tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78434351659320603702024-03-13T06:05:40.415+00:00Web FeatPsycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-74525435071604371342010-12-05T16:50:00.008+00:002010-12-05T19:14:00.721+00:00A Song for Christmas 2My previous post <a href="http://psycho65.blogspot.com/2010/11/song-for-christmas.html">'A Song for Christmas'</a> introduced the theory behind creating a Christmas single and expounded the benefits to the pupils of sharing their work online. The chosen medium was iTunes to allow <img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/MREVAN%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" />the pupils to relate to the sharing and to help them contextualise the process. The decision was made to put a normal iTunes price of 79p on the track, raising funds for play equipment. However in the nature of true sharing, and with hope of more feedback to share with the school I have included a sample of the track below:<br /><br /><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" id="pcm_player_episode35174" width="650" height="111"> <param name="movie" value="http://podcastmachine.com/swf/player.swf"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"> <param name="flashvars" value="file=http://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/7527/episodes/35174.json&width=650&height=111&skin=http://podcastmachine.com/swf/skin_pcm1.swf&fullscreen=true&bgcolor=#000000&playlist=bottom&subscribebutton=false&downloadbutton=false&playlistcolumns=1&playlistrows=1&autostart=false&playlistsize=80"> <embed src="http://podcastmachine.com/swf/player.swf" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" wmode="transparent" name="pcm_player_episode35174" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="file=http://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/7527/episodes/35174.json&width=650&height=111&skin=http://podcastmachine.com/swf/skin_pcm1.swf&fullscreen=true&bgcolor=#000000&playlist=bottom&subscribebutton=false&downloadbutton=false&playlistcolumns=1&playlistrows=1&autostart=false&playlistsize=80" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" width="650" height="111"></embed> </object><br /><br />Please comment on the song, and if you are feeling particularly generous go to iTunes and download the full track. Raising self esteem merits above raising cash so a comment will be greatly appreciated.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/another-bower-grove-christmas/id406302797"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 143px; height: 143px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVMKviT4FkzGuaM-atiz_5EmiIujk0s-WBtc31Xw1G_XS5cHF2yRvra6Z_PflfI7AF6pUTKnw7V2PRA08YQzav32LWu52wJrUr_zkDa1vj6dIbNIjLUKlmxRnCJwerxkZZWyXZ7oV1fb4I/s200/itunes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547246726028901858" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://qrcode.kaywa.com/img.php?s=8&d=http%3A%2F%2Fpsycho65.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F11%2Fsong-for-christmas.html" alt="qrcode" />Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-88335440699923187132010-11-22T21:22:00.005+00:002010-12-01T23:20:00.685+00:00A song for ChristmasIt started last year and the production of a Christmas CD in time for the annual school Christmas fair. Each class contributed a Traditional Christmas carol, the resultant CD was popular with the parents and certainly gave the children a great deal with regards to raising self esteem and creating something with a degree of longevity.<br /><br />The question arose during October, "What are we doing for Christmas this year?" The music department, working alongside ICT had been making inroads into utilising tecchnology, this fact teamed with a music technician with amazing composing skills led to the concept of producing an all original song.<br /><br />'Another Bower Grove Christmas' was born: Lyrically meant to encapsulate the pot pourri of feelings and activities that traditionally punctuate the festive period at school. Musically having a folk-pop style, with a catchy infectious tune.<br /><br />The benefits for the students was huge, involved in designing the cover artwork, whole school performances to record the song, individual pupils voices added as extra tracks, promotional poster design, use of social networking platforms to promote the release. And hopefully the realisation that the internet and social networks can make great things happen.<br /><br />After editing and mixing (more creative genius from the music technician) the track was uploaded to <a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/">cdbaby</a> who had agreed to waive costs on the release of the album due to its charity nature.<br /><br />The finished article is a rousing and catchy Christmas style tune, available for download from cdbaby and hopefully soon on a plethora of other music download sites including <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/another-bower-grove-christmas/id406302797?i=406302813">iTunes</a>. The job now rests with me to promote the promotion, to try and get a buzz going and raise the profile of the school, the expectation of the children aand hopefully a couple of pounds.<br /><br /><div style="width: 120px; height: 180px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; border: 0pt none; background-image: url("http://www.cdbaby.com/Images/Links/White-Buy_Album_100px_vert.png");"><a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bowergroveschool" style="display: block; padding: 44px 10px 35px; margin: 0pt; border: 0pt none;"><img src="http://images.cdbaby.name/b/o/bowergroveschool_small.jpg" alt="Bower Grove School: Another Bower Grove Christmas" style="border: 0pt none; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt;" width="100" height="100" /></a></div>Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-7388779791605361662010-09-30T13:35:00.004+01:002010-09-30T14:18:23.299+01:00Dilute well before serving...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nCpOy0cvY9R4GVCqGOf8y7CjBvVVtbruJlniRcJhjtLFBFGSAj0DVYxTekhOOqudrIVrEKKEdWjr0A-LRNQfm0S01alDIbif3dZ19yRbygiI5I1ktFe1BQdK3ASYoNkjkStiN12Unbqr/s1600/glasses-of-juice.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 219px; height: 221px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nCpOy0cvY9R4GVCqGOf8y7CjBvVVtbruJlniRcJhjtLFBFGSAj0DVYxTekhOOqudrIVrEKKEdWjr0A-LRNQfm0S01alDIbif3dZ19yRbygiI5I1ktFe1BQdK3ASYoNkjkStiN12Unbqr/s200/glasses-of-juice.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522694990214380322" border="0" /></a><br />As I have stated in previous posts (<a href="http://psycho65.blogspot.com/2010/01/bridging-gap.html">Bridging the Gap</a>, <a href="http://psycho65.blogspot.com/2010/02/bridging-gap-2.html">Bridging the gap 2</a> and <a href="http://psycho65.blogspot.com/2010/05/grape-expectations.html">Grape Expectations</a>), I am dedicated to helping give, the professionals around me, as much help as I possibly can. All I strive to do is open their eyes to the potential of harnessing some of the myriad of tools available. Every day I peruse postings from twitter, and I follow links, I bookmark pages, I read blogs and I comment if I feel it is appropriate. From this I am able to dilute the concentrated information I recieve and then filter it accordingly before serving it to my technowary colleagues.<br />The strength of the web and its plethora of tools and wealth of information is also its weakness. Information overload, can and does provide a barrier to prevent a vast number of digital immigrants from accessing and therefore realising the potential of the technology at their fingertips.<br />I have no solution, I try hard to help, I spend time sharing, I laud the merits of web 2.0 yet my most successful converts have been the educators to whom I have carefully spoon fed a single idea at a time.<br />The converted amongst you (and if you are reading this then you are no doubt a digital convert if not a native) should take heed, the constant stream of ideas and concepts we sift through and store for use (or not!) will be a daunting prospect for a majority of our colleagues, not because they are technophiles or unable but because it is too rich to digest.<br />Our 21st century learners will embrace the opportunities we present them because that is where they are.<br />True 21st century practitioners will continue to provide the conduit through which these learners will flow.<br />The gap, if their is one, remains in giving the technowary an opportunity to guide their learners, even if somewhat tentatively, in a wise direction.<br />My advice therefore - Continue to learn; take every opportunity to improve your CPD; network in a way that suits you but sometimes we need to think and dilute well before serving....Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-78751703744073125592010-07-16T00:04:00.003+01:002010-07-16T01:57:08.594+01:00Romeo & JulietA new job (head of ICT at a special school for children aged 6 - 16) and a multitude of things to do managed to slow down the use of animation in my classes. I did achieve some <a href="http://pivot-stickfigure-animator.en.softonic.com/">pivot</a> with the year 4's and 5's but the creation of a stop frame was thwarted by hardware issues. With the server allowing the software to be fully operational I started looking for a focus. Year 9 were covering Romeo and Juliet in English and it seemed like an ideal project for a collaborative animation. Having already extolled the virtues of <a href="http://www.zu3d.com/">Zu3D</a> in a previous post <a href="http://psycho65.blogspot.com/2009/07/cube-life.html">'Cube Life'</a> it was time to use the software. As in previous animations the planning stage allowed us to break the play into manageable lumps for the students to work on.<br /><ul><li>Storyboards - The storyboarding process was completed using a Publisher template, their choice of backdrops in each frame and <a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/results.aspx?qu=screen+beans">screen beans</a> to indicate character requirements and add speech bubbles. All the students used a range of IT skills to manipulate and scale the characters in their storyboards at the same time reinforcing their English skills in the analysis of the scenes and how they could translate to an animation.</li><li>Characters - We decided to use lego characters for the animation, Whilst the range of movement is limiting, it allowed continuity of characters within the various scenes being shot. The main characters were give an 'R' and a 'J' to distinguish them.</li><li>Backdrops - Students chose their backdrops, downloaded them and printed onto A4 card. Care was taken to try and maintain scale in background selection.</li><li>Animation - The animation process was made easy by the functionality and simplicity of the <a href="http://www.zu3d.com/">Zu3D</a> software. This is not an advert for the software so will not repeat my opinions from my previous post. Zu3D works, and works well. The interface is user friendly and has all the features you would expect in animation software.