communICTy

The Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of planet Earth made by Voyager 1 from a record distance, showing it against the vastness of space. It is also the title of a 1994 book by astronomer Carl Sagan that was inspired by the photo. In 2001, it was selected by space.com as one of the top ten space science photos.

This video illustrates part of his book.

For my Lead Practitioner Seminar I wanted to demonstrate how the internet is changing and consequently the ways that we communicate with each other. In order to ‘walk the talk’ I challenged myself to give a 45 minute presentation without a single powerpoint slide! Instead I explained my ideas by using a wide variety of different web2.0 tools.

The main idea I was trying to explain was that the way we accessed information when we were teenagers was very different to today. If you asked a class of students in the 1980’s who was at number 1, nearly everyone could tell you. If you ask the same question today, only a minority of children will be able to give you the answer. Instead of using push media such as TV and Radio for entertainment, they use the internet as a pull medium. In this way they reach out to things that interest them and personalise their learning.

I showed how the following tools can be used to pull information into the classroom:
Survey Monkey – for creating online surveys and generating real data
bubbl.us - for creating mindmaps and sharing ideas
Edublogs – for enabling students to share moderated comments
VoiceThread – for sharing images and discussing what they show
FlashMeeting – for basic video conferencing

The delegates to the conference responded really well to this more dynamic way to learn. Are you ready for the challenge to give PowerPoint the push? Visit www.ictnet.ning.com .

Download Video: Posted by dgrice at TeacherTube.com.

This is one of the most useful tricks I know.  You can create a slide with images text etc and then save it as a .jpg file.  This has the added advantage of creating a smaller file size.  This can be a quick way to reduce huge images to something more manageable.

I also use this technique to create video storyboards.  We then import the images into Movie Maker, add a narration and hey presto a quick and easy way to create digital videos.  To see a set off lesson plans on this click here.

[slideshare id=85551&doc=death-by-powerpoint4344&w=425]

This awesome application allows you to upload a presentation and quickly add a commentary.
It also enables other users to add comments of their own. The possibilities with this tool are endless.

This is a photograph of Neuchatel, Switzerland. It looks like someone has taken a red pencil and has drawn a couple of lines on the picture, right ?…

Wrong ! The red lines you see are actually PAINTED ON THE BUILDINGS !

I’ve found this really good site with all the classic optical illusions, but some really cool new ones too.
[slideshare id=155015&doc=illusions-1194182278200099-1&w=425]
I’ve made a powerpoint presentation that can either be shown or printed out as a wall display. This keeps my classes amused whilst waiting to come into my room. It also occupies anyone I ask to step outside!
illusion.ppt

To visit the site go to www.planetperplex.com

Download Video: Posted by jsdt4 at TeacherTube.com.

This video has useful statistics on how students use technology for learning in and out of school.

This video explains that unlike a library, information on the internet is not stored in one particular way.  I really like the quote ‘there is no shelf’ (especially as a devotee of The Matrix!).
It also suggests that instead of having creators and readers of information, we are all now empowered to be both.  This means that instead of the internet being information, the internet is us!

This video clearly explains how the communication of information is evolving from writing on a piece of paper, to text on a webpage, to creating your own videos.  It also explores how this ever expanding mass of information is being searched, sorted, tagged, mashed up and made into something new.