communICTy

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Showing a series of inspiring, unusual and playful products, British branding and design guru Paul Bennett explains that design doesn’t have to be about grand gestures, but can solve small, universal and overlooked problems.

Download .avi file version here.

For a food loving person like myself a web tool called del.cio.us was too good an opportunity to miss!

Del.icio.us is a must have web tool called a social bookmarker. It radically changes the way you browse the web and share good links with other users.

Setting up a free account is very straight forward, but choose an username that you are happy to share with other people. Then download the del.icio.us software including buttons that will display on a google toolbar.

Everytime you find a useful website add it to your del.icio.us list. You need to give it one or more tag names. This will enable you to sort through all your links. If it is a popular site with other del.icio.us users you will be given a suggested list of how they have tagged it.

Why bother using Del.icio.us?
The main advantage of using del.icio.us over just using internet favourites or bookmarks, is that your del.icio.us list can be accessed as a web page wherever you are.
It is also possible to add your del.icio.us list to a personalised google homepage or onto a google desktop sidebar.
With a bit of fiddling around, you can add your list to a blog. You can see mine displayed as a cloud. The tags with the most links are in a larger font.
Lastly, you can share your list with other people. To view my list go to del.icio.us and type in the username communicty, or click here

A new survey by online polling company YouGov Plc, on behalf of RM, underlines just how technology is changing the way young people in Britain learn.

This year’s RM “School Gate Survey” questioned 1,501 11-16 year olds across Britain, and examined their thoughts on the impact of IT on their learning and the value they place on it.

The results
93% of 11-16 year olds with computer access at school surveyed do at least some or all of their homework on a computer/ laptop.
78% of these prefer doing homework on a computer or laptop to pen and paper
50%  of 11-16 year olds surveyed would like to spend more time learning at home
49% own their own laptop or PC
77% use the Internet every day
93% of 11-16 year olds surveyed feel that technology has helped them to learn more

The results of the research found that 93% of 11-16 year olds feel that technology has helped them to learn more and 78% of those with computer access at school said they now prefer doing their homework on a computer or laptop rather than on paper. Further, 93% of respondents do at least some or all of their homework on a computer.

The survey also revealed the extent to which young people are engaging with the Internet, with over three-quarters (77%) of those questioned using it every day, and 21% using it once or twice a week. This is supported by the fact that half (49%) of the respondents own their own laptop or PC.

With this access has come a desire for enhanced flexibility in where young people learn, and a dissolving of barriers between home and school. 50% of those young people surveyed voiced a desire to spend more time learning at home.

Other technologies
Young People’s engagement with technology doesn’t stop with computers. New technologies and social networking sites are widely enjoyed, with 60% of respondents using Facebook/ Myspace and/ or Bebo, 66% playing video games, 69% a mobile phone, 65% an MP3 player and 51% using a digital camera. There is a strongly expressed interest in using these for learning, with 30% saying they would like to use video games to help them learn, 20% an MP3 player and 18% social networking sites.

When asked what aspects of learning they thought would most help them get a good job in later life, a majority (70%) chose technology, backed by having a supportive family (83%) and a good teacher (84%).

On Friday I’m giving my first ever presentations at the BETT Show. I’m on the Policy in Practice stand and Stephen Heppell’s stand in the afternoon. This should make for a busy day!

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Presentation Handout | Presentation | MyTree Article | PageBull Visual Search Engine | bubbl.us mindmapping | Flashmeeting Basic Videoconferencing | My KS3 ICT SoW |

On Thursday I’m giving a day’s training at UEA for their secondary PGCE trainees.

Training Day Handout | Global Worksheet | Global Village | Rich Poor | R U Global | Global Presentation | ICT Presentation

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The Typical Teacher Network and The Networked Teacher are two diagrams created by Alec Couros from the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina as part of his doctoral thesis to signify the different ways in which teachers network in the 21st century.

The challenge is to train teachers to become active contributors to these new networks instead of simply passive observers!

If you need a quick description of what a blog is and how to use one, look no further.

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.

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Resources Update
MyTree – I’ve made this unit to replace the About Me powerpoint project. The students are given a diagram of different emotions and they write phrases to descrbe how they feel in different school situations. They then share their ideas by contributing comments to a series of blog posts. Finally they create a powerpoint presentation about the different aspects of their personality (example).

9.2 Online Survey – This unit enables students to compare the lives of young people in the UK and USA. We are hoping to involve students in other countries too this year for a global survey. Students then analyse the data using pivot charts and write a report to explain what the data proves.

MyMoney – This unit enables students to research real current accounts for teenagers and do some market research into how they save and what they spend their money on. They create a series of products including a billboard advert, leaflet and an audio advert. This unit is currently under construction.

To visit our entire KS3 ICT SoW, some KS4 resources and lots more, visit www.communicty.wikispaces.com.

Training Videos
I’ve collected a number of useful videos from the CommonCraft Show on themes such as:
Social Bookmarking, What’s a wiki and RSS. I’ve also started creating my own short videos on various aspects of how to teach ICT. To view my first attempt go to starting an ICT lesson.

Events
I’m organising a SSAT Seminar with Ian Noble on practical uses of teaching ICT with new technologies including web2.0 and VLEs. The event is at the Eastern Leadership Centre in Cambridge on 15th November. For more info and how to book click here.

Websites to check out
MindMaps, FreeMind and Bubbl.us are three excellent examples of online planning and brainstorming tools. I have seen several schools using them very effectively to plan DiDA projects.