Session 6: Blogfolios

Our last session already!
Gareth, Ellie and I have so enjoyed exploring the topics of computing and iPads with you all. You have combined tools and techniques in many innovative ways, and we have been hugely impressed by your enthusiasm and creativity.
Here’s a selection of videos from last week:









This week we will spend some time responding to each others’ blogs, solving problems and adding finishing touches. Here’s a checklist and some guidance about the assessment:

Blog checklist and assessment guidance

We’ll also be asking you to complete a questionnaire so that we can evaluate the use of blogfolios. This information will help us improve the course and share our experiences with other practitioners. Your involvement is much appreciated. Thank you!

We hope that some of you will carry on blogging and sharing your thoughts on twitter.

 

Session 5: Mobile Technologies: curriculum applications

Last week we had fun with the iPads exploring apps such as Morfo Booth, PuppetPals, Talking Ben, Furry Friend, VideoScribe and Explain Everything, all of which work with iMovie. We also looked at getting out and about with technology using QR codes. Here’s a selection of your fabulous VideoScribes and iMovie Trailers:

Videoscribes

iMovie trailers

This week we are going to think about curriculum applications for some of these techniques. You’ll work in groups to produce a mobile technology resource, curriculum plan or set of materials for using mobile devices.  Here are some suggestions:

  • A maths trail, treasure hunt or media walk on an environmental theme.
  • Make a movie trailer for the School of Education.
  • Use Talking Ben to introduce a lesson theme (example).
  • Use Videoscribe (iPads) to make a presentation or story.
  • Document the use video techniques: Morfo 3D, Videoscribe, GreenScreenMovie FX.
  • Create a selection of videos for use with Early Years.
  • Plan a media day for a chosen year group.
  • Plan a literacy or maths trail using QR codes and manipulated photos.
  • Use iMove to make book trailers and turn into QR codes to stick in books.
  • Create a QR code webquest.
  • Make a set of maths ‘how tos’ and link to a QR code page for homework help.
  • Make QR Stations to encourage self-directed learning (e.g. lego challenges).
  • Make books interactive using QR codes (example).
  • A media walk on an environmental theme.
  • Make a set of Early Years getting-started guides and templates. 
If you’d like to take these ideas further, here are a couple of how-tos on using the green screen with the iPad to superimpose still or moving images on top of one another. The cross-curricular possibilities of this technique are endless: imagine being able to transport your class anywhere!  They could, for example, go on safari in Tanzania, be tour guides in Ancient Rome, report news from Afghanistan, explore the solar system, stand on the rim of a volcano, or explain how a virus attacks a cell.  All you need is a green screen, the right software and a camera!

 

 

 

Session 4: Mobile Technologies

This week we are going to think about how the use of mobile technologies can contribute to teaching and learning. We’re lucky to have a set of iPad3s to play with and we’ll focus on using these to get out and about with technology and capture learning that goes on beyond the computer suite.

We have a selection of paid-for and free apps on our iPads and if you’ve never used one before you’ll want to spend part of the session exploring these. But we also want to look at using the iPad in an open-ended way as a creative learning tool. Have a look at these sets of slides and blogpost ‘There is more to ipads in the classroom than apps’ on the Langwitches blog by Silvia Tolisano.

One way of using technology outside the classroom is through QR

codes. These are quick scannable images, like bar codes, which take you to a digital destination such as a written or spoken message, a document or a website when you hold a webcam, phone, iPad or iPod camera up to them. They can save time and paper and also be fun!  We’ll look at using an app called Scan by QR Code City. Here are some instructions for using it.  Imagine how engaging it would be for your pupils to have the code for book trailers they made in iMovie inserted into

library books, to go on a treasure hunt looking for coded clues, or to have a talking display of work in the classroom.

Another must-have creative app is iMovie for making short films, and we’ll be exploring how you can shoot, edit and share video without leaving the iPad. iMovie comes with 12 ready-made story templates for making trailers, a process which has been made really easy in the latest update. Here’s how. Another nice feature is that recordings from other apps such as PuppetPals, Furry Friend, Talking Ben, Morpho Booth and Videoscribe saved to your photolibrary appear automatically in iMovie for you to drag into films.  I have been bowled over today by VideoScribe. Can you believe it only took five minutes to make this movie?

Lots of potential for storytelling and presenting ideas there, as I’m sure you’ll agree.

Here’s a collection of links on the mobile technology theme. Have a browse and see what grabs you.

Session 3: Computing: curriculum applications

What a fantastic crop of resources from everyone last week!  We were bowled over by how creative you all were and how you went off in so many different directions with the programming tools.

So this week should be really exciting. You’ll work together to make a computing resource and curriculum plan to present to the group.

Examples might be:

  • Prepare some ‘complete the challenge’ resources for the Early Years.
  • Plan a creative computing day for a Key Stage.
  • Design a project for older pupils to design games for younger pupils.
  • Use 2DIY to create an interactive activity on a curriculum theme.
  • Make an animated scene in Scratch to illustrate a habitat (example).
  • Design a simple computer game and document the process e.g.
  • a bat and ball game in Scratch (video guide).
  • an Angry Birds style game in Scratch (example).
  • a racing car game in Scratch (example).
  • Make a set of examples and how-to demos to go with the Scratch Design Studio activities.
  • Create a Kodu game based on Pong, Pacman or Space Invaders.
  • Design and write descriptions of your own worlds in Kodu (examples).

Finally, here’s a little more from me about beginning programming resources, including a really simple iPad app, Daisy the Dinosaur:

 

Session 2: Computing skills and techniques

You have been working hard! It’s great to see so many new blogs appearing and to read your thoughts on internet safety.

This week we are moving on to exploring computing skills and techniques. This may sound a little daunting, but we hope you’ll enjoy making a computer game using some free software called Scratch and looking at resources for introducing programming concepts in the Early Years.  I’ve posted more about these themes here.

The good thing is that these tools are intuitive and easy to use; you don’t need to be an expert or even have any previous programming experience yourself. You really can take the role of facilitator and learn the basics alongside the children. Please be reassured that we’ll be looking for your thoughts on how best to help children get the most out of their experiences rather than demonstrate your own brilliance.  It’s all about helping them learn to solve their own problems and figure things out for themselves.

But we do hope you get a buzz out of dabbling with computing and end up with a game you can share with your family. You can get a real sense of achievement when the computer does what you tell it to do!

 

Hello everyone!

Welcome to Year 3 ICT and to our class blog.

We’ll use this blog to tell you about what’s coming up and to record highlights as we go. You’ll find a course overview in the module materials for ICT on Nile.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be exploring the topic of computer science using a versatile program called Scratch.  With Scratch you can explore computing concepts creatively by making all kinds of things from simple animations to interactive games. If you’ve not seen it before here’s an introduction.

We’ll also be thinking about the use of mobile technologies and using our brand new set of iPad 3s with lots of new apps installed. One focus will be the use of apps to capture and manipulate media, such as using QR codes to make learning trails.

We’re excited to be using blogs with you to record thoughts and discoveries, and we look forward to linking to your individual blogs from here so that we can all share ideas easily.  We’ll also use the wiki on this blog as a place for everyone to post resources and examples of work, and hope that it will become a useful starting place for planning ICT projects in schools.

Here are some links to get you thinking about using blogs and wikis in schools.  Mr Mitchell and Mr Avery‘s blogs are great examples.  BrainPOP made a fantastic recording of a group of Year 6 children from Heathfield School talking about why they love to blog:

When you’ve had a look, you could add a word or two to the AnswerGarden word cloud below…

Why blog?… at AnswerGarden.ch

This week we will be making our blogs and tweeting about them on #unsoe. You can read about recent ICT curriculum initiatives on Helen’s blog and explore your free blogging tool on MyPad from the tools block on your Nile homepage. You’ll get caught up browsing through the 137 edublog themes (Helen has tried them all!). It would be useful to set up a twitter account so that we can share our ideas on the School of Education screens and further afield.

We’ll also think about the topic of eSafety.  Here is a set of weblinks to browse on eSafety and another set on Information Literacy (click on the thumbnails). You may like to look at an example scheme of work for Online Research, Communication, Publishing and eSafety from Islington’s Primary ICT team.

eSafety Wordle

Finally, here’s a link to the Wordle and to a Google Doc for thinking about eSafety.

Look forward to working with you next week,

Helen, Ellie and Gareth