Technologies for Learning

Numbers

2012-01-29T11:13:00.000Z

31% of 8-18 year olds have a desktop computer in their bedroom and 12% have their own laptop.

'The quantity of information doubles every eight years. This means by the time a child born today graduates from college, the amount of knowledge in the world will be four times as much, and by the time that child is fifty it will be thirty-two times as great. By then, ninety-seven percent of everything known will have been learnt since that child was born.'
Alvin Toffler

BBC Online resources

2012-01-28T16:52:00.000Z

The BBC is a never ending treasure trove of high quality resources. Over 20,000 paintings spanning over 800 years here...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/yourpaintings/2011/08/your-paintings-art-resource-for-teachers.shtml

Muvizu

2012-01-25T22:32:00.000Z

Free 3D animation software for PC. Download the .exe at www.muvizu.com

iBooks Author

2012-01-20T21:32:00.001Z

Just on stream, but destined to be huge...
Does this change our relationships with books, again...

Numbers

2012-01-17T00:05:00.002Z

Reproduced from Creativity blog:

In 2003, a total of five exabytes of data existed. Now we generate that every two days. We are, literally, more creative than ever.

In the amount of time it takes you to read this blog posting, roughly 382 Android phones will be activated; more than 250,000 words will be written on Blogger; and 48 hours of video will be uploaded to YouTube.

There are two billion of us connected to the internet across the globe. By 2020, there will be five billion people accessing the internet on over 50 billion devices – phones, tablets, TVs, even refrigerators. The internet is information, but information is inseparable from the people who are creating, consuming, and sharing it. And the web is no longer anonymous – it’s built on real people and their connections, opinions, and ideas.

http://www.thinkwithgoogle.co.uk

Recoding the classroom

2012-01-16T21:22:00.000Z

Short extracts taken from a thinkwithgoogle article. http://www.thinkwithgoogle.co.uk

If the world we live in looks nothing like it did three decades ago, and even less like it will three decades hence, is it right that the classroom of today would be instantly recognizable to your mother, your mother’s mother, or your constantly networking, cell phone-obsessed daughter? While we intuitively weave new tools into our everyday lives – blogging, tweeting, texting, and using Google as if by instinct – inside school walls, it’s like they don’t exist.

“Almost everything we know about school was designed for the late eighteenth century, when the invention of steam-powered presses made books available to common people. Partly, it was about social control; how you take this massive group of people that are becoming literate and educate them for the industrial workplace. Now here we are, in this fourth information age where everybody can broadcast themselves, and we’re still working with a top-down, hierarchical system.”
Cathy Davidson

Full article
http://www.thinkwithgoogle.co.uk/quarterly/speed/recoding-the-classroom-education-feature.html

National Archive

2012-01-15T20:16:00.000Z

Online film editing tool
http://www.unlockingarchives.nen.gov.uk/mindshow/

2012-01-15T19:41:00.002Z

Interactive Youtube video for Ideapaint.
I don't know how to do interactive Youtube videos yet... but a great option.
Should every school have it's own Youtube Channel??

Free E-Books

2011-12-28T16:16:00.001Z

250 Free E-Book resources from Oxford Reading Tree.
Flash-based books... therefore nor viewable on IPad or IPod.

http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/Teacher

These are nevertheless really useful resources... ones whose potential can be maximised by sharing the URL with pupil/parents and by putting a link to the URL on the School Website homepage...

Audience and Purpose - Book publishing

2011-12-25T09:59:00.002Z

Technology can come to our aid in create realistic audiences and purpose for writing.
Pupils can, of course, blog for a worldwide audience,
or create a website, or contribute to a collaboration site.

Pupils can create and produce books and newsletters that are DTP'd at school and distributed within the community.

And there's Blurb.....
http://www.blurb.com/
Blurb is a book publishing website... giving a really professional look to publications, giving a real sense of authorship, real purpose, a real audience and a really compelling reason for the authors to produce materials of the very highest standard.

Books can be produced in 'standard' book form - and/or as e-books for IPad and IPod.

The sheer excitement and adrenalin rush of seeing one's efforts displayed in these forms surely cement the deal for our Authors...

There is also a Blurb+ App, costing 69p, that allows you to make instant e-books direct onto Ipad and IPod.... a recommend.

