Today in our final ICT session we presented our IWB resources to our peers. In groups of three we took it in turns to present and assess each others work. My presentation consisted of ten slides supporting the introductory part of a lesson on plants for a Year 1 class. The lesson was re-capping parts of a plant and introducing what plants need to stay alive.
I feel the presentation went well and I received some positive feedback, I will hopefully get the chance to use my resource in a lesson soon.
Below are some screen shots from my presentation, I have also included a screen shot of my teaching notes which give a slide by slide description of my resource.
Technology is changing fast, and so is the way children are learning. In todays session we looked at m learning, a term I was previously unfamiliar with. The term mobile learning (m learning) refers to the use of mobile and handheld devices such as mobile phones, i pads, i pods, laptops and tablets, in teaching and learning. So, any sort of learning that happens on mobile technology can be seen as m learning. Mobile learning offers fun, playful, interactive games which allow you to tap into what children already enjoy doing and add an educational value to it.
In an in-depth report, Pockets of Potential, from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, Carly Shuler highlights five opportunities to seize mobile learning's unique attributes to improve education:
Encourage "anywhere, anytime" learning. Mobile devices allow students to gather, access, and process information outside the classroom. They can encourage learning in a real-world context, and help bridge school, afterschool, and home environments.
Reach underserved children. Because of their relatively low cost they are accessible to children from economically disadvantaged communities.
Improve 21st-century social interactions. Mobile technologies have the power to promote and foster collaboration and communication, which are deemed essential for 21st-century success.
Fit with learning environments. Mobile devices can help overcome many of the challenges associated with larger technologies, as they fit more naturally within various learning environments.
Enable a personalized learning experience. Not all children are alike; instruction should be adaptable to individual and diverse learners. There are significant opportunities for genuinely supporting differentiated, autonomous and individualized learning through mobile devices.
In todays lesson we got to explore some of the games-based learning that takes place in the primary classroom. First I had a go at making a Voki, see above, Voki is a site that lets you create a speaking avatar which you can export and use anywhere you like. They are a great way to motivate students to participate, improve message comprehension, introduce technology in a fun way and can be used as an effective language tool as it changes text to speech in over 25 languages.
We also looked at Wordle, which is a site that lets you create your own word cloud from text that you provide. It is very simple to use and the result is effective. You can edit your clouds with different fonts, colour schemes and layouts. It is a great way of mind mapping with children. In the class room you could use it in literacy with describing a character using adjectives. Here is one i made in class today!
Another piece of software we looked at was Dance to Advance, which is an interactive, fun dance mat that come with software enabling you to create your own games and quizzes using visual, kinaesthetic and audio stimuli. Dance to Advance is an easy to use and fun way children can personalise their learning.
All the resources we looked at are great examples of how fun, inclusive and effective m learning can be. I for one am looking forward to using them in the classroom.
This week we looked at using ICT for speaking, listening and digital imaging. Like last week this session was very interactive and hands on and we got to explore a lot of the technology that is used in classrooms to enhance children's learning. Webcams, podcasts, digital video and images and transportable sound recording devices all provide greater opportunities for talking. They also allow for instant feedback, reflection and interactivity. Below are some of the devices we looked at.
Talking Postcards
These are recording, talking postcards which are great resources for all children, especially SEN. The Postcards can come in various sizes and offer different recording times. They can stick to the wall so are good for displays, children can record themselves talking about their work.
Talking Tins
This is a really good device that helps children with their speaking and listening skills. Like the Postcards they allow you to record and playback your own voice messages or sound effects. This video explains many of the uses for Talking Tins. They are incredibly versatile and can also be used for storytelling, treasure hunts, in displays, for relaying instructions and are particularly good for SEN children as it allows them to record what they want to write.
Podcasting
A podcast is an online broadcast a bit like a radio station, except a podcast is recorded and then uploaded to the internet. Podcasts are very inclusive and give children a voice and an audience. The link below shows The Downs Primary School, which is a great example of children using podcasts, digital imagery and blogs.
There are a number of issues that need to be considered and discussed before children begin to make podcasts, such as:
What audience are they targeting?
What language is appropriate to the audience?
Who has responsibility for the material broadcast?
What quality control is there?
E-safety: protecting the child's identity and the importance of not revealing personal information.
Digital Imaging
Digital cameras are an invaluable resource in any classroom, they are simple to use and provide a vast number of uses in the educational setting to benefit both the teacher and the children. Here are 1001 uses for a digital camera that can be used in the classroom. Taking photos is a great way for children to tell a story using their own pictures. In todays lesson we got to do just that, in groups we took some photos and imported them to Photo Story. Photo story is a fun program that helps bring still images to life. You can add text and customise each picture as well as adding music or recording someone telling the story.
Digital Video
We also looked at the possibilities of using digital video in the classroom, in particular stop-motion animation. We used a Digital Blue camera which is great for taking still photos, taking video clips and creating animations. We used plasticine to make models and took frame shots to make a stop-motion animation. Morph and Wallace and Gromit are great examples of stop-motion animation, and by getting children to make their own animations really helps them to understand how they make the digital media they love to watch.
In this session we looked at how digital media and computer control can be used across the curriculum. Computer control is a set of instructions programmed into a machine, which causes it to operate in a predetermined manner. Our day to day living is made a lot easier thanks to control technology. Some examples of objects which use computer control inside and outside the home:
Traffic lights
Washing machines
CCTV
Cookers
TV remote controls
Alarms
It's amazing when you think about the enormity of devices that use computer control in our everyday lives. So, why use computers to control things? There are a number of reasons, the main being that it is more effective and quicker. Using computers is cost effective and they don't lose concentration! It also reduces the margin for error. It is important to remember that for a computer controlled device to work it has to be programmed. To make things happen there has to be a procedure or sequence of instructions that happen in order. The Central Processing Unit in a device stores these instructions so it is able to repeat the action when instructed to.
Programable Toys and Robots
We looked at a number of programable toys that can be used in the classroom which get children thinking about; angles, direction, distance and spatial awareness.
The Bee Bot
The Bee Bot is a really good way to get children started on programmable robots, it's easy to use and very effective. It has buttons to programme it to go forward, backwards, left and right and comes with lots of activities. It's a great device that gets children learning about directional language, control and programming.
The Pippin
The Pippin is similar although it has a lot more buttons! If you want it to turn you have to put in the angle. I would say the Pippin is designed more for Key Stage 2, whereas the Bee Bot can be used with Key Stage 1. You can programme a procedure so that it can repeat it. A great feature about the Pippin is that it has a hole in the middle where you can put a pen, this enables you to programme the robot to make a shape which then draws it. Below is a video of me and my course mate Thomas Acton Bishop programming a Pippin to draw a square.
Some other examples include:
The Roamer The Pixie
Click the link below to have a go at programming Unit the robot.
With the world today relying so much on computer programming to aid us in our everyday lives it is only right that we embrace this technology and that children are encouraged to use it.
In our forth session we focused on VLE's (virtual learning environments) and MLE's (managed learning environments) which are known as 'learning platforms'. They are online environments/websites that provide a number of resources and tools which allow you to upload/download documents. They are used by learners to directly manage their learning. A learning platform is available to: learners, parents, support staff, teachers, governors and school management.
These online environments are about access for everyone, sharing, and are a great communication link with parents and carers. These are some of the features they provide:
Email
Discussion boards
Homework
File- sharing
Tests/surveys
They offer great opportunities for parental involvement, parents are able to: check on homework, see their child's progress, track attendance and access work the class are doing if their child is off sick.
Ultimately it gives children the chance to personalize and take control of their learning. An MLE or VLE helps support children to achieve the best of their abilities.
Blackboards and chalk, iconic classroom items, have been replaced by a new super whiteboard. In our third session we were introduced to the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB). The Interactive whiteboard is a large touch-sensitive screen which works with a computer or projector.
'It can be used as an alternative to virtually every other classroom resources, traditional and modern, for example blackboards, flip charts, OHPs, maps, pictures, number lines, 'big books', calculators, and cassette and video players.At a touch, the teacher has access to a bank of resources that would previously have been taken years to accumulate and a vast cupboard to store.'
- BECTA 2006, Teaching Interactively with Electronic Whiteboards in the Primary Phase (https://publications.becta.org.uk/download.cfm?resID=25918))
The Interactive whiteboard is an incredibly powerful tool with huge educational value. It is great for collaboration, sharing and discussing ideas. The IWB works on lots of different levels and is linked to different learning styles; audio, visual and kinesthetic. It can be used to deliver a wide variety of benefits to the classroom, such as:
Provides whole class participation in presentations and discussions
Develops children's thinking, discussion, literacy and ICT skills
Lessons can be enhanced by easily integrating video, animation, graphics, text and audio
Can be used to reach SEN and EAL pupils with unique and diverse learning styles
'Interactive whiteboards affect learning in several ways, including raising the level of student engagement in a classroom, motivating students and promoting enthusiasm for learning. Interactive whiteboards support many different learning styles and are used in a variety of learning environments, including those catering to students with hearing and visual impairments.'
- SMART Technologies Inc
Raising children's achievement and enhancing their learning whilst keeping them up to date with technological advances can only be seen as a good thing. It appears Interactive whiteboards can play an influential role in children's learning and will remain a prominent feature in the classroom.
Gone are the days of blackboards and chalk.
This link provides both resources and research findings from six schools who took part in a whiteboard pilot project.
In this week's lesson we looked at Web 2.0. The term “Web 2.0” was first quoted more than a decade ago by Darcy DiNucci in her article “Fragmented Future”. She predicted that:
"The Web we know now, which loads into a browser window in essentially static screenfulls, is only an embryo of the Web to come. The first glimmerings of Web 2.0 are beginning to appear, and we are just starting to see how that embryo might develop. The Web will be understood not as screenfulls of text and graphics but as a transport mechanism, the ether through which interactivity happens. It will [...] appear on your computer screen, [...] on your TV set [...] your car dashboard [...] your cell phone [...] hand-held game machines [...] maybe even your microwave oven."
– DiNucci, D. (1999) "Fragmented Future," Print 53
The internet has come on leaps and bounds in the last ten tears and DiNucci’s predictions are frightfully accurate. Web 2.0 has changed the internet from a tool which allowed you to email, shop and research into an interactive, social and collaborative platform which has revolutionized the way in which we communicate and learn. The opportunities with Web 2.0 are seemingly endless. Some examples of Web 2.0 tools include:
Facebook
Twitter
youTube
Skype
Wikipedia
Blogging
In schools today teachers and children are using Web 2.0 based tools, to facilitate and enhance their learning, such as; classroom blogs, wikis, podcasts, picture/slide shows, forums and widgets.
Blogs are a great way to foster learning, they are fun, creative and help children to keep up with technological advances.
A good example of a primary school using blogs across the school:
In todays lesson we got to explore some of the games-based learning that takes place in the primary classroom. First I had a go at making a 