</li><li>Editing - The inital problem I met was when we came to tie the whole project together. The students had animated in pairs and we had 10 seperate animations, my version of the software did not allow me to export then import the seperate pieces. I contacted <a href="d.henley@zulogic.co.uk">David Henley </a>at Zulogic with my problem, he immediately sent me a link for the latest Beta version of the software that solved this problem. Adding titles, sound effects and music were completed as a class group with discussion and collaboration about the suitability of the choices made. Finally dialogue was added to the project.</li></ul>The finished animation can be viewed on the Zu3D websit gallery - <a href="http://www.zu3d.com/gallery/romeo-juliet">Romeo & Juliet</a> , take a minute to check it out, leave a comment for the students if you can. I know they would appreciate it.<br /><br />On reflection the animation itself could be smoother, there could be more dialogue and I wonder if lego characters allowed the scope of movement and looks for the story. This being said, the project gave a number of positives:<br /><ul><li>The collaboration between the children was amazing, considering the range of needs within the class. They worked in pairs to animate, discussed and assisted their peers throughout and worked with animation yet acceptance during whole class discussion.</li><li>The pride the class have in the finished product has definitely raised their self esteem.</li><li>There knowledge and grasp of Romeo & Juliet is definitely secure.</li><li>A range of IT skills were utilised throughout the creation of the animation.</li></ul>I am sure that William Shakespeare would be impressed in this adaptation of his famous work!!!Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-91744932249075544422010-05-18T23:39:00.007+01:002010-07-01T21:49:51.142+01:00Grape Expectations<img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/MATTEV%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" /><br />Despite my extensive staff training (<a href="http://psycho65.blogspot.com/2010/01/bridging-gap.html">Bridging the Gap</a> & <a href="http://psycho65.blogspot.com/2010/02/bridging-gap-2.html">Bridging the Gap 2</a>) and the fact that I have had a weekly open workshop in the ICT suite to allow staff to answer questions or improve skills with support. It has still been my aim to improve communications throughout the school. The number of handwritten and photocopied notes that I pick out from my pigeonhole is heinious at best and could be responsible for a large proportion of global deforestation. Having provided all staff (120) with e mail accounts and training in how to use them, surely this would bear fruit and some of the intra-school communication would utilise this medium. Alas no. Despite the accessibility of the medium, paper has remained the chosen communication delivery system.<br />Conversations with management revealed their support for my crusade, however there remained the inevitable catch 22, they were loathe to send out anything important by e mail for fear it was missed by staff, staff did not feel the need to regularly check their e mails because all important information was imparted by more archaic methods.<br />So was born a weekly prize draw, a case of wine was donated by the deputy head teacher, the concept was I send out an e mail, all respondents are entered into a weekly draw, the winner getting a bottle of w<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_ywOyrKoE0QSY43jPEKQH9hY8i_nDK4np14dBY57-m3GH6LiEJAgVEukpYEaWicYhjTGCfrHBItfU1wsUJ16WrSGGlOrySEy4D3LpeZ4xAwCesQkD0EQxlMieZv_OQyOvB3cFvtcf8I8/s1600/wine.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_ywOyrKoE0QSY43jPEKQH9hY8i_nDK4np14dBY57-m3GH6LiEJAgVEukpYEaWicYhjTGCfrHBItfU1wsUJ16WrSGGlOrySEy4D3LpeZ4xAwCesQkD0EQxlMieZv_OQyOvB3cFvtcf8I8/s320/wine.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489040267241703714" border="0" /></a>ine.<br /><br />Simple, fun and hopefully encouraging the utilisation of the e mail system.<br />Week 3 is nearly over, the draw will take place tomorrow using <a href="http://www.harmonyhollow.net/hat.shtml">The Hat</a> in morning assembly, there will be a sense of trepidation and excitement from staff and children alike. (The students have become my adversaries in nagging their own staff about participating). Results on responses are as follows:<br /><ul><li>Week 1 - 18 replies</li><li>Week 2 - 28 replies</li><li>Week 3 - 34 replies so far (still a couple of hours to go!!)</li></ul>Its still not even 50%, and I am still struggling to win some people over but nevertheless, it has become a talking point and if people are talking about technology, even something as mundane as e mails then perhaps it will move forward.<br />When I get to 50% (and I will) then plans are to introduce the complex tasks of: copying in another recipient, opening an attachement and even adding an attachment. More gap bridging is planned, and with the opportunity of some free alcohol appearing to be motivational inPsycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-88853222842949465392010-02-07T11:51:00.005+00:002010-02-07T15:04:59.769+00:00Bridging the Gap 2With one week left of my Basic <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ICT</span> course I have had time to reflect on what, if anything it has achieved. As I highlighted in my previous post (<a href="http://psycho65.blogspot.com/2010/01/bridging-gap.html">Bridging the Gap</a>) I had several outcomes intended for the course:<br /><br /><ul><br /><li>Greater confidence in use of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">ICT</span> across the school. </li><br /><li>Better support for our students in their use of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">ICT</span>. </li><br /><li>Maximised usage of the hardware and software available. </li><br /><li>A shift towards a 21st Century learning experience for the children.</li></ul><br /><p>All of which are worthwhile and I can say with confidence will be a step closer to being realised now than they were 5 weeks ago. So with my reflective head on I looked at what I covered during the weeks, why? And the benefits to: The staff who attended; the school as a whole; me as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">ICT</span> subject leader and the students we teach.</p><br /><p><strong>Week 1 - Computer basics</strong> - Nothing earth shattering here, a glossary of terms they may come across (linked to <a href="http://www.teach-ict.com/glossary/A.htm">Teach-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">ICT</span></a> online dictionary). Just so they know what a wiki, blog, podcast etc are. Not asking people to do them, just know they are there. This was followed with a walk around the Windows desktop, maximising , minimising and closing windows. Using the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">taskbar</span>. Switching between open applications.</p><br /><p>We then played some online <a href="http://www.purely-games.com/brain_games.html">games</a> - My justification: It is what the children do, it improves mouse skills, It was a distraction from me talking and everyone was engaged with their computer.... </p><br /><p>finally a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">whistlestop</span> tour of file management - How make a folder, rename a folder and move files between folders. Short task provided was a folder full of mixed files which needed to be sorted into some order.</p><br /><p><strong>Week 2 - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">KLZ</span> & E mail</strong> - Kent Learning Zone (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">KLZ</span>) is the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">sharepoint</span> portal through which staff access their e mails and a range of other information. We looked at the school <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">sharepoint</span> site (I have spent some time making it user friendly) and then accessed the course page on which all the notes, information and links have been posted. I had added a couple of <a href="http://www.voki.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Voki's</span></a> of a mouse that revised some of the points from the previous weeks input.</p><br /><p>We then looked at the e mail accounts - reading, replying and forwarding messages. opening attachments. Adding contacts and organising contacts. I then sent an e mail to all staff, giving the opportunity for contacts to be added and sorted as appropriate to each individual.</p><br /><p><strong>Week 3 - The Internet</strong> - I did nothing here, largely thanks to <a href="http://twitter.com/markw29">@<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">markw</span>29 </a>and his wonderfully informative <a href="http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/welcome/start.htm">Welcome to the Web</a> - The site provides a step by step walk though the Internet including: Staying safe, Browsing, searching. It covered everything I wanted to cover - Although it is aimed at children, the tips and idea included were relevant, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">accessible</span> and well presented. I introduced it, showed them where the link was and then let them play.</p><br /><p><strong>Week 4 - Word & Publisher - </strong>1 hour to look at 2 pieces of software that (despite my reluctance to hand the Microsoft empire yet more control) do appear to form the mainstay of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">ICT</span> tools in the classroom. These bread and butter applications are used regularly by the children in most curricular areas - </p><br /><p>Word - I just put a piece of text onto the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">sharepoint</span> site that could be downloaded. I demonstrated 5 things: Formatting the font (<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">colour</span> & Style); Using the spellchecker; Using synonyms; Inserting a picture and Inserting Word Art. These tools, whilst a tiny part of the software's capability enabled them all to produce a formatted piece of text and the awareness that making a piece of text presentable is a relatively simple task.</p><br /><p>Publisher - Once again a load of things I could have done - instead went straight to the 'Publications for print' and looked at the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">pre</span>-loaded layouts. I chose one and demonstrated that using a layout that worked I could adapt it and change it to suit my personal needs. I demonstrated 5 things: Editing a text box; formatting an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">autoshape</span>; formatting a line; deleting elements and changing a picture. The task was then to produce a certificate for their class using these tools. </p><br /><p>Both tasks were successful in providing an introduction to the software and gave an opportunity to play with the computer.</p><br /><p><strong>Week 5 - Excel & <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Powerpoint</span></strong> - As I write this I have not yet completed week 5, I am following a similar format to week 4 and expect to give a short demonstration with a practical task to clarify each of the applications. I do not like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Powerpoint</span> personally and am hoping these familiar applications will provide a springboard from which other software can be accessed be it installed or web-based.