Also, remember Storybird from previous blog postings - an online book publishing tool. One of the beauties of this resource is the ability to print the pictures off first... allowing children to construct a visual plan using the images to support their writing.

http://storybird.com/

Moglue is another book publishing site

http://www.moglue.com/builder/

Tableau for IPad

2011-12-25T08:51:00.000Z

Tableau software is also available as an App for Ipad. The app allows you to both view pre-made data visualisations and to create your own, once you have registered with Tableau.

See how news media around the world have used Tableau...
http://www.tableausoftware.com/public/community/in-the-wild

Tableau Public & data

2011-12-24T17:39:00.001Z

And it's interesting, isn't it, that Ted Cuzzillo of Datadoodle, quoted below, says that 'In the same way that YouTube spawned a surge of new filmmakers, Tableau Public will bring on a new generation of data players and spectators.'
Data Players?
Data Spectators?
... This reminds me of the John Dewey quote, "If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow."
If we want to prepare today's children for the world of tomorrow, we must teach them to adapt to new ideas and help them explore innovative concepts on their own. Teaching them that things aren't fixed, that they can impact upon the world, enabling them to manage change, to learn from others, to adapt, to think freely, will equip them to take on the jobs that don't yet exist or, indeed, create the jobs and the opportunities that don't yet exist.

Would you have predicted a job for a Data Player a year ago?
Or for a YouTube filmmaker five years ago?
Or for a Digital Resources Manager in a school ten years ago?
Or for a Website Designer fifteen years ago?

Huge industries have been created out of nowhere and it is mainly the young and educated who have filled those roles and created that growth. That surely proves more than ever that there is a bright future for all of our children and makes our role as educators all the more important.

Tableau Public

2011-12-24T17:25:00.001Z

"In the same way that YouTube spawned a surge of new filmmakers, Tableau Public will bring on a new generation of data players and spectators."
Ted Cuzzillo, Datadoodle

Tableau Public is an incredible free downloadable resource that can be used to produce beautiful data maps... on any theme. The data can be downloaded direct into spreadsheets... or viewed, and manipulated, in tableau Public.

This is the most exciting data handling resource I've seen - and is the one used by The Guardian to achieve some of their beautiful data representations.

http://www.tableausoftware.com/public

The Guardian Datablog

2011-12-23T16:37:00.000Z

This is an incredible website... brilliant for supporting Data Handling learning. The Guardian regularly produces beautiful and fascinating visual representations of data... from which fish to eat and which to avoid, via where The Queen gets her money from and what she spends it on, and the data Florence Nightingale produced in The Crimea for the MOD, to the history of US Astronauts... incredible stuff!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/page/2009/jun/17/3

Time Toast

2010-04-01T23:13:00.005+01:00

Time Toast is a really interesting free online timeline creation tool. Timelines are a great way of presenting research information. Sign up with Time Toast, create your timeline, publish it... you can then embed it into blogs, etc.
Here's the beginnings of one I made earlier...

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/48085

Film and video websites

2010-03-23T11:51:00.000Z

www.screenonline.org.uk/education
www.yorkshirefilmarchive.com
www.heritageexplorer.org.uk
www.bfi.org.uk/teachers

IPod and IPad Apps

2010-03-21T08:54:00.005Z

Pre-School
Downloaded IPod Touch applications being used with young children from the Pre-Kinder blog site.

http://tinyurl.com/yefhj9w

Tableau - beautiful data visualisations (showcased and discussed in more detail in subsequent blog posts)
Tableau

Blurb+ - publishing for IPad and IPod
Blurb

There are key essentials for IPad that make the device... potentially... a replacement for laptops.

iMovie
Garageband
Pages
Keynote
Numbers
do the spreadsheets, presentation, Word Processing, music creation and Film Making functions that make the IPad an incredible device. The Apps that can then be bought as Add-Ons just continue to make the Value for Money argument. Make sure that your IPads/Ipods have as much network integration as possible... so that Internet can be accessed, photos and resources can be shared, etc.

Other Key Apps:
Dropbox - allows you to share docs around the IPad/IPod network. This can be done wirelessly through your settings... so that if (for instance) a pdf is dropped into one Dropbox it is picked up automatically in all the Dropboxes throughout the system.

I Can Animate

Strip Design

BBC iPlayer

Blurb Mobile

DJay

Marvel Comics

The list of Apps, of course, goes on and on and on. Apps that some people favour, others don't. The key is to play with them and look for the educational relevance for your children, your setting.

