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Recently, the CEOP Centre published its annual Strategic Overview which contains all the key themes that you as parents need to be aware of in relation to internet safety. In particular, the report covers environments where our  intelligence suggests are frequented by offenders, as well as explaining their particular behaviour patterns – some of which could be useful early signs to watch out for.

It is vital that we all understand the way in which technology is evolving, so that we can understand the threat posed by those who would seek to harm our children. By understanding these environments, we can all ensure that we have the knowledge to empower our children in staying safe online.

Convergence

Convergence of technology and behaviour is one of the most significant trends that has been seen in the last year. The traditional types of online environments – social networking, online gaming and instant messaging – are now merging to become components of larger social sites. An example of this is the integration of instant messenger applications, such as Windows Live and AIM, within social networking sites – in other words sites that once were designed for young people to post pictures and keep in touch with their friends online are now also offering instant online “chat” facilities.

As a result, the terms “online” and “offline” are hardly ever used these days by young people – the reason is simple – they are now one and the same.

These evolving environments can present new risks for children, offering the potential for offenders to take advantage of the information available to them. The expansion of social sites and the way they are being used by children and young people can make the ‘grooming’ process easier, as offenders are able to build a range of contacts and express shared interests and opinions with children, who are increasingly used to having the online world as their audience.
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Andrew Davis, head of Clunbury Primary School has been nominated for a Handheld Learning Award and has reached the final stage!  If any of you would be willing to vote for him and could spread the word it would be great.

www.handheldlearning2008.com/awards/the-finalists#p

DCSF and Futurelab are running a project titled ‘millionfutures’.  It is a web based project that collects users’ ideas on virtual paper planes about the future of learning.  It allows users to view the contributions of others and search by keyword.  As well as collecting user’s views it is a wonderfully designed and innovative website.  Visit it here…millionfutures

A Shrewsbury based teacher of ICT has created his own blog (bionikmonkee.wordpress.com) where he is publishing tips/tutorials on the use of Photoshop.

His latest article (bionikmonkee.wordpress.com/20
08/09/23/photoshop-resources/) includes several useful links to free resources.

There are a number of on-screen physics simulators that can be used to discover properties of materials.  Learners can use the computer to investigate the way things move and inter-react, generating questions and providing the means to find answers.  Using this genre of software there are opportunities for developing writing and visual creativity through storytelling and pictures, expanding young minds and getting them thinking.

  Moovl is a Futurelab-sponsored development that has been around for ages and has huge amounts of resources accompanying it. It requires a subscription of £100 a year but the learning gains for active imaginations can be immense.  There’s a wealth of discovery through experimentation to be had.

John Rowe from St. Mary’s Primary School, Albrighton, showed me Phun yesterday and  after five minutes I was hooked.  “What if I put a spring here?  What if I move this?  What happens if….????”  Within a remarkably short space of time I was seeing how things worked by creating my own machines on-screen.  Phun allows fluids to be modelled and is a bit more complex than Moovl, yet it’s free software and there is a community of users who post on a forum.  Users can  upload their creations to an online space.  If you can get access, there are a number of videos on YouTube showing how to use it and some examples of what can be done.

Please let us know how you get on with these (or other) tools – there’s no substitute for having exciting examples of work from the classroom.

Got a pile of art work that needs assessing? Sort it into groups of about 6 and spread out on the table. Make a set of individual name cards for your whole class – big enough to show up in a digital photograph.  You might want to use different coloured cards for your groups so names can be found quickly. Cards will last longer if you laminate them . Put  a name card next to each piece of work and take a clear photo.  You will only need about 5 photos for your whole class and you have a record of their work in minutes. You can also use it to record model making and you can use the cards again and again. You may want to share the photos with the class or with parents.

Got a display or classroom layout that really works well?  Photograph it and put  away in your planning folder for next time.

Flash is the ultimate tool for creating animations that are easily transferred to the web.  Even though it is industry-standard it can be used at any level and we’ve seen some superb examples from people of all ages and abilities.

Web 2.0 applications are catching up though, and here’s one I found that looks as though it is going to give plenty of opportunities for developing simple animations.  Called AjaxAnimator it is still in Beta (but so are plenty of other everyday applications) so expect a few bugs.  It’s great fun to play with though, and certainly gets the principles of animation over without having to install costly applications on a computer.  All you need is a browser (they suggest Firefox is best) and you’re set to go.

Despite the obvious learning opportunities it offers, sometimes it’s difficult to justify buying a digital video camera for everybody.  There are limitations to using a DV camera; usually you need to connect the camera to the computer to get the video from it, and it’s unlikely that there will be enough for the whole class to use anyway.  What’s needed is a quick and easy-to-use portable device with removable storage, so while one pupil is editing their video, another can be using the camera.

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We are probably all guilty of wasting energy especially when using computers but here’s an interesting thought for you…..many of us use Google and the Google homepage is predominantly white; white is not the natural state of pixels and so your monitor uses energy making the pixels white.  Therefore wouldn’t it be better if Google used a homepage that was predominantly black?  Well look no further! Based on research into energy saving Heap Media have created a search engine called Blackle based on Google but with far fewer white pixels.  It is a contentious issue as energy used to create white or black pixels depends on whether your monitor is crt or tft however it does raise awareness of a crucial issue.  Visit and investigate Blackle .

Notes from JISC presentation at WMnet 16th September 2008
This is an impressive collection of on-line resources which is being promoted by WMnet.
The collection consists of 11 on-line resource packages
• Education Image Gallery – currently available to all WMnet schools, subscription ends 31 July 2009.  Getty images available to use copyright free.  All KS’s.
• Guardian & Observer Archive – newspaper archive dating back 200 years.  Contains articles, pictures & advertisements.  JISC website has examples of use with curriculum.  All KS’s.
• Keesing’s World News Archive – Keesing’s is ‘neither a newspaper nor a magazine.  It is a reference resource recording facts and events to form a continuous archive.’  Content covering the last 76 years of world events.  JF has a paper copy.  Mainly aimed at KS3+ but could be of benefit to all teachers.
• Times Digital Archive – similar to the Guardian.
• Science Resource Centre – searchable resource of all sciences and science related topics.  Mainly aimed at KS3+.
• History Study Centre – 500+ study units: historical newspaper articles, images, official documents, transcriptions of speeches, maps… All KS’s
• OUP School’s Package
o Oxford Language Dictionaries Online – French, German, Italian, Spanish & Russian – each language in from and to English.  All KS’s
o Oxford Reference Online – resource aimed mainly at coursework study for KS4+.
o Oxford Dictionary of National Biography – 56,000 biographies.  Mainly aimed at KS3+.
o Grove Art Online – covers all aspects of the visual arts.  Aimed at KS4+.
o Grove Music Online – covers all aspects of music.  Aimed at KS4+.
Pricing
All(1) are priced on a per pupil basis.  More pupils within a collective group lower unit price.  Groups could be single schools, groups of schools, LA’s or RBC’s.  WMnet are asking that any interested groups register with them in tome for the next ‘aggregation day’ on 22nd October 2008.  Schools registering after this will not be added to the existing group and will therefore have to pay a different unit price.
(1) Guardian & Observer Archive uses a different pricing structure.  The content is effectively purchased in perpetuity but a hosting fee is charged by the publisher.  There is no opt=out from the three-year fixed term.
The agreement is for a three year period, although there will be a possibility of termination in July 2009.
Free Trial
A 30-day free trial is available from JISC at http://www.jcs.nen.gov.uk/help/free-trials.html