The Final Week - Presentations and Reflections

The final week of our ICT course was our chance to showcase our skills of using SMART Notebook within the context of creating a multimedia classroom resource, and to reflect on our attainment and participation in the module on the whole. As such, this blog will be considerably shorter than the others.

The Presentation:

To observe the multimedia aspects on offer in the presentations of the other students in the group was a fantastic insight, not only did it give me the chance to observe how they would appear in the classroom, it was also fantastic to become aware of other uses of the software and ideas for lessons.

On a personal note, I do believe that my presentation went well, and obviously, there would be room for improvement. Also considering that I chose to do a starter activity, as opposed to a main lesson meant that I did not have to introduce any new teaching within that relatively small time frame given, so I had the chance to provide a resource to aid revision of what would have been a previous lesson, and show how this would move onto a similar, related lesson.

The Reflection:

The course has provided a wonderful look at the role of Information and Communication Technology, not only within the lessons specified as ICT, but the application of such technologies available that can be used across the entire curriculum.

A lot of the tools that we experimented with in the workshops, such as bee-bots, can have a wonderful use within the classroom due to their simplicity and application. However, these tools cannot be used as a matter of normality, because it reduces the wow-factor of the resource, it would be a huge disappointment if such resources were to become boring to the students because of over-use. No-one would want to see a bee-bot with a sad face, would they?

Overall, I think that this module has been a very worthwhile and interesting experience, and has helped wonderfully in preparing me for the challenge of teaching ICT and using it in my lessons..

I thought I would sign off with a piece of advice, best of luck everyone and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Alex

Creativity and ICT - Let's Dance!

With this being one of the last sessions on the ICT course, it was time to get fully interactive and start to gets to grips with the immense amount of technology that are available to schools. Over the last few weeks, we have come across programmable robots, digital microscopes, data loggers and even the odd stop-motion animation. However, despite these objects, and many more besides, the dance mat was always going to be the best of the bunch. (Despite the appeal however, it must be said that this cannot be constantly brought out into the classroom, because the novelty will eventually wear off). It was recorded in an article in 2001 by The Guardian, that ICT was in danger of becoming too pre-planned and boring for the students, it goes without saying therefore that with innovations such as those listed above and in this blog, that there is less chance of that happening.

Whilst the initial hook of the lesson was checking out the dancing of those in the group, the programme itself, RM Dance to Advance, was an amazing initiative, with the function to be able to use the questions and games it provides, or to create your own. This can make it highly relevant to the current topic of study, whilst also making it easily accessible to the children, who will be able to enjoy the software. There is however an obvious sensitivity issue that needs to be addressed here, and that is that children with certain disabilities will not be able to operate the software or fully interact with the features.

Scratch:

After the fun and games of the dance mat, the focus turned to Scratch, a free piece of software which allows a user to program ‘sprites’ (pictures) into doing a series of actions. This is in a very similar way to the programmable robots (Bee-bots and Pippins) and other software like Logo. However, Scratch can allow the user to really interact with the programming to create whatever the user wants, (within reason), from games to short videos.

Whilst I found Scratch to be really interesting, the main problem I had with it was getting used to putting every command in the right order. Whilst this may not seem difficult when you only want the sprite to move forward a few paces, when you look at the example in the screenshot below, you can see what how vital this becomes. (This is obviously a more advanced user, but the point remains valid). Regardless of this, it is very easy to see why this software is as popular as it is, because once the user is familiar with the different settings, it is remarkably easy to use. Especially due to political influences of late, which suggest that computer programming, albeit it at a basic level, is set to be introduced into the curriculum, although this is still to be confirmed.

The video below explains how to sue some of the basic programming skills in Scratch, and how to create your own sprite to use within the programme.

Wordle:

As a demonstration of Wordle, I thought that I would use the contents of this blog to create a picture, which can be seen below.  The aim of Wordle is  to look at the content of a piece of writing, taken out the very common words, such as “I” and “and”, and creates a picture, something that Wordle refers to as a 'Word Cloud'. The most commonly used words in the piece of writing will be the largest, and the least common will be shown in a smaller font, thus emphasising the content of an article. Wordle also has its uses within the classroom, and is a wonderful resource for creating classroom displays, due to the variations that can be placed upon the font and colour.

