E-Learning in Hounslow

Hold on to Sports Update

2012-01-30T05:13:00.000-08:00

Hold on to Sports is hotting up in anticipation for the London Olympics and in its third year. This year we have primary, secondary and special schools taking part as well as the Youth Service. Over 2000 young people. Next month we take 65 enthusiastic young people on a double decker bus around the stadiium ending up at the View Tube making models of the stadium. Prizes for the best one.

We took this photos during our risk assessment tour last week.
If we can get the funding we are planning a torch bearing walk with all our participatng students through Hounslow.

Apps

2011-01-24T01:52:00.000-08:00

Had a great time this Saturday at a day school for T175 Open University students. Loads of interest in Apps, so I promised to put up these sites:
Ipad in education Loads of Apps grouped by subject and for artwork
More Apps thanks to Feltham City Learning Centre
Favourite Apps from the Apple Distinguished Educators Team

In addition thanks to Shapoor who told us about playing chess online for free Teachers beware, you have to be over 13 years old to sign in and you are playing with partners on the web.

More Free Tools on the Web

2011-01-18T03:20:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Simone from Feltham City Learning Centre for a couple of great links

Blabberize is a fantastic tool for making pictures talk

Create your own music with JamStudio

A few more great links:

Weebly for buliding your own web site really easily - and they host it as well

TubeChop for editing films on You Tube

Video Conferencing

2010-10-06T05:58:00.000-07:00

Equipment is about to be installed in two of our Hounslow secondary schools. They plan to share teaching for their business and finance diploma students.

Getting started:

LGfL have some comprehensive information - you will need your log in for some of these pages

You will need LVCNet A unique dialling code to enable instant connection between schools

There are some fabulous links through ja.net For example with the Natural History Museum

Find a partner school through ja.net For example in New York State

Links to useful information on video conferencing can be found at CLEO Grid for Learning
You don't need a log in for this site and it encourages cheap desktop-to-desktop conferencing as well as the expensive high end stuff

Games for Learning on the Web

2010-01-15T06:25:00.000-08:00

Free games on the Web to aid learning
If games are set as homework, screen shots help to give feedback on results.
If you know of any good games, please email me

If you are teaching the IT Specialist Diploma (Year 10/11) you will need business strategy games. Try Roller Coaster Tycoon 3. The free download provides all you need, whilst limitting the opportunity to spend all the lesson designing rollercoaster rides.

You can download Chocolatier free for one hour, enough time to source raw chocolate, find hidden ingredients and secret ports and sell on. This can be done for homework with the assessment work done in class.

Less demanding but just as much fun is Gazillionnaire based on galaxy trading, exploring new worlds and making your fortune

For primary pupils Lemonade allows them to buy the ingredients to sell lemonade as street vendors - with an eye on the weather. This game is on the CoolMaths games site, which has plenty more to choose from.

Learning and Teaching in Scotland has a great selection of games for all age groups on their Glow Games site. Great for homework activities

Classic Sim City is useful for teaching about towns, cities and settlements - build your own

Ordenance Survey Map games are good for homework. There are action games, logic games, jigsaw puzzle games, teaching resources and help for homework

Fantasy Farmer you have a plot of land and start buying animals crops and machinery. You have to feed the animals, look after the crops and watch the weather!

Stop Disasters Simulator - Can you protect the world against floods, volcanoes, earthquakes etc?

Sim Sweat Shop - What is it really like to work in a sweat shop in less economically developed countries?

The Forbidden City has been recreated as a virtual world by IBM. You can download for free and explore. Great for all ages. They become a character who they can write about and they can investigate the temples, gardens and activities.

Tools for Games-based Learning

2010-01-15T05:11:00.000-08:00

Using the Sony PSP

ConnectEd have advised us on introducing PSPs into our schools including those with units for hearing impairment The Feltham CLC has a number on loan to schools. Norwood Green Junior School are using them with students with hearing impairments

ConnectEd have a number of videos on their site on using the PSP in education (well worth watching if you are thinking of introducing PSPs into your classroom). The PSP will connect to the Internet and you can use it with a camera. Pupils can video themselves in character or interview each other or grandparents, e.g., for history projects.

You can download graphic novels and E-books . For example, free ones include Classical Comics that are available in differentiated levels

and Manga Shakespeare for a modern take

You can run Sums On Line and impact on SATS results

Using the Leapster

Lindon Bennett are experimenting with Leapsters at the moment to test how they help co-ordination, motivation and decision making as well as resposibile at home and at school

More Games and Learning

2010-01-15T02:41:00.000-08:00

Games with the Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS can be used for group writing, give a starting sentence and see what they come up with - use the voting pad, talk about the characters and settings in pairs and collaborate on the board. The Pictochat facility can be used for 'Odd One Out, +/-/interesting feedback and to collaborate.

