it4L

A follow up to the Big Red Button, click on the link if you are bored

Google seems to be the topic of conversation all over the net nowadays. If they aren’t introducing a new service, Googlebase being the most recent then someone is using Google for other ‘creative’ purposes. The latest purposes I have come across are:

• Guess-the-google
• Montage-a-google
• Googlefight

Free mind mapping software for use across the curriculum and across all Key Stages.

As a member of the West Midlands Regional Broadband consortium, all Shropshire schools are eligible for free copies of MindManager Smart. This product has been installed on the ‘laptops for teachers’ laptops, but a number of teachers have commented that they do not have the software anywhere else. If you would like to install MindManager Smart on other PCs in school you can download it following the link below.

http://www.extra.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet_1/mm/

If you havenÂ’t got the password you can get it by emailing Nick Hawksworth or any of the it4l team.

Originally posted by Steph Ruddick

Managing your Project - more DiDA resources from “DiDA delivered” - via WMNet, our Regional Broadband Consortium, including a free (but rather limited) mind maping tool. I’d be interested to hear what people think of these - note I found the arrow bullets didn’t work in Firefox

This post on the ShropshireHOS blog outlines the way that cSwing Performance Analysis software is starting to be used to great effect at Thomas Adams school in Wem. PE Staff have used some of the school’s HOS allocation for training on this package, and it has already shown its worth in improving pupils’ performance.

Here are a couple more links to DiDA related resources:

MSN group set up by Jacqui Edwards (http://groups.msn.com/EdexcelDiDAResources). Lots of messages being discussed daily and several resources to support the teaching of DiDA.

Chris Sharples’ current list of DiDA hints and tips kept at http://www.gr8ict.com/school.htm#learningcrossc

While in Blessed Robert Johnson Catholic College, Telford, I observed part of a year 9 lesson, taught by Tim Curtis, with the students following Unit 9.1.

The students were using Excel to plan the water ride in Flowol.

Here are the files used:
Example of a planning sheet (camera)
Subroutine planning sheet

Thanks Tim for the resources.

Many schools will already have, and know the value of, the original Map Detectives. This is a new, updated adventure game in the same genre, combining problem solving with map reading and geographical skills.
Read the rest of this entry »

Article taken from NAACE newsletter:

Making The News, created and hosted by the Regional Broadband Consortia, allows pupils to research, write and publish news reports, interviews, articles and flash-blogs online. With advice and tools to create fully designed ‘newspapers’ and tips on writing styles, Making The News encourages creativity, communication and literacy skills.
Read the rest of this entry »

An interesting article on the future of education, with input from five of the leading blue-sky thinkers in educational technology. The emphasis is on game-based learning, although other avenues are followed. It’s interesting to see how visions of the future of education move away from the classroom since the classroom is only an imposition anyway; tutors are more accessible online anyway so the historical difficulty of obtaining an education and finding a tutor is now less of an obstacle. For secondary education, I’m still a bit suspicious of the proposal of an online-only education. Where will rural pupils do any socialising if not school? What about the social structures and discipline that develop in a social peer group? I really can’t see social awareness developing online the same as in a f2f situation. Don’t get me wrong, my leanings are towards a greater acceptance of electronic learning but really I’d like to see it develop as a blended learning tool, a transparent component of a learning opportunity that is enriched by both online and offline content. eLearning is no panacaea; it needs managing and differentiating like any other learning resource although the rewards that an appropriately applied elearning resource can be huge. Pedagogy is key - good teachers who are passionate about learning make the most difference.