Take a look: 10/30/2009 (p.m.)


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Web 2.0 Project: Marina Alfonso's work

Here’s a thumbnail sketch of some interesting work that Marina Alfonso is doing with Web 2.0. It is taken from the forthcoming second edition of the free Web 2.0 projects Book which was published last year -- over 11,000 copies downloaded! The book itself will contain even more information, so look out for that early in 2010!

Name: Marina Alfonso

Application type: 21st Century Learning, Blog

Age range: 14-16 years

Description of project

These teenagers had never used computers in language learning. We started with a class blog where I posted activities;passed to individual blogs, where they publish videos, podcasts, etc.We'll also work on a collaborative project with students from Brazil

Benefits of using Web 2.0

Motivation,Participation,Variety of means of expression,Any time,Anywhere,Ownership,Peer assessment,Forms of literacy,Collaboration,Creativity

URL: http://santarosa2nd.blogspot.com 

Are you doing interesting work with Web 2.0 applications in your school or college? If so, why not contribute to a new ebook containing ideas that other teachers can pick up and use? Further information is right here:

http://www.ictineducation.org/home-page/2009/10/14/web-20-projects-book-deadline-extended.html

Look out for more 'thumbnail sketches' next week.

 

12 factors to consider when evaluating books and other paper resources

ICT is not just about using computers, and it is useful to have teaching resources such as books from which you can set work. Unfortunately, ICT is still very much in its infancy in this context, compared with other subjects such as Mathematics, Science and English. Nevertheless, there are books out there, and there seem to be more and more titles coming out all the time.

Obtain inspection copies where possible, and ask other ICT teachers what they think of the books or resources you are interested in purchasing. (In the interests of not making life difficult or more expensive for others in the long run, please buy or return inspection copies, and only ask for them in the first place if you are both genuinely interested and have an influence on purchasing.)

  • Will users be able to understand it?
  • What is the layout like? Is it confusing?
  • Is it accurate?
  • Does it meet the National Curriculum requirements?
  • Where appropriate, is it suitable for the examination?
  • Is it suitable for the scheme of work being followed?
  • How easy is it to use for finding information?
  • Is it interesting?
  • Is it challenging?
  • Does it have non-computer based exercises?
  • Are the tasks realistic for the people in your class?
  • Is it good value for money? (It may be cheaper in the long run to buy sets of photocopiable resources than sets of textbooks.)

If you enjoyed reading this article, why not read "23 Factors to consider when evaluating digital resources
"?

 

Take a look: 10/29/2009 (p.m.)


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Web 2.0 Project: Alan Perkins' work

Here’s a thumbnail sketch of some interesting work that Alan Perkins is doing with Web 2.0. It is taken from the forthcoming second edition of the free Web 2.0 projects Book which was published last year -- over 11,000 copies downloaded! The book itself will contain even more information, so look out for that early in 2010!

Name: Alan Perkins

Application type: Techbribe, Podcast,Video/Video Podcast,Blog

Age range: 14-16 years

Description of project

The Techbribe is a weblog to enable students to publish work related to their IT projects in MYP Technology. It enables students to share knowledge, ideas and much more in order to fully understand collaborative principles within the Design Cycle.

Benefits of using Web 2.0

Participation,Variety of means of expression,Any time,Anywhere,Collaboration,Creativity

URL: http://www.techbribe.com 

Are you doing interesting work with Web 2.0 applications in your school or college? If so, why not contribute to a new ebook containing ideas that other teachers can pick up and use? Further information is right here:

http://www.ictineducation.org/home-page/2009/10/14/web-20-projects-book-deadline-extended.html

Look out for another 'thumbnail sketch' this time tomorrow.

 

No comment

Well, Freedman, it has come to my attention that you've been rather lax in responding to comments. What do you have to say for yourself? And stop fidgeting, boy! mortarboard.png
Er, it wasn't my fault, Sir.
It "wasn't my fault, Sir"? Then whose fault was it? The little green men from Mars?
No, Sir. It was the program, Sir.
Program? What program? Do try and make some sense, lad. You sound like a gibbering idiot.
I thought it was set to send me an email when someone commented, Sir.
In other words, you hadn't set it properly.
No, Sir. I mean, yes, Sir. I mean, I did, but it undid itself.
Undid itself, boy? Have you taken leave of your senses? Don't answer that, Freedman. Have you corrected it now?
Yes.
Yes, what?
Yes, Sir, Sir.
Good. And when might you be responding to the aforementioned comments? Some time in the next decade one hopes?
Today, Sir.
Good. And when you've done it, I want you to show me proof. Bring me the internet first thing in the morning.
Er, but...
No, on second thoughts, print it out, and leave it for me at the staffroom.
But, but, Sir, erm --
Are you quite alright, boy? Do get a grip. Now, to help you remember such basic etiquette in future, take 500 lines.
Take them where, Sir?
Are you trying to be impudent, boy? Make that 1,000 lines. At the staffroom tomorrow morning, 8:30 sharp. "I will monitor comments on my website every day, and respond in a timely manner."
Yes, Sir.
And Freedman?
Yes, Sir?
No copying and pasting.

23 factors to consider when evaluating digital resources

This article has been superseded by an updated version.

Ask the questions below, perhaps on a form devised for the purpose. Ask other staff and, where appropriate, pupils to do the same. Obtain an evaluation copy if possible, and seek the views of the Local Authority or other advisory person or organisation, and other teachers.

1. What is the name of the resource?

2. What category does it fall into, eg Word Processing, Games?

3. Which computer systems will it work on?

4. How much is it?

5. Where appropriate, how much is a site licence?

6. Is it available via LGfL or another (cheaper) route?

7. What is the printed documentation like? Will users be able to understand it?

8. Is the on-line help good? Will pupils be able to understand it?

9. Do the graphics enhance the program, or distract one's attention?

10. Is the colour scheme too dull, too garish? Is it suitable for sight-impaired pupils?

11. Is the layout good, ie uncluttered, clear?

12. What print options are available?

13. How suitable is it for the classes you want it for?

14. Does it allow access by people with Special Educational Needs?

15. Does it meet the National Curriculum requirements?

16. Where appropriate, is it suitable for the examination in question, such as SATs?

17. Is it suitable for the scheme of work being followed?

18. How easy is it to use?

19. Does it make good use of the computer?

20. Will it attract pupils' interest in the short-term?

21. Will it be able to maintain pupils' interest in the long-term, eg through differentiated tasks?

22. Is it good value for money, taking into account things like the site licence cost?

23. Will it enhance your existing software resources?

Note that most of these questions apply even to free software, because of the opportunity costs involved.

Tomorrow: factors to consider when evaluating books.

Paperless office?

Your newsletter editor is hard at work sifting through the submissions for Digital Education, the free newsletter for education professionals. Have you subscribed yet?

Read more about it, and subscribe, on the Newsletter page of the ICT in Education website.

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A text editor with a difference

I love the idea of being 'punished' for having writer's block. After all, this is a condition that simply does not exist. I mean, be honest