SMART Board software 9.7 now available

June 30, 2007

SMART Board software 9.7 for Microsoft Windows®, Mac OS and Linux® operating systems is now available, offering teachers more digital resources and features. Enhancements make it easier for teachers to create and manage all their resources within one easy-to-use content platform.  Notebook also now supports more languages, making it the perfect tool for teaching modern foreign languages.

Features include:

  • Dual page display to show two pages simultaneously
  • Team Content which lets teachers access Gallery content on the school network
  • Adobe® Flash® content from 2Simple, Daydream Education and Intel skool education
  • ICT co-ordinator guide and install, allowing whole school installation.

Homework Helper

June 26, 2007

 

Homework Helper is made up of lots of specialist search engines that search the internet by homework topic. We only get results from the best sites for each subject so you get better answers quicker. Just choose your year, subject, and topic from the drop down menu, enter a search term and we will find the answers and websites that will help answer your homework questions.

It’s still a beta which means it’s not quite perfect yet but we would like you to help us test it over the summer ready for you after your summer break, there are even some cool prizes for great feedback and suggestions.

I have just used it to search for some ‘useful’ ICT websites, not sure how useful the results would be for a student most of the websites returned appeared to be NCAction pages.

ICT Test Bed project - Evaluation

June 25, 2007

The final reports from the Evaluation of the ICT Test Bed project are now available.

The project undertook work on ICT implementation in three ICT Test Bed areas of social disadvantage. Two of these were within inner cities and one was in a rural area. The 28 ICT Test Bed Schools and departments in three colleges had access to high levels of ICT hardware and appropriate software, as well as support to make the most effective use of this investment.

Key findings from the research include:

*    As technology was embedded, schools’ national test outcomes improved beyond expectations.

*    Institutions that were more e-mature improved their performance levels significantly more quickly than those which were not. However, there was a dip in performance until the ICT became embedded and staff eveloped the requisite skills.

*    Effective use of ICT personalised learning by enabling greater earner choice within the curriculum, improved assessment for learning nd more learner-directed teaching.

*    The use of electronic registration improved attendance levels in some schools by three to four per cent, while behaviour management systems were perceived to have a positive impact on both behaviour and attendance.

*    Where new technologies were introduced into all of a school’s classrooms at the same time, a culture of sharing and mutual support developed as the whole staff faced the task of embedding the technology into their pedagogy.

*    ICT made it much easier to share assessment information with parents via school websites or learning platforms.

If you would like any further information on the evaluation please contact Helen Aston.

Know IT all for Parents resource

June 22, 2007

ChildNet International have launched an excellent free e-safety CD ROM aimed at parents entitled Know It All for Parents.
’A key aim of the CD-Rom is to encourage parents to have a dialogue with their children about the internet and there is special material produced by and for young people, and a special Activity Centre with quizzes and games that parents and children can play together’
Schools can order bulk copies of this new resource, commissioned by the DfES, from Childnet International, or Childnet have agreed with PC WORLD that they will make a further 200,000 copies available free to the public through their stores from July onwards.
For more information visit Childnet International’s parent pages.

Teachers’ online opinions wanted!

June 21, 2007

The ‘i-Class’ research project being carried out by the Institute of Education is looking for primary and secondary school teachers who can take a few minutes to complete an online questionnaire about their use of the Internet.

The researchers are trying to build an education internet search engine and are interested in how teachers are currently using the internet to search for information.

If you are a school teacher and have five minutes to spare then your help would be really appreciated. The questionnaire is completed anonymous.

The questionnaire is available at the following website:

http://www.lkl.ac.uk/ltu/surveys/survey.php?sid=79

For further information contact Faezeh Seyedarabi at the Institute of Education, University of London.

Strategic Leadership of ICT (SLICT)

June 11, 2007

I have copied the following from the NCSL website.  What is important is the final paragraph, this is the last year of SLICT and is now open to schools even if their headteacher has not attended.

Strategic Leadership of ICT (SLICT) is a unique programme focusing on the strategic role of school leaders in leading and developing ICT. Developed in partnership by NCSL, Becta and SSAT, the programme seeks to engage school leaders in developing and implementing their vision for learning in their school.

SLICT is not a skills-based ICT course, but an opportunity for school leaders to build their knowledge and understanding of key issues around technology to enhance and extend learning in and out of schools.

2007–08 programmes provide the final opportunity for you to participate in NCSL’s SLICT programme. As such the requirement that you must be a headteacher has been relaxed. If you have the strategic responsibility for ICT in your school you may now be eligible to attend SLICT. Please contact the SLICT team if you have any queries.

Shropshire blogs feed

June 4, 2007

You may have noticed that we have a feed from Shropshire education blogs within the sidebar.  The blogs included are the ones that we know about, if you don’t see your posts appearing let me know and I will include them.  If you would like this feed on your blog paste the following into a text widget in your sidebar.

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