As such, creativity is required within the ICT classroom to stop lessons stagnating and becoming repetitive and boring, and a lot of these resources can be used in a cross-curricular manner to good effect, and an example of this being the dance mat. However, it is important to remember that if these items are over-used, their wow-factor will reduce, and as such, these items should be used sparingly and even possibly used as a treat in case of sustained good behaviour as a reward.

Keep Calm and Use the Force!

Alex

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2001/jun/12/schools.itforschools8

http://www.wordle.net/

ICT and Literacy – Speaking, Listening and Digital Imaging

Well, to describe the session as ‘hands-on’ would be an understatement, wandering around the university grounds with a digital camera, and making a stop-motion animation with a digital camcorder and plasticine was an interesting experience. To give these topics proper representation, it is only fair to look at these two items individually; I think it is safe to assume that we know the majority of the functions of plasticine.

For the classroom environment, digital cameras are becoming more and more of an valuable resource, and are being used in a variety of ways, but is not limited to;

·         Capturing children on camera as a record of achievement
·         Permanent capture of work
·         Keeping a record of activities

Furthermore, in addition to those listed above, we used computer programs to create a photo story, another asset to the classroom because in the form of encouraging artistic development, it allows the children to play around with photographs, and annotate them to tell a story, based on their actual experiences. This can then be made into a video using the same software. The created videos give the child not only a sense of achievement, because these can be shared in a varitey of different ways, but it also allows the other children, and staff in the room an oppurtuinity to see the world as they see it. I, for one, think that as a teacher, an insight into the mind of the children that you are teaching is a wonderful oppurtunity. The following video provides a basic tutorial on how to use the PhotoStory3 software, which we used in the session to create our photo stories.

The photostory also provides a very effective link to literacy lessons, by allowing children to plan out a story, and then physically go out and (albeit not write about it) but to create the story in their own way, and construct it effectively, both very important literacy components regarding writing. Abbott, when writing about ICT and Literacy and positives and negatives of a fusion of the two, (such is the case with photostories), suggests that because of the wide range of resources available online, it can help the student, but it should not be used as an alternative to writing, because new technologies will constantly appear, but some things, such as writing, should never be replaced and overlooked, and it is implicitly suggested that writing is one of those.

Moving onto stop-motion animation, this provided a lot of opportunities for some very interesting creations. The digital camcorder that was used was able to not only record, but take still photos of ‘frames’ that were then collated and put in order to produce a moving picture. Within the classroom context, this can fit in very well with literacy, and especially story writing, because the children can write out a story, or script, and then use the digital technology to put their ideas onto film. I have had some technical difficulties in uploading the video below, but hopefully, this will work, and you can see a very basic stop-motion animation in action. If not, just think of any film or cartoon with the two characters above in it, and pretend that we did that!

To sum up, digital imaging can have a huge cross-curricular influence, especially with literacy, and can provide the teacher with records of achievement, and is a method of recording the child so assessment and development can be made a lot easier. As a teacher, I can see myself using the technology quite a lot, especially the digital cameras, mainly for assessment purposes, but it will also allow the child some freedom with technology, which they do crave.

Until next time,

Keep Calm and Stay Sane,

Alex

Chris Abbott, ICT: Changing Education, (2001)

Bee-Bots, Technology and Digital Media

This session was a bit of an amalgamation of several items of technology, from Bee-Bots to Digital Microscopes. However, the sheer amount of technology available is startling. Digital media is also becoming more and more available within the classroom, with a variety of programs and other activities of interest that can be used in the classroom; Messenger-Davies describes media as a collection of different medium, because every aspect of technology or print is a different medium, and as such, has value in education. It just happens that some different mediums are responded to better by the children. 

Despite having prior experience of using some of the robotic technology in the classroom, albeit when I was 7, the Bee-Bots, Pippins, and similar devices fascinated me. To be able to use and program simple robots within the classroom environment was an amazing experience, and one I definitely enjoyed when I was in Year Two. The following video shows some of the applications of Bee-Bots in the classroom.

However, at that age, I found it difficult to grasp the concepts that it brought up, and what relevance it had to computers and the world other than mathematics, we were using angles and lengths, that made sense, but making a connection was difficult. This is my only negative to using this fun, and highly accessible form of teaching as it can be used within a variety of lessons and situations.