Slumdog reveals learning treasures

2010-03-21T08:45:00.000Z

This Education Guardian article reports on Sugata Mitra's Hole In The Wall learning project, in which he installed computers with internet connection in Delhi slums for local children to discover. He found that the children began to teach themselves English, computing and maths, just a month after starting to use the PCs. The project inspired Vikas Swarup's Q&A, the novel that became the film Slumdog Millionaire.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/mar/16/slumdog-millionaire-education-online-independent

Primary Science 2010

2010-03-06T17:24:00.000Z

Pupils use a mixture of hard-wired PC's and wireless PC's and Macs in their own classroom. There are sixteen computers in total and thirty pupils. More computers could have been used, but the teacher

planned that pupils engage in high level Speaking and Listening work as a key part of the activity and
was keen to ensure that video download speeds remain high (and therefore the lesson maintains its pace) by not putting too much pressure on the wireless network from simultaneous video downloads.

Pupils load a pre-selected Internet science broadcast into their video editing package. As they are using mixed platform machines, there are different video editing packages in use. Pupils are equally comfortable with all available packages. While the video is downloading to their machines, pupils watch the episode together with the teacher via the Interactive Whiteboard. The teacher uses effective questioning to draw out key scientific concepts.

By the time the video ends, pupils have the full broadcast cached to their computers, allowing them to fast-forward, rewind and review key details. The teacher asks the group to edit the film down from fifteen minutes to one minute, retaining only the real-world examples of the scientific concepts that are the focus of the session.

The activity prompts high levels of dialogue, discussion, debate, co-operation and collaboration between pupils. It is clear to the teacher, who is listening in to individual group discussions that pupils have both a sound appreciation of the concepts involved and have a keen appreciation and awareness of the audience that their new output is designed for. Pupils go on to edit the audio from the clip to complement their new product. They also add narration to explain the concepts and the choices they have made.

The teacher now has sixteen one minute video clips from which to assess pupils understanding and to inform the next steps in learning. The videos are saved both to pupils own online webspace and to the Learning Platform to serve as an aide-memoir.

Wordle

2010-02-17T19:10:00.002Z

Wordle is a great way of summarising a document quickly.  Creating a wordle creates many discussion points.  Copying a child's story and pasting it into Wordle tells you a great deal about the breadth of their vocabulary...

This particular Wordle is created from the words in this

blog.

www.wordle.net

Learning Games

2010-02-15T17:38:00.002Z

Creating bespoke computer games that address specific learning needs is undoubtedly a technology tool of the twenty first century. This facility really does allow for personalised learning in a meaningful sense of the phrase. Content Generator allows you to create your own learning games in Flash. Some of the applications are free, others are paid for.
http://www.contentgenerator.net/

Hot Potatoes includes six applications, enabling you to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises . Hot Potatoes is freeware. It is not open-source.
http://www.hotpot.uvic.ca/

3D Modelling

2010-02-14T22:10:00.000Z

3D Modelling using Google Sketchup
http://sketchup.google.com/

Class Tools

2010-02-14T22:08:00.002Z

Classtools.net provides free, customisable flash templates to embed into blogs, wikis and websites.

Face to face technologies

2010-02-14T21:56:00.000Z

Getting online and making connections with people and experts all around the world is stimulating, exciting and fun. Here are three good, free online resources.
Flash Meeting
http://flashmeeting.e2bn.net/
Skype
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/
Google Talk
http://www.google.com/talk/

Visual Literacy

2010-02-14T21:12:00.002Z

Used well, the use of video clips to support pupil's writing in Literacy and the wider curriculum undoubtedly impacts upon pupil outcomes. The use of video clips is democratic... even if certain pupils haven't had a particular experience, a video clip can fill some of that experience gap for them. Video clips help support pupil's imaginations and creative responses to writing.

There are hundreds of video clip sources on the Internet. You Tube is a brilliant resource. Others used by teachers at Robin Hood include:

BBC Schools
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/
BBC Learning Zone
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/
Vimeo
http://www.vimeo.com/
British Pathe
www.britishpathe.com
National Archives
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
Telly Ads
www.tellyads.com
TV Ark
www.tv-ark.org.uk
Sph3re
http://sph3re.tv/
Pixar
http://www.pixar.com/shorts/index.html
Apple Movie Trailers
http://www.apple.com/trailers/
Using streaming YouTube videos live in class can be an issue for teachers. http://keepvid.com/ supports video downloads that allow the video to be played while offline.