</p><br /><p>Having completed the bulk of the course, and for the main enjoyed doing it what has it achieved in terms of value are multi-faceted:</p><br /><p><strong>The Staff</strong> - I have received a wealth of positive comments from those who have been turning up and giving up their own time to move outside their personal comfort zones. This was highlighted on Friday with the message shown below on a small card:</p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Inixc1gcXnkae05tBTa5E1odeezw2I3Ha0Uk1WX-qGyP5WxZsCCIDEEP9OINOmbJBlvLE2eQidno1BDxLgHxcElVWwFltm2Xn0iYUqaWFbITaP0WRCG3mvq0r3hgwW-NK1YRRL1WqVVV/s1600-h/note+on+course.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435502813714282786" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 463px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 297px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Inixc1gcXnkae05tBTa5E1odeezw2I3Ha0Uk1WX-qGyP5WxZsCCIDEEP9OINOmbJBlvLE2eQidno1BDxLgHxcElVWwFltm2Xn0iYUqaWFbITaP0WRCG3mvq0r3hgwW-NK1YRRL1WqVVV/s320/note+on+course.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The accompanying bottle of red wine was well received and enjoyed with my steak on Friday evening, but more so was the sentiment of the card - The key word being confident. I have heard a range of positive comments about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">ICT</span> from people whose approach to and grasp of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">ICT</span> knowledge had in the past bordered on phobic. I feel that the confidence to turn on a machine and have a go has started to grow amongst the staff.</p><p><strong>The School</strong> - It is too early to gauge any long term affects, but I am confident that just the fact that all the staff now have school e mail addresses - and because of training over 60% of them are accessing them regularly. We are in a position to communicate as an organization in a more efficient, cost effective and ecologically sound way.</p><p><strong>The ICT Leader</strong> - If it means that one less person asks me 'can you just' with regards to an ICT problem then I will be satisfied. But even more I have already noticed that the support staff who accompany children into the ICT suite for a lesson are more confident in their support of the children. Being prepared to take a risk alongside the students is a big ask, yet it is happening.</p><p><strong>The Students</strong> - We are led to believe that we are educating digital natives, and that our students are much more able and confident than adults to embrace and utilise the tools that 21st century learning provides. Generally this is true, nevertheless there are children who struggle to access or understand the worth of these tools. What value to their self-esteem is being supported by an adult who finds the concepts equally baffling? This 2-way scaffolding could be beneficial in raising standards in ICT and helping children to improve their own self-worth. I think it is good that children see the adults around them learning, it helps to foster a positive image of life-long learning. I had a conversation in the dinner hall on Friday with a year 10 student - Student - 'Am I right in saying that the staff have been having ICT lessons after school? Can I ask why?' I explained that they are trying to improve their own knowledge to facilitate the children improving and using ICT more effectively. He looked at me, thought for a while, then said 'Thats a good idea' and carried on eating. That about sums it up, the value to the children is having adults supporting them who can help them to move forward in all curricular areas. If ICT can be used positively in the classroom then our students have one more tool that can foster their own development.</p><p>In conclusion, none of it is earth shattering, none of the course was ground breaking in fact it was basic with a capital B. But it has been well received, moved people forward and I am already being approached by other more reticent staff about the possibility of repeating it next term. I have been given praise (which is always nice), I have seen benefits in the classroom and I believe we are one step closer to effectively utilising the plethora of ICT opportunities available in school and online. I would love to bridge the gap, think I may have laid the abutment, more bridging to follow!</p><p></p>Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-65820585104155719132010-01-22T19:34:00.003+00:002010-01-22T20:49:39.065+00:00Bridging the gapThe multi-faceted nature of a job within the education system can be fraught with many challenges. There are a multitude of different agendas being addressed by specialists, all aimed at maximising the potential of the children and offering them different and exciting experiences. I am one of those specialists, I like to think I have some degree of specialism in ICT and so therefore my agenda is largely technology based. I spend time, and thought into trying to ensure that the technological capability of my work environment is useful and accesssible for all the stakeholders in the school. My frustrations lie not with the hardware or software that I install (even though I sometimes make mistakes), or making it work (this in itself can sometimes be an enigma!) but in the ever increasing knowledge gap that exists between some adults within schools and the students they are helping. <br />This gap has been my target, I would not force anybody to embrace 21st Century technology, nor would I insist they utilise them in the classroom, but I truly believe that as yet further advances are made in technology, educators need to be aware of and, if appropriate, at least be capable of pointing children towards the tools available.<br />To this end I have been a staunch supporter, and advocate of the 'converted' (you are probably one if you are reading this) supporting those, who for whatever reason, struggle to access the technology that 21st Century society offers them. For this reason, predominantly, although there are benefits for the children and the school. I decided to offer a free 'Basic ICT Course' to the staff in my school.<br />I put up a list on the noticeboard, included a brief course outline, and a choice of days (I was going to do an hour a week, for 5 weeks, on a Wednesday or a Thursday). They were to give up their own time and stay late at school, to step outside their comfort zones. CPD is fine when it suits you, but personal sacrifice for CPD can be difficult to buy into. I was amazed, not only was there take up, but I was oversubscribed! Instead of Wednesday OR Thursday, I was having to do both days, 36 people ( a third of the staff), including all the SMT opted in.<br />I have just finished week two, the altruistic intentions of my actions are supported by a number of staff thanking me for the things they are learning, and putting into practise both at school and at home (I await patiently the arrival of my sainthood or at least a mention in the Queen's Birthday honours list). The ultimate outcomes:<br /><ul><li>Greater confidence in use of ICT across the school.</li><li>Better support for our students in their use of ICT.</li><li>Maximised usage of the hardware and software available.</li><li>A shift towards a 21st Century learning experience for the children.</li></ul><p>It has been well received, I have enjoyed the praise that has been offered me and there is a discernable buzz around the staff room regarding ICT generally. Hopefully, despite it being a small step, I am making some inroads into bridging the gap between those who can, and those who want to, embrace the technological era.</p>Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-71341589872865594362010-01-17T19:19:00.002+00:002010-01-17T21:19:37.622+00:00Do you want to BETT?Having attended BETT for the last 3 years I was aware that this time was going to be equally manic, tiring and fraught with a plethora of sales people thrusting Shiny glossy leaflets into my hands. So I was prepared for the day and entered into the fray with 3 clear questions:<br /><ol><li>What shall I do about my school website?</li><li>What are my options for a VLE?</li><li>How shall I approach my desire to have some 'games based learning' in the school?</li></ol><p>A quick walk around the venue talking to nobody, scowling a lot and finding my bearings gave me an overview of what was on offer. Following a coffee and some consultation of the show guide I then did some targeted stall visiting. I am not going to mention names or products, nor am I going to link to any of the companies that I spoke to. Whilst I walked away with a small bag full of leaflets and spent a great deal of time discussing my needs, I was unable to answer any questions with any degree of fortitude, in fact if anything I asked myself more questions... Still that is the nature of the Technology beast.</p><p>So you might say: 'A wasted day!' Not at all, a day is only wasted if you do not learn anything from it. I got loads out of BETT, saw some new products, had some great conversations and I think moved my thinking forward. As I said, nothing jumped out at me, no one item or supplier floated my boat, but thinking time, and having time to reflect on my needs was an important benefit.</p><p>Following a long day traipsing the halls and galleries at BETT it was finally time for the Teach Meet: <a href="http://teachmeet.pbworks.com/TeachMeet-BETT-2010">#TMBETT2010</a>, as a TM virgin, I sat reticently (as if I do reticient!) in the Apex room as it slowly filled with a multitude of other professionals, I was impressed with the sheer number of people that attended, even more so was having that many i phones in one place, not sure what the collective noun for i phones is but I am going for 'an intelligence of i phones' (mainly because I like the alliteration). Within minutes there was a discernable buzz around the hall as people began to piece together their own PLN jigsaw, replacing an avatar with a face, a user name with a Christian one. There was a hum as these seperate parts discussed work environments, BETT itself and a range of other topics. I have to hand it to <a href="http://edte.ch/blog/">@tombarrett</a> the whole thing was impressive. The list of people who stood up to share their classroom practises and thoughts is massive and I refer you to <a href="http://hallyd.edublogs.org/">@dawnhallybone's</a> blog for details of the speakers. But my thoughts are this:</p><ul><li>Not one single person who stood on that stage failed to deliver me something; A useful tool; a concept to muse over; something to laugh about; some infectious enthusiasm; in fact most of them offered me all of the above and more.</li><li>Meeting some of the people whom I have: had conversations with; shared ideas with; read their blogs or shared a joke, was equally worthwhile and served to reinforce my opinion that my best CPD has come via the social networking of my PLN.</li><li>The organisation of the event was faultless, from the free drink to the technology available to the presenters (and the camel) and I raise my hat to those who put it together and also the sponsors.</li></ul><p>So it is with a heightened enthusiasm that I am typing this, I have used <a href="http://www.voki.com/">Voki</a> today to embed some instructional tips in my Basic ICT page I have set up for the staff at school. A conversation with <a href="http://www.jasondilling.co.uk/">@jasondilling</a> on the train after the TM led me set up an <a href="http://www.edmodo.com/">Edmodo</a> account today for all my classes to enable a journey into microblogging. I am seriously considering driving forward a Teach Meet in Kent in the near future. My BETT/TMBETT 2010 experience proved to be a profitable one. I look forward to using the tools and ideas I have been gifted, thinking about the opinions and ideas of others and being able to share something of mine.</p>Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-22776579741773277552009-09-06T19:57:00.008+01:002009-09-06T21:47:57.678+01:00LO Hell<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZ48yjq0di1nyJvnX3yw3y_SQGQ5HkbWgif49Sq23SgFdYdM7UuLGIFbPPQ0htk3Fj5Psd5ZQc46AlpW-gc_d9hJQ6sSzA71uJSPcbusOB531b_LU0wwMazuPa6lbhlC1B-vk9AHosbIi/s1600-h/ban+lol.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378445131443717746" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 278px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 276px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZ48yjq0di1nyJvnX3yw3y_SQGQ5HkbWgif49Sq23SgFdYdM7UuLGIFbPPQ0htk3Fj5Psd5ZQc46AlpW-gc_d9hJQ6sSzA71uJSPcbusOB531b_LU0wwMazuPa6lbhlC1B-vk9AHosbIi/s320/ban+lol.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><div>That is it, I have had enough, if one more person LOL's me I will possibly commit some unthinkable crime. </div><br /><div>When I was small (too long ago to think about now) I think I possibly did 'laugh out loud' when my uncle, pinned me down and tickled me so hard it hurt. I have witnesssed people using recreational drugs or alcohol who have chanced upon some bizarre event that can reduce them to undescribable levels of mirth. Yet apart from those and the occasional outburst at a particularly amusing part in a sitcom or stand-up comedians routine, I have not witnessed many huge outbreaks of uncontrollable laughter. Then why do people insist on LOL, PMSL and other ludicrous statements in text messages, chat forums and e mails, if these are to be believed, a vast percentage of the population of the world are sat in front of their computers, netbooks, laptops and mobile phones laughing manically like a pack of cyber hyenas. </div><br /><div>It sounds like I am a mirthless grouch, which is not true, I like a good joke and am quick to share with others if something relevant, witty and original hits my inbox. However, I rarely (in fact probably never) 'laugh out loud' for fear that the infamous 'men in white coats' arrive with their strait jacket to restrain me until a suitable area of padded accomodation is available. What I do however is smile - normally a small smile, enough to acknowledge the presence of humour in what I have read or seen. So for those of you who share with me on Twitter, MSN or Facebook, or recieve a text from me and get an addendum of SWS - that is just what it is, a Small Wry Smile. Not the ridiculous exaggerated statements commonplace in chat rooms worldwide.<br /></div><div></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIcolx6MYo5N912Z1Z3_nhfLU2u9OZIkhWy8cReByKQKdW3J5oJfsosSp8uVllPPPMKZVpvR4wbNpB7aDMuexRoeN3PD709B28HR_AsXlhX_lrdFalgNqiche0Vb3qAN9xkcx8Bh2tV0X/s1600-h/sws.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378447809905958402" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 449px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 179px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIcolx6MYo5N912Z1Z3_nhfLU2u9OZIkhWy8cReByKQKdW3J5oJfsosSp8uVllPPPMKZVpvR4wbNpB7aDMuexRoeN3PD709B28HR_AsXlhX_lrdFalgNqiche0Vb3qAN9xkcx8Bh2tV0X/s320/sws.gif" border="0" /></a>Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-54441534337531009512009-07-12T19:44:00.000+01:002009-07-12T19:57:34.150+01:00Custard RunningMost of life, in my experience, is spent charging along towards a variety of goals. We spend the week running towards the weekend, eyes open with anticipation. Our pace increases at the weekend as we sprint headlong into a new week. This manic hurtling cycle is only broken just prior to a really big event, A long holiday, a special occasion an important celebration. At those times the running track of life is mysteriously exchanged for a large bowl of custard, the bigger the event the deeper the dessert sauce. I am eagerly anticipating my new post in September, I am looking forward to family camping holiday, cannot wait to go to China to see my brother. Consequently I am currently thigh deep in custard slogging through the last week of term, I know I will get there, I know once the weekend comes the speed will increase through the holidays to an almost breakneck level. But that does not make the custard running any easier.Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-25055570634487481412009-07-06T01:14:00.000+01:002009-07-07T20:58:04.939+01:00Cube LifeI have been using animation in the primary classroom for 4 years now (<a href="http://psycho65.blogspot.com/2009/06/be-animated.html">see earlier posts</a>)and in my opinion have successfully got some effective results from the children using a medley of software. My established system, whilst ungainly, worked. stop frame in Digital Blue software, Audio mixing in Audacity and combining the two elements in Moviemaker. I was therefore intrigued, at the Kent ICT Conference and exhibition '09,to see a piece of animation software on show. I have seen a number of products in the past couple of years and they either had an unfriendly interface or did not do quite what I felt they should. So I was expecting more of the same. I stopped and talked to the man from <a href="http://www.zu3d.com/">ZU3D</a><br /><a href="http://www.zu3d.com/"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpukuz-q3FW__qzK3Djkyk31XnTh6dit1BjgUdbMY8JneUNUfHZQRQhieCgW_XkwKZ6xfAbKVtfu7q3ct7A7OG_TdIHmnEJjtOsuqEfQA2TCLkvnmjD-l-YFQuf81b_fg7Nl_hyphenhyphen8NX2uWa/s1600-h/zu3d.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355431738216930962" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 62px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpukuz-q3FW__qzK3Djkyk31XnTh6dit1BjgUdbMY8JneUNUfHZQRQhieCgW_XkwKZ6xfAbKVtfu7q3ct7A7OG_TdIHmnEJjtOsuqEfQA2TCLkvnmjD-l-YFQuf81b_fg7Nl_hyphenhyphen8NX2uWa/s320/zu3d.gif" border="0" /></a></a><br /><br /><br /><br />He was helpful and informative as he whizzed through the features of the programme. He quickly and easily created a short stop-frame animation, added titles and sound files. I was nearly impressed - so to the interrogation - The worth of the programme was the receptive nature of the stall holder - he was able to answer my queries regarding Multi-track audio, explain how the other features on the software worked and then listened to and was positive about my development suggestions (what I would like a piecec of animation software to do). I took a trial disc and loaded it onto my laptop immediately (time on my stand spent productively)<br />The first thing I noticed was how child friendly the interface was:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKEN4mI9QC-TmF8RbsZvEeGX8deR9OQCSe3cZjAhNG11GLjJwumAADHoK4-N1AA2Ln9m4qQQ4LaPDZ0oWcKw-phFgZqcJFB0IQNueRAEClvfvZ9cgFrSWeWdIoRMlkMhTMSr6ENn4fht94/s1600-h/zu3d+-+2.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355795440033476370" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 490px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 251px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKEN4mI9QC-TmF8RbsZvEeGX8deR9OQCSe3cZjAhNG11GLjJwumAADHoK4-N1AA2Ln9m4qQQ4LaPDZ0oWcKw-phFgZqcJFB0IQNueRAEClvfvZ9cgFrSWeWdIoRMlkMhTMSr6ENn4fht94/s320/zu3d+-+2.gif" border="0" /></a> A series of buttons clearly marked allow: frame capture, preview, live video and deletion of frames.<br />Titles and a multitude of audio tracks can be added with a simple drag and drop system.<br />The simplicity of the software is further enhanced by the fact that you can use any digital video camera, therefore a digital blue or a webcam work just fine.<br /><br />So what made it special - For me there are 2 factors:<br /><br />Firstly 'Onion Skinning' - The previous frame is cleverly superimposed on the new frame allowing you to see the extent of your move, this also allows for models/figures to be replaced in case they fall.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAXsnXa7_gB_sUrCgmXpA9xGQYMTZGaiytV7FNQyu0hlKq2y0M5l0i0_QTzN7rWUwVewPPdYRECGe0-fV5NWI47-oRMUS8NMeoBOdQqS2GKILRGqzaFxaesoIT-H7FW24N-pCHaqVk-QZh/s1600-h/zu3d+-+4.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355800609441645474" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 459px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAXsnXa7_gB_sUrCgmXpA9xGQYMTZGaiytV7FNQyu0hlKq2y0M5l0i0_QTzN7rWUwVewPPdYRECGe0-fV5NWI47-oRMUS8NMeoBOdQqS2GKILRGqzaFxaesoIT-H7FW24N-pCHaqVk-QZh/s320/zu3d+-+4.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Secondly the multi-track audio - Whilst not as versatile as Audacity, it offers the abilty to add a variety of sound effects, drag them into position, crop and fade as required.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicQ_hFSn_DZh1J_yccUiESs3DZ8w3KziU0u3ZQHa9v1AXfyT8v4Hg1I-hINbYa1VyS9n2_TTtT2QqkngJYJA8xG87pM5rQ-ksGyDqoT5B2X-50iw_aZRVaraNUHQPx3yBvCg2ua3nXFOsa/s1600-h/zu3d+-+5.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355803353116100674" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 501px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 124px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicQ_hFSn_DZh1J_yccUiESs3DZ8w3KziU0u3ZQHa9v1AXfyT8v4Hg1I-hINbYa1VyS9n2_TTtT2QqkngJYJA8xG87pM5rQ-ksGyDqoT5B2X-50iw_aZRVaraNUHQPx3yBvCg2ua3nXFOsa/s320/zu3d+-+5.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />So I liked it - It has the simple stop-frame animation interface of the digital blue, it has the multi-tracking capability of Audacity and you can drag and drop items, Moviemaker style onto the timeline. I took it home and had a very quick play: <a href="http://www.zu3d.com/gallery/cube-life">Cube Life</a> and I am hoping to get some children onto it in the last week of term.<br /><br />The final selling point was the <a href="http://www.zu3d.com/gallery/Default.aspx">website</a>. Showcasing children's work is a fantastic way of maintaining engagement and expanding the assessment opportunities. The ZU3D website provides a gallery onto which completed animations can be uploaded. Content is vetted prior to inclusion on the site and is searchable and comments (also moderated) can be added along with a 5 star rating system. I am looking forward to giving the children a chance to test the parameters of the software and it is on my list of purchases for 2009.<br /><br />I believe that animation is an engaging way of stimulating children in a number of curricular areas and the ZU3D software offers the opportunities to access this exciting medium in a simple and fun way.Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-72426334909844563772009-07-05T22:06:00.000+01:002009-07-06T23:05:10.118+01:00Kent ICT Conference '09I was going to Blog about Kent ICT Conference '09 but there seemed little point considering <a href="http://www.mrwarner.com/2009/07/kent-ict-conference-09/">Mark Warner </a>, <a href="http://www.timrylands.com/blog/2009/07/02/kent-ict-conference-exhibition/">Tim Rylands</a> and the the <a href="http://kenttrustweb.org.uk/CS/community/kent_teachers/archive/2009/07/02/kent-ict-conference-weblinks.aspx">Kent ICT</a> blogs appear to have covered all the bases with regards the myriad of links and ideas that were shared.<br />Will just reflect briefly on my short presentation, approached by Andy to showcase the animations I had done with my class, I agreed. The showcasing involved setting up a stand where two of our current year 6's demonstrated stop-frame animation which was the easy part. The harder part was standing on a stage in front of the conference, 'outside my comfort zone' sprang to mind. Nevertheless the quality of the children's work spoke for itself, my <a href="http://prezi.com/">prezi</a>:<br /><a href="http://prezi.com/27383/"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2K60KPVzFDwvXdjK_54nkL1_pZ8PreW0kDV36T1ucchlCnn40YNn7NVD1vmfRaRg9h02pzIm0YqlIkIYbBJKq8KvLGaxGO-SquXsp59LiQs0ocehxBtFZUz8aHTqfW-hEUOHY7VI6hgH7/s1600-h/prezi.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2K60KPVzFDwvXdjK_54nkL1_pZ8PreW0kDV36T1ucchlCnn40YNn7NVD1vmfRaRg9h02pzIm0YqlIkIYbBJKq8KvLGaxGO-SquXsp59LiQs0ocehxBtFZUz8aHTqfW-hEUOHY7VI6hgH7/s320/prezi.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355121851705521122" /></a></a> took me through the process so the actual presentation bit became less of a chore. I hope it was well received, back on the stall a number of teachers came over to discuss how they could introduce animation into the classroom. And to see the students at work. I was happy with <a href="http://prezi.com/">Prezi</a> as a presentation tool, the one touch interface after set-up made it ideal for presentation and it was certainly 'whizzy' enough for the conference. Only one other Prezi in the show and that was Mark's <a href="http://prezi.com/103701/">'Adventures with Myst'</a> which can be viewed here, as part of a showcase of different schools' successes with Myst in the classroom.Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-61515186559719983712009-06-29T00:17:00.000+01:002009-07-02T02:23:28.594+01:00Want to animate? Animate!<STRONG>Why? </STRONG><br />It all started about 4 years ago with a <A href="http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/ict/digitalblue/">Digital Blue camera</A>, I loaded the software included with the camera and looked quickly through it. The interface was simple, reasonably versatile and well laid out. I took it home and gave it to my children to play with, the resultant short stop frame animation got me thinking about ways that this medium might fit into my primary class.<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rbs2mSzKyJA&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rbs2mSzKyJA&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>I looked at the curriculum and realised that my Art unit - 'People in Action' leant itself to utilising ICT - I introduced the concept of animation using <A href="http://www.geocities.com/peter_bone_uk/pivot.html">Pivot Stick figure animator</A> A great piece of freeware that highlighted the need for multiple frames and was simple and fun to use. I then gave a very brief demonstration of how to use the Digital Blue to create a stop-frame animation. It was all the children needed and they ran from there. The creativity of backdrops and subject matter were great. Did it meet the Art objectives? Probably not but it opened the door for me on the potential of this to engage and excite children.<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jkICoDcmmLs&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jkICoDcmmLs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />The following year I had more time to think about how the animation tool could enhance children's learning. I used literacy as a starting point and got the class to take a well known nursery Rhyme and write a playscript for it. This process in itself was a wonderful exercise in creative literacy as the children made a story from the Rhyme. <br /><STRONG>How?</STRONG> <br />The quality of the digital images from the camera were workable and the stop-frame process was simple enough but unfortunately the audio quality appeared to be lacking. The intention therefore was to create a seperate sound track and then marry the two together. To give the animation the depth they needed I had to provide the children with the ability to produce multi-track audio files, this would allow them to include dialogue, music and sound effects - another piece of freeware came to the rescue: <A href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/">Audacity</A> - simple to use and effective it proved to be extremely versatile and allowed multi-layered audio to be created. Once complete the audio and video were put together in Windows Moviemaker.<br />The whole experience was stimulating and challenging for the children and the end results were pleasing to the children and myself. Problems occured with synchronisation of the two parts when titles and credits were added to the film, a problem that I would address in a later project.<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lxLzMhzn90k&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lxLzMhzn90k&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><strong>More?</strong><br />The following year I used our extended narrative, a quest story, as the starting point for our animation. Each pair or group took a chapter from the story and scripted it. Our hero - Alvin (straight out of the £1 shop and one of six that were purchased to ensured continuity of the character throughout our animation)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhK5JqpjduJFQPOvbSLDHr3ebcWhVqbmWl1fgGyx-8D468M5WsDa8CBJN4UDRItqOYFh1k7eT9a3eCFeboCQYKii8pCRBSvB9s_8yVOdeps38o2sA1JfvsQ_6aoIR_ntbSmHUeK8O_aRRb/s1600-h/alvin+001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhK5JqpjduJFQPOvbSLDHr3ebcWhVqbmWl1fgGyx-8D468M5WsDa8CBJN4UDRItqOYFh1k7eT9a3eCFeboCQYKii8pCRBSvB9s_8yVOdeps38o2sA1JfvsQ_6aoIR_ntbSmHUeK8O_aRRb/s320/alvin+001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352538136238790546" /></a> then took his place in the animations and we created a number of scenes. Rather than record audio tracks as seperate entities we then put all the clips together in Moviemaker, added appropriate titles and credits before starting on the sound track. By cascading the Moviemaker window above the Audacity window we were able to synchronise the two with accuracy using their respective timelines. The result is a seven minute Animation, with depth of sound, continuity, a story and humour all created by a class of enthuased and proud 10/11 year old children. Could it be improved? Of course it could, sound levels are erratic, some animation is poor, dialogue lacks expression in places...But nevertheless, an amaazing piece of work that truly animated a class. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bzpkGbOwIUU&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bzpkGbOwIUU&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Click for a <a href="http://prezi.com/27383/">Prezi</a> on the processPsycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-50483514422562754582009-06-20T14:05:00.000+01:002009-06-20T16:02:03.588+01:00ICT Week - Mission Implausible.I have a dream, corny start I know but I have got a dream, well a concept anyway and it is regarding accessibility to ICT in schools. Many commentators are constantly labouring the importance of 'technological adeptness'. The 21st century has seen a plethora of technological advances and if we blink then we truly do miss them. The exponential growth of: wireless technology; The Internet; touchscreen technology and mobile communication to name but a few is staggering and my vision is not about me not missing it, I try hard to keep up, but about ensuring I am party to assisting my colleagues and the students around me in recognising and embracing these changes. I had the privilege of being party to designing and implementing our new school <a href="http://psycho65.blogspot.com/2009/06/solution.html">'ICT solution</a>'And the culmination was, in my opinion, a teacher friendly, child orientated, ICT rich learning environment. The problem was ensuring that the wealth of opportunities available to the school were recognised - so was born ICT Enrichment Week. I gave it the title 'Out of this World' and ran from there.<br /><br />No rocket science was involved in the set up of the week:<br />1. try to give as many opportunities to the children and staff to 'play' with a variety of ICT software and hardware. <br />2. Make this access as simple as possible.<br />3. Ensure the correct levels of support are provided for everyone.<br />4. Communicate openly with all parties. <br /><br />See timetable below:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUVgm2CsIF_6GiIFK2Ig52oIW9Juug0obXgBy5KH7FpQdpG0gycYA-bhkr7EPnvpYsSW790OfZZ6cx-fnL_ZcHbt_DnNIrcAk9mf0huDx_q43vJfZZPspa4Sqkk-nSlXa3L9Lx9uXHiXG/s1600-h/timetable.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349400080736202130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 556px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 287px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUVgm2CsIF_6GiIFK2Ig52oIW9Juug0obXgBy5KH7FpQdpG0gycYA-bhkr7EPnvpYsSW790OfZZ6cx-fnL_ZcHbt_DnNIrcAk9mf0huDx_q43vJfZZPspa4Sqkk-nSlXa3L9Lx9uXHiXG/s320/timetable.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Day 1 - MYST<br />I chose Myst following the success of <a href="http://www.timrylands.com/">Tim Rylands</a> and the use of this game to inspire creative writing. I wanted the staff to see their new Interactive Whiteboards (IWB's) us in a multi-sensory way to engage and inspire children. Armed with a copy of Myst 3 and my laptop I visited every class in the school and took them on a tour around parts of the game. The response was very positive and I got some amazing vocabulary from children in Nursery through to upper Key Stage 2. The level of engagement was testament to the all consuming nature of the stimulus and not necessarily to my delivery. Nevertheless I am confident that the children benefited from the sessions and the teaching and support staff recognised the opportunities presented by this medium.<br /><br />Day 2 - Photostory & Activote.<br /><a href="http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk">Mandy Barrow</a> (Advisory Service Kent - ASK) arrived to use our new ICT suite and deliver session on Photostory to all classes. The resultant use of the software was beneficial to all the children and their own technological ability was utilised to good effect. Staff feedback was positive and the potential cross curricular uses of this application were realised. Andy Place (ASK) was also in school for the day and visited every year group to show how Activote (KS1) or Activexpression (KS2) can be used to assist in assessment and raise engagement. The children thoroughly enjoyed this medium and remained excited and animated throughout. Teacher feedback was equally enthusiastic and I have several requests to install software and demonstrate lesson set up. Hopefully this equipment will be used in the classroom now.<br /><br />Day 3 - 2Simple software<br />Having recently purchased the entire 2 Simple collection for our network it was important that teaching staff were aware of the potential of this software. <a href="http://www.ictgames.com">James Barrett</a> (ASK)came in for the day to work with Foundation and Key stage 1. His affinity with the children and his enthusiasm for this area of ICT rubbed off on the children and staff. Some excellent work was produced and requests for him to return and host a twilight session for staff was seized upon. We look forward to that evening in a couple of weeks time.<br /><br />Day 4 - ICT in PE & NXT Robots<br />As PE coordinator as well as ICT I was keen to impress the cross curricular capability of ICT. Kirstie Hemmingway (SSco) had originally intended to bring in Dartfish to show our upper Key stage 2 children. Technological difficulties prevented this from happening, nevertheless Kirstie was able to work with a range of children to produce using: PE equipment, digital cameras and the ICT suite, a range of 'activity cards' to break down different PE skills. These cards, once laminated will provide illustrations for younger children and teaching aids for staff. Five children from different classes in the school had attended a cluster 'Control Day', they returned with 3 NXT robots. Throughout the course of Thursday, supported and led by two capable TA's (Mrs M & Mrs F)these children introduced the whole school to the NXT robot and fascinated the school with its capabilities and personality!<br /><br />Day 5 - My plan was to host an inter class video conference in place of celebration assembly which is normal after an activity week. A practise run during Tuesday's staff meeting and some running about from me to make sure all classes worked. Culminated in 8 classes, all connected to Flash Meeting, viewing on IWB's images of their family and friends (using visualisers as webcams), The WOW factor was huge and walking into Reception class or Nursery and seeing children with their mouths agog at their older siblings talking to them from the screen was a high point for me. The quality of the conferencing left something to be desired, but nevertheless our whole school experienced video conferencing first hand.<br /><br />Asus Minibooks - The school has 60 Asus Minibooks - these tend to reside in year 4 and year 6 where they are used regularly. By timetabling the minibooks in each class for a day, every child was able to access them and the staff were able to see the potential from using them to support some curricular areas. The big positive moment for me was when the reception teacher came to sing the praises of the mini books. Apparently her class were totally engaged for an hour( a long time for reception apparently, outside my knowledge remit), she was assisted by some year 6 pupils who were invaluable in scaffolding the younger children's access to the computers. This is the same teacher who had been overtly negative to the use of the minibooks in reception when I had given them to all the staff over a half term earlier in the year.<br /><br />Webquest - As a competition for all children I offered an MP3 player as a prize per class for completing a <a href="http://www.stjamesthegreat.co.uk/news.asp">webquest</a> on outer space. I placed these as a document in the school website to encourage its use. Whilst I thought the prize was quite exciting, the response was quite poor, especially from the key stage 2 children - perhaps it was too hard, perhaps they all have MP3 players!!!!<br /><br />Negatives - It wasn't all good. I asked the staff to take on a lot and generally they rose to the challenge. I wonder if this overloading of information may actually be detrimental to their development. Visualisers work as webcams but are not as efficient as the real thing, may need to invest in a webcam per class (if I ever get any more money!!!). Video conference needed more structure to be an effective tool , I think I knew this but the experience was disjointed. The webquest could have been differentiated further which may have encouraged more entrants. I failed to check the website counter before and after the week to see if our hit rate increased due to the competition.<br /><br />Positives - I felt positive about the whole week. I am still awaiting evaluation forms from the staff and will be interviewing some children to get their ideas on what happened. The concept of offering an insight into a range of hardware and software was achieved, with the assistance of the aforementioned people I was able to give staff and pupils a range of ICT experiences that they can utilise in other areas. I cannot make anybody embrace the change but by introducing it perhaps I can precipitate some.<br /><br />The dream - I want to be a party to our children's technological awareness being as 'Future-proof' as possible. My small part is to remain an enthusiastic practitioner and, where possible, providing my colleagues and my students with the support, the experiences and the vision to operate outside their own comfort zones.Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-20382812105456076112009-06-16T21:39:00.000+01:002009-06-16T21:40:37.827+01:00<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QeoKQbT8BKs&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QeoKQbT8BKs&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-15667057218895619592009-06-04T20:08:00.000+01:002009-06-04T21:35:02.850+01:00Street Life<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiym3AyO3hXok2meCFRUdoWroxkKGJHBAXFCctTchOq1ZwTkaqWinEBC7TvqJYIBRzqAKUjeqVnhKdFKFlriKYkD4Iu-3968DP4qMlw-Mztr8FiUEEybT3C3xf2sqhRh3PWt0xwWPFvpJih/s1600-h/ICT+017.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiym3AyO3hXok2meCFRUdoWroxkKGJHBAXFCctTchOq1ZwTkaqWinEBC7TvqJYIBRzqAKUjeqVnhKdFKFlriKYkD4Iu-3968DP4qMlw-Mztr8FiUEEybT3C3xf2sqhRh3PWt0xwWPFvpJih/s320/ICT+017.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343551917639293602" /></a><br /><strong>Day one: PM</strong> - First ICT lesson in new suite.<br />The concept was to provide a flexible display option to the open plan ICT Suite within our 'Learning Street'. I took my year 4 class down the street on Wednesday afternoon and got the four 42" screens fired up, using one of the new desktop PC's as the input. The result the children were presented with an identical desktop as there one following log in. The objective of the lesson was: 'To set up subject folders in my documents' this was included to ensure that the children's file management system on our new network started out on the right foot. Having the 'my documents' folder displayed directly in front of the children was an excellent teaching aid - the children found it easy to see the demonstration of the skills required (ok not rocket science to make and name a folder)and were able to transfer those skills effectively to there own computers. The close proximity of the screen kept all the children focussed even those whose concentration tended to wander. On a negative side the control point at one end of the tables was difficult when demonstrating, whilst children had visual stimulus there were some limitations to their aural input (possible use of air mouse to allow central presentation)The outcome however was encouraging - all children achieved the lesson objective, some of these in a surprisingly quick time. Verdict: My initial thoughts are all predominantly positive. It looks good, sounds good and does the job what more could I ask?<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdA6UKhe_V8DoL7NGarUh_2MEv5ooqboBRjdxtdEDrIz7fXykNp7N0cHORvRbasxZFQ7i9yWTAddBQwjZJi8z_lci594J3KlA0h9_uGelR4_9FWyKX9YFfGHzE-NK6diXlz4xdSgLsgQv9/s1600-h/ICT+019.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdA6UKhe_V8DoL7NGarUh_2MEv5ooqboBRjdxtdEDrIz7fXykNp7N0cHORvRbasxZFQ7i9yWTAddBQwjZJi8z_lci594J3KlA0h9_uGelR4_9FWyKX9YFfGHzE-NK6diXlz4xdSgLsgQv9/s320/ICT+019.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343560968712876626" /></a><br /><strong>Day Two: PM </strong>- Parents Open afternoon<br />The afternoon was punctuated my year 6 pupils showing an assortment of parents and family around the new school building. The Smart table, now comfortably located in its own area, proved a big hit as parents joined in with pupils trying to answer questions on Henry VIII's wives. As I walked around the school I was greeted with:<br /><strong>Nursery</strong> - children playing on games on the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB). <br /><strong>Reception</strong> - Whiteboard on and counting games being played - nursery rhymes being streamed via the computer to the speakers located in the outside play area.<br /><strong>Year 1</strong> - IWB on and children engaged in activities on the board.<br /><strong>Year 2</strong> - Children writing on IWB, gross and fine motor skills being utilised.<br /><strong>Year 4</strong> - Children led by TA (or was it the other way round?) creating Smartboard pages on Henry VIII's wives - inserting pictures, handwriting converted to text - using information researched from books, internet and taken from Smart table activities. The TA said afterwards "I had a really good time" (is that right at work?)<br /><strong>Year 5</strong> - Classical music being streamed via computer to outside decking area and into classroom.<br /><br />Now this was not a typical day at school, and the plethora of new ICT equipment in every classroom has a certain amount of novelty value. however I am encouraged by the way the staff have embraced the technology and tried to utilise it. My aim was to make the equipment as user friendly as possible and so every classroom has exactly the same set-up of Smartboard, visualiser and internal and external speaker and amp system. thereby trying to ensure that in any classroom the teacher or TA (they all received the same training) can operate and use the equipment. Still getting teething problems (normally user error) and I am running around in a similar way to the proverbial decapitated fowl, but all, I hope, for a good reason. I truly believe that technological awareness is an essential part of a child's education. They need to see, be aware and where possible, use as many different tools as we as educators can provide. I still have Activevote and Activeexpression to introduce as well as our media streaming server and ICT enrichment week. The challenge rolls on but the first hurdle has been cleared.Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-56902613015514177612009-06-02T20:22:00.000+01:002009-06-02T21:39:02.151+01:00The solution<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSjuSErbIIMVpuFiTI-S92hb4CAQuaQ0E_mBjzAZ8R_0pJXAv7qZQ5cV2xV3kJ1lexzlrGwuIW_G5U8BGs7OPbGp8R0ZR4HFwsL9x1UGTRe1yLCCsYIz-R6A7rLsHb4ZCmZOdkt4MAP_nj/s1600-h/concept.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342815702405326914" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSjuSErbIIMVpuFiTI-S92hb4CAQuaQ0E_mBjzAZ8R_0pJXAv7qZQ5cV2xV3kJ1lexzlrGwuIW_G5U8BGs7OPbGp8R0ZR4HFwsL9x1UGTRe1yLCCsYIz-R6A7rLsHb4ZCmZOdkt4MAP_nj/s320/concept.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs1L95fNW2hKxI7p94BsblOzhbNDoT-OB9upOiGxQJINmMiM977PhLCLAtT-ickOJD_8LihCvlQPcwl00L4_iwbstN9WUNO3_MX0-7puOPbs9ZELDWfsKZgCb53iluwKo2zPYCm65z_M69/s1600-h/ICT+018.