Dr Kawashima's Brain Training is popular in several of our Year 4 and 5 classes - with daily brain training to boost numeracy confidence

Cooking Mama is in use in Year 2 to encourage the pupils to look at food from different cultures, making chef hats and aprons, create recipes and to cook

Hotel Dusk A graphic novel - great for secondary pupils

Professor Layton: Play the game for 30 minuties or for homework then plan stories, scenes, dialogue, characters, descriptions etc. Watch the video

Ninte n do Dogs is a favourite with Primary
Pupils can work in groups. They can name their dog, they can draw their dogs and design then collar and bedding. Pupils need to understand health and well being of a dog, budget for food and water and need to gain a grasp of place and value by earning money to buy accessories.

Games and Learning

2010-01-14T07:30:00.000-08:00

Games with the Nintendo Wii

One of the best games I have seen in the classroom is Endless Ocean

Pupils explore the ocean bed discovering and researching different creatures.
Norwood Green Junior School completed a successful project that demonstrated the positive change in attitude of one disaffected pupil. Part of the problem for this pupil was difficulty communicating ideas and describing a sequence of events. Playing the game led to imagined scenarios and improvement in creative writing.

You can use this game in many ways to support reading, writing, technology, science and art:
To explore the creatures (classification; food chains)
Keep a diving log
Design diving masks and flippers
Coral reef report - why under threat?
Guide book for the divers
Design own sea creatures - and use Crazy Talk
Write about own creatures characteristics and position in the food chain
Write about a day in the life of a marine biologist
Debate: island development versus coral reef threat

Wii Sports Resort is the basis for the Hounslow Hold on to Sports cross borough games. Contact me if you want to get involved in our 'Inspired by the 2012 Olympics' event
We have teams across our schools researching basketball, table tennis, cycling and bowling. They are doing presentations - posters, films, animations, photstories on their chosen sports - about being a trainer, dietician, and physio and they are designing kit to qualify for the Wii play off at the Civic Centre July 3rd and 4th 2010.

Or hold your very own Wii-imboldon next Summer:
Write a profile of your star - the mega wealthy number one
Create a tour map for the Grand Slam

Plan where to stay, how to get there and costs
Keep a tour diary
Bring in fitness and health

Guitar Heros must get a mention. I don't think any school in Hounslow has used this game yet but there is plenty of learning and fun going on in Scotland. They have generously uploaded lesson plans and resources . A transition project is described in detail by Ollie Bray. It has been so successful it has been expanded across the whole authority gaining awards along the way.

Tools for Free

2009-11-19T00:44:00.000-08:00

Cool Tools for Schools is good place to start looking

Lesson Starter

Bing – The Microsoft Bing start page is great. Every day a new high quality picture from around the world is used for the start page. You can use the image for discussion and hidden in the images are clues to where the place is in the world - an interactive class mystery.

Quikmaps lets you doodle on Google maps - draw lines, add smilies etc

Generating tools

The generator blog helps you to find generators you may find useful

Here are a selection (thanks to Ollie Bray for some of these):
cooltext generator
wizard text generator
newspaper generator
photo flying flag
smoke signal generator
education jargon generator

Wordle generates “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

Pictures

Gimp This is an excellent piece of photo editing software – similar in features to Photoshop.

Blibs Just upload your photo and you can add special effects including animation effects

Tuxpaint This is computer art software designed for children.

Flickr Enables you to store pictures or do a search . Just search a keyword, select the pictures you want and click slideshow for an instant lesson starter

Photosynth This program enables you to make a 3D representation of a location - e.g. your classroom with all the displays, or a visit to a place of interest - it also has a search facility for you to find 3D representations of places relevant to your lessons

Autocollage - Just select all the pictures you want to use from a folder such as 'My Pictures' and the program does the rest

Picasa This program also allows you to creat a collage, turn photo into films and to create slideshows

Design and send your own e-cards with this simple to use program suitable for Year 1 +

Deep Zoom – This programme I discovered through Ollie Bray. It is a way of layering pictures without loosing the overall quality. Here is an example of a lesson starter by Ollie Bray, teaching geography in Scotland: http://www.blip.tv/file/1889767/.

Stuart Balls has created tutorials on using Deep Zoom.

Animoto creates videos from pictures. A classteacher in East Lothian made this great video to send home to parents to show them what the class had been doing

Comics

Comics are a great way to get reluctant writers writing and to help pupils to understand structure and sequencing as well as use of speech.

Pixton and Comic Brush are both free and web based

Animation

Monkey Jam Just drop in photos in order and the software does the rest, or create pencil and paper stop motion animations. It is extremely simple to use.

Another free web based resource is GoAnimate. to create cartoons and animations really easily.

Google Sketch Up
A free 3D mo deling package from Google is currently being used in lots of Hounslow Schools.

For example, St Marks

and Strand on the Green Junior School

Google Earth

Google Earth tips and tricks:spinning the globe, measuring distance and the historical imagery layer.

Communication

Another site I found through Ollie Bray is Wallwisher which allows the user to place 'virtual post-it notes' onto a web page. A Geography teacher from Glasgow set his class the task:
"You are allowed ten minutes research time. After this, share one fact (or more) with the class about the Amazon rainforest that you didn't know before. Credit your sources (e.g. Found in wikipedia)"
Students then had to post their fact on the class wall wisher site as homework and credit the source where the fact had been obtained from.

Computer Gaming and Control

Scratch - create and share games. This supports much of the primary curriculum for control technology and is useful in secondary schools as well. Play some of the example games, then try adapting one before launching into your own game design.

Stories

Storynory has loads of audio stories for free. There is a link at the top that tells you about the translation tool for a selectin of languages for your EAL pupils and the ability to highlight text as the story is read

Sebastian Swan books for Key Stage 1 and resources for teachers

I Dream of Learning update

2009-06-22T07:15:00.000-07:00

And the winning team for the secondary phase of the I Dream of Learning Competition is.... Lampton School, with runners up Gumley House School and St Marks School.

We had a fantastic prize-giving event at the Waterman's Theatre in Brentford. The winning team members all received Sony PSPs with cameras- thanks to ConnectEd and Feltham CLC - runners up received ipod shuffles and stereo arm clocks with ipod docking thanks to Feltham CLC and Computer Warehouse.

Now the really hard work begins as the winning team expands to involve others in their school, in order to help them develop their ideas into an experimental learning zone for real.

They will have help from experts and will consider how we like to learn and how this influences design of learning spaces. They will consider how the way a space is designed will influence whether it is used successfully and they will think about the importance of movement and light and how furnishings influence use of a space. They will also develop their thinking on how technology can support learning, with the help of Hounslow E-learning and Feltham and Brentford CLCs. The winning ideas can be viewed at http://www.clcfeltham.co.uk/bsf_pcp/entries.html. See also a posting on the NCSL web site by Lampton teacher, Juliette Hepple, describing the exciting design.
http://future.ncsl.org.uk/News.aspx?ID=166

Wii-Olympics

2009-06-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the successes of Teaching and Learning Scotland - using computer games-based learning to promote successful learning, effective contributors, confident individuals and responsible citizens, we are planning a cross-borough Wii Challenge.

Each school will enter a team from their own school heats
Each team will need to research how to be the best team. They will need to find out about:
· The trainer
· The dietician
· The Physio
· The press / pr manager
They will need to complete some paperwork:
· a description of muscles which may be used during the Wii Olympics
· a training schedule for the athletes
· an eating plan for the athlete
· a press release/ biog of the athletes
· training timetable to compete in the Wii Olympics
Entrants can choose to compete in any Wii Sport. The team will practise their sport in school, to the agreed timetable. They can compete for a place in the finals, hopefully at the Watermans Theatre, if they have completed the paperwork.
It would be really good to get some professional athletes / trainers on board to advise our students
In terms of timeline- Project Starts in September/ Deadline for submission December/ First Heats begin in January/ Finals in Summer Term
This project aims to fit with the Cultural Olympiad that the Watermans Theatre is involved with.
If you think your school might be interested please contact:
Jo Armitage E-Learning Co-ordinator: jo.armitage@clcfeltham.co.uk

I Dream of Learning at the V&A

2009-04-15T03:36:00.000-07:00

Fifteen pupils from Strand Junior School took a trip to the V&A to help them build on their ideas for designs for their new learning environment, their prize for coming up with brilliant ideas on ways they would like to learn in the future - I Dream of Learning Competition

We were met by Catherine Duncumb, V&A+RIBA Architecture Education Officer, she spent the day with us and created a wonderful investigative learning journey. Every pupil was engaged throughout the day from Year 3 up to Year 6.

We spent the morning thinking about functionality, construction and impact. We investigated how space is designed with a purpose in mind and how shape, light, texture, materials, access and dynamic focal points are all equally important.

In the afternoon we thought about all the spaces we had seen, what worked well, what didn't work so well and what we really liked. The pupils were then able to think about the design features they particularly wanted to consider for their own learning environment back in school.

Their ideas included: dramatic lighting, colours that were fresh, warm and welcoming, and features that made an impact like the 'Swarm' chandalier by Zaha Hadid.

They liked the use of stripes, comfy chairs, changes in texture between wood and concrete, and they liked natural light and water features.

I Dream of Learning Competition

2009-04-15T01:58:00.000-07:00

I Dream of Learning is a competition that has been running across Hounslow.