BBC News for children

2010-02-14T14:51:00.002Z

The BBC has a number of fabulous online News services for children.
These sites can help teachers to address many aspects of the curriculum.

World Class - world news for children
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldclass/bulletin/
Newsround
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/default.stm
News Reports for children
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/school_report/default.stm

Text Wall

2010-02-14T14:28:00.000Z

Text Walls from Xlearn for £25 per year.

Pupils use mobiles to interact with a text wall in sessions (posing questions / sharing answers.... lots of possibilities)

http://www.xlearn.co.uk/sms.htm

Google Apps for Education

2010-02-14T14:07:00.002Z

More than 6 million students use Google Apps.

Free Gmail, Calendar, Docs and more.

Google Apps Education Edition offers a free set of customizable tools that enable staff and students. http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/index.html

Cameos of practice at Robin Hood highlighted by Schools Minister

2010-02-01T21:05:00.000Z

Vernon Coaker, Schools Minister, gives the opening address at BETT 2010, Olympia, London, 13 Jan '10 (He talks about the effective use of technologies for learning at Robin Hood from the point 01min 27secs in the clip)

Becta ICT Excellence Awards winning video 2009: Excellence at Robin Hood, Youtube

Be Very Afraid

2010-01-18T21:37:00.001Z

I'm not certain what Stephen Heppell is suggesting that we be very afraid of. Nevertheless, that's the name of this website which contains short video extracts of learning using technologies.
It's about learning, not about technologies.
http://www.heppell.net/bva/default.htm

Taking inspiration from the Pathe News website. Cappelle Fearn School for 'Be Very Afraid'
http://www.heppell.net/bva/bva3/capellefearnschool2.htm

Cameos of Practice at Robin Hood

2010-01-13T08:34:00.004Z

Becta ICT Excellence Award winner video 2008: cameos of practice at Robin Hood, Youtube

Shift Happens

2010-01-10T13:37:00.000Z

Shift Happens from 2008... So lots of the statistics are probably already well out of date. The numbers are phenomenal! Even if you've seen it.. it's worth another look, just to marvel at the numbers involved....

Blogging, texting and tweeting makes for a better writer...

2010-01-10T13:09:00.003Z

Blogging, texting and tweeting makes for a better writer...
A very interesting article at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8392653.stm
These are, on the whole, free technologies... that means that they are accessible to all users, therefore they have both power and potential.
Are we making enough use of them?
Could we be doing more?

Free blogs for pupils
http://kidblog.org/home.php
or
www.blogger.com

There are great examples of blogs created by pupils from Gearies Infant School in Ilford
Books 4 Breakfast:       www.b4b09.blogspot.com
Pleasure Readers:         www.pleasurereaders.blogspot.com
Gearies Eden Project:   www.edenproject.blogspot.com

Wallwisher & twitter

2010-01-10T13:07:00.000Z

We've used Wallwisher
http://www.wallwisher.com
as a quick way to inform parents of our open/closed status due to the severe weather conditions. A direct link from the school website frontpage (www.robinhood.leeds.sch.uk) takes you to an easy to manage information bulletin board.

We are also using the embed code with twitter (www.twitter.com) to post regular updates on the frontpage.

Technologies in the curriculum

2010-01-04T23:21:00.002Z

Creative approaches and effective use of technologies within the curriculum are inextricably linked. There are posts about effective use of technologies in curriculum areas on my other blog site.
http://wilsonm011.blogspot.com/

Technologies and creative learning in Science

Technologies and creative learning in History

Technologies and creative learning in Music

Why an interest in technologies for learning?

2010-01-04T22:26:00.000Z

Everyone who is involved in education shares the same basic passion. I'm involved in education because I believe that it is powerful. Educational success is the key transformational opportunity in every life. As an educationalist, I believe that I have the power to positively influence young lives and contribute to raising aspirations and improved life chances for young people.

Technologies, for me, are fundamental to how we educate twenty first century citizens in a way that has meaning for them now and for their futures.

Texting, Tweeting Are Great Teaching Tools

2010-01-04T21:13:00.000Z

From Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning.......

Carol Tilley, Professor at University of Illinois , says that educators should embrace texting—as well as tweeting—to engage students.
Noting that more than 70 percent of teenagers have a mobile phone, Tilley says the technologies offer a “viable alternate means of engaging with that age group.” She offers numerous examples of classroom applications, including a look at how English teachers can use Twitter, which can be broadcast to a wider audience than texts:

“In terms of strategies for creative or critical writing, having a limited number of characters to work with opens up all sorts of cool ways to play with the medium. For example, an English teacher could take a famous character from a novel and ask students to tweet from that character’s perspective.
It’s a good way to get into the psychology of the character.
Teachers could also challenge students to craft micro-stories complete with a climax and a denouement in 140 characters.

Full article and related links

Robin Hood in the news

2009-12-31T14:43:00.001Z

The effective use of technologies for learning have featured in the local newspaper twice within the last few weeks.

This one below is from the Yorkshire Evening Post, 17th Dec '09
'Connected with the World'
http://ow.ly/RkZf

and from the same newspaper, 31st December '09
'Leeds and Wakefield schools praised for use of ICT'

both articles are by the Education Reporter, Debbie Leigh

The articles can be searched for either by title or author using the url above.

Parental Engagement

2009-12-31T00:22:00.002Z

Jan 2012
This original post is from Jan 2011

Parents are, of course, the most important educators.
How do we, as professional educators, pool our knowledge with parents, enable, empower and support them in understanding what is happening in school to deepen our partnership as co-educators and thereby give the best possible support to their child?
Technologies, of course, have a role to play and Becta have clear timescales established for when all schools in the UK should have the necessary provision in place.
Crucially, there is no 'one size fits all model' on offer. All schools are taking their own approaches.

The approaches at Robin Hood to Parental Engagement involve high tech, low tech and no tech approaches that reflect the varying needs and preferences of the population we serve.

Website
Our website, from inception, was developed as a strategic vehicle for effective Parental Engagement. many of the features operated like a 'Learning Platform', with the potential for two-way information flow.

School Policies
Calendars
Messageboards
General Information
Publications, eg: Prospectii
Class learning resources
Web-links that were used in class
Staff email contacts
Examples of pupils work were all stored there.

Class resources and web- links were key developments for us.. as they took the learning (and the learning conversations) beyond the classroom and into the car, the home, Grandma's house. We found that entire families were engaging with the learning activities in the home environment.

Sometimes it's as simple as providing your greatest assets with the tools to do the job......

Newsletter
We send a weekly paper-based newsletter to all parents... with the Headteacher's news on one side and the class news on the other. Class news includes details of the learning that has taken place in the previous week and, more importantly, what pupils will be learning next week... and where parents can help prepare them for that learning, eg: go to the shop, let your child pay and count to ensure they receive the appropriate change... which keeps local shopkeepers on their toes too...

Celebration Assembly
Our Friday Celebration Assembly is a showcase for our pupils outstanding achievements both in school and out. There are performances by pupils every week. This is a very well supported community event.

Celebration Friday
Celebration Friday changes the dynamic of a 'Parents Evening'. In additon to 'formal', twice yearly Parents Evenings, we have a Celebration Friday event each Half Term for each Key Phase in school. This is led by pupils.. who invite their relatives into their classrooms and show them the work that they are particularly proud of.

Parent Meetings
'Welcome to...'
Every parent is invited to a 'Welcome to...' meeting at the start of each school year so that they meet the new class teacher, learn of any changes to dates, timings and/or routines and gain a clear appreciation of expectations for the year ahead.
Parents Evening
Are held twice annually.
Meetings according to need
We organise specific meetings with specific groups of parents throughout the school year, eg: Parents of Year 2 children who are reticent readers, Parents of Year 4 pupils who are attaining below their full potential in Maths, Parents of Year 6 pupils in the run up to SAT's, etc, etc

Reporting to Parents
We made a commitment to parents some time ago to issue three progress reports during the school year. Reports are issued termly and inform parents not only levels and grades but also, crucially, what the levels and grades mean, where these assessments relate chronologically and what each child's next key development steps are.

Texting and Emailing Parents
A are many schools, we are able to text and email urgent messages to parents. Parents report that they value this service.

Learning Platform
At Jan '10, we are taking a strategic approach to developing our Learning Platform. Our key questions are:

What do we need it for?
What do we want it to achieve?
How is it going to help us achieve our key aims?
How do we build a sustainable model?
How do we ensure the necessary capacity for continued development?
How do we ensure its cost-effectiveness?
What content/look and feel do we need in order to create a dynamic environment that makes parents and pupils want to come back and back again?
What information do we need to protect, and what could be freely available to the rest of the world?

