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At BETT last week we saw a number of new technologies and approaches.  Click below for a quick intro into some of the things that we found interesting.

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Michelle D’arcy Jewell and myself ran a successful Sharepoint course on Monday that covered a range of topics including CSS, embedding Flash Movies and Webplayers. There was a lot of interest in the webplayer (see image below) which lets users select a video from a scrolling list of thumbnails. It is a free download from www.viscomsoft.com/products/webplayer/index.html

National Schools Film Week (NSFW) provides teachers and their students the opportunity to see a wide range of films at local cinemas entirely free-of-charge. This year is the 14th annual festival and promises to bring you even more films in even more locations than ever before. From major urban centres to small towns, NSFW extends education into local cinemas, giving teachers the opportunity to use the power of film to cover many different subjects.

The festival is available to any school. Every year we are able to take more groups to the cinema. After a record attendance of 410,000 last year, we hope to achieve 450,000 in 2009.

We welcome bookings of all sizes. Some schools will bring an entire Year group or Key Stage while others attend on a class-by-class basis. We do not limit places to any number of students or schools to any number of bookings. As long as there is space in the cinema, you are welcome!

To book your places, visit the booking section or phone 020 7292 7300.

Enter this competition by posting your video response to the following question:

If you had 5 minutes to talk with the Attorney General on what should be different in the UK today, what would you say?

Please submit your entry by uploading a short film to the tab above. The competition closes at midnight on 16th September. The Attorney General will select up to 30 top entries selected, the winning entrants will be invited to become members of the Attorney General’s Youth Advisory Council. The first meeting of the Youth Advisory Council will be held by November, and those selected will be announced on the 22nd September at a launch event in London. The top three entries will receive an Attorney General award. This is the chance to be recognised and to make a real difference. The Attorney General will write to those selected for the Attorney General Youth Advisory Council, their head teachers and local MP’s congratulating them on their achievement.

http://www.youtube.com/agyouthnet

While at BETT earlier in the year, one of the companies that impressed me was BrainPop, you can now find a variety of videos on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/user/BrainPOPUK).  Here is their latest release, where Tim and Moby tell you about Swine Flu.

In the age of digital literacy and creativity, educators need to seek out best practice in the use of the tools available. Apple Teacher Institute offers a unique opportunity to develop the ideas you have already had about digital creativity, to see how others are using these new tools with great benefits in learning gains, and to understand the pedagogy that underpins the excitement of digital media.

On this four-day residential course, you will learn in an environment where you are given the opportunity, inspiration, space and support to be creative with likeminded colleagues. All learning on this unique course will give you a thorough background in digital media but is carried out in a relaxed and friendly manner so that newcomers to the disciplines covered will not feel intimidated.

What you will learn

At this event, you will investigate a range of activities that focus on different digital media:

■ Digital storytelling

■ Podcasting

■ Creating content using digital video cameras and editing software

■ Exploring the use of still images, music and animation in multimedia projects

■ Methods for sharing digital projects on iPods, portable devices, DVD and the Web

■ Sharing of experiences, action planning and portfolio development

■ Development of skills in subject/age group relevant projects

Featured Solutions

iLife ‘09 is a seamless integration of five groundbreaking media manipulation programs: iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand and iWeb — each of which is designed around a specific media type:

■ Digital Images — iPhoto is a ‘one-stop shop’ for dealing with digital photographs in school. With iPhoto you can download your images, edit them, organise them into albums, use Faces and Places, export them as movies or Web pages, and even produce interactive slideshows using audio files from your iTunes music library.  Photo libraries and albums can be accessed directly from iMovie and iDVD, giving you a completely integrated multimedia suite.

■ The moving image — iMovie is acknowledged as the easiest digital video editing tool for the classroom, but as part of iLife it takes on the mantle of multimedia editor par excellence. The ability to not only import and edit a wide range of video formats but to edit audio with finesse and to create beautiful still image pans and zooms has turned iMovie into a multimedia tool to inspire creative learning.  Despite its seamless integration with iDVD, iMovie is not merely a means to an end, but is in itself one of the most highly-regarded educational applications ever brought to market.

■ Sharing the message — iDVD lets you share slideshows from iPhoto, audio files from iTunes and GarageBand, and video projects from iMovie by burning a DVDwhich can be played on almost any DVD Player.

■ Making music and Podcasts the Apple way — GarageBand turns each of the Macs in your classroom into a recording studio and podcast creation centre packed with hundreds of virtual instruments and a recording engineer or two for good measure. It’s the easiest way to create, perform and record music and Podcasts on the Mac. With minimal cost and effort, you can produce custom music for your video, DVD, Web or podcasting project.

■ Put your life on the Web — Featuring a selection of stunning Apple-designed Web templates, iWeb makes Web design a drag-and-drop endeavour. Choose your template, pick a page type and open the built-in Media Browser to drag in your school’s iLife content, including photos from iPhoto, digital video from iMovie or podcasts your pupils created with GarageBand.