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342813437547958898" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs1L95fNW2hKxI7p94BsblOzhbNDoT-OB9upOiGxQJINmMiM977PhLCLAtT-ickOJD_8LihCvlQPcwl00L4_iwbstN9WUNO3_MX0-7puOPbs9ZELDWfsKZgCb53iluwKo2zPYCm65z_M69/s320/ICT+018.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />After weeks of juggling time and speaking to technicians and pushing through work that should have been completed the day is finally upon us. Tomorrow(Wednesday 3rd June) the school is officially open to the children and today the ICT solution finally came to fruition. The problem of providing a aesthetically pleasing yet practical display option for the ICT suite in our open plan 'Learning Street' was at last booted up. The concept sketched whilst on <a href="http://psycho65.blogspot.com/2009/05/suite-smell-of-success.html">residential</a> finally came to fruition. Not without the total support of our Headteacher (Sylvia) and several days of work from ICT Technician (Kerrie), <a href="http://www.networkandcabling.co.uk/home/default.asp">Network & Cabling Solutions </a>(Paul) and myself culminated in a successful trial of the equipment and it certainly looked spectacular. From the neatly mounted control unit in the bespoke ICT table allowing a multitude of choices from the four video inputs displaying to one, two, three or four of the screens and providing similar audio versatility:<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6i_t2-k1fD3m1l7yGOWzmgZbVgCL701B0UmC8SJ1axD-6qOd2Q8Iolj4_Gg5o02-4Y_vepjmUhKglwrmkfy8wK5ojRbbqxzHV2RngXl2EJrF-M1QvqYQYUijRiIZyXDDGVEKIwBnp6WMR/s1600-h/ICT+012.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342818695870693074" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6i_t2-k1fD3m1l7yGOWzmgZbVgCL701B0UmC8SJ1axD-6qOd2Q8Iolj4_Gg5o02-4Y_vepjmUhKglwrmkfy8wK5ojRbbqxzHV2RngXl2EJrF-M1QvqYQYUijRiIZyXDDGVEKIwBnp6WMR/s320/ICT+012.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />To the pleasing lines of the high mounted screens on custom made stanchions part of the bespoke table.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYZR4-zQi7P-0AbLfEK1pXqYjVIo9B58sRrl7iAVlRkUnGIJDONE4zRDsQZeePqF0aFprGBzdip89AGVQ0dVc0T-HFjA8j8tgvaoDTomocKoI6UZvrQaOmXj-rIEu5h3broe_nQbZ6drqS/s1600-h/ICT+018.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342820157756210514" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYZR4-zQi7P-0AbLfEK1pXqYjVIo9B58sRrl7iAVlRkUnGIJDONE4zRDsQZeePqF0aFprGBzdip89AGVQ0dVc0T-HFjA8j8tgvaoDTomocKoI6UZvrQaOmXj-rIEu5h3broe_nQbZ6drqS/s320/ICT+018.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />It is not quite finished, the digital signage and media server which will link to the 42" screen in our reception area, as well the ones in the learning street, should we choose is still to be completed and therefore I cannot say my vision is truly realised but it was a great day when two laptops streamed seperate videos to the large screens in 'The Street' and a multitude of positive comments from other staff members.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoPXABE4Ep6UmMAkxDgrYB8r8qZOj6x-dWmRWrZLkTXBX8-xG0BDrQjw77zYvJlvsf0HcOONt5rfOTxGv_6DfJQOvd4GtcaTFufggJSvJYzcU389XNVbzfEQyEfuvWD4G3G9rmJWrUqNUM/s1600-h/ICT+011.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342825114773656066" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoPXABE4Ep6UmMAkxDgrYB8r8qZOj6x-dWmRWrZLkTXBX8-xG0BDrQjw77zYvJlvsf0HcOONt5rfOTxGv_6DfJQOvd4GtcaTFufggJSvJYzcU389XNVbzfEQyEfuvWD4G3G9rmJWrUqNUM/s320/ICT+011.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />So finally we are near to completion of the solution, the ICT provision of a small Kent primary school: 33 Fully networked desktop PC's, 8 Adjustable Smartboards, 8 Visualisers, Internal and external audio speakers in each classroom, media streaming server throughout the school, Smart Table, 60 Asus minibooks. My task now remains to ensure that the equipment is utilised to its maximum potential. First ICT training session today: All staff introduced to visualisers and IWB's. thanks to <a href="http://www.ictgames.com/">@wigglemyears </a>for his time today as usual his games were a great hit. I came home today pleasantly surprised by the positive approach all teaching and support staff had towards the changes they were faced with in there classrooms. Long may it continue......Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-1697904676518938462009-05-26T21:34:00.000+01:002009-05-26T22:19:44.900+01:00Board in School!The scene is set at last. After years of waiting we have finally moved into the new school. It is with some trepidation that some of the staff will come into school on Tuesday for training on their new Interactive Whiteboard (IWB). I too am nervous, I am keen for the new technology to be embraced and utilised but having not had an IWB before it is a bit of a culture shock for most of my colleagues. To this end I am just hoping to give them a walk through the board, one or two ideas and then the chance to play. The following day the school will be operating normally and I am keen that the children 'interact' with the board as soon as possible.<br /><br />So I have my ideas, and some links to share but following the success of <a href="http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/2009/05/year-6-literacy-ideas/">@dannynic</a> and his literacy blog posting I set up an <a href="http://etherpad.com/ibLfQpwXgZ">Etherpad</a> and asked for input from the Twitter community. The resultant ideas for IWB's are not my own work but the postings of: @simonhaughton, <a href="http://twowhizzy.blogspot.com/">@twowhizzy</a> and several others who did not leave a name. Thanks for your input on this and it is this collaborative capability that makes social networking an ideal tool for educators.<br /><br />WORKING WITH AN IWB<br />===================<br /><br />As a starter, make sure they all understand how to align their board so that it can be interactive when touched and that they realise (if its a Smart Board) that the pens & rubber have to be put put back properly into their holders.<br /><br />Also, make sure that they are are aware of a couple of health & safety points:<br /><br />* Don't look directly at the light beam (there's been lots in the news about the dangers of this - e.g. <a class=" author86-157-77-250-1243281789483-62163 url" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6253410.stm)">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6253410.stm)</a><br />* Don't forget to turn the projector off - many a time I've seen a dark screensaver come on an then the user forget that something is still being projected.<br />* Clean the lens filter regularly so that the bulb doesn't get overheated.<br /> <br />* Use the spotlight tool to highlight areas of the screen.<br />*Similarly use the screen shade to hide/reveal things that are on the screen<br />* You can write on the IWB at any time, such as to annotate things on a website or pause a video and label things you can see in the frame<br /> <br />WOWY ACTIVITIES<br />===============<br /><br />A game to consider for instant effective use and class interaction<br /><a class=" author88-17-59-175-1242580214425-23622 url" href="http://www.kwarp.com/portfolio/grammarninja.html">http://www.kwarp.com/portfolio/grammarninja.html</a><br /><br />The whiteboardblog is a great resource for tips and tricks<br /><a class=" author88-17-59-175-1242580214425-23622 url" href="http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/guides/">http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/guides/</a><br /><br />Some games where children have to reach around the board pressing lots of different things are always fun - see: <a class=" author86-157-77-250-1243281789483-62163 url" href="http://www.active-maths.co.uk/games1/splat/index.html">http://www.active-maths.co.uk/games1/splat/index.html</a> or <a class=" author86-157-77-250-1243281789483-62163 url" href="http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/SpeedGrid/Multiplication/urikamultires.html">http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/SpeedGrid/Multiplication/urikamultires.html</a><br /><br />Three of my favourite sites with links to LOTS of games/activities on are <a href="http://www.ictgames.com/">www.ictgames.com</a>, <a href="http://www.learningclip.co.uk/">www.learningclip.co.uk</a> and <a href="http://www.topicbox.co.uk/">www.topicbox.co.uk</a> They usually come in handy if I'm struggling to find an interactive activity on a particular topic.<br /><br />For big timers to display on the IWB there's www.online-stopwatch.com/ and <a class=" author86-157-77-250-1243281789483-62163 url" href="http://www.fieryideas.com/">http://www.fieryideas.com/</a> (this also has other interactive bits on it like marble jars and advent calendars)<br /><br />Using Smart Notebook<br />Hide and reveal techniques are really useful Post on my blog <a class=" author86-157-12-169-1243363700778-50051 url" href="http://twowhizzy.blogspot.com/2007/02/bad-dog-exploring-hide-and-reveal.html">http://twowhizzy.blogspot.com/2007/02/bad-dog-exploring-hide-and-reveal.html</a><br /><br />Rub and reveal place an object or a text element on a page, and using digital ink from the pen tool, cover areas of the screen. These can be erased to reveal either elements of an image gradually to support prediction, vocab development. or within a text to help predict words or phrases etc.<br /><br />In maths this technique is quite handy during modelling sessions. eg prepare a calculation and example models away from class masking areas with "digital ink". These areas can be revealed (by rubbing away)as part of the modelling process to show the method and calculation beneath, but also to help review student predictions around what might be there as process evolves (AfL). I also use this to support talk for reasoning.<br /><br />magic box<br />Uses layering on the notebook to help sort and classify. Eg a collection of calculations might be presented, or an odd one out type of quiz. Those objects that obey a certain rule will go into the box be hidden by an object. Those that don't obey the rule will appear out side of the box. Magic box is made by creating a set of objects to sort and an object to be the box/mask/screen. 0bjects that obey the rule are sent to the back, those that don't are brought to the front. The box/mask is placed on the middle layer.<br /><br />White on white<br /><br />is a favourite tool of mine, a coloured shape is placed on a contrasting coloured background. A number of text objects are created, and then recoloured to hide them against the central object eg if shape is white the text is coloured white. Pulling these out onto the contrasting colour say black, makes them visible again. <br /><br />Science - set up experiment grid - variables can be labelled in boxes, and these boxes can be noved according to which variable will be changed, and which will be kept the same -like whiteboard sticky notes.<br /><br />Coins onto a hand from the gallery would be good for KS 1.<br /><br />Create mood page - with photo(s) and sound file(s). Create mood in classrooma and annotate page with vocabulary - good for scene setting in narrative writing, or empathy in history.