This might sound to others like Geekmeet, but not a nerd in sight, just a group of people interested in taking technologies forward in classrooms and talking informally about how it might happen. The fact that it is informal and involves some food and wine and comfortable sharing of experience means everyone has something to share. We met where there was wifi, so we could show and tell. Primary, secondary, subject specialists, retired from teaching communication enthusiasts and technical folk were bonded in common respect. The discussions ranged from proper use of the apostrophe and correct grammar in children’s blogging to scratch. I had gone looking for something that might replace the old Logo and that was it! It’s free from MIT.
Archive for May, 2007
I have been trying to post on my own and other blogs, following my terrific meetings etc at eLive and because edublogs is currently unattainable (has been all weekend) the feeds don’t work, on any others, so I am blocked. I get url error. Can’t post on my own blog either. Wish I could turn this waste of time into something more productive. It was to have been about sharing and communicating. I’m now wondering what was so bad about Blogger or Typepad that we could not have used it. Are we just using these blogs because they have ‘edu’ in the title? I know there is work going on to resolve the problem, locally, but meantime, I want to skweem and skweem.
I’d played about with it but didn’t know it was so easy till I went to Joe Moretti’s seminar. He showed me how to disregard the complicated bits and has tutorials and help on his website. So today I tried it out with my class of P3 , and lo, it took them ten minutes them to get it. If you want to try it out, I’d suggest the use of headphones. The results were terrific. The peer group told them what they thought would make it better and they went away and sorted it,then told me when they were ready for performance. I felt ineffectual doing inventing stuff in music previously, because it mostly was to do with percussion. Now we’re groovin’ and movin’. Ewan blogged about this great presentation more fully.
From the Edinburgh eTeam I learned that there is a tiny adaptor available for toys, lights, bubble makers, in fact anything that has a straight on/off switch, and runs from batteries, for children who can only access with their switch pad. Cause and effect technology for children with special needs. Costs £7 from Granada Learning.
Have been this week at the eLive conference and exhibition in Edinburgh. The welcome was pleasant and the atmosphere relaxed. There were only 32 exhibitors, but there was an eclectic variety of seminars and keynotes. What came across very strongly, was the City of Edinburgh’s commitment to ICT in all its forms, in education. I didn’t blog about it there, because I didn’t know, initially, there was going to be wifi freely available, and on the second day, was too interested in what was going on, to spend time doing so, in case I might miss something. We had a mini Sett event in Argyll a couple of years ago that had the same sort of aura. Several of the exhibitors there expressed interest when I mentioned it, so I have encouraged them to be in touch with those who might be interested in repeating the experience. So why did size matter? In two days I was able to visit all of the stands, have meaningful conversation and demonstrations at each, and picked up some great ideas and material to evaluate, something for every stage in my school. Not all good stuff costs money, unless ‘Time is money.’ Picked up some very simple solutions to very complex problems. More to follow.
Monday: P4’s from two classes experimenting with the Activboard software, such that they could cascade to their peers and their teacher.
Wednesday: P5’s and their teacher on setting up and interpreting a database.
Thursday: the other half of P3 with my P3’s on writing in Clicker 4.
Every day….after school.. questions.. questions ..questions .. How can I? But you know dear reader, that was great, because they were all about their whiteboard funcionality, that we had not covered in their initiation session. So they were all wanting to take things forward.
In my own class, they have been adding sound to their animation films. They have been exporting to imovie and adding sound there, showing off their skills, flicking between applications, to anyone who would stop and listen for the five seconds necessary. That bit’s been great fun for all! Still got through our Language and Maths work, but stole time from Environmental Studies and PSD, but you know, I think it was time well spent, because a sullen, disinterested child, smiled and took charge of a camera, worked in a group for the first time and was able to tell me what he was trying to do. Hey ho!
And, in between, saving and collecting reporting, people thought they had lost. Getting the right printer to work…. Oh and writing my own reports!
Thanks to Graham Dickie today. Askimet the plugin for Wordpress, just click on Plugins from your dashboard, to be led throught it, stops the spam right enough. 161 spams on this blog were picked up. 4 from the time where I activated it till I checked the blog 15 minutes later. I’d been told about it before, but hadn’t done anything about it.
Another great day in primary 3. Happy, involved cooperative, communicative children, the buzz was hypnotic. A day when I love my job, when I can allow my children to take charge, at age 7. There was no chaos, I must assure those doubters. And to those concerned still with 3-18 strands, everything the children did today was on strands (level C and E) that were well beyond those laid down for P3, (levels A and B) but there were things they were asking about as a ‘need to know.’ Since they felt the need to know, I believe they will remember, much longer than if it had been something I thought they should know. I did not lay a hand on the computers or children that produced the following, did no editing or saving, so what you see is exactly what they did, by themselves. They feel empowered and don’t feel the need to exert any other negative behaviourals, so I am able to relax there too.
They will add the sound next week. I might have to take my feet off my desk to show them how to do that!
What a good day! in primary 3! Don’t blink or you’ll miss it! All three seconds of it! Language the script. Problem solving the shots and storyboarding. Art the modelling and drawing. Maths the frames per second. PSD expressions and feelings. ‘I can animate’ the isight camera, the whiteboard, the ICT. This was the first one, so that’s why it’s here, but some of the others are just great. I keep saying it ‘Give them the tools!’ Lots of serious communication and the least confident child, academically speaking, set up the computer and the board for us to use. Happy teacher.
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We had 5 new Promethean boards installed today. I spent some time showing how to operate, raise and lower etc. I already had done the CPD on calibration etc. So they were ready. And within 5 minutes of the installation engineers leaving, 4 were in use and the fifth had been described to me as ‘ that monstrosity that has been put in my room’ Tell you anything? 20% of our teachers….??? Mmmm…?
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