Teams of pupils have been visioning what they would like their learning environments of the future to look like. They have been thinking about the different ways they like to learn and how new technologies can support their ideas. All entries can be viewed at: http://www.clcfeltham.co.uk/bsf_pcp/entries.html

This process will provide ‘Student Voice’ to influence our work in Hounslow on Building Schools for the Future: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/resourcesfinanceandbuilding/bsf/ and the Primary Capital programme: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/resourcesfinanceandbuilding/Primary_Capital_Programme/
The teams from the winning primary and winning secondary schools will each have £30,000 pounds to invest in developing their dream environment, thanks to the support of capital money from Hounslow's two City Learning Centres

The winning team from the primary schools are from Strand Junior School. They are now building up their vision, which incorporates an exterior and interior learning environment with 24/7 learning in mind. Parents and the comminutiy are involved. The winning team of 3 pupils from Year 6 is expanded to represent Years 3, 4, and 5. These pupils are working on their vision in consultation with myself and with the CLCs.

The students are trialling new technologies to inform the development of their new experimental learning zone. They have been working with RIBA and the V&A researching how buildings influence use and how our vision of learning must influence design. We will be experimenting with colour, lighting and furnishings to support learning.

The process will be repeated with the secondary school winners. The entries are now in from the secondary schools. The external judges have a hard decision deciding on the winners.

Games Based Learning

2009-03-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

Games Based Learning

I've always been a great believer in games-based learning, having experienced first hand how it can inspire and challenge and also result in creative thinking and high quality writing from the most reluctant writer. Reluctant readers also push themselves to interact with text. Scotland are making huge investments in games-based learning in terms of time and money http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/ictineducation/gamesbasedlearning/index.asp, Queensland has a web site devoted to it: http://www.learningplace.com.au/defaulteqa2.asp?orgid=35&suborgid=614 orgid=35&suborgid=614 and Europe is singing it's praises:http://www.engagelearning.eu/

Let's start getting inviolved in Hounslow. I'm planning a project with LittleBIGPlanet.

LittleBIGPlanet is a unique PS3 game combining platform adventure with a huge community enabling gamers to play, create & share their experiences. http://www.littlebigplanet.com/en_GB/

I'm also planning a literacy project with the Nintendo Wii and Endless Ocean, diving amongst the coral reefs to investigate the creatures, plant life and effects of global warming. http://www.nintendo.com/wii

If you are from a hounslow school and would like to get involved, let me know

PSPs

I am working with the Hearing Impairment units with PSPs, this is what one of their teachers wrote:

Trip to Kids Cookery School using the PSPs

On Wednesday 18th March 8 children from Norwood Green Junior Hearing Impaired Unit and their teachers visited Kids Cookery School in Acton. The PSPs were used to take pictures and videos of the trip; the journey there; the cooking lesson and the trip to the park afterwards. The children could not use the PSPs during the cooking lesson, but used them afterwards to interview each other about their experience (what they remembered and what they liked best from the trip).

The pictures taken from the trip have been used as part of a literacy lesson. The children used them for a recount of their trip. The videos, possibly combined with pictures, could be used for a presentation in assembly.

2009-03-16T04:21:00.000-07:00

Apps for iPhones and iPods

I went to an Apple conference last week. In the last 5 minutes there was mention of educational Apps for the iPhone and iPod touch.

From the i-Tunes Apps store I retrieved Pocket Phonics Lite for free. You choose a letter, hear the sound and then trace the letter with your finger. You shake the device to erase your letter if you want to do it again. You only get letters: s t a i p and n with the free version - but that's a good selection if you are moving on to cvc words. The full version costs £1.79. Be careful with some letters - the American accent makes the /i/ sound a bit /e/.

There are loads of educational downloads.

GPS Trails

2009-03-10T06:32:00.000-07:00

I have just been experimenting with a GPS trail with Create-A-Scape - (free download from Futurelab) http://www.createascape.org.uk/ on my mobile.

I downloaded the 'Always Something Somewhere Else' trail - the blurb says, "a set of interwoven stories that connect you to remote locations around the world, soundtracked with a generative music score. Touching on climate change and global awareness". I wandered round the carpark at Feltham Community College finding stone walls and water courses and discovering what would happen to them due to climate change. For every step I took, the mobile took one thousand. I want to make my own trails now and it would be great to get students doing their own trails as well. How about Year 7 making a trail for Year 6 as a transition activity?

Sarah down at Brentford CLC introduced me to another free download GPS Mission. Once you've downloaded the software to computer and mobile you are able to search and find trails to do in your area -or make your own. Check out Sarah's Hounslow ones by doing a search for TW8 http://gpsmission.com/ Then go to the area, switch on your mobile and have fun following the trail. Or make your own.