Since the Jan 2011 post, we have added:

Blogs

Using blogs has helped us to connect at a far more dynamic level with parents. There are micro blogs running for classes, and for specific topics that our parents are accessing regularly. Our Reception class blog gets 100's of hits per day, 100's per week.
The list of blogs is at: http://www.robinhood.leeds.sch.uk/pupils/blogs.php

There is also a Headteacher blog with linked blogs for each of the phases in school, that explains Home Learning that that week, what's been learned in the past week and what's coming up for the following week, etc... that tends to get 300 to 400 hits per week... which is a very high percentage for a school with 367 pupils.
http://robinhoodnewsletter.blogspot.com/

Facebook
We also copy the blog into a Facebook page that over fifty parents at the moment are members of... which goes direct to their Facebook page and can, of course, be accessed on mobile devices as well as on computers. Search robinhoodpri on Facebook if you're interested in having a look at this.

All of these methods give those parents who want it access and rich information. As a school we , I believe, benefit a great deal from the social and community capital that communicating often through these means brings.

This Jan 2012 update is replicated on my School Leadership blog
http://leadingschool.blogspot.com/

Skype a Viking

2009-12-30T22:53:00.001Z

Our Year 3 and 4 pupils took a trip to Danelaw Dark Age Village in November as part of their Vikings topic.
Due to pupil numbers, the Year Groups went on separate days.
While one group were actually at the Viking Village, the other group held a live video conference with a Viking via Skype, organised with the co-operation of the education team at the Jorvik Viking Centre, York.

Evolve Leeds

2009-12-30T09:01:00.004Z

If you haven't done so already, take a look at Evolve.

This is a website about connecting practice and practitioners. There are weekly 'butterfly' videos... short videos from a different school in Leeds every week that exemplify effective use of technologies for learning. As there's a new video each week, there's a reason for coming back to the site......

The 'My Evolve' section supports the development of collaborative practice between practitioners within a social networking framework.

High Tech High

2009-12-30T08:28:00.003Z

I first came across Larry Rostenstock via a video on the mobilelearninginstitute site. I'd actually recommend a view of all of the videos. There are some powerful visions and passionate arguments for learning presented. I've shared a number of them at Staff Meetings. As a staff, we've discussed the videos and, as a natural development from that, our own aspirations for pupils, practice, philosophy, ethos, values and beliefs... which are the most powerful drivers for any school.

The High Tech High film was probably the one that resonated for me most. I liked Larry's no-nonsense view of education. Like most good leaders, I think, he realises the power in keeping the message simple.

I saw lucky enough to hear Larry speak at the Innovation in Education event in London, Nov '09. Again, the message was simple. Larry started by saying (apologies to Larry, I'm paraphrasing here) that success at High Tech High is a non-negotiable. Students are there, so succeed is what they do. Students who are at risk of failing... simply aren't allowed to.

He went on to talk about learning. Again, simple common sense. Warwick Mansell's coverage of the event gives a flavour of the message.

The High Tech High website is certainly worth a look. On there are some examples of the books, produced by students, that are for sale on Amazon.
Also take a look at some of the videos of practice that are hosted on the site.

A must read

2009-12-29T22:18:00.002Z

This document, by John Abbott, really is well worth the effort. A recommend to all educationalists....
A Briefing Paper for Parliamentarians on the Design Faults at the Heart of English Education , Executive Summary and Full Text

Becta

2009-12-29T17:15:00.006Z

Stephen Crowne was recently moved to make a defence of Becta in the press, saying 'Becta saves more than it costs'.... which is a sign of the political times.

I'm certain that Robin Hood, like many schools in the UK who are passionate about learning in a twenty first century context, would argue passionately in support of Becta for the role that the organisation has played in helping development.

The Self-Review Framework gave us standards to measure our progress against and confidence that our investment in technologies for learning were meaningful and effective.

Gaining the ICT Mark award in November '06 signalled to us that we were operating to a very good standard.

The ICT Excellence Award in '08 inspired the next steps on our journey and the ICT Excellence Award in '09 pushed our thinking even further forward.