<br /><br />Younger children tracing handwriting letters from gallery onto whiteboard - 'Big' handwriting.<br /><br />Already mentioned hide and reveal<br /><br />Smart Gallery has a huge collection of Clip Art images and interactive resources (e.g. number squares, dice etc.) that can be dragged onto a slide to enhance it. Agree here I really like the dice for random calcualtion generators. Use the images to replace shapes in some of the hide and reveal activities, "hungry bear only eats.... Hungry bear becomes the magic box.<br /><br />Just remembered that there's a presentation on Ideas to Inspire about IWBs - see <a class=" author86-157-77-250-1243281789483-62163 url" href="http://www.ideastoinspire.co.uk/interactivewhiteboards.htm">http://www.ideastoinspire.co.uk/interactivewhiteboards.htm</a><br /><br /><br /><a class=" author86-165-121-186-1243281979609-46296 url" href="http://magazines.scholastic.co.uk/content/1069">http://magazines.scholastic.co.uk/content/1069</a> is a good link with 10 tips aimed at early years children<br /><br />@wigglemyears flash games - <a class=" author86-165-121-186-1243281979609-46296 url" href="http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/">http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/</a> are a fantastic set of resources for foundation and Key Stage 1 children.<br /><br />So loads of links and ideas which I will share with my colleagues (probably a bit at a time!)<br /><br />Visualisers next........Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-72428829227964035812009-05-22T21:43:00.000+01:002009-05-22T21:48:48.490+01:00Humpty DumptyA previous Year 6 Animation Project.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxLzMhzn90k">Humpty Dumpty</a>Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-37737644032114879932009-05-20T08:16:00.000+01:002009-05-20T08:35:50.969+01:00Suite smell of Success!!!!<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZNU0o4oYfqiHFBZGDZhKP3_xsHdg0O4_1EV5NpkIolHC69C1oUcMLqPyiGfT07cJ-HO7ngHtybtKf4iYDfV5kgvPOhCKxL8HZ99BR71GTiBJadZ9RQlP6cQ5T2HMNUw46uTApiVartIru/s1600-h/residential+day1+032.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337804714434545234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZNU0o4oYfqiHFBZGDZhKP3_xsHdg0O4_1EV5NpkIolHC69C1oUcMLqPyiGfT07cJ-HO7ngHtybtKf4iYDfV5kgvPOhCKxL8HZ99BR71GTiBJadZ9RQlP6cQ5T2HMNUw46uTApiVartIru/s320/residential+day1+032.jpg" /></a> <strong>The concept</strong></div><div align="center"><br /><div align="left">It started on a coach nearly two years ago, we were on the way to the year six residential, the new school build was being discussed. As I sat on the coach talking to our headteacher the problem of the ICT suite was raised. The problem was the layout of the school - The ICT suite was not a room in its own right but an area of the school's 'Central Learning Street'. This meant that an IWB was impossible to place without effecting the functionality of the street. How could we have a display capability to allow demonstration of ICT skills and maintain the open plan learning street concept. A scrap of paper was produced, a pencil and the concept of our ict solution was born. The idea being back to back 42" flatscreens, one above each bank of four PC's. This allowed the inegrity of the school building to be maintained and yet gave display capability in ICT teaching. Further discussion and it was decided that this concept could be extremely versatile allowing for: Display to all four screens, group work with four children displaying to one screen, two seperate groups of eight displaying either side. Coupled alongside the media system I was planning to have installed in the new school we had the capability to display messages and media in the reception area and in the main school building.</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">Finally after months of planning, numerous meetings with the furniture manufacturer and our cabling specialists the table is being assembled. Watch this spot......</div><br /><br /></div>Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-19551583058411837522009-05-11T20:19:00.000+01:002009-05-11T20:46:30.444+01:00Smart table - A nursery perspectiveThe Smart table, whilst increasingly showing its worth across all the key stages, was originally purchased with early years in mind. To that end an opportunity arose for me to see how the table was approached by a nursery child, I seized the chance and spent some time observing a 3 year old boy interacting with the Smart Table.<br /><ul><li>Manipulation of images was quickly mastered and he easily moved the images around the screen, managing to resize images after being shown once.</li><li>Paint proved highly engaging and he enjoyed mark making on the table.</li><li>The height of the table was constricting and because of the angle of use his arms were registering as touches as well as his hands.</li><li>The level of engagement with the surface was encouraging, the pupil's normal very low attention span was held for approximately ten minutes.</li><li>Only used paint and media, need to think carefully how other activities can be adapted to engage yet challenge early years pupils.</li></ul><p>For an initial play (still waiting to get the Smart table into the new school) I was encouraged by the experiment. Both the child and the accompanying member of mursery staff were engaged by the table. Unfortunately extremely limited communication skills prevented the child from giving any feedback on the table, nevertheless the engagement and attention precipitated by the table suggests that there is potential for the Smart Table to become a useable tool with nursery children.</p>Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-80021599993717777762009-05-06T19:23:00.000+01:002009-05-08T00:14:07.868+01:00The Smart Table has Landed!<div align="center"> </div><div align="left">Finally, after much anticipation and a little annoyance that I did not have the very first Smart Table in a UK primary school, the table landed at St James the Great in East Malling. We are third in the UK I think, and certainly first in Kent...</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left">I have not got as much to offer as <a href="http://h-blog.me.uk/">Iain Hallahan</a> or <a href="http://tbarrett.edublogs.org/">Tom Barrett</a> with regards the use of this tool in the primary classroom, yet I am sure as our joint experiences grow as will my rambling on here.</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left">So:</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left">Problems - </div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"><ul><br /><br /><li>It appeared at first that turning the table on was not the simplicity one would expect from a Smart product. Wrong, it is just a case (against my better judgement) of following the instructions.</li><br /><br /><li>Then it just stopped working!! No apparent reason, complete lack of touch functionality. I remodelled the table (more instruction following) USB Mouse and Keyboard plugged straight in and I was working with a desktop. Went through the simple remodelling process and it all returned to normal. The upside of this sojourn into the inner workings of the Smart Table was the chance to play with the sensitivity parameters, not needed them yet but could do.</li></ul></div><br />Unproblems:<br /><br /><ul><li>Ease of use, once up and running, so was I and all the staff who played (even the Luddites) could find there way round the simple interface.</li><br /><br /><li>The activities are simple to use yet there is a huge potential for the expansion and diversification of the content (limited by imagination I think!!!)</li><br /><br /><li>Target audience - I ordered it into school with the idea that it would be an ideal tool to ensure our Early years ICT provision is increased. Now I can see fights occuring across the Key stages for use of the table.</li><br /><br /><li>Creating content is simple and quick. After playing for only a few minutes was able to create content for the table that was age and subject appropriate.</li></ul><p>So it has landed, the new school is not finished so the Table has not got its state of the art surroundings to live in but so far the Wow! factor has been great. Only positive feedback from all age of pupils and staff.</p><p>More to follow......</p>Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-52268156920468466192009-04-19T21:00:00.000+01:002009-04-19T21:18:53.030+01:00Why Teach?Sometimes it is easy to question the worth of our chosen profession. As paperwork increases and pressures for results mount the thanklessness of the job begins to cloud our vision and dampen our desire. Then in an instant one small thing can rekindle the passion. The poem below, written by a Year 3 girl for homework (title - poetry), revitalised me last term.<br /><br /><div align="center">Who is it?</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center">He will stomp and shout,</div><div align="center">all about.</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center">His voice will boom,</div><div align="center">across the classroom.</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center">He'll huff and he'll puff,</div><div align="center">he can be extremely gruff.</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center">He is big and tall,</div><div align="center">makes me feel incredibly small.</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center">In a test you should do your best,</div><div align="center">he'll know if you've taken a rest.</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center">He will smile and wink,</div><div align="center">you will miss it if you blink.</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center">He makes learning fun,</div><div align="center">for everyone.</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center">He will let you sing and dance,</div><div align="center">but don't dare take a chance,</div><div align="center">he can stop you with a glance!</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center">Good heavens,</div><div align="center">It's Mr Evans!</div>Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-8935364828031935492009-04-12T20:47:00.000+01:002009-04-12T20:49:58.989+01:00HomequestMy year 5/6 class stop frame animation -<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzpkGbOwIUU">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzpkGbOwIUU</a>Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7843435165932060370.post-78972094316773078242009-04-09T18:07:00.000+01:002009-04-09T18:14:14.437+01:00Blogging?A post to ensure my blog has a start.<br />What is a Blog?<br />What is it for?<br />Who benefits?<br />Why Blog?<br />Just a few questions to ponder, is this medium designed to feed the voyeurism of the masses interested in staring through the portholes of people's lives and glimpsing what goes on?<br />Or does it allow the Blogger the chance to prevaricate, allowing them the ability to exist in a world that differs from their reality. A fantasy land.<br />I know not the answers to these questions but at least I have written something vaguely stimulating for a first post.Psycho65http://www.blogger.com/profile/06152331027900875132noreply@blogger.com0