Moving onto the digital microscopes, I found these to be great fun and very simple to use. The program itself, 'Digital Blue' was fairly self explanatory and user friendly, but having no labels for some of the more complex buttons that you could press was a bit difficult and made certain areas confusing. On the whole however, it was a fun and rewarding task, and the role for it in the classroom was ideal, especially when a twenty pence coin was put in it. Just to see how dirty it was! This tool is perfect for use within the classroom, and particularly in science, in my opinion, because it allows the children to really investigate the materials that are around them, and by letting them find objects themselves, can really exploit their natural curiosity.

Whilst these aspects of technology are useful, it is important to remember that they are not toys, and there have to be restrictions on their usage, but it is important to make sure that this does not stifle the children, and by doing that, make them lose interest. The important thing with this is to make sure children enjoy the technology, because, I absolutely love using it all!

Until next week,

Keep Calm and Eat Cupcakes!!

Alex

Virtual Learning Environments

Quite a recent development for schools, the managed and virtual learning environment is a new way for teachers, staff and students to share work, lesson plans and other relevant information over the internet. However, the usage of the systems varies massively depending upon the institution and the staff working there, if staff members are reluctant to use the system, there is very little chance of the system being used effectively within the school environment.The following video describes the VLE much better than I can...

Due to the current position of many of us here at Middlesex University, we are unable to access the systems that are used in schools, however, at Middlesex University, we are able to access our own one, which is operated by Blackboard Learning (and WebCT), which we know as MyUniHub. The following demonstration shows how it is possible to use the available resources that have been placed upon MyUniHub as a student. It is important to understand here, that whilst all VLEs are different, their main function remains exactly the same, and that is to support the learning of the students that use the facility.

Step One – Logging In:

In order to use the virtual learning environment, the user must have an ID Number/User ID and a password. This will enable the user to access all the features and resources that have been made available to them by their teachers/lecturers, the personal areas will remain locked away until a username and password have been entered.

Step Two – Finding the Resources:

Once logged into the required area, you will come up to a screen, which may be similar to the following, outlining the different subjects that you are taking, or points of study that are being followed. Selecting one of these will guide you into that subject area, and towards any resources, tasks or work required for that subject. For an example here, we will look inside the folder for Primary Mathematics.

Step Three – Opening the Resources:

Once you have selected the subject, and filed through the different folders representing different areas of study, (in the Mathematics area here, you need to go through some different screens before the main area appears). You will be able to access the course content, which in this case, holds resources, help for assignments and other useful things. Clicking these will open the resource.

The Virtual Learning Environment, when used properly, can massively enhance the learning of the students, and make it possible to access their learning outside of the confines of the school building.
                                   

MyUniHub into the teaching at Middlesex caused huge confusion, especially amongst new students, myself being one.

Martin Weller, in a book directly concerning the formation and use of these virtual learning environments, claims that despite initial worries and concerns, mainly around the operation of the systems and training, that people do grow to appreciate their use. The main point that he wishes to get across is 'Don't Panic', because it will become easier and more manageable over time.

Overall though, the virtual learning environment, if used properly, can be a wonderful tool for the development of learning in and outside of the classroom.  It does take a while to get used to the software, yes, but once this obstacle has been overcome, they can be brilliant tools to use.

Until next week,

Keep Calm and Eat Cake! (yes there is a new one of these every week...)

Alex

Martin Weller, Virtual Learning Environments: Using, Choosing and Developing your VLE (2007)

Smart Notebook and Interactive White Boards

Whilst whiteboards (and blackboards) and computers have been in our classrooms for a while now, it is only recently that the mixture of the two have come into regular use within the school environment, in fact, I was actually at school during the introduction of SMART Boards into the classroom. (It should be made clear at this stage that whilst ‘SMART Technologies’ are one of the leading companies in the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) market, they are not the only company selling the products, however, this blog will be focused on the SMART software). As such, part of becoming a teacher means that you need to be aware of the classroom environment, and the IWBs are now becoming a hugely important part of that environment.

For the sake of this blog, I feel it is important to separate the two aspects of the SMART Technology, namely the SMART Notebook software, and the Interactive Whiteboard hardware, in order to avoid confusion...