The course will also look at other tools complementary to iLife that allow the further manipulation and integration of sound, picture and animation resources:

■ Final Cut Express is a robust editing solution for digital video enthusiasts.  Featuring the same interface as the Emmy Award-winning Final Cut Pro, it provides professional-level editing, compositing and real-time effects for full-featured DV editing.

■ iWork Make Documents, spreadsheet and presentations the Mac way. Learn about creative use of iWork ’09, Apple’s productivity suite – the easiest way to create great-looking documents, spreadsheets, and presentations

■ Aperture Powerful photo editing and management 2 delivers streamlined tools for moving photos from capture to output with uncompromising quality.

The way digital media is used in education is evolving with new technologies and curricular uses appearing each year.

This four-day course, with accommodation and meals, will take place at Cheltenham College in Gloucestershire which has good rail and road connections.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear from innovators in the area of digital media in education.

Featured Solutions

Outline Programme (subject to change)

Day 1

— Arrive at midday
— Registration
— Keynote
— Tutorials in the use of Mac OS X and iLife
— Group activities differentiated for experience
— Showcase

Day 2

— Keynote
— Three sessions of tutorials, differentiated into beginner and intermediate for each:

• Animation
• iMovie
• Final Cut Express
• iWork ʼ09
• iDVD
• Music (including Logic Express)
• Podcasting
• Photography (including Aperture)

Day 3

— Group project
— Showcase

A session on DigitalCre8or and EuroCreator

— Digital Creator Award and EuroCreator
— Group project
— Showcase

Day 4

— Keynote
— Showcase

Register Now

Spaces are limited so you should register now to avoid disappointment.  To receive a booking form to reserve your place at ATI 2009 please contact Fiona McGlashan of Impact Exhibitions:

By Phone or Fax: 01223 237426
By Email: impact@appleshack.com
By Post:

Impact Exhibitions (ATI)
6 High Street
Oakington
Cambridge
CB24 3AG

Impact Exhibitions are an agency appointed by Apple for the purpose of taking bookings for and managing the logistics of ATI 2009. Any information you give them will only be used for the organisation of ATI 2009 and will not be given to third parties without your express permission.

Please note: attendance at this is event is subject to payment of a fee. You will be requested to remit the sum of £500.00 (ex VAT) to cover the conference fee, accommodation and meals. Full details will be provided upon confirmation of your booking.

2009 is the European Year of Creativity and Innovation . It aims are to promote Creativity with Digital Media and promote the benefits of its use in teaching and learning.

Eurocreator is an educational initiative designed to encourage students and teachers throughout Europe to create at least one piece of media. To support this initiative , the EuroCreator website has been developed to facilitate educators and recognise and reward the creativity of young people. EuroCreator offers a pan European platform for students and educators to get creative and share their work. The website will be delivered in 10 European languages and offers certification from the EU Commissioner for Education, Youth and Culture, Jan Figel. ‘….priorities include ed objectives such as: awakening and reinforcing creativity and innovation or developing innovative pedagogic approaches involving the creative arts and schools’ Highlights include……… Certification from the EU Commissioner Delivered in 10 European languages The website offers a Safe & Moderated online environment Online teacher support material Full Technical Cross-platform solution To download the  PDF - The EuroCreator Info Pack which has more information on this project click here

Thanks to Joe Moretti (www.makemoremusic.co.uk) for the heads up on this.

The following details the timeline for this year’s Create It! Awards:

• 6^th March – New Deadline for submissions
• 10^th March – Judging entries
• 13^th March – Schools will be informed of short listed entries
• 20^th March – Confirmation from schools of those people attending on the night
• 23^rd March – Post tickets out to schools, or schools collect from STDC/Shirehall
• 26^th March – Create It! Awards evening at Albrighton Hall Hotel 

As an authoity we have been working with Stephen and Louise from DoBe for a couple of years and have found them great to work with.  I have just received this update from Louise:

Check out this amazing video that I stumbled upon yesterday http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA

 

Given the message in this video link and the fact that this message is delivered using digital media, I’d just like to remind everyone of what it is we do and how we do it. 

We encourage teachers and pupils to use technology in the classroom to enhance learning and teaching as well as helping them to create and use digital media i.e podcasts, videos, animations etc.  We aim to bring the classroom and learning to life by helping teachers to deliver their subjects in a way that pupils find exciting and enjoyable.

 

I also wanted to give you the heads up on the new resources that we offer: 

·         Do Be preloaded memory sticks with a choice of study skills, anti-bullying or finance education for your students for £10 each.

·         Branded memory sticks (printed with your logo) for as little as £4 each.

·         Professional sound and media production, offering a unique slant on your filming needs.

·         In-service and NQT Training – to help staff to develop teaching strategies using a combination of the latest technologies such as Nintendo DS, Wii, Guitar Hero and MP4s.

 

If you are interested in any of these services or products please give me (Louise) a call on 01383 829969.

Teachers from Shropshire will be demonstrating how they have used DoBe Learn Its in the classroom at this years ICT Conference.

CEOP has their own channel on YouTube: uk.youtube.com/ceop

Here is just one of a selection of videos you can view: