learner which said - Why do I need to learn this when I could just google it ?) This is quite sad and we therefore want 'Lifelong Learners', not just 'I'll google it when I need it'.

I'd wholeheartedly agree that we do not want to see our role as merely delivering a body of knowledge and a skill set that we feel is apt and fitting for primary aged children. I hope that in my teaching and in a post Rose Curriculum we are fostering a love of learning for learnings sake within the classes we teach. This takes me back to a debate I was having with a teacher at the recent QCA consultation on the new ICT Curriculum, around the issue of why we bother with the more tricky aspects of ICT. This teacher gave a by now familier view that as we use computers mainly for creating and shaping media, then this is where we as teachers should invest our efforts. Data logging and handling, programming and internet literacy (oh and spreadsheets) are irrelavent as 'we don't use those everyday'. I guess they are also hard and take time to master too, but then doesn't this also apply to trickier aspects of Year 6 Maths, or is that just me?!

It is easy to shy away from these harder aspects of Primary ICT (and I am glad that the contributors to the Rose ICT papers have not) and focus on just making things in Comic Life, Movie maker and 2Diy/Create/Publish+ etc. But to do this would rob children of engaging in deeper learning, the joy of problem solving and thinking skills that comes from refining sets of instructions or search criteria. These applications also allow great contexts for collaborative work, whereas some of the 'publishing your work in Word' routes to ICT can be quite solitary and involve one child one machine.

Another issue that came up during the day is that for schools to adopt the Rose-Curriculum, there will need to be a shift in thinking. Many teachers and heads have lived by the non-statutory guidnace of QCA schemes and not reaslied that they can break out of these documents, these were originally given as a stimlus or guidnace document to support people with the National Curriculum of the time. Despite media driven perceptions of rigidity based on earlier 'hour' models of tecahing, the Primary Straetgy have encouraged a move towards teacher devised planning on their website by only fully exemplify a fraction of their suggested units. Interestingly was involved in running 'introduction to Renewed Framework' courses about 18 months ago and quite a few teachers did ask, when are the rest of the units 'being done'. So for as much as some complain that the Primary Straetegy alledegly cosntricts teachers creativity, many teachers like to have the fall back of a pre-made plan, rather than build something from scratch.

I don't think we'll see QCA ICT Scheme of work version 2.0 but if we do I hope they are used felexibily and not seen as statutory. Though giving schools and teachers this degree of freedom and flexibility does mean the onus is schools to gather togther subject cooridnators in order to plan a joined up and rigorous curriculum that is relevant for their school

Other Points

Unlike the current Curriculum ICT now longer has its own statutory document or orders. It is now threaded throughout the curriculum, though the confusion arises from the document that stipulates it should be taught both discreetly and across the curriculum. I guess it is easy to get hung up by this and even to worry that ICT can be dimished in a messy cross-curricular soup, where it will often be littlte more than typing up work or googling for research on the 'Romans'. And yes I am sure in some schools this will continue to happen. But positively what the embedding does allow is greater feleibility and the opportunity to breal free of articigfl stuctures which were only ever suiggestions anyway. So if I am studying a topic such as food with my children I can design the pacakage in Word and not have to use my ICT time to do six weeks of latering text by bolding, changing font and colours. However I may need to give some time over to the teaching of the skills before I let children lose on applying the software for a purpose. As has been said many times before children don't pick up all of the skills on the fly, they do need time to grasp these. Over the next few months I am going to be seeking out models of where this greater cross-curricular approach is truly working.

There is one thing that slightly concerns me with the push towards greater ICT integration is that in Tony's talk we didn't see any control technology or great examples of programming and I may be reapeating myself here but I do hope these will receve greater focus and push by all the curriculum bodies, they are not the easiest to embed or for a teacher to grasp.

Other Points

Sir Jjim was keen to emphsise the importance on speaking and listening in this review

Challenging cross- curricular studies rather than tenuous links - we should not expect a return to some of the dodgy project based teaching of the seventies.

Assessment –
Underlying emphasise – for all year groups – everyone has the right to understand their progress

Spetember ministers decide on how to move forward in light of qca advice and consultation

New curriculum September 2011- only 5 school terms away

Support - the report mentions 1 INSET day and I remeber heraing - 'January 2010 – support begins - ?? ' what this will look like nad who will provide it is unclear. Clearly a school needs to begin thinking about planning and organising soon.But in terms of ICT support for newer teachers we assume this isn't such a great issue, but there is a subtsantial number in our current workforce who feel deskilled and who need inspiration. Who, what, when how? At this point someone asked about and gave the all too familiar knock at the NOFF training, which I actually liked at the time, the issue then though was that in many schools the hardware wasn't there. I think now a new version of NOFF that was localised and mediated by schools would be very welcome. In that there would be dedicated time within in the CPD programme to focus on applications of technology. We do this for Maths and Literacy, why not for ICT?

How will the new curriculum be implimented- will it be a big bang with all year groups taking it on board at the same time or a stepped approach of one year at a time?

During the afternoon we listened to three senior leaders, who gave us their views on piloting a Rose style curriculum. At this point its worth remembering that you could probably impliment a curriculum of this nature under the current arrangements without worry, the National Curriculum does not legislate the how, just the what.

Points from schools in the pilot

See the schools and other links on my Rose Review Links page

Children need time to apply their skills - in one school there was real success and excitment with giving the Key Stage One children one day in very week to follow pupil initiated activities. This was supported by a rigourus - plan-do-review farmework. This decreased as the children moved up the school. Such Child initiated time showed children their interests were valued and made for a good transition from EYFS. Projects included a jewellery business, various clubs and a wedding. These projects allowed children to use and learn skills from Literacy, Maths and ICT.

A common thread amongst all schools seemed to be a regular and ongoing curriculum review and reflection.

Pupils saw themselves as learners

Reflection time is essential

Important to teach life skills – eg team work

Pupils have to see us as learners too

The QCA/ Rose Materilas are a great springboard – but need structures and rigour

Interview the kids about the curriculum and what they wanted to change
We as pupils are talking more than pupils

Shift happen changed their thinking
They begun by talking to the children

We have done top down from secondary to primary for so long
But what about moving up down from foundation ?

Jim Rose said Its our Job to make learnering irresistible.

New IWB Tools from HelpKidzLearn

2009-07-13T14:50:00.004+01:00

Those great people @ HelpKidz Learn have made two more applications available for free. These are 'Making Music' a giant interactive piano as seen below:

There is a further tool called 'Pop the Bubbles', which is ideal for children who are just beginning to use the whiteboard or for SEN children who may need prompting to use the board. It is an old concept this idea but its worth remembering that having to press on many different areas of the board demands concentration, prediction and is a good way of developing hand eye and motor coordination, something the user of the board in the video below certainly needs to work on!!

Tinkering School

2009-06-30T18:41:00.002+01:00

Just spent 4 minutes watching this inspiring clip from TED about the Tinkering school, run by Gever Tulley.

I love the fact that at his school children work togther to solve problems, failure and success are celebrated and that there are no ceilings on childrens learning, even 7 year olds can build roller coasters.

Watch and enjoy!

test

2009-06-29T08:39:00.001+01:00

sdsds

Google books now embed

2009-06-21T20:49:00.000+01:00

I have just discovered that you can embed a google book in the same way you'd embed a Youtube video. From my searching around it seems that there are limits and you certainly can not get the whole book embedded, but it does allow readers to get a flavour of the text.

I have yet to try posting/embedding anything on Fronter/London MLE just yet, but if this works and enough texts are available, then this could be a really great tool for teachers.

Update - the code is in iframe and this usually a no-go for Fronter-but that is only the case at the moment- it could change of course..

Here is an excellent text for any new ICT Coordinator and should be on the required reading of NAACE ICT Coordinator course. Have a scan through, to try before you buy

Digital Memories for Y6

2009-06-10T22:35:00.004+01:00

Its getting to the end of the year and soon Year Six will be saying goodbye to both their teachers and their schools. This time of the year always makes me think of reality TV shows and the bit when Davina says 'Its been a blast- here are your best bits'. The contestant normally talks about how its been a roller coaster ride and we then watch a montage of clips.

It got me thinking about some ideas and activities we could do with children to show off their highlights of their time at school. Here are a few suggestions- thanks to my Twitter network who have come up trumps here:

I have to say I was also inspired by a video I came across made by an ex pupil of her time at the school - here she proves that I my lesson in Windows Movie Maker paid off.

End of Year Six digital memories ideas:

Create an animated slideshow using Microsoft Photo Story 3 - don't forget this is a free download and very easy to use - pupils in our Infants schools can and have used it. Not sure how to do it, here's a tutorial from Youtube

Create a more animated and funky slideshow using animoto- educators can set up a free account - visit http://animoto.com/education to sign up - here's one I made earlier:

You could also use a new and freely available Microsoft programme called Autocollage, this allows you to create a blended photomontage like the one below

You will need to watch this video of a famous ICT Consultant to see how the sofwtare works and where to get it from:

Now here are some ideas from my Twitter Network of ICT Coordinators/ Bloggers/ Teachers etc - I must add that as with any online tool, you will need to try these sites and tes their suitabaility before using them with your class.

Create a Comic Life newsletter / report using digital photos collected throughout the year @markw29

How about Podcasting their favourite memories

@janerolfe

Make a video yearbook - Short piece to camera for each child of their favourite memory - backdrop of the whiteboard with photos on

@porchester

you could use any of these sites: wallwisher, photopeach, glogster and memiary.com

@dawnhallybone

Its got to be http://capzles.com/

@dk

This last entry was a site I'd not heard of before, but having tried it - I think the output looks really good, here is an example

Autocollage - its free

2009-06-08T21:06:00.008+01:00

Last week, I wrote about how Microsoft seems to be serving us up some really good tools of late. I had high hopes for BING, their answer to Google, but I am not sold yet. If I am missing something, then do let me know.

Following my post last week Ollie Bray - the king of the links- posted this great application - also from Microsoft.

And here is another instalment /application

AutoCollage

This is a fantastic tool for making digital collage of images, in a way that you might do with a bit of patience on Photoshop.

Here's the video I shot last night - it should explain what a great tool this is it is in more detail:

Note watch this video its worth 3 minutes of your time!!

Microsoft

2009-05-30T19:58:00.004+01:00

There seems to be a bit of Microsoft renaissance at the moment, or is that I seem to be reading a lot about their innovations right now. Web User Magazine has lots of information on exciting online tools in their edition this fortnight, and it would be wrong for me to transcribe them all here, but it is well worth the £1.99.

Even as I am writing this and trying to ignore the Britain's Got Talent noise on ITV, the commercial break begins with : I am a PC and I am eight years old. Furthermore, I caught the regional news last week, whilst on holiday and one of their top stories was of a Microsoft Surface project in a Cambridge classroom.

Also I have been watching with the interest the Microsoft UK Schools News Blog, where Rayfl has been updating us on how Windows 7 will be very good news for schools, both in terms of usability, security and simplicity. I recomend you follow his blog, or at least look at the Windows 7 Learning Snacks which give you a flavour of what is to come in Windows 7.

And Finally, Ollie Bray alerted me to this clip from the BBC on the Microsoft home of the future:

Wordle but not Wordle

2009-05-30T14:49:00.003+01:00

Here is another Word sort tool, that works quite like Wordle, though it doesn't seem to have the same graphic look and feel, though there are some aspects that Wordle doesn't have. Wordsort is more of a mash up with the ability to click on each of the commonly occurring words, this in turn will throw up youtube videos or the chance to explore meaning through the visual dictionary.

Here's a Youtube video about it:

2DIY and 2Augmented Reality

2009-05-14T22:17:00.002+01:00

Ok, sorry to all those of you have been waiting for me to upload this video. Hopefully it is worth the wait!

This was one of the last talks given @ the recent Teachmeet NEL , and it seems a fitting time to post this, on the eve of Teachmeet Midlands.

Here, Max talks us through some of the work that schools have been doing with 2DIY, most notably @ Porchester school. He then goes onto to show us his combination of 2Design and Make, a webcam and a bit of Augmented Reality. This was inspired by a General Electrics site which used AR, that was a bit of a meme a few months back.

Anyway enjoy:

Apolgies for the poorer than usual quality here -this was after the fourth attempt to encode the movie on my very old,wheezy PC.

Twitter Usage - new(ish) ideas

2009-05-11T23:19:00.005+01:00

I have been keen to see how others have been using Twitter in their classrooms in a way other than it being a distraction for teachers. For me it is my people google and my pub, in short I get answers from real people and enjoy meeting new friends, who also have a passion for teaching well with technology. My use of Twitter in classes has been to throw questions that I am asking the class out to my learning network, in order to give a wider perspective for the class to take on board. Sometimes this has gone really well and we've clocked up about 15 helpful responses, while other times just getting 2 or 3 replies has left me feeling a bit of Billy no mates. I guess it depends on the question and the time of day. You also have to remember to reply to others once in a while, as well as asking your questions.

As an aside, Tom Barrett and others have compiled one of those lists of interesting ways of using Twitter and his presentation and this can be found here.

A use that caught my eye via Twitter itself, was that of using Twitter as a class micro blog, thanks to Iain Hallahan, for sharing this idea and pic with me. I just think this is a fantastic way for a busy class ( not just the teacher) to communicate their news to parents. Obviously you'd still want other longer text based online experiences for children but 140 character updates may help to address the communication gap, that Tanya Byron talks about in her 'Oh Nothing Much' report, i.e. children being unable to answer the age old, 'what did you do at school today?'

You should really read Iain's blog post on this, as he tells of the highs and lows of this project, including hooking up with another class and sending mobile updates whilst on a filed trip.

I also want to mention Twitter Magnets - which I would just love to try on a whiteboard as a Literacy Starter. This flash tool gives you a small selection of words and the challenge is to create a meaningful poem in 140 characters, though thankfully the word list can be refreshed. You can then send your masterpiece to Twitter, if you feel its good enough. My last effort ( and it was late ) was this:

embrace soft velvet quilt angel / baby brilliant peace melt / feel warm, feverish blush / porcelain poison flower fall

Here is a screencast of the Twitter magnets:

Free online screencasting tool

Edith's View

2009-05-04T22:15:00.004+01:00

As the euphoria around the Rose Review, with its 52 mentions of ICT,continues to gather pace, it seems like a good time to post this video from TeachmeetNEL. Here Edith, a year nine pupil from Essex, gives us here view on ICT education. It is worth watching this and reading Miller's posts on ICT and Esafety, over on Terry Freedman's blog.

Edith calls for more ICT across the curriculum, and is quite down on try hard teachers and Micorosoft Office. I agreed with many of Edith's points and I share her frustration at a limited curriculum, one that does not always take account for what children can do and how even a lesson involving the ICT suite can be dull. I am saddened that all her lessons involving Accees and Excel seemed to be repetitive and dull. Clearly there are many teenagers and Key Stage 2 children around like Edith, who are very able and who are under estimated in ICT. So our response to this should not be to throw out the 'cool applications like Microsoft Office', they are powerful tools which allow us to manipulate, sort and interrogate data, and while we learn to use these we gain skills in problem solving, programming and logic. There isn't a mashup or google app that replicates these just yet, they do take effort to master. They do need to be presented meaningfully and the activities need to be move beyond simple party cost calculators, but I realise I am speaking from a primary perspective here and I know little about Secondary ICT.

I have also embedded another, more established thinker in this post, Marc Prensky clarifies his views on the whole digital native/immigrant thing in his interview at a conference in Cardiff. I find the definition that he presents here slightly more palatable than the simple polarisation that is peddled by many speakers, who present it like its an original concept. However his assertion that teachers should not use whiteboards, the children should is frankly ill-thought out.

Progression in Internet Research

2009-04-24T11:34:00.000+01:00

Here is another Teachmeet upload, this time our speaker is Sharon Harrison from Barnet LA ICT Team. She tells us about a document that she, Islington, Kensignton and Chelsea and Northamptonshire collaborated on. This docuement charts progression in Internet research and considers aspects of E Safety from Foundation upwards. This and other resources can be found on the LGFL Esafety site, here.

She tells us more in the video:

Fronter Support Sites

2009-04-19T21:04:00.006+01:00

Just thought I'd mention a few sites for Fronter users that are well worth a look and are proving a good source of help and inspiration to me. If you have anymore, feel free to comment.

The first is the Fronter Files blog, which is an account of how one school is implementing the MLE. It doesn't get updated very often, but the content and links are quite useful. I particularly like some of the advice and lesson learned on Training annd the advice given to those who are early on in their Fronter development.

Have a look here http://fronterfiles.blog.co.uk/

Secondly, Frontersupport.co.uk, this is a Fronter Support site that has very helpful use guides, including how to put a log on box on your website. They are beginning to add videos like the one below, which can be embedded within a blog or website.

Visit http://frontersupport.co.uk/ and browse through the FAQ section for helpful tutorials ( see below)

Fronter.com/support, also has a range of videos and documents, available here: http://fronter.info/courses/72/en/ I once spent a Sunday morning watching many of these, they are ok, but could do with both updating and a bit of spark.

By far the best page/ site for links and updates is the Camden LA MLE page- follow the link below for a very comprehensive list of videos, documents and sites.

http://www.lgfl.net/lgfl/leas/camden/accounts/ict/homepage/LGfL/home/

You can now embed and link to video from Frontersupport.co.uk, though so far I have only spotted one video, lets have some more please. I had embedded the clip previously, but it hadn't worked very well, so here is the link instead:

http://www.frontersupport.co.uk/images/Flash_movies/first%20project/add%20room%20as%20separate%20tab.html

Lesson Activity Toolkit 2.0

2009-04-18T22:15:00.003+01:00

I got very excited when SMART released their first Lesson Activity toolkit, some 18 months ago. The toolkit is a collection of customisable FLASH activities,themes, buttons and tools to add extra functionality to the board. Well it seems the toolkit has just been updated and can be downloaded and integrated into your gallery now.

There is lots to explore here and I look forward to using these resources in my work, here is one such activity as posted by SMART on Youtube earlier this month.

More to come on this one-

Another Teachmeet Upload

2009-04-16T05:37:00.005+01:00

Here is the next in my brief series of video uploads from the recent Havering and Redbridge: Teachmeet Event.

This clip was taken in one of the break-out sessions in one of the side rooms at the CEME Centre. Though these smaller sessions meant you had a more cosy experience with your speaker, it did mean that you might have missed out on hearing something inspiring, which was happening in the room next door. But without these parallel sessions it would have been difficult to fit in all of our contributors.

On the whole I was glad I was in Breakout Room 2, I have already shared one presentation form here, which was Daniel Needlestone's Revision Songs, and following this one I have one more to share.

This clip shows colleagues from Cleveland Junior, a Redbridge school, sharing in more detail about how blogging and forums have really taken off at their school. It seems to me that pupils and some teachers at the school are using free and cheap tools to ac hive some of the outcomes that we'd expect from a more packaged VLE.

Pixlr

2009-04-08T17:16:00.006+01:00

Here is another great free Photo editing tool

http://pixlr.com/

Pixlr allows you to pinch and distort images along with other conventional tasks, such as Red Eye Reduction. This could happily sit on the virtual shelf of Open Source Apps for primary work on digital images.

Here's what I did with it earlier this week:

sorry guys

This could compliment lesson 2 of the Year 1 unit from the ITASS work on self Portraits/ Digital pictures. Or it could go with the QCA Art unit on the same theme. It would also make for a great display / block of work around the artist Picasso.

Really Useful Book of ICT in the Early Years

2009-04-08T12:59:00.006+01:00

A great book arrived for me this morning, 'The Really Useful Book of ICT in the Early Years', it is proving difficult to put it down and return to some of the more mundane tasks of my job. I noticed this Publication on the E2BN Foundation Stage ICT site, which I have often used to pull in resource for Early Years ICT. The site has had a bit of a revamp and all of the guidance and resources are linked to the revisions made to EYFS.

The book has guidance on lesson planning, curriculum mapping, tools for auditing provision, alongside other useful resources like sample letters for photography permission. Big names in ICT for Early Years, such as Harriet Price and Rachel Ager (Northampton) have contributed essays to this very comprehensive text, which is very readable and full of practical examples and fresh ideas.

This is essential for ICT Coordinators - particularly those that think ICT in reception is about all 30 children having 40 minutes in the ICT suite on 'Colour Magic' arrraggah!!

Update - been reading Chapter 2 - Heather Lowe looks @ Children's indpendance and ICT, this really makes you think about how we design spaces for children to access technology. Imagine you had to sit with feet dangling and pull you documents out of a printer you could barely reach!! -This is great stuff for those who care about early childhood education with embedded ICT.

Teachmeet Reflections and Uploads 2

2009-04-07T10:19:00.002+01:00

Another upload from Teachmeet, which was hosted last week by Havering and Redbridge @ the CEME centre.

Tom Barrett was one of our 15 minute or 'mini- note' speakers and his talk did not disappoint. Tom's talk took us on a tour around his classroom, showcasing both the old technology of pritt stick and rulers and the newer resources like the laptop trolley and the Wii.

Ollie Bray has written quite extensively on Tom's talk, though I would recommend you also watch the clip for a mixture of inspiration and to learn how Tom uses practical ICT tools. Look out for :

The use of delicious by both teacher and pupils

The use of Google Earth as a story Mapping device

How Tom integrates Twitter into his lessons- when appropriate

More Tomorrow - (Computer Crashs Premitting)

Teachmeet After Thoughts and Uploads 1

2009-04-05T23:11:00.004+01:00

This week Havering and Redbridge hosted Teachmeet, North East London @ the CEME centre. A wonderfully futuristic building off the A13, once you get over the scary drive there!!. Dave, Nick, Terry and myself were keen to restore the main purpose behind Teachmeet, which was and is, inspiration - and this achieved through good quality teachers sharing what they are doing in class. We also wanted a bit longer to hear from those who are doing good stuff in their field. The limit of 7 minutes or 2, is sometimes too little and leaves you wanting more. So the mini-note was born -15 minutes of informal sharing, with no hurling of a stuffed toy or random name generator.

On the whole it worked, as those who stayed to the end left feeling full of free food and buzzing with ideas. There was a good mixture of presentations both from the front and in the smaller 'break-out' rooms. I am so grateful to everyone that made the event possible, so many people contributed and many of our speakers gave up their time to prepare high quality talks.

Aside from the time listening to speakers, a long break in the middle meant we all had a decent amount of time for networking with both the audience and the small team of trusted sponsors. During one of the breaks I caught up with Ollie Bray, a Teachmeet veteran and Microsoft Innovative Teacher award Winner , to ask him what he thought of the event.

Much of the event was filmed by Leon Cynch and will soon be appearing on Blip.TV. But I also filmed (Very Badly at times) some of the talks using mys trusty FLIP, and over the next few days I hope to embed these clips here. The first offering is of Daniel Needlstone, who shared his 'Revision Songs' in one of the Breakout Rooms.

Can I add to the administrators of Google video that the music I have used is Creative Commons Licensed.

Facebook Group and now Pages

2009-03-30T20:47:00.003+01:00

Just a quick post about the changes in Facebook. There has been lots of heated debate recently about some of the updates to Facebook, and cries of but its starting to look like Twitter. I can't say I am that upset by the changes and its surely a sign that soon the two will probably merge, which -unlike the rumours that Microsoft are going to buy them- is no bad thing.

There has been one very positive Facebook change of late and that is that Pages now behave like a personal profile. I am quite excited by this as admin for all things 'Redbridge Primary ICT'. I had experimented with Facebook as an information sharing and interaction tool before, by creating a Facebook group, but this hadn't gone past the initial sign up stage. It seems to me that this the way of most groups, they are like ephemeral pledging sites, where we say 'I am in' to causes like 'Bring back Woolworths or Marmite Rocks'. But with the new Facebook Pages, I can use Facebook for Primary ICT in the same way I use it myself. This means I can post links updates, photos and videos and they will appear on fans (friends) pages.

It has been in place for a few weeks now and I am already starting to see other ICT coordinators interact with our news and those that are admins are beginning to use it as a tool to push out news. Yes if we were all on the MLE, we'd use the MLE to throw out news and events etc, but maybe we wouldn't. I think just as we all consume a range of text genres, we all make use of a range of tools and many of us begin and end our days with Facebook. We go into work mode when we log into the MLE. Also logging in to an MLE can be a bit of an effort, FB is more immediate, its where the gossip and the action is, though this of course only true for around 40 per cent of ICT Coordinators in Redbridge.

So the facebook page is there and if you are not already, then become a fan. It is where my net activity is shifting mostly due to its speed and ease of use. But for now my blogs live on as a place for reflection and in depth thought.

Teachmeet - Surely you are coming

2009-03-22T23:10:00.003Z

Just got this via Facebook from my co-leader, Lord Dave Smith of Havering:

Listen to the Master of Ceremonies Terry Freedman, Dave Smith (Havering) and Anthony Evans (Redbridge) giving an insight into what to look forward to at TMNEL ICT 2009...http://terry-freedman.org.uk/podcast_files/teachmeetnel2009.mp3

Sign-up now...http://teachmeet.pbwiki.com/TeachMeet+NE+London+2+2009+-+Havering+LA+%40+CEME

BTW - Islington LA are running a bus to the event! Well done!

And here once again is that video

You really do not want to miss out on this event!!

Street View

2009-03-22T07:50:00.011Z

Today I started playing around with Google Street view and it got me thinking and looking at Geography use of this amazing tool.

In Geography the following are listed as skills for Key Stage 1

observe and record [for example, identify buildings in the street and complete a chart]

use secondary sources of information [for example, CD-ROMs, pictures, photographs, stories, information texts, videos, artefacts]

This is within a context of looking at Places and what they are like:

Knowledge and understanding of places
3. Pupils should be taught to:
identify and describe what places are like [for example, in terms of landscape, jobs, weather]
identify and describe where places are [for example, position on a map, whether they are on a river]
recognise how places have become the way they are and how they are changing [for example, the quality of the environment in a street]
recognise how places compare with other places [for example, compare the local area with places elsewhere in the United Kingdom]
recognise how places are linked to other places in the world [for example, food from other countries].

Google Maps, gives an oblique view of places normally seen as just terrain or plans in Google maps/Earth. I think Google Streetview is going to be as exciting a tool to use as Earth and Photosynth in that you can immerse yourself within a world and poke around to find out what its like.

I can't wait to use Streetview with a class when working on descriptive writing about settings too.

I just wish all of the UK was covered, as yet my old home had yet to be photographed.

The other bonus of Street View is of course the option to embed, though this probably doesn't work in Fronter.

Augmented Reality

2009-03-10T11:57:00.003Z

I am sure others have seen this and tried it, but I love the augmented reality area of the General Electrics site. I just need to hold up the print out at my webcam and hey out pops a wind farm or a set of solar panels.