SMART Notebook:

The SMART Notebook software, I find, is very simple to use. Whilst there are large amounts of multimedia resources available as well as colour and pen changes that can be made at the touch of a button, the software retains its simplicity and ease of use. As such, I truly believe that there is very little which can go wrong with the human aspect of the operation of the software. Below is a video showing the very basics of the SMART Notebook Software (the video itself is made by SMART Technologies)

However, this is not to say that nothing can go wrong, because it can. From personal use, I can confirm that on occasion, the software can fail to load properly, and be temperamental in places. This obviously, is not ideal within the classroom environment, and teachers should have available resources, away from the computer setting, that they can use in case of a technical failure. It must be said though, that this does not happen very often.

The Smart Board:

Although the SMART Notebook Software is a wonderful development, it remains little more than an advanced version of ‘Microsoft Paint’ without the hardware, namely the SMART Board. Again, very similarly to the software, the board is easy to use, you pick up a pen from the tray, and the tray instantly tells the board, and then the computer, that you wish to write. Same applies when using the eraser. The most obvious application for this in the classroom is using the SMART Notebook Software. The video below, again by SMART, shows the ease of use of the technology in American classrooms (the technology is the same in both The United States and Great Britain).

The other impressive thing regarding the SMART technology is that when outside of the Notebook Software, the board is essentially your computer screen, and in this case, your finger becomes the mouse. Again, the video below shows this function of the SMART Board Technology.

However, similarly to the software, problems can occur. Whilst SMART claims to do all it can to advise their customers on how to best use the hardware, things can go wrong. One of the most common problems that I have found is that many teachers are unaware of how to calibrate the hardware, and as such, find that when they write, it appears to the left or right of where they intended it to go. Furthermore, in case of school system failures, or power-cuts, the entirety of the SMART Board becomes unusable, and plans need to be put in place in case this does happen during a lesson.

Overall Opinion:

The development and usage of IWBs (and appropriate software) in the classroom has helped the teaching and learning within the classroom, I believe, by an immeasurable amount. With the wealth of knowledge and resources available on the computer and internet, it would be ridiculous to continue teaching without giving the children the access that will help and develop their education. In addition to this, I have both used and been taught using the IWB and have found it to be a wonderful experience.

As teachers however, we do have to be wary of an over-reliance on technology, as problems can and will undoubtedly occur, lesson planning needs to account for what can happen in case of a technology failure. This alongside improved education for teachers on the ability of the software and the hardware, especially with regards to the orientation and calibration issues, this is indeed a highly valuable resource.

Until next week,

Keep Calm and Blog On!

Alex

http://smarttech.com/gb

Web 2.0

Hello again!

The thought of the internet becoming more than an information resource had me intrigued, however it soon became apparent that without really realising it, the internet has become so great and so important within the society in which we currently live, that we often find it encroaching on the society we live in, and the language we use on a day to day basis.  I often find myself suggesting that I might ‘Facebook’ someone, or that I will ‘Skype’ them or follow them on ‘Twitter’. These started off as little more than websites and computer programs, yet they have become so much more than that, to the extent where they are almost accepted as part of the English language.

Whilst the majority of people will know what people are talking about with regards to the technical language of Web 2.0 (such as ‘Facebooking’ or ‘Following’), it might not be clear as to what the term ‘Web 2.0’ actually means. It is however, not an object as such, but more of a concept. The Web 2.0 mainly refers to the way in which systems are used, and their function, rather than a particular program or system itself, in fact, it is often suggested that the way in which Web 2.0 is actually being used is leading to all sorts of online communities and groups. There are also numerous videos and explanations on websites (like YouTube) which explain Web 2.0 in a variety of different ways.

In my opinion, the development of these sort of communities, whilst they have their positives, also carry with them some negatives. (This refers back to my previous blog on e-safety, so I won’t repeat myself). The positives however do allow for open and frank communication between people worldwide. This can mean that children within the school environment will be able to access the outside world, and as such, their experiences in this can be recorded online for everyone to share in.

The integration of Web 2.0 into mainstream society will not be to everyone’s liking, but you get the impression that it is here to stay. I am undecided as to whether or not this has an ideal practical use in the classroom, because whilst technology is one thing, open networking with total strangers makes me feel slightly uneasy, because there can be no effective system of controlling access to certain websites and activities that children could be undertaking on them. However, it would be naive to suggest that it is possible to stop children accessing these sites and to prevent them from seeping into learning environments.

Keep Calm and Carry On!

Alex

http://www.facebook.com/

http://www.twitter.com/

http://www.skype.com/

http://www.youtube.com/