The outputs have been enormous:
In that time, we have supported the Professional Development of over eighty colleagues from Leeds schools at Robin Hood.
We have received visitors from the region, the UK and around the world.
I, as Headteacher, have had the opportunity to speak at events and share examples of practice around the country... which (I hope) will have had some impact upon practice in those settings.
Teachers from Robin Hood have worked with the BBC and the Yorkshire Film Archive - directly benefiting provision for our pupils.
I've been a member of the Becta Leading Leaders Network (LLN) since '07 - an outstanding national network of Headteachers and Senior Leaders.... all of which can be traced in a direct line back to Becta.

So when Stephen says that Becta saves more than it costs... I'm inclined to agree with him and also offer the observation that Becta's work and influence reaches far further than may at first meet the eye, or grab the headline.

Context Update

2009-12-29T17:02:00.002Z

Since the initial 'Context' post there have been further developments at Robin Hood School.

The school was the proud winner of the Becta ICT Excellence Award 2009 in the Leadership & Management category.
There's a 2009 video of practice at the school at:
http://awards.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?resID=41310
The 2008 video is viewable at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvl-jRec8lg
A 2007 video, done for the Becta DVD 'Towards the ICT Mark' is also viewable (entitled 'Excellence in ICT').. this time on the school website:
http://www.robinhood.leeds.sch.uk/tv/
It is interesting to look at the development in practice at the school during this time frame. The journey that we are on is the very same one that every other school is on. Key developments can, I think, be clearly seen.

We were very pleased to receive our ICTMark revalidation in November 2009. The process was extremely helpful and supportive and I felt that our assessor was extremely insightful. It is a process that I would absolutely recommend to everyone.

Websites for Information: Recommends

2009-12-29T14:00:00.004Z

Which websites provide good, reliable and up-to-date information that's easily useable and translatable into practice in the classroom?

Those that I use regularly include:

Merlin John Online
http://www.agent4change.net
I've recently discovered this one. Features news and really good articles.

National Education Network
http://www.nen.gov.uk/

Innovation Unit
http://www.innovation-unit.co.uk/
Lots of useful links off this site. I've found the research pieces particularly useful.

Futurelab
http://www.futurelab.org.uk/
Is an enormous site. Again, like the Innovation Unit, lots of really useful publications, research and next-practice case studies.

Twitter is becoming a very useful tool for me in finding new materials and connecting to practitioners. It does need managing once you're following more than a few people... particularly if any of them are avid tweeters.. and could become a full-time job in itself.

The key is to get connected to new learning that can directly impact back in your own context... not to spend all your life chasing your own tail....

Web links: Educational Resources

2009-12-28T15:43:00.004Z

It's become very clear to me on looking through the page upon page of weblinks that I've collected over time that I need a way of keeping them together, available and accessible. Some are built into the school website and into the curriculum. Others... float around... and we either forget about them - which is a problem, or one individual uses them - which means that the potential of the resource may not be being fully exploited.

One of the problems with collecting weblinks is having time to do the research on them.
Christmas 2009 research: websites to check-up on/take a look at.
Here goes...

http://etherpad.com
only web-based word processor that allows people to work together in realtime. When multiple people edit the same document simultaneously, any changes are instantly reflected on everyone's screen. Looks interesting... good potential for collaborative writing projects.

http://www.edutubeplus.info/content/videos
Just following this one at the moment... not well developed yet, but has outstanding potential. The EduTubePlus project aims to develop a European hybrid, multilingual video-based service for schools. This service will integrate thousands of multi-lingual curriculum-related video-clips by major European educational TV & video providers.

http://storybird.com
Already established as a favourite and being used by a number of Year Groups in school. We've ref'd it on the 'We Like' page of the school website http://www.robinhood.leeds.sch.uk/pupils/welike.php Site is a beta. Storybirds are short, visual stories that you make with others and share (and soon print).

Another site ref'd there is
http://www.yfaonline.com/yfapublic/
Now loads of online content. Not just relevant to Yorkshire and links to lots of potential topics/themes....

We Like section of RH School website again...
http://www.robinhood.leeds.sch.uk/pupils/welike.php

http://www.arts4lifeshowcase.blogspot.com/
Arts 4 Life.
Underdeveloped at the moment. A group working with Young People in Leeds. Some good ideas for arts curriculum development here...

