Presenting

The presented assignment was a very daunting blot on the horizon throughout the autumn term. I was worried that I would find the interactive whiteboard technology a struggle to use and I would have an embarrassing experience. However, as I finally managed to get the Smart Notebook software on my Mac, the task of putting together the slides was surprisingly easy. I was not confident enough to produce a multi sensory presentation, though I think that now I have used the technology in front of my colleagues and subsequently in school on day link visits, I am getting more comfortable with exploring the resources it has to offer.

I chose to do my presentation on the Geography of London around the Thames. I loved being able to drag and drop pictures onto the screen and move them around for best advantage. The fact that everything can be moved around on the screen unless locked in place, makes for good opportunities for matching-up activities. It was oddly liberating to be able to move some of the most famous landmarks around a map of London and put them wherever I wanted!

The presentations were peer-assessed, this meant that no one had to stand up in front of the class to show their work. The class was divided into groups of three, and we took turns to show and assess. In my group, it was nice to find that we had all chosen a different foundation subject to present on, and we had a good variety of work to look at. This was my first experience of peer-assessment, and it struck me as good activity to do with children in the future.

Overall, I found the course to be an eye-opener on the future! School has changed so significantly since I was a pupil, and it is interactive technology that has made this transformation possible. I think I will try and utilise these resources, especially in subjects like science and maths. Digital Blue has provided every school in the country with a digital microscope for example, and I am really looking forward to working this into a lesson with the interactive whiteboard! I was quite sceptical about my ability to absorb all the new information at the start of the course, but the practical aspect of the lessons, meant that everyone was able to try things out and this is the best way to get to grips with something new.

Merry Christmas!

Getting them Creative

"In the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes." - Andy Warhol.

Children are often mesmerised by the idea of being famous and the internet has sadly been used to exploit this in sometimes very sinister ways. In an ICT session, we looked at ways in which children can broadcast  their learning and upload things they have made to the internet. We also looked at talking postcards, photo albums and recording pods as ways in which children can preserve their voices for others to access.

One way in which children can broadcast themselves is through podcasting. This is a nice way for schools to link up globally and share work with others. Some of these podcasts can sound very polished and give a professional element to the children's work. We looked at examples of children's own poetry which had been put into podcasts on the site I have linked below.

http://www.radioanywhere.co.uk/

Schools can sign up to sites that provide platforms for podcasting. Another such site is Podium:

http://www.podiumpodcasting.com/

Podium is aimed at both Key Stage 1 and 2 level children and is suited to broadcasting among other things, children's musical achievements. We all had a chance to make mini podcasts in the ICT suite. I can see the idea appealing to the showing-off streak possessed by so many children; people made mock-up radio shows and interviewed each other.

Digital Blue is a company specialising in providing schools with innovative ICT technology. The previous week we looked at programmable robotic devices and digital microscopes, this time we worked with Digital Blue's digital video cameras to make very short stop motion animations. The very idea of being able to make any kind of animation in the classroom is highly impressive, and with the help of plasticine and some dead leaves, three of us put together the following:

The sense of pride in our work was palpable, even for three grown-ups, and the fact that children can now make and upload such creative endeavours, gives them a degree of ownership over their work, as well as the feeling that they are in some way getting themselves "out there."