I hope we can see some more classroom projects involving augmented reality. This would put Show and Tell and assemblies on another level.

Try it yourself today: http://ge.ecomagination.com/smartgrid/

INSET @ Uphall

2009-03-10T10:15:00.006Z

A selection of New and Exciting ICT Tools

Create a mood graph use Infant Video Toolkit

Picture to be inserted

Do more with Digital pictures visit Big HugeLabs.com

Appropriate Interfaces for Key Stage 1

Children can prepare themsleves for using tools like Word and Powerpoint by working on their Typing Skills. The Renewed Framework for Literacy states:

Year 1

Use the space bar and keyboard to type their name and simple texts

Year 2

Wordprocess short narrative and non-narrative texts

Year 3

Develop accuracy and speed when using keyboard skills to type, edit and re-draft

In order to do this children will need reagular ans sysetematic teaching on the skills of typing, placement of fingers etc. This needs to be fun, rather than drilling, or resembling something like a secretarys course.

This could be done using 2Type, see an overview of the programme here.

2Create a Story
Allows the creation of Multi- Modal Stories - an alternative to typing up. These can be saved as Flash Drives and sent home on a disc or posted on a blog or a website.

For an example of Blogs in action see Fairlop Primary or Gearies Infants School

2Create - a more advanced version of 2Create a Story

Redbridge Film Awards

This competition is open to teams of four from across the school, with prizes for best in category and best in Key Stage.

The film needs to be up to four minues long. Examples of those who already produce films can be seen below.

Further details can be found on our website -

http://webfronter.com/redbridge/redbridgepict_filmawards/

Films can be either animation or live action

The Digi-Blu Camera is an ideal tool for shooting animation as in the examples below, while the Flip is more suited to live action

Teachmeet returns to North East London

2009-02-11T19:57:00.008Z

On March the 31st @ the CEME centre in beautiful A13 country Havering (and Redbridge Primary ICT ) will be hosting Teachmeet NEL 2, the sequel. We are very excited to finally launch this event via our blogs, as we have some evolutions and changes to our old format. For those of you have never been to one of these event then read the description below and visit the wiki site of last years event here.

What is Teachmeet then?

Teachmeet NEL is an exciting unconference event organised by colleagues@ Havering and Redbridge. The event is a chance for anyone interested in Educational Technology to share good practise.
Delegates can come to either share what they are doing through means of a mini (7 minutes ) or nano (2 minutes) presentation or to just listen to what others are doing. Lats year there was a very wide range of subjects covered, these included a focus on the latest ed tech gadgets, an Nintendo Project and how a violin teacher used a VLE. We welcomed Ewan Macintosh as host for our evening, while sponsorship comes from a number of companies including ELMO, Softease and Aver Media. There was a raffle on the evening where delegates could win a top of the range visualiser or plasma screen TV.

The other side of Teachmeet is the networking, friend sourcing and meeting up with all those contacts you have been twittering and blogging with over the last year. This years Bett Teachmeet was mainly about this for me this year. Thanks to the hard work of Ian Usher, Drew Buddy and countless others, many of us enjoyed a drink and a chat in an upstairs room in Olympia once again followed by a 'Teacheat' session at Pizza Hut.

How is it Teachmeet North East London different this year ?

Dave, Nicholas Nesha, Penny , Amanda and I are very keen to get back to the heart of Teachmeet, which we believe is about teachers sharing that which they find effective and exciting in their classrooms. It is not sales pitches or long abstract talks about blue sky projects that leave you cold. We want people to be inspired and excited, We want them to come along to hear people that will make them remember why they went into teaching in the first place. I get these moments when I listen to or read the works of some of the cutting edge teacher bloggers, who graciously share what has gone well for them in their classroom.

In order to ensure that people go away inspired we have built in a further category to the presentation formats that already exist. So there will be 2 minute and 7 minute random presentations but there will also be a new category called a mini note, a short 15 minute presentation by the following confirmed guests:

Tom Barrett - Inspiring ICT in his Primary Classroom
Drew Buddie - Good stuff from the man who coined the phrase 'Twitter is like googling people'
Max Wainwright - teacher and software developer on zen, simplicity and cup cakes
One more TBA

We still want lots of 7 minute and 2 minute presenters please - so please go to the wiki site and add your name as a speaker or 'lurker' - if you can't work out how to do this, then email me your name and I'll do it for you.

We also recognise that we need our sponsors and though we wouldn't want them to sell from the front,we do, in this current climate need to give them a reason to attend. Therefore you will see our sponsors put to work around the central atrium in the CEME centre, they will each be serving themed refreshments, we therefore look forward to the cup cake stall, the bar and the more civilised Teas and coffees.

The other changes are the chairman and the venue. Here we have a mix of a modern and a classic East London legend. The modernity is the venue, the state of the art Ceme centre off the A13,which will afford us a huge space for networking, break out spaces etc. The classic comes in the form of Terry Freedman who will be a great chair of the event.

So please sign up now - trust me if you go to one ICT Conference event thingy this year, make sure its this one - it will be brilliant.

Usonline @Bett

2009-02-02T14:20:00.004Z

While at Bett this year, Nicholas and I met some very inspiring people, who I have feel have made a great contribution to ICT software or the pedagogy that runs alongside it. Here is just one of those people, Melinda from Roar Education. Who together with Brent and Havering LAS created the excellent US online, a package for teaching upper key Stage 2 responsible Internet use.

It is worth reminding London Readers that this is a free resource via the London Grid for Learning, though a digital brain or atomwide account is needed.

The good news from ROAR is that they are currently creating a version of this online simulator for Key Stage1. This is filling a very large whole in the Esafety curriculum for younger children, as though we do have Hector the Protector, the stories are a little obscure.

2 Year old on the Iphone

2009-02-01T20:56:00.002Z

I often begin my presentations with a YouTube clip of Leo, who is a screen addict at 3 years old. It shows him at two and a half mastering the mouse in response to a motivating game on screen, Leaps and Bounds.

From here on in I am going to show Paige demonstrating the Iphone to the world on Teachertube, which is just an incredible short. I think the clip shows both the ease of the Iphone, surely a model for all gadgets to follow. It also goes against the VTech plasticy toy approach we often take with IT and kids, why should kids in Key Stage 1 and Foundation be restricted to the bulk and difficult to use when it was meant to be simple experience of the Digi-Blue camera, when they could probably use the Flip.

Lets see what the Redbridge Film Competition brings us from our youngest techies

Oh and here is the video:

Gaming in Cleveland Juniors

2009-01-16T12:44:00.003Z

Yesterday I was priviliged to work with Simon and Anjum at Cleveland Junior on creating games with Year 6. We used the platform tool in 2DIY. You can see the video cllips below, but I want to stress the following:

Game design - is an ideal opportunity for collaborative discussion work - you should have seen the heated and very energetic discussion some of these partner groups were having. Normally we get hung up about should kids be in paisrs or working aalone- with this activity working together was very necessary becuase it allowed for refinement discussions on improving the game.

Girls love creating games as much as boys

Creating games is within childrens' zone of relevance - all the kids mentioned how the tools they used reminded them of mini clip

Games are literacy - they are a 21cc media that are children consume - therefore asking them to create their own is an ideal way to teach concepts of good design, audience and ' modifying and evaluating' - that forgotton strand of the ICT curriculum

Watch and enjoy

More on DIY

2009-01-16T00:02:00.004Z

This evening I have been playing some more with 2DIY.

Here is my Doctor Who Game:

Then Su and I made a Word game for Leo

2Collaborate

2009-01-12T16:06:00.003Z

Another nice new tool from 2Simple, unveiled this week @ Bett and last month at the advisory day. 2Collaborate works with Promethean voting devices and 2Investigate.

For more on this watch the short video below:

Voice Thread

2009-01-08T16:28:00.007Z

Voicethread allows you to collaborate and compile comments on an image or video clip. I have arrived at use of this quite late as my fellow bloggers have been using it in MFL and Literacy for quite some time.

In the example below I created an educators account and used a generic class gmail address. For esafety reasons i asked my class to create an avatar, so as they couldn't be identified. Each of use signed in and created an identity using the avatar and first name.

On this occasion I posed the question - 'How does the picture make you feel?' contrasting two very different images of Redbridge. I had in mind that this tool could be used to gather thoughts and key vocab prior to doing some shared writing.

Voicethread does allow each user to comment either by typing, webcam or recording their voice, however Teachers Centre /borough Broadband being what it is - my advice is stick with text entries.

It seems to me there are two main uses of Voicethread, both of which offer a wide range of possibilities and excitement.

It can either be used to record thoughts of the class or a wider group

Or

The focus of its use can be on creating a finished multimedia project for embedding in either the school blog or (Fronter tested) MLE room.

If you have never used Voicethread before and want to get into it, I suggest downloading Liz B Davies's free book on 21CC Technology tools, available on Lulu.com

Twitter can help NQTS

2009-01-06T20:46:00.008Z

Thanks once again to members of my personal learning network. They are that group of people at the end of my mouse who share their thoughts, questions, opinions and answers to queries via Twitter and all within the limit of 140 characters.

It still astounds me that I can get responses to my questions from Holland, Australia and Stockport in minutes. I threw the question out there today in order to collate some advice but also to prove the point to the teachers I am training that our world is indeed very flat and getting flatter. ICT helps us to appreciate our position in the world.

Today I asked for advice to give the new teachers I am training this week on Primary ICT.

Here are the responses:

Aldersbrook Session 5th Januray

2009-01-04T22:21:00.006Z

Aldersbrook2

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: ictprimary)

Training session given at Aldersbook in Januray 2009

SlideShare Link

Web Links

Create a free collaborative web site/wiki - visit Wikispaces.com for educators

Partner with another European school using ETwinning.net

2DIY - You can Make Games and Teacher Tools Yourself & Easily 2

2008-12-18T16:01:00.018Z

Last week Nicholas and I attended an advisers day hosted by 2Simple Software. I love these days as it is an excellent opportunity to network with others and spend a long day talking about we all love most, which is of course Primary ICT.

Traditionally the December day is a chance to see the new 2Simple products, and in the past there has been much excitement around 2Control, 2Paint a Picture and 2Puiblsih+. This day was no exception. On this occasion there was a real buzz in the room as a number of new and exciting Beta projects were shown.

My absolute favourite is 2 D I Y - nothing to do with home improvements, but everything to do with easily making electronic projects . This suite of tools empowers pupils and teachers to create leaning resources of their own, which can then be exported as a Flash file. These exportable flash files (swfs) are timely as currently we are all looking at helping children, make more creative use of their MLE space. What 2 DIY does is it allows them or their teachers to create a game, a puzzle or quiz and then embed this anywhere. A practical application of this would be children taking a photograph and then posting it as a jigsaw or a slider puzzle in their
Fronter room.

What I also love about this set of applications is that it is so maverick - it can not easily be slotted into the traditional QCA or NC ICT Primary Curriculum. Though we could argue that many of the outcomes will be multimedia applications. Furthermore, there is currently a ground swell of exploration into gaming in schools. However sometimes, games can be used very badly with the needs of just one user being served when the game is projected on an IWB. Or there are those games that are made by educationalists that try to dupe children into learning by presenting themselves as a game. Sometimes this works, though if the game is designed badly it fails as some authors fail to understand the needs of gamers. And what gamers want from a game is challenge,but at the right level, not too easy or too hard.

But what about if you turned the notion of gaming in schools as a covert learning tool on its head and gave children the task of creating their own games either individually or in groups. Therefore we now have another ICT genre to add to the list of slideshow, document, desktop published item, why not make a game or a quiz for a specific audience. The task has opportunity for talk, cognitive challenge and sits more within the pupils zone of relevance, though many of us geeks and gamers will also sit within this zone of relevance too! And to do this within a 2Simple package means that this is accessible by children in Year 2, as much as it is those in Year 5 or the kids in the 'Gifted and Talented Computer Club'. Certainly if you were using Scratch or Mission Maker, you would not get accessibility across the primary range. And yet there is the opportunity to stretch your gifted and talented game authors on this package, as there is the option to include Flash code for the movements of characters.

Another reason why this fits with the current climate is the need and interest in user generated content. Its no coincidence that this package comes at the same time as Little Big Planet.

2DIY as tool for the Teaching Assistants. It occurred to me while watching this demonstration that 2DIY offers teachers and TAs the opportunity to make electronic activities that enhance language acquisition, communication along with providing simple mouse or IWB activities.

Some years ago I used My World software to create drag and drop screens on the theme of transport for Foundation stage children. My World gave us the well-loved 'Dress the Teddy' activity. What My World would not allow me to do easily was to personalise the resource with my own pictures. Now I am able to draw my own teddy, child, plant and drag and drop the elements onto the relevant area. There are other labelling activities with clickable sounds and hotspots too and I am excited about the uses and applications of these tools, particularly if used with children with spacial needs. Unfortunately many TAS and LSA are still creating all of their word sort, sequencing tasks and general reinforcement activities using card and the overheated laminator. I hope 2DIY will be used as a way of creating electronic versions of these activities.

Last night I created a sequencing activity for Dylan around Toilet Training. The pictures we have used are the same he has on the back of the back door, and it is a sequence we are continually reinforcing. We have used similar sequence for dressing and hair cuts.

I suppose I should exaplain the above- basically Dylan needs to use the loo then wash his hands before he can get a sweet!!

Consultant Meet- North East London

2008-12-15T23:42:00.013Z

Last week Dave Smith and I organised a fantastic event that brought together some great East London ICT advisers and a good deal of sweets, biscuits and diet coke. This was a sort of small teachmeet, but as there was less of us, we had more sweets.And more time to share!!

I was really pleased with the evening as it was a great example of informal but very effective CPD. It also helped to bring together ICT neighbours who could then talk about common issues and and offer examples of good practice alongside any new or existing links and tools.Here is what happened and what we learned.

Once again thank you so much for my esteemed North East London colleagues, who gave up their evening for this 'event with no name', and to Lord Terry of Freedman, who chaired it so well and ate lots of the Liquorice All Sorts, Terry has also blogged about the event on his site. A whole evening talking about ICT, what could be better!

Who turned up?

There was Primary representation from:

Barking and Dagenham
Havering
Islington
Newham
Redbridge of course
and Terry Freedman – Chair Person

Fancy joining the next one - are you a London ICT person who deals with Primary ICT - are you infectiously enthusiastic about technology and learning? If so we'd love to have you share with us. Email me

What is going on in our boroughs?

Redbridge

I have included a 2Create Flash File here, which is an adapted version of the Powerpoint I used on the night. I then turned the ppt into a 2Create file @ the 2Simple advisers day on Friday (see the next post).

Areas we mentioned

TeachmeetNEL - the spirit of this sharing and unconference has now fed into our Subject Leaders events

Innovation Projects - Robosapiens lead by Nicholas, DS by Dawn and Asus in various places

The Subject Leaders Blog - a well read blog that head teachers and subject leaders alike look forward too.

Fronter MLE - so far only 6 schools are using this

I then shared three tools that I have recently discovered and have excited me with their educational potential:

Wordle.net

Photosynth

The Flip Camera

Dave Smith from Havering

Dave talked to us about the Visualiser Forum , a group and a blog that has been formed to research and promote effective use of the Visualiser in our schools. You can find video case studies and posts from teachers on this site, they also invite ideas from those of you out there who are using this kit with your classes.

Also in Havering:

MLE - 40% of primary are joined
Blogging schools are using Edublogs in innovative ways in one school a group of children has their own publishing room, where they meet to write and edit and then blog school news
Video Conferencing is being used to open up Subject Leaders meetings,whereby one group meets in a school and others can join via a video conference link from another school.

Havering are working with LGFL to host an event to mark Poetry day in 2009

ICT Mark – so far 6 schools have achieved the mark

Security issues for schools in Havering – just like Havering schools in this borough have been prone to burglary, significant amounts of computer hardware have been taken.

In 2009 DVD on ICT in Foundation Stage will be released.

Look out for Teachmeet Havering 31st March.

Karen and Natasha from Newham
Natasha talked about how easy it is to carry out an Etwinning project using the Bristish Council website, which currently involves over 5,000 schools. She explained that the service used an intuitive website and compared it to Facebook! There are also no security issues with this site as the sign up process is very through.It certainly sounds like a great way to link your school(s) up with real schools in a genuine contexts for learning!

Visit: http://www.etwinning.net/ and see for yourself.

Read an article on Etwinning from the Guardian here.

MLE - Newham are focusing on good pedagogy and the MLE and like all of us assisting schools in trying to move forward together to achieve the schools defined aims for the product. Many of us know that it is easy to get lost in the innovative and whizzy elements and this can alienate the majority of staff. Therefore the approach of simplicity and working on embedding first seems extremely sensible. Most schools should be ready by the 2010 deadline.

Also the borough are really excited about their competition which is linked to 2012, to take part children must make a film (maximum of 3minutes) on the theme of inspiration. Do look at the film on this website: click here, it certainly inspired me!

Look also at this other clip to hear Newhamers talking about their ambitions

Gillian from Barking and Dagenham –
Gillian showed us some great examples of how schools in Barking and Dagenham are blogging. The borough have a number of Asus netbooks and are using these to blog. Many of our Redbridge schools are using Blogs as a showcase and an easy route to web publishing of news, videos and images. However when the comments option is exploited fully with blogger, it can be a way of collaborative writing and editing and improving writing.

In some of the examples that we saw the teacher was posting some work that needed changing and children were commenting their improvements. Children were also using comments to support shared editing/assessing of each others work.

The examples below really excited me and challenged me to rethink the way that we promote blogs. It also took me back 3 years to when I first heard about blogs in education. I heard David Warlick talk about schools where children would take it in turns to write up the course notes from that days lesson, pupils would then comment on what they found difficult. Students then had a shared learning journal, which they could look back on.

Ripple Junior Poetry Lesson

Eastbury Primary School

My early work with blogs in my classroom involved the children publishing their work or entering into debates, but I only really scratched the surface, I'd like to see and promote more of this sort of blogging as a writing tool. It seems a waste that this tool is still just within the realms of the school website alternative.

MLE in B and D - schools in this authority are using Sharepoint as a Learning Gateway, it is hoped that Blogs can be integrated into this system.

Steve from Islington -

Steve talked at length about the work that he and others have been doing on progression documents and plans. He has been working with Katy on Esafety and Internet plans alongside the other strands of communication, control and literacy. This work builds on the work of Wokingham, Greenwich and Newham and should help teachers make sense of our post QCA curriculum.

Terry Freedman

Terry reminded us of his website and its associated publication - Computers in Classrooms. I can testify that this is a very useful, relevant and thought provoking read. It is has a wide global readership too!

Terry will be presenting @ Bett with Miles Berry on their findings from a massive survey they are doing about what children are learning online when we the teachers are not looking. What are children doing on the Internet? - Why not get your class to take part in the survey and contribute to this research.

Looking at alternatives for Christmas Cards 3

2008-12-15T17:36:00.001Z

Another post which looks at alternatives to the ECard
Jib Jab
Here is an old favourite of mine - I first used this last year to create a mini-video of our ICT team members. This year JibJab bring us Elf yourself.com.I am not sure if I would use JibJab with my class, as I think I'd be worried they'd upload a picture of me and include it in an embarrassing dance routine.
I have saved anyone else the bother and done that very thing, see below

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Looking at alternatives for Christmas Cards 1

2008-12-15T14:16:00.000Z

E Cards can be just as drab and unexciting as their paper predecessors. Therefore I am on a hunt to find E festive greetings that are just that bit special.

Firstly:

Emoticarolers from Yahoo.
This site lets you create your own versions of popular carols and then email them or embed them on your blog, just as I have done below. This would make a good end of term activity, whereby children have to rework Jingle- Bells or other song with their own words.

Surveying and Benchmarking

2008-12-08T12:19:00.003Z

A couple of weeks ago Alex and I talked to a group of Deputy Head teachers about ICT in schools and we explored that perennial question:

What does good look like?

The responses we got show just how subjective this can be and to prove the point I have included below, one of the exercises we used . We gave each delegate an envelope containing a number of descriptors/ scenarios of Primary ICT. We asked for each of these 12 statements to be sorted into 3 categories, based on the new categories of the Self Review Framework and ICT Mark. This is ungraded, ICT Mark and ICT Excellence Award, this provoked a lot of discussion, and some unexpected results. We than asked people to grade these statements in order of importance for the school.

With such subjectivity and difference in priorities, a benchmarking tool or national Yard stick is very helpful as both a challenge and support to schools. Love it or hate it the Self Review Framework is such a yard stick.

I have embedded the descriptors below, and ask you to give a score of 1- 10 based on how important they are for a school. I have also pasted the google gadget in order for you to see the overall results. At present it just reflects my response to the survey.

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I would also add that during this session we also surveyed those attending about their role and priorities, this was not related to the ICT question, but I got the chance to use Turning Point' to help collect the data live. I have been using this handy electronic pad at conferences for the last two - three years as a delegate, but I had never put together anything with it myself before.

I was so impressed with this system and its ease of use.Following installation of the software, the plugging in of the dongle and the typing in of the questions, we had a set of live questions which once answered graphed neatly in the Powerpoint show. Simple and easy !

A Tale of Two Cameras

2008-12-07T17:11:00.001Z

Last week, I was very excited to unpack a new Flip Mino, which I hope to use in all aspects of my work. Having tried it out on such exciting places as the car park, I can confirm the sound and picture quality are as good as, and if not better than what I can achieve with my Sony chunky clunky video camera I bought three years ago, which now seems very cumbersome.

The advantage of this baby is that it is very easy to use with limited buttons and touch screen control. The other advantage is that it slips easily in your pocket and as I have said before this is the surely the Key Stage Two/Three Equivalent of the Digi-Blue.

That very day I went along to the Pharmacy for some cough mixture for the boys,while there I spotted a budget version of the Fisher Price digital camera for kids. The Fisher Price model is a very Robust device with a fifty quid price tag. But Lloyd Pharmacy were stocking a similar and slightly flimsier model called 'My First Digital Camera' by Budz. This was just £15 and has been snapped up for school and my own boys use. I have not subjected this to a thorough test yet but it in the box it appears to be well suited to the Foundation/ Key Stage 1 market.

I will add more, once it has been liberated from the box.

Doctor Who-Christmas Through Time - Xmas video 2 of 4

2008-12-06T09:43:00.001Z

Another great from PennyMix Films

More on powerpoint

2008-12-04T01:04:00.002Z

John Sutton linked to this excellent slideshare as a comment to my post about Doug's post earlier today. I think I'll cover this issue in the Subject leaders blog this week too as is it is something all teachers sometimes endure themselves at Monday Inset sessions.

Death by PowerPoint

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: tips powerpoint)

Emma Watson on Blue Peter

2008-12-04T00:26:00.001Z

Excellent here is the clip I mentioned in the earlier post.- Need to embed it in my SMART Notebook for tomorrow now!

Blue Peter: How to Make a Dalek Cake

2008-12-03T21:45:00.002Z

I am looking at Literacy Year 3 Non Fiction Unit 2

Phase 1: Reading and analysis of instructional texts (5 days)
Teaching content:

View extracts from a popular children's magazine or art TV programme that have 'make and do' sections. Detail and highlight a basic sequence of instructional steps.

Children orally rehearse instructional steps, recording key imperative statements in note form.

Demonstrate drafting written instructions from notes, deciding on the most suitable language features, for example the use of carefully chosen adjectives and adverbs.

If using a TV programme, download from the programme website an instructional fact sheet for the item viewed. Compare the class draft with the online version, identifying similarities and differences in form.

Provide a range of instructional extracts within varied text sources, for example children's comics, magazines and model kits. Children analyse a range of texts studied, deciding on which instructions are easiest to follow and why others are less effective.

Identify and record for reference common characteristics such as linear chronology.
Learning outcomes:
Children can recognise the structure and language features of an instructional text.
Children can express a view clearly as part of a class or group discussion.

This video seems ideal for this unit alongside some of the makes on the Blue Peter site. For example how to make an mp3 carrier .

I have been looking some more at Blue Peter on the Iplayer. It seems a lot more compelling than it used to be, back when it was Peter Duncan and Mark Curry (good to see him on holiday shopping channel now).

Anyway looking again at Phase 1 of the unit, we are asked to compare a TV how to, alongside a printed version.

Look then at the Iplayer and the episode from yesterday, where they made Christmas cards and compare and contrast with the printed fact sheet on the Blue Peter site.

The episode is on Iplayer here- but not for long!

Bad Powerpoint Points from Doug Belshaw

2008-12-03T10:59:00.004Z

Thanks to Doug Belshaw for his great post on bad Powerpoint. This echoes what I have read recently in Presentation Zen,and my own observations of trainers at events alongside my own reflections on my talks. which can be summed up with:

Simplicity is the key
A Picture says so much more than a page full of text or bullet points agogo
Don't pack your slides full of everything you want to say - put this in the hand out or speak it out
Standing and reading your slides, shows that you may be unprepared and also stops people focusing on you

Read Doug's post here

And buy and Read Presentation Zen.

Free Sticks

2008-12-02T16:39:00.003Z

Not a week goes by without a teacher or ICT coordinator's email about the free USB stick for teachers offer. When this first came out I was slightly suspicious, to sign up you needed to submit your role and email address. That felt like months ago and despite the flurry of emails from other colleagues who are all hunger more memory, I have yet to find anyone that has actually received one of these.

So, I was quite pleased and relived to read in Computer Active, that 'the company has said the keys will not be sent out until January'.

We will reserve judgement on this benevolent offer from RGS Media group and their encrypted keys until the new year. In the meantime I have no gripes about recommending you sign up for free 2Gigs worth of memory and small apps such as a timetable, calendar and diary.

Visit: www.memory4teachers.co.uk

Lulu Books

2008-12-02T15:55:00.002Z

I have just had my first experiences of Lulu.com. This is like Amazon.com meets Blogger meets vanity publishing. Anyone can write and edit their own book and offer it up for sale.

Texts can be either downloaded or ordered in Paperback format. I seem to have exhausted searches for unique and original ICT books @ Amazon, so I was keen to find something relevant.

I bought two books and found one which I had read some time ago:

The first was Wesbites for Teachers by Jim Merret, which works out at around £5.60. to download and a bit more to have it sent to you as a book. This is a vast collection of links under everything from IWB resources to sites for lesson plans and worksheets. As a download it could be quite handy as one could copy and paste links. But in this age of tagging websites, blogs and Twitter, where we are used to the community recommending a link and why, this book disappoints. To warrant the money spent I'd at least want a star rating or a brief description of what each site does and is about, otherwise I'll just use Google. Sorry Jim this get no star rating from me.

A more in depth, humorous and very accurate book is Terry Freedman's 'Go on Bore them'. This slim tongue in cheek essay outline how to ensure the ICT lesson is limited, dull and uninspiring. It painted a vivid picture of all that is irritating about poor ICT lessons. It is written by someone who has watched many and probably also reflected on his own teaching too!

I actually read this a couple of years ago and I have gone back to it since as it still sounds fresh and cuts across both primary and secondary.

Finally a book that plopped through my letterbox this week from very far away.
Simple Smart Skills by Mike Palecek Volume 2 . This is basically a very detailed but concise and clearly diagrammed book on Notebook 10. I had been looking for a readable text on SMART for a while and the much rumoured SMART Board for Dummies seems to be missing from the listings of Amazon or Waterstsones. I have been pleasantly surprised by this book and even after months of using Notebook 10, I have picked up some small tips and tools I'd missed.

Its also handy enough for a teacher to stick in their bag or on a shelf.

Interestingly volume 1 is tool by tool account of the Lesson Activity Toolkit and pupil engagment with the SMART BOARD.

Clevland Junior blog

2008-11-28T15:41:00.003Z

One of our schools has begun blogging in earnest, that is this is a very busy blog. What's more some posts have over 30 comments. It also appears that the children rather than the proxy adult are posting here.

I also love some of the animations hosted here as part of the schools competition using free Pivot software.

Check out the Year 6 blog here

Free Tables Resource

2008-11-28T14:31:00.001Z

Came across this resource in my inbox today:

Free web resource learnyourtables.co.uk released

This free website was created in response to a demand from teachers for a simple but effective way of getting a printable assessment of pupil table skills. The website also provides two different levels of exercises that allow pupils to practise their tables.
Originally the game was going to be added to the 90+ games in the main SUMS Maths set, but we realised that there was a tremendous need for the software, not least from less developed countries, and decided to make it a freely available resource.
Go to http://learnyourtables.co.uk/ and try the exercises yourself. Get a PASS in the assessment, then tell all of your teachers that they have a great tool to use, and to set as a homework from time to time.

SMARTBOARD DAY 1

2008-10-29T00:37:00.001Z

SMARTBOARD DAY 1
Originally uploaded by skinnyboyevans

2 Deaths

2008-10-28T22:08:00.011Z

Over the last week, two death knells have sounded very hollow for two of my most loved technologies. On Sunday Andy's blog directed me to a blog about a blog that said the blog is dead. I was pointed to an interview on the BBC today programme where Robin Haman of Wired Magazine discuss his article on the subject,which asserts that Twitter is taking over from blogging.

John Humphries begins by saying have you started a blog yet, if not don't bother. The reason you shouldn't bother is because blogging has been taken over by journalists and the corporates. The other barrier to current blogging, which Haman apparently claims is so 2004, is that attention spans are shorter and Twitter feeds this as we only have to read and write 140 characters.

I like Kate Bevan's point about why she blogs - she 'writes things down to process things', this is one of the reasons why I blog too. You can not process things in 140 characters, Twitter as Drew Buddie tweeted to me this morning is 'an entirely different beast'. It is if you like a different genre, hey wouldn't it be great if the literacy strategy helped kids analyses the register and grammar of blogs versus twittering, hmm someday.

As a keen covert to Twitter for many months and a blogger of some two and a half years, I have been reflecting on these issues and wondered, should I close my blog? My blog has been many things at different times, it has been:

An exciting meeting place and a way of meeting others who have read and commented on my work, I have even bagged some friends out of it

A way of gaining professional credibility - I once found myself quoted at a conference by a speaker who had I had never met before, but who like what I had written

As mentioned it is a way of clarifying and sorting through the many thoughts in my head, blogging them helps me formulate ideas and opinions and sometimes direction, but then this is the same process I went through as a teenager back in the 90s with my numerous volumes of diaries and scrap books

It has also served as a voice for someone who is naturally quite shy- therefore this tool allows me to get my ideas out there, without the worry of getting it wrong

My blog has also been a chore at times- I have found there has been that guilty feeling when I haven't blogged for a while and my fellow bloggers have been more prolific, I have felt I really should get something out

My Subject Leaders Blog has become my corporate website, because the readers now trust and expect it to be updated weekly with relevant news, something that was impossible to do when I ran a Dream Weaver site, in my schools where teachers blog , some parents are now complaining that the blog for their child's class has not been updated for a week, gone are the days of the static school website, or at least they should be gone!

As a reader of blogs, I find the content is now as rich and stimulating as ever, take a look at the sidebar to see those who I read regularly. I believe what Tom Barret, John Sutton, Ewan, Terry, Simon and Danah Boyd have to say is fresh and personal, its a different feeling reading a blog entry to a newspaper article.

Twittering is extremely important for me as it provides a way of being connected to the EDtech and ICT world. Just today I was taking part in a conference in Birmingham by contributing to the Twitter discussion. With Twitter news is picked up and shared incredibly quickly, those that read the newspapers or scan BBC news post links and others read and comment, but those who have more to say on the matter will blog. I find that Twitter is a great place to gain answers from anyone or any seventeen of the hundred or so people on my Twitter network and this is very exciting. A few weeks ago I was writing some course notes on Google docs, I asked for hello via Twitter, which also synched with my Facebook status, all I wanted was some guinea pigs to fill in my book survey form. Within 5 minutes, I had all the responses I needed.

I don't believe Blogging is dead,it has just been augmented by a another form of writing. In the same way that TV has not been replaced by Youtube, though clearly it has been challenged by it and we would not write off emails or phone calls in place of text messages.

I am not sure if these ramblings answer the question, perhaps you could look @ Rory Cellan-Jones's response to the original article and make up your own mind.

But if you want to see blogs that are very much alive then check the link list in my sidebar.

________________________________________________________________

But are Whiteboards Dead?

Today on Twitter, Media Snackers posted a link to this article on the 'Demise of the Whiteboard', by awarding winning teacher Phil Beadle. It caught my eye and intrigued me, as I was expecting a reasoned discussion on why the novelty of the board, maybe wearing off for some teachers and how we need to inject some new life into the IWB.

However what I found, infuriated me, others that shared my frustration ranted a similar 140 character vitriol via Twitter throughout the morning.

Before I pick apart this article let me say that the whiteboard is perhaps not as fashionable as it used to be, but I believe that it is still used extremely well by many teachers to engage and excite children, simulate process and demonstrate new concepts. All teachers could do with regular input on how to make their board teaching more interactive and teachers also need the chance to share and learn about successful and simple applications of the IWB.

Beadle's article comes from someone who has perhaps never really embraced ICT, an earlier article in 2006 hints at his Luddite stance, describing himself in a sort of 'hinterland' away from integrated technology use, and worried about getting caught in a cupboard sniffing books. He believed then that ICT was replacing books and human contact. Though this 2006 article did make a very valid point about the over use of Powerpoint and I would agree that bad PowerPoint in any LEA training session is a heinous crime and we should scrap bullet pointed slide decks along with KS3 SATs. But in his most recent essay Mr Beadle hasn't really moved on in his understanding of the potential and use of a SMART or Promethean board, he still sees these devices as just being associated with PowerPoint. For goodness sake man go and visit a Primary classroom and watch kids on a SMART Board!

I include below the most annoying and inaccurate paragraphs from today's article:

Like the blackboard, the Smart Board has its uses, although they are more limited than any headteacher would have you believe. They are great for showing photos, bringing a visual stimulus into lessons; and they show a mean DVD.

But their place at the front of the class means every lesson must have a PowerPoint presentation, and a teacher's key tool is the memory stick on which they store their presentations. The Smart Board's central positioning destroys a teacher's ability to be spontaneous.

You cannot come in any more with a couple of board markers and a handful of good ideas. "Why have you not turned me on?" screams the board. "Why have you not sat up all evening downloading pictures that would make me look as if I had some vital use? You are lazy and should be sacked."

Why can't you be spontaneous with a SMART BOARD ?- of course you can come come in with markers and write all over the thing, they just have to be the four markers that the board is supplied with though better still you can use your finger. The reason teachers don't launch into spontaneity often is fear of deviation away from a planning sheet they have to deliver, or of they are in Year Six , then they are under pressure to prepare their kids for the test. This sucks out spontaneity, not the large plastic Interactive window to the world, the whiteboard, that is screwed to the wall at the front of the class.

And no you are not doomed to always show Powerpoint on a whiteboard, it will project any application including Google Earth, versatile Paint packages and tools that let you connect with others both in the class and beyond. What's more with a boards connection to the Internet I can spontaneously research an idea that comes up in our class discussion instantly by googling or Youtubing. Rather than waiting until our library session next THURSDAY.

In his opening paragraph he describes with nostalgia the blackboard and its associated chalk dust, as if this were the good old days. It wasn't for me when I started teaching and had to learn chalkmanship!. But, I digress, it is within this nostalgic framework that he places a Mathematician in action, the image he gives points to a sort of Dead Poets Society view of teaching:

He (Alexandre Borovik, speaks as a blackboard mathematician, but his points resonate with this whiteboard English teacher: "A mathematics teacher is not just conveying information; he or she teaches to think mathematically, and teaches by example, in real time. It is crucially important to be in full control of timing and tempo of the narrative. If a lecture involves calculations, it is crucially important to let students feel the subtle play of rhythms, emphasise switches and branch points in the procedure, highlight recursion and reduction to simpler cases."

If I am modelling sentence construction or the semicolon, drawing a map illustrating colonialism in Africa, or scribing arrows outlining connections between ideas, I want to be able to do it quickly: as quick as I think; as quick as I talk. I want to be able to teach with my whole body, use gesture, employ pause to illustrate nuance, become as one with the board; become, in those rare moments of flow, both dancer and dance. Now the board dictates that, rather than pirouette, twist and enthuse, I click a frigid button.

Absoloutely agree Phil, this is the mark of a good teacher, he is first and foremost a showman, whose job it is to help students to think, whatever the subject matter. But if we have tools that allow the children to visualise concepts like 90 degree turns, bar charts, regular and irregular polygons, symmetry etc why shouldn't we use them? Drawing such things on a blackboard would slow me and the pace of the lesson down and would frankly be out of kilter with the screen bred generation that I am teaching in 2008!

What is actually stopping a teacher using their whole body when they have a whiteboard behind them? If you are clicking a frigid button, then you obviously need some work on using all the tools in whiteboard software , as when you learn these to good effect you can draw in children's attention by zooming them into parts of map, if you are teaching 'colonialism'. You can also drag words easily and madly around to create and change sentence with ease, a task which would be slowed dramatically if you employed chalk or a marker pen.Clicking on one frigid button means a very poorly designed linear presntation - probably Powerpoint - Phil you should use a range of appliactions!

I hope this article stirs up debate again about what is good whiteboard use, but I just wish it had come form someone who had used and evaluated a SMART Board properly for a while.

Dumped below is an image from Twitter of some of the discussions taking place around the article, earlier today:

Handheld learning Day 2 - the last bits I hadn't written up yet.

2008-10-23T23:11:00.010+01:00

Laurie O'Donnell. LTS Scotland Putting Philosophy into practice

Sometimes when I sit in Edtech conferences I wonder why I'm here and I feel a bit fraudulent, but I know that when I listen to Danah Boyd and the thoughts of Laurie O' Donnell, I feel gald that I am there and ...well I am glad I came. Something inside is excited and stirred by what they say. Their energy is infectious.

Laurie's talk was simple, he presented two philosophies of education and then took questions, or as somebody behind me sat via Nintendo DS, he freestyled.

There were he said two Mindsets around education and technology and so many of his points resonated with me.

Philosophy A

Says Education is broken and can be fixed - and fixed with lots of money and technology. - I thought of the rush to install whiteboard nationwide at the end of the last century - great technology but in many cases lacked the pedagogical input from schools or LAS.

It also says innovation means Innovation which means let a thousand projects fly. This thought struck me like a smack in the mouth as in my role it is easy to get excited about projects and get caught up with future chasing, but innovation has to work for more than just one setting, but that is hard and ultimately involves not only money but some early risk taking innovators with a good deal of balls.

This Philosophy says Technology drives change - no clearly people drive change and when I reflect on my time in teaching and working in the sphere of Ed Technology, it has been those inspirational coordinators, ICT technicians and inspiring advisers and consultants that's have developed others and moved on both whole schools and in some cases groups of schools with their inspiration and leading by example. I wont mention names here, but Derrek Robertson, Ewan Macintosh, Alex Rees, Ophelia Vanderpoi, John Dabbro, Terry Freedman, Adam Collyer, Paul Harrington, John Sutton, Simon Mills and Penny Paterson are people who come to mind here are people who have had impact and caused change, perhaps without them even realising.

In this philosophy we measure success by attainment and bandwidth - perhaps too narrow a success criteria . How do we measure success then Laurie, particularly when we work in an environment where we have to measure impact and progress in quantitative levels and categories.

The Curriculum in this philosophy says– don’t trust the teachers- lets make sure its all on paper and get teachers to work on the script - I agree we should trust our teachers more, this has been John Davitt's message for some time, though many teachers feel comfortable with the script, sometimes because it fills in gaps in their knowledge, other times because they are just too busy or at worst they don't want to have to think.

And the final facet of this philosophy is that:
Learners are the future workforce

So then Laurie presented us with an alternative view - no prizes for guessing which most of us preferred

Philosophy B

Education is a long term investment in the future and can not be fixed overnight

Technology enables supports and accelerates change – but still people drive change – people change things to make the world better – it helps enable positive changes

Teachers should be supported professionals –they are highly professional people who can make informed choices- teachers aren’t broken they just need support and help

Learners – are hopefully seen as a lot more than being a future worker

Curriculum is guidance rather than a script – populated with meaningful learning experiences

Innovation has got to be scalable and sustainable- don fund anything that can not be scaled and replicated – if this is not sustainable – its got to work across 3 thousand schools

Laurie saught to answer the questions about measuring success, when he described a recent visit to In Finland. He asked his host there how do you measure success –His reply was how many people are sent to prison – how healthy are are people that you see all around you.

For me there was a lot to think about in Laurie's talk, if nothing else it has caused me once again to temper my excitement around innovation. We need the innovators, the people who are forging ahead and trying out new routes as we all forge on en masse towards the same goal of using technology for effective learning. The routes that these trailblazers forge are exciting and new and make look like they provide us with shortcuts and quick wins, but these routes need developing and strengthening so that others can follow the same path. They also need the permission to make mistakes so that others can learn.

But the scalability of innovation is still a hard question. If we only chose to invest in those projects that we knew were a cert we may end up playing safe and replicating rather than innovating.

My mind continues to ponder this one...

Anyway here is Lauries's talk, so you can have your own thoughts.

I have to say that a weird but quite exciting phenomenon happened during this talk, towards the end of the philosophies discourse I noticed that many people had their Nintendos out. I joined in the Pictochat with others, one of the biggest pictochat sessions I have ever taken part in, whats more it worked perfectly as a sort of IM/Twitter tool via our consoles.

Where we bored ? - yes probably by that point, where we engaging with the Handheld learning conference - yes as many people were asking questions about the pedagogical value of this console - and Derek Robertsosn and others were answering, except his planned session was in the afternoon. Should he have waited to respond - no

Next Generation Learning

2008-10-22T11:46:00.009+01:00

This phrase was bandied around @ Handheld Learning and though I am not quite sure what it is yet, after watching the video I fully believe in what it promotes. I think it is an initiative or arm of BECTA that is seeking to promote the harnessing and use of home and innovative technologies such as consoles in learning.

Me thinks BECTA have lifted their heads over the parapet and spied LTS Scotland and Consolarium, which we so desperately need in England.

If BECTA are the Government voice on Technology, then it is good to see them promoting the message you see in this video.

I am going to keep an eye on the Next Generation Learning Website, though it would be nice if there were an RSS Feed for this, maybe there is and I've missed it.

Silly Movie

2008-10-20T00:16:00.004+01:00

Last week at Subject Leaders we began to look at Film as this year we asking the question, what does good film look like in the classroom/ ICT Suite etc. There are so many opportunities for children to collaborate together and create something that tells a story, challenges opinions or just entertains. When I first taught film , it was linked to Geography and ICT and children filmed parents parking on the yellow lines outside the school. They turned this into a very comprehensive documentary, though at the time I remember the camera was greatly lacking both a tripod and a decent microphone.

Following a deep introduction, I was hoping for something amazing from the assembled teachers, well make up your own mind as to whether we achieved this aim. Below you will see the effort of some of the ICT Coordinators that attended.

Thef ilm below was created with Windows Movie Maker and used music from the LGFL Audio network.

Hand Held Learning Conference Day 2 Part 3

2008-10-19T22:09:00.007+01:00

Danah Boyd spoke next and she is certainly as Graham described, that is an authority on Social Networking. Later she mentioned that she had read over 20.000 profiles and I guess this gives her the authority to speak so eloquently and knowledgably on the Facebook generation.

She has also advised Yahoo and Google on online activities

Two positions continue to dominate technology:

It is the devil incarnate – it is evil and therefore to be avoided

It is the panacea for education and it will allow us to do immeasurably more than we imagined in the classroom and beyond.

But Danah suggests that the reality is far more nuanced than this- how do we get to a place where learning 2.0 is used in our classroom?

She gives us a further question:
Why should we use this stuff if many of us didn’t actually grow up with it?

Education is first and foremost about teaching young people to think.

The reason that we taught Maths and Literature in the past is not that we were teaching them for their sake, but we were using these as a way to teach children o think.

Putting technology into classrooms will not equate to really amazing outcomes, it will just be another brick, or to put it another way another part of the fabric of the building.

So it is either good or bad then- well in order to avoid these ‘binaries’ as Danah calls them we need to look at the way technology is rupturing our culture.

We need to learn about these technologies that children are using and consider:
How are they using them?
How are they being used in ways we would not expect?

Social Networking sites
Facebook and MySpace etc
These places are where young people go to interact with their friends, people they met at summer camp, all their church friends etc
The point is they don’t go there to meet up with new people or to be found by other.
There are 3 core structures to a Social Networking site:

Profile- online we are just an IP address that is of course until we create ourselves online- avatar and renewed identitys are an extension of teenage bedroom culture
I like this comparison and it is a helpful image- particulary when I think back to how I adorned my room with band posters, photos and gadgets, we now do the same online. Except the audience is much wider!
Public Articulation of Friends –

Here there are 3 clusters of friends:

Those who have 30-40 friends
Those who have a coupla 100 – so this would be everyone from school, summer camp, church etc.
Then the collectors- those that like to have hundreds of friends- these are either spammers or young boys who like to show that they have a lot of hot chicks in their friends list.

In this articulation of friends, the young person is imagining who their perceived audience might be.

Also important to say that friending is awkward. Danah talked about how we would never approach people in life and ask ‘are you my friend? – accept or ignore?’
I can relate to this as I don’t always welcome the friend requests from people I don’t remember or have only a professional relationship with.

The Wall or testimonials or comments – this is also done via IM / MSN. I’d agree with Danah that when you look at this stuff it looks very empty and often consists of – hiya – howya doing?- nothing – or as I watched my friends daughters MSN – wassup – lol- are you there?- chicken nuggets forever- lol- etc for two weeks

We are not really meant to get this as text, it is a form of social grooming between young people and a way of saying are you my friend- yes- I am your friend- Yes I am your friend etc. This answered a question I have pondered for a long time- what is the point of year5/6/7 MSN questions. I am beginning to understand this now.

Teenagers are using these spaces to hang out, why then are they not going out as we did when we were kids?- When questioned teens in US say that the reason they go online is that they are not allowed to go out . This is backed up by recent research in the UK about the distance kids are allowed to roam. Fear of abduction, fuelled by moral panics has got us to the state of anxiety we live in today. I remember seeing this research wonderfully visualized on Child of our time, which mapped the distances from home that children were allowed to travel, do you think I can find this video or the original search online- of course not!! Kids are also far more scheduled than we were, they have a wealth of clubs to attend- which equals the outside world, they are not allowed to make mistakes or explore, so of course we have driven them online to find their space.
We are not quite sure we like our kids on these sites, there are control issues and they also inhabit a world we as adults don’t often understand.There are properties of these sites, which if we understand, we can then use them in the classroom.

Persistence- what you put online stays online- wheras we grew up in an ephemeral world- children now have a digital footprint of everything they have posted online- as Dinah pointed out she has been blogging since 18 and therefore what she posted @ 18 is probably a little embarrassing.

Replicability – You can copy and paste and make public what had been private – you can also be a copy cat I guess

Scalability – You have the potential to reach a very large audience- though most blogs are read by an average of only 6 people- there are mistakes like Star Wars boy, the point is you can never predict how big something might become online.

Searchability – what you write can be found and commented upon and sometimes those comments are not always very nice

Public= Private – many young people think of the home as public while the online world is private as this is an escape from home – how do you train a generation to deal with this blurring of worlds?

If we want to learn to use these technologies in classroom we have to beaware of the dynamics of online realatiosnships, and freidnship dynamics. The friendship dynamic in Facebook would not work in the classroom as it would rupture social norms. Iam not sure I’d want to use Facebook in the classroom anyway, Danah suggested that Ning would be far more appropriate for classroom use.

Maybe I missed the point here, but we did not really learn about how we could use these technologies in the classroom, other than a reference to using the Ning Platform. Though what I have is more thorough knowledge of how and why children use online spaces.
My computer crashed at this point, which was just when Danah was talking about the moral panic around online predators. I’ll need to watch it all through again then, see below.

Hand Held Learning Conference Day 2 Part 2

2008-10-18T21:29:00.011+01:00

Steven Johnson Everything Bad is Good for you

Everything Bad is Good for You: How Popular Culture is Making Us Smarter: How Popular Culture Is Making Us Smarter

Steven takes a third way approach to some of the popular myths around today's popular culture. In short summary computer games are not mindless distractions, they actually require thought and effort and a game like SIM CITY is an example of where the player has to hold a tremendous degree of interlinked information in their head.

I remember reading Stevens book last summer and it was this thought about games that struck me. I think he said something along the lines of nobody actually points out that games are often very hard. At the time I was working with a school and trying to prove that games could add value to the classroom, so this thought appealed greatly. His premise with all of this is that we are getting smarter and indeed we need to be smarter as many products we use in pop culture demand that we engage our brains.

Games also require a good deal of work and problem solving. He also points out that collaboration opportunities which games afford, either through multi player games, or through the forums where people hang out to try to find the answers to they need to proceed to the next level.

Alongside games he also compares how TV has developed from Gilligan's Island to Lost. Or from Dallas to Desperate Housewives. He argues that these shows work on a number of levels and demand that viewers are able to hold onto oblique references from previous episodes. Thus spawning huge fan experts who would plot maps and document story arcs on sites like Wikipedia and sites dedicated to the show.

He argues that TV shows like Lost and I'd argue Doctor Who, borrow a lot from computer games, as they present the viewer with a multi layered world, and a world that requires you to take the keys form level one further into the gain, even to level 12 or 13, as it is in the final that such keys finally begin to make sense.

I recommend reading Steven's book if only to affirm to yourself that it is OK to play games for hours at a time, and to waste long hours in discussion about the meta narratives of Heroes.

And while you are waiting for the postman to deliver your copy, you can watch his talk at the Hand Held learning conference, embedded below:

Hand Held Learning Conference Day 2 Part 1

2008-10-15T00:21:00.018+01:00

Here is the programme for today and some notes from my scrap blogging with my ever dying laptop

09:30 - Industry Announcements

Stuck on a National express train somewhere out of Stratford
09:45 - Welcome & Introduction

Tension between Graham and the next speaker over home access
10:00 - Opening Address – Andrew Pinder, Chairman, Becta (bio)

Passionate about kids getting good ICT teaching and kit - especially if you are poor
10:20 - Steven Berlin Johnson, Cultural Critic & Writer (bio)

I felt smug because I had read his book this summer - so this wasn't new to me but still good to hear him in the flesh and its all so true

11:00 - Break – refreshments, networking, exhibits

Lots of coffee
11:30 - Danah boyd, Social Media Scientist (bio)

Fantastic- inspirational my new online heroine
12:15 - Laurie O’Donnell, Director of Learning and Technology, Learning & Teaching Scotland (bio)

Interesting slides and first fifteen minutes but we then descended into open questions - this is when i kicked into engaging with the other Pictochatters in the room
13:00 – 14:30 - Lunch – finger buffet, networking, exhibits

Networking with others and standing by the kitchen doors to try to secure some lunch - a cross between Pot Noodle and a Kebab

14:30 - Break out Sessions -

I went to:

Game On

Chaired by Chris Deering, former President of Sony Computer Entertainment (bio) Do games consoles and off the shelf games titles have a role in learning?How game-based learning is challenging all the rules?

This session featured Derek Robertson and our own Dawn Halybone.

Networking with others and standing by the kitchen doors to try to secure some lunch - a cross between Pot Noodle and a Kebab

Today was the best day of the conference for me -I loved Danah Boyd's talk on Soc ail Networking and Derek's passionate rallying cry to us all to get gaming in the classroom was like William Wallace with a giant Nintendo Stylus held aloft, who can not be moved by his infectious enthusiasm and his cogent arguments around context for learning, progression, differentiating and Vygotskian talk for learning around a small screen.

Scrap Blogging from the day...

Graham showed us a video of his 3 year old daughter playing with the DS - doing some scribbly drawing and also taking her Nintendog for a walk. We then saw her playing Club Penguin with her sister.

This is a bit like the video I begin my talks with - the one where Leo learns to use the mouse-

Watching the video two things struck me:

Gosh I thought Club Penguin was a Key Stage 2 phenomenon

I need to give my kids my DS to play with and stop limiting them to just a mouse

___________________________________________________________________

Andrew Pinder

There are some Becta presentations which leave me annoyed and irritated,as the speakers can appear stuffy, a bit too cerebral and a t worst out of touch. But I was encouraged and inspired by Andrew Pinder the chairman of BECTA.

He believes it is a disgrace that not every child in the country has access to good ICT both in terms of a home connection, a school rich in IT teaching and learning and a school where the infrastructure is effective. Sometimes he says it is puzzling for children that the school IT is worse than the IT the children experience at home.

Pinder meets many teachers who are annoyed that they can not set homework for the kids to do online, because the children are not equipped with a PC.

As this was a Handeheld confernec there was slight tension over the device that the recipients of the vouchers for home access would get, and Pinder did not rule out mobile dveices but emphasied that there would need to be a screen that both child and parent could see.

BECTA will be supporting and assisting the government in implementing the new Home access scheme. They are also driving a campaign on next generation or 21st century learning, something like that anyway.

As one questioner asked isn't the question about 20Th century teachers. Good point, but it is not enough to bash older teachers who do not get excited by technology. All teachers need permission, context and examples of good practice , in order to use ICT more creatively and effectively. Frankly they also need some money and an infrastructure that works.

I do hope we see a big push from BECTA on Innovative and effective ICTs in 2008-9. Yes, when ICT is used well it can have an impact on both Reading and GCSE score, but it can also make school a far more exciting and relevant experience.

I have embedded the talk here, and I thank Handheld Learning for allowing us Bloggers this embed option.

Hand Held Learning Conference Day 1

2008-10-14T21:23:00.013+01:00

This week I am @ the handheld learning conference in the Barbican, though I hasten to add this is not all week, I am in schools and Subject leaders too!

I am here for two reasons:
1 To find further direction and vision for ICT
2 To Support our Redbridge Delegates : Nicholas Hughes and Dawn Halybone, who are both presenting - I sort of feel like their Dad proudly cheering them on -

I badly typed copious notes throughout the two days and I'll attempt to get posted what I can and what I think is worth sharing and linking to.

This was Andrew Pinder from Becta talking about and staunchly defending the Home Access project earlier today - I loved his passion and determination.

Mondays Blogging Scraps

Today I am here @ the Handeheld learning Confernce in the Barbican. There is a real buzz of excitement in the air and lots to see. The first session of the day takes place upstairs and is a showcase of excellent, outstanding and exciting work in ICT. I have summarised some of my thoughts below:

Session 1 Clunbury school in Shropshire
Clunbury is an isolated school and therefore they do well to be making use of new technologies outside of the metropolitan excitement of somewhere like London or Wolverhampton. I was pleased to see this school present as I had recently watched their programme on Teachers TV.

The head showed us how the school had been using blogging and podcasting and he commented how children with SEN really enjoyed Podcasting. Nice to hear this, but I’d like to know what he means by this umbrellas term of SEN. This phrase of 'the SEN children really got into it', is often bandied around in such innovation reports, but exactly what sen group and how we rarely hear.

We heard a lot about the use of Nintendo DS and it is good to see that this technology is now sneaking into the mainstream. We need to see other schools and authorities experimenting and trying this technology, other than just Dundee and good old Derek.I have to say though the images we saw of young children using the device were inspiring, I was not impressed with the video which showed the device in action.

We saw a group of children being sent a question via Pictochat and then working together to answer the question. Yes it is great that these devices have wireless capability but surely the point of the device in Maths is gaming challenge and this is the principal motivator.
Sitting next to Dawn she has reminded me that the challenge/competitive element is also about being able to improve themselves and reduce or improve their score.
The question I have to ask about any technology is – what does it offer that traditional methods do not and having witnessed Pictochat in action I felt that simply asking the question was faster than sending it via Pictochat and whats more when a question is more detailed as in a problem – Pictochat will not let you dictate such a detailed piece of text.Simply sending a problem by a device doesn't make it any more exciting.

But I have been wrong before

That was yesterday and today I have reflected a little and also witnessed a giant impromtu Pictochat session in the main hall, which wa sone of those moments, where we were both listening and discussing and it was debatable who was actually in control of the room! Today I think there is a place for Pictochat, perhaps as Derek suggested in emergent writing.

Session 2 Nicholas Hughes - Robo- Control
This was Nicholas talking about his Robosapien work. Obviously I did not make notes during this session. There was a lot of interest in the coffee area following his talk as Nicholas and the mini Robot roamed the drinks area. I think the boy did well to convey the childrens' enjoyment factor of ICT Control with a popular robot. Read more on his blog.

Session 3 - Gavin Hawkins Stow Heath Junior School- Wolverhampton

Gavin's school was involved in one of the 2002 Text bed pilots with PDAs. They decided not to give these devices to teachers, but instead gave them to the children. This project grew from 15 devices to over 200. Looking at the video he showed us, these eventually became EDAs, those lovely rubberised PDAs that Steljes used to sell.

They were bale to afford these by making/taking regular contributions form the parents - about £1.50 a week.

We watched a video of this project which showed children using the device at home and school. They started the day by catching up with news from Espresso. Later that day they might use other applications like the Mind Mapping software or animation tools, we saw a child use this animation software to demonstrate the water cycle.- Great!

The EDA Project was part of Learning2Go in Wolverhampton. One student commented, 'they are better than computers because you can just carry them around in a bag'. A teacher said that she thought the children seemed to be learning more and doing more . The use of the EDA allowed the extension of learning to home where children connected the device to their PC and completed their homework and often talked with their parents about what they had been doing.

One problem that the school needed to surmount was that of connecting these devices to the big screen. Teachers were concerned that they couldn't see what the pupils were doing on the device all of the time, they also asked how could they collect the work that children had done on the devices.
Overtime they tried various devices which could display the EDAS- I guess a bit like AB Tutor for EDA/PDAs. These were:

My Mobile which is free - but I can't find it
Dotpocket - http://www.dotpocket.com/

Eventually though the school worked with Steljes to develop the use of synchroneyes. We saw a video of this in action and this was excellent - children were annotating and sketching out their calculations on screen and the teacher was able to hold them all on task because he could display all the devices on screen, and I assume he could then save these screen shots as assessments.

This was the second time I have seen EDAs in use, last month @ the NAACE conference, when Ruth Jack talked to us about how she had use the GPS function and Wildkey software to bring a visit to West Stow museum to life. When she made the comparison between the clipboards in the rain scenario and the thrill children got from taking and receiving images digitally, I was convinced that these devices added real value to an otherwise potentially dull visit. Also the device and Wildkey would enable all users to access the same information, rather than the unreliable chaos you often get when you travel with six parent helpers and a TA.

I youtubed the EDA and Stow Heath and came up with following:

Session 4 -Willington C of E school

This school were innovating but with ordinary office tools. They used what they and Andy Black described as an innovative approach to electronic assessment. This was basically a repository for all of the work in Foundation and beyond that allowed teachers to hyperlink assessment statements to examples of work. So a teacher would highlight a curriculum statement and hyperlink to an image or a scanned or typed piece of work.

They also used track changes in word to electronically mark work furrier up the school. I really liked the evidence base the had built up in Foundation and the way they described personalisation as recognising the uniqueness of every child. My only worry was the over reliance on electronic work and marking further up the school, did this means that teaching of handwriting took a back seat. I am sure it probably didn't.

Read more here

http://www.willingtoncofe.durham.sch.uk/

There were further sessions on ICT in secondary context at this point, but they are not included here, as I was a bit blogged out by this point. Well done to Andy Black for organising this session of sharing of good and innovative practice.

Using 2 Paint a Picture

2008-10-02T12:20:00.017+01:00

Over the next few weeks I am working with a lower Key Stage 2 class on using a paint package, which just so happens to be 2Piant a Picture! We are basing our work on an adaption of the Newham scheme of work for ICT, which uses Dazzle.

I have explored 2Paint a Picture quite a bit, but today I really took some time to dig deep into what can be done with this package. During the summer Nicholas and I did some work on the Newham scheme and tried to convert the plans and flip charts into a more Redbridgised scheme. This meant that we changed the Activ-Primary flip charts into Smart Books, for the SMART board users and we also tried changing the references from programmes like Imagine Logo to either free or more common programmes, for example MSW Logo or 2Simple packages.

This was not always as straight forward as we would have liked, and 2Paint a Picture could not do all the activities which Newhams' scheme suggests, particularly at the top end of the school. Nevertheless this is a very versatile set of tools.

In simple mode I can create something like this:

But by working with all tools and the wind filter I can do this, sucked into the vortex effect:

With a bit of cut and paste and photo filters I made this a while ago:

When I come to working with a new class, it helps to set the expectations high yet differentiated, but it seems silly to sketch out the entire block of work for 4- 6 weeks in its entirety. To do this would be to completely disregard everything we know about assessment for learning! Therefore I have in my mind a vision for the block of work, but at the same time, I will be adapting and changing my ideas each week, based on what the class and groups within the class achieve.

The other thing that struck me when planning this work is that it is easy to get bogged down with a learning objective that is just teaching a particular technique or icon set, and though this is important, it can limit the output from the children and lead to low expectations.

After all if I was teaching an Art lesson, I would not focus just on effective use of the coloured pencils or the rubber. I would hope there would be a context for learning these tools, along with some example from me the teacher of how I employ these tools creatively.

The Unit of Work

In year 3/4 an obvious link between Art and ICT is the QCA unit on Repeating Patterns. It is very easy to create a pattern with 2Paint a Picture, in fact you could probably do the lesson in 2 minutes.

Choose the Pattern tool and draw a quick motif in the top left box and voila:

Though you could alter the layout and density, this is still too quick and lacks detail or any consideration for audience. This is a missed opportunity then to teach some ICT concepts and skills.

At Key Stage 2 Children should be taught to:

review what they and others have done to help them develop their ideas

describe and talk about the effectiveness of their work with ICT...

talk about how they could improve future work.

In order to develop work, it will need to be edited and amended and revisions made. Unfortunately it is not possible to save different versions of a repeating pattern and then open and amend this in 2 Paint a Picture. The way round this is as follows:

Produce an image in simple view- for example David Tennant above.

Save the image- you can then return to the simple view and open this image again and again to refine and thus keep and use multiple versions.

Here is an opportunity for children to take their time over the creation over the motif that they will ultimately use in their wrapping paper.

This image can then be opened and dragged into the pattern tool to create repeating patterns as in wall and wrapping paper.

Assessment is always an issue, and how do we genuinely see how children have reviewed and modified their work. My suggestion would be to use the prt screen key and ask children to paste the original motif, the first wrapping paper image and then subsequent adaption screen shots into word. This will allow children to talk about their journey of improvement and will allow teachers to see how children have improved their work.

I have found the unpublished National Strategy Primary Progressions are helpful in looking at what the expectation for each year group should be, in summary

Primary progressions and 2Paint a Picture

Foundation Stage:

Perform simple Functions using a computer program :
Creating a simple picture and having the opportunity to explore all of the functions of 2Paint a Picture would fulfill this expectation.
Year 1
Children are 'exploring options and making choices', while communicating and presenting their ideas using digital images, text and sound.

The example given in the original progressions document is that of children using different colours in a portrait to reflect how they feel. This is very easy to do using the face mask, even in simple view

Year 2
Children here should know how to express themselves using a range of ICT tools.
The example here is of creating an E Book which would involve incorporating text, images and possibly sound. Therefore by this point we would expect a wider range of tools to be used. In 2Paint a picture we'd hope children would be making use of a much greater toolset.

Year 3
Children are recording and presenting information for a given audience, using an 'appropriate' range of electronic media for a given audience.

Once again the word range is mentioned here, indicating a breadth of tools being used, though the key difference here is audience, which becomes important in creating ebooks and web pages, as these need to be presented well, easy to navigate and readable. They should also begin to consider whether the content they create is appropriate for their given audience.

What am I aiming for with this block of work?
My aim is not to teach the brush tool or how to make a digital representation of a canvas, though these are important, they are not my main aims. Rather I want the children to take risks and to take time over and pride in what they are doing. I also want them to move towards a greater level of Independence and ICT capability. I want them to be so knowledgeable and excited by the software that they want to create more complicated pieces. I also want them to know its limitations and learn the generic tool set of an art package, so that when they encounter other more complex programmes then they can recognise similarities and navigate the icon easily to produce graphics.

Session 1 - Look at the programme and give time for pupils to explore the tools
What does each programme within the collection of programmes do?
Which is your favourite programme?
Can you draw and/ or paint your house
- give a 10 minute challenge find the best way to draw your house, an animal or a car

Show examples of wrapping paper and patterns, stressing that these have been created by the printing of a motif

Allow children to create a motif in simple view using the face mask add in - save this picture

Screen capture this image and paste into word

Close and open in Repeating Pattern and turn into a number of different patterns. Capture 3 different versions.

Session 2

To follow

2008-09-25T17:02:00.001+01:00

How do i use Comic Life?

I have blogged here before about Comic Life, it is an application which allows students (and teachers) to create comic strips very easily. I have seen it sitting idly as an icon on many a desktop and it surprises it isn't used more.

Here are a few thoughts on how it could be used :

For teachers using Comic Life this could be a very lucid and coherent means of communicating their INSET message to their colleagues-people will thank you for a simple handout of 'key messages told visually, rather than a clutch of staples A4s that will get annotated and doodle on, but probably little more.

Consider also making a very visual training guide for that new visualiser, printer or other gadget in Comic Life. Display this next to the equipment could mean colleagues are less dependent on you.

And for Pupil Use

In a Special school it would provide an easy context for the creation of Social stories, which help to support children in understanding appropriate behaviour or a set of instructions. Put simply picture of a particular routine such as lunchtimes(e.g. washing hands, walking to dinner room) could be taken, in order to help break down the task into its component steps.

The filters in the software will allow you to create a Warhol style digital painting -

During Science lessons, children are often made to write out reams on the method, the results and then the conclusions, sometimes this can even be a dictation exercise. Comic life could be used here as a more creative communication tool to record findings.

In one of our schools- it is used extensively and enthusiastically in Key Stage 2 alongside BFI films- still are captured and used in comic strips - pictures and more details to follow soon

The Renewed Framework for Literacy has a number of reference to the use of comics and therefore it offers us some further context for use, look at:

Key Stage 1- Additional Text Unit, here children use an RSPCA resource, 'The Story of Jake and Bones, which is an interactive text told through a comic strip. During the teaching sequence, children get the opportunity to use ICT to capture freeze frames in drama/retelling, before going on to write the story in comic strip format:

See the extract from Phase 3 of this Literacy Unit below:

Shared writing – teacher to model capture of ideas from freeze-frame sessions into short sentences, involving children in the writing process. Use a presentation/IWB to add the children's contributions to the story.

Using the comic strip version of Jake and Bones, children add their own thoughts, in simple sentences, to some of the characters as an independent task.
Use further freeze-frame activities to represent significant moments in the story. Together the children decide the correct order in which to sequence the scenes to reflect the development of the story.

Teacher to model retelling of the story, selecting one of the possible endings. Allow opportunities for children to engage in the retelling of the story to each other. Encourage them to select alternative endings.

Children produce a written version of the story ending, using the comic strip style that will now be familiar to them.

Useful Links

Mac instruct - How to Use Comic Life in the Classroom - this site gives information on the background of comics and why we should use them in the curriculum, along with some practical uses for the application in writing.

Sandiego Comic Life Manual PDF

More Foundation Stage IWB sites

2008-09-14T22:51:00.005+01:00

Thank you to John Sutton, who pointed out/reminded me of a couple of other sites that are ideal for Foundation Stage Teachers and the IWB. The best of these is of course Poisson Rouge.

This site has puzzle, drag and drop elements and what I call interacts. These are areas which react in interesting wasy to a click or SMART Board push. For instance a click on a leaf might make the minibeasts spin or dance or rotate. This feedback makes this resource ideal for both Foundation and Special.

By far the best aspect of this site is the alpahabet area, here there is a very visual drag and drop activity for each letter of the alphabet, a great reinforcer.

Other site worth a look

Topicbox

Thanks to Gary @ Fullwood, who told me about his friend's site, which was covered later in the week by Ictopus magazine. The site is Topicbox and it provides access to reviewed primary links, undet phase and subject headings. it is fast and gives you more information than a google search would. It is good to see what others have chosen as the most popular resource and I like the fact that it tells me whether it is suitable for class use and/ or as a teacher resource. It is simple, clean and citrusy too.

Visualisers Again

2008-09-11T23:17:00.003+01:00

Tomorrow I am going to be working with a teacher on the use of a visualiser. I thought I'd use this post to remind readers of the visualiser forum and to blog some ideas about how a visualiser can be used in the classroom.

Uses for the Visualiser:

To demonstrate processes in Design and Technology and Art
To make any book a shared big book for reading
To show off a good piece of work
To look up-close @ Mini-Beasts, leaves, rice, sugar or some pond dipping
To show children how you'd like their work set out in Maths
To avoid photocopying by using just one worksheet
To support children with visual impairments
To record short films such as seeds germinating
To use as a capture tool for images- which can then be used on the whiteboard or in Word to make worksheets
To demonstrate letter formation
And... - please let me know if I have missed any

Thanks to Aver Media, Samsung and Dave Smith for posting the following videos on YouTube, these give context and inspiration for the use of the Visualiser:

Toys not Clay

2008-09-10T23:11:00.005+01:00

I have recently begun to liberate all those Doctor Who Figures and sets that have bean sitting in my cupboards. I guess I have finally realised that toys should be for the playing and not for future ebay fallbacks, should the credit crunch bite harder.

However the reason for getting the figures out of their plastic and card homes, was this funny but strangely inspiring video I stumbled across below. I have showed it to Nicholas, who reminded me that when doing animation in Primary, we do not have to use plasticine or clay, toys are just as good. In reflecting on this I can see that if you are spending too long on the building of Clay Gorgons, or reattaching the arm of a Roman soldier, it can take you away from the story telling or on-screen editing.

Watch and enjoy (if Youtube is blocked in school - wait till you get home)

More on film and animation soon when I launch our Film competition.

Whiteboard Resources for Foundation Stage

2008-09-08T17:03:00.011+01:00

I am compiling a link and review list of best resources for Foundation, if you have any that I have missed, then please let me know!

Snapdragon- 'Goldilocks and the three Bears'
A very Welsh on-screen text, click on the orange/red text to have it spoken back.

Body Parts Labelling Exercise

Drag and drop the correct name to the body part- each label is spoken, so there is no requirement to be able to read the labels.

Survival Guide

I like the idea of this resource. It allows a student to click on an image to make their request known. Clicking on picture of the toilet will speak, ' Can I go to the toilet?" and clicking on the milk image will prompt the computer to ask 'Can I have some orange juice?. I guess a student could use this almost as an interpreter or speech synthesiser, though as this is a little linear to navigate, it might better to use this with a small group as a way of modelling language.

This resource also has versions in Bengali, Urdu and other community languages.

For training sessions and general Whiteboard Pedagogy, I always return to the e2bn foundation pages. Here there are pages on all aspects of ICT in Foundation Stage, as well as an excellent Training Powerpoint and Photo-Gallery. click here to go their IWB in FS pages

Logo- Patterns- Notes for Year 5 School work

2008-09-08T11:32:00.000+01:00

On Friday I am working with some teachers on using Logo in Year 5. We are basing the unit on the Newham Scheme of work for Year Year 5 ICT.

I am putting together some helpful notes and links below

What is Logo?

Logo is a computer language created by Seymour Papert- the father of both Control Technology and Primary ICT . He was the first to explore how children could use computers and toys as a learning tool. His early book on this Mindstorms ( a good but challenging read) charts his exploration an research into how children can use logo as a thinking tool, it is also given us the name for the Lego 'Mindstorms'

Why bother teaching Logo?

A number of reasons, first and foremost it makes children think beyond themselves, a skill which children need to develop. They literally have to empathise with or put themselves in the place of the turtle/roamer/beebot as it moves around the screen. This enables them to get the object to its destination.

Secondly Logo can be a challenge to children and when taught with enthusiasm and support, children respond well to the challenges set, such as how can we create a 7 sided shape

A further reason for teaching LOGO is that we are teaching children programming skills, albeit in a very basic format.We are giving the message that a computer needs to be instructed, a message that we have long since lost in our quick click online culture. The games children play and the websites they rely on for connection and entertainment, all need to be coded and programmed in some way.

Logo also links to work within the Numeracy curriculum as children need to think about measure, length and shape, in particular polygons and angles. And while they are focusing on these ares they could also be looking at shape in a problem solving context. This links well with the work in years 3 - 5, see for example:

Year 4 Block B:

'Identify and use patterns, relationships and properties of numbers or shapes; investigate a statement involving numbers and test it with examples'

Report solutions to puzzles and problems, giving explanations and reasoning orally and in writing, using diagrams and symbols

Year 4 Block B and D-

'Draw polygons and classify them by identifying their properties, including their line symmetry '

'Visualise 3-D objects from 2-D drawings; make nets of common solids'

What software is available for teaching Logo?

Imagine LOGO from Logotron- this is the software used in the Newham unit. This software is very well supported with notes, tutorials, resources and books of activities.

MSW LOGO is a free download, with a slightly uninteresting interface, but never the less it is free, it's newer younger brother FMSW LOGO is the recent upgrade and allows you greater functionality.

There is also 2Control from 2Simple

Probotix software which accompanies The Probots (Beebot big brothers)

Using Logo- an introduction

How do I draw a square:

To draw a square you need to send the turtle forward and turn to the right four times. This might look like this:
fd 100 - move forward 100 units
rt 90 turn 90 degrees to the right
fd 100 - move forward 100 units
rt 90 turn 90 degrees to the right
fd 100 - move forward 100 units
rt 90 turn 90 degrees to the right
fd 100 - move forward 100 units
rt 90 turn 90 degrees to the right

What are the main commands in LOGO?

fd- forward - moves the turtle forwards

bk- backward- moves the turtle backwards

rt - right - turns the turtle to the right

lt - left - turns the turtle to the left

pu- lifts up the pen - allowing you to move the turtle on-screen, without drawing a line

pd- puts the pen back onto the screen - allowing you to draw again

ht- hide turtle this hides the turtle- allowing you to just see your creation

st - show turtle- this brings the turtle back

Try this:

Type 'bye' into the enter box and logo will close

setpc- set the colour of the pen- see the list of colours below

setsc- sets the colours of the screen - see the list of colours below

There is a quicker way to draw shapes like the square- the repeat command - the repeat command allows you to speed up the process of commanding the turtle movements by combining instructions

less here is more

To draw a square using repeat type:

repeat 4[ fd 100 rt 90]

Be sure to use the square brackets on the keyboard when typing repeat commands

What about drawing other shapes?

What are the LOGO Colours?

0- black

1- blue

2- green

3- light blue

4 - red

5- purple

6- yellow

7- white

8- dark red

9- brown

10- dark green

11 - turquoise

12- orange

13- lilac

14-light orange

15- dark green

Where can I learn more about LOGO?

Read this interactive book by Michael Koss here

A delicious upgrade

2008-08-01T15:07:00.005+01:00

Delicious has had an upgrade, it is now sleeker and easier to navigate through. For instance you can now collapse your view of your bookmarks to show less or more detail. I have found it is easier to switch between my own bookmarks and those saved by others for me.

Searching is also easier as you can combine tags

The more I use the new version, the more features I spot, for instance you can find out more detail about a website by typing in url and seeing how its been tagged, how many people have tagged it, then scan through the entries to see how it has been described by community members.

Redbridge Primary ICT people can ensure that others see their favourite and 'wow look at this' sites by tagging links with 'redbridgeit'. You can view all of the sites favoured by Redbridge PICT people by visiting:

http://delicious.com/Redbridge_ICT

You could then subscribe to these links, in order to stay up to date with what's hot by pasting the following into your google reader/igoogle page:

http://feeds.delicious.com/v2/rss/Redbridge_ICT

Many people still don't get del.ico.us but for me it comes down to simple mobility. In schools teachers still talk of saving a site to their 'favourites'. These favourites are seen when a teacher log into the school network, but not at home or on any other machine and what's more there is no way of efficiently searching for the site that they 'bookmarked' and saved a few weeks ago.

With delicious my list is mobile stays with me wherever I go and log on. And as long as I have remembered to carefully tag everything for a rainy day, I can easily locate that brilliant site I found months ago.

Image from Swiv

RM Mini-book and Fronter Observation

2008-07-17T14:08:00.010+01:00

I recently live blogged (but didn't publish) a lesson observation, where a year 6 class used Asus machines to access their MLE. As ever I found I learned so much from watching this excellent teacher, I was also thrilled to hear the children give feedback on how they had found working with the Asus.

I am here @ Highlands watching a lesson using both Asus mini notebooks and the Fronter MLE.

We continue..

Children are putting together web pages on the MLE about clubs- their discussion and thoughts are recorded easily by means of the discussion forum. The Technician is on hand as the ASUS has the annoying habit of having to be configured to the WAPs each boot and this is not always straight forward, though 30 machines with 3 WAPs means most of the 30 machines are connected.

I am surprised at how excited the children get when they watch the survey result display on screen.

In this lesson children are presented with a sample page on the Rowing club and are asked to discuss with each other how this website can be improved. This is a well managed classroom with good strategies for ensuring children are not typing when they shouldn't be and the whiteboard is still used as a central point to focus on. This could be hard to manage with the distraction of the small screen, but the children here are used to being refocused onto the big ideas on the bigger screen.

The children are not phased by using Firefox to locate their Fronter area.

The use of Fronter on an Asus machine mean that this lesson remains focussed and children are not randomly searching for information. This is not just ' go onto google'

I love the way the children get excited and semi-competitive about how many bars on the battery they have left.

The children created Fronter pages / electronic brochures about clubs - they embedded videos from Youtube, images, animated gifs and formatted text, giving varying degrees of consideration to audience.

The voting/survey tools on the MLE prove very popular again.

I was able to use Google docs to conduct a survey about which piece of school technology they preferred with a large sample of the class - though I used an ordinary spreadsheet and it worked ok, in retrospect I should have used a google form as this would have been far easier for the children to navigate. Instead I used a conventional spreadsheet and asked the children to grade the Asus against the IWB and the machines in their ICT suite. The results are displayed below, using one of the many google docs gadgets, which allow data to be displayed visually.

From the Spreadsheet questionnaire and from the discussion at the close of the lesson, I have complied this list of good and bad points about the Asus, based on the class responses:

This is the chocolate bar gadget - love it!- showing the Asus was favoured by the (large) sample of class I surveyed

Good Points
(Note these are the children's words)

was very easy to use

it is fast and it is easy to use

enjoyable to use

it is fun to use

really easy to carry

its light weight

its easy to control

they're easy to carry

Its good that it has a camera

You can just go straight on it ( fast boot up)

It has PowerPoint and games

connection is alright

We could use it during the trip

Bad Points

A CD drive is needed

The Internet connection is hard to get -

The wireless ... you need to get the hang of it

You can't download stuff

The screen is small

The mouse pad and keyboard can be difficult to use

Someone very eloquent concluded by thanking me for lending the school the machines:

Thank you lending us these laptops- they are better than Macs because we only have 10 Macs and with these we have enough for one each and the 'special features' are good.

And

The children mentioned that they had used the machine on their trip. When the group begun the project I had not even thought of this use or outcome, so it has been great to see a class, lead by an innovative teacher, taking children to London and using Asus ( what is the plural is it Asee?) to record audio and images.

For More of what the children at Highlands have been doing ( and will do ) visit their blog.

Also one child pointed out that 'you couldn't download stuff' onto it, this is not strictly true and certainly the SUMS ONLINE software comes on an SD card with instructions for installing. Examples of their games can be found here.