Click - The BBC's flagship technology programme.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/8333949.stm
Lots of useful resources here and referrals to education-linked websites/content/resources

http://www.1minutetosavetheworld.com/
A great website containing a wealth of independently made videos that are full of innovative ways of getting a message across. I came across the site via The Guardian.

http://www.blurb.com/make/booksmart
Make professional-looking books from pupils' photographs, direct onto your computer - simple as that.

http://www.geni.com/
Another look at history.... Connecting with our own personal history opens a great many doors. This simple tool presents an interesting way to present a personalised approach to learning about history, yourself, your family and your locality.

http://www.wallwisher.com
This is a truly great resource that allows you to custom-build interactive 'walls' with your class - like a pin-board, perhaps, or a mood board, thought board, a board that preceeds a topic, full of ideas that pupils want to explore.. a post-topic discussion board, a storyboard, praiseboard. The possibilities are.......
I've begun a mock-up. It's set up so that I moderate the board. Nobody's post goes live unless I moderate it. Wallwisher sends me a message when there's a post added.

http://www.instituteofplay.org/
Creative learning, play-based approaches, using digital video games as a learning tool and lots of interesting photographs on Flickr...... Well worth spending a bit of research time on.
See also:
http://q2l.org/
and
http://www.theplayethic.com/ ...which moves the context to Scotland.

http://emergingtechnologies.becta.org.uk/
Bringing together news, articles, research, views and opinions on emerging technologies for learning

http://www.createascape.org.uk/
This looks remarkable. I haven't had enough time to fully get my head around it yet and work out the detail or, indeed, try it out with children. But..... I have seen it in action at an event... done with pupils of Primary School age. Again, offers an incredible opportunity to enrich the learning and the experience of a Local History study. Clearly enormous potential for Geography studies... and for Internet Safety awareness.

http://www.teachertube.com/videoList.php?pg=videomostviewed
Mainly populated by videos from US teachers. There are pearls here... Take a look at 'Mrs. Burk Perimeter Rap' at http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=157&title=Mrs__Burk_Perimeter_Rap

http://www.comicbrush.com/
A comic book making tool that can export out onto ipod... which makes it a potentially interesting tool. A very limited range of characters and backgrounds to choose from, very few of which are actually FREE.
There are quite a few comic maker tools out there.
We've used the Doctor Who Comic Maker and Trailer Maker very successfully.....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/create/
We used this one with our Reception pupils for their Superhero topic........
http://www.artisancam.org.uk/flashapps/superactioncomicmaker/comicmaker.php
We're also using
http://myths.e2bn.org/
for the Myths and Legends topic.

http://www.exploratree.org.uk/
An online planning tool from Futurelab.

www.jamstudio.com
'The online music factory'. Free online music creation tool. Sister product, JamRecorder.

That's probably enough to be going on with for now.

Why I'm avoiding the use of 'ICT'

2009-03-14T16:08:00.005Z

We talk a lot about ICT in schools. I'm at the point of thinking that the word/acronym is itself getting in the way of our next steps. When people in education hear 'ICT' they immediately think about 'computers' and all of the insecurities around knowledge deficit and training come to the fore. I'm personally favouring the longer (though in my opinion more precise) phrase 'technologies for learning' and their application into the learning environment as 'the effective use of technologies for learning' as the technologies we have available go way beyond 'computers' and 'ICT' in the sense that they are generally understood.
Technologies for learning might (and indeed do) include

- Nintendo DS
- voice recorders
- all sorts of cheap and cheerful (and potentially highly effective, if used well) resources from the excellent TTS
- Dance Mats
and much, much, much, much more.

And, of course, there is lots of material out there published by far more learned and intelligent people than I on the inspirational applications that these technologies can be put to in order to support, enhance and inspire learning.

Some context

2009-03-14T16:01:00.005Z

The school was proud to achieve ICT Mark in November 2006 and an ICT Excellence Award (Whole School category, regional winner) in 2008. We regularly receive visits from Headteacher, teacher and advisory colleagues from the city, the region, from around the country and from overseas who are interested in the effective use of technologies to support learners and learning. In addition, the school has established a very successful CPD programme for teachers in association with the Local Authority.

For more information about the school and our activities visit:
www.robinhood.leeds.sch.uk

Telephone: 0113 2823444

2009-03-14T15:49:00.003Z

I first thought of a blog as essentially an experiment for me in using another technology and, in so doing, considering its learning applications. As I thought about it, I also thought that I am actually interested in a public space to post thoughts, comments and ideas in the hope (I suppose) that they are of interest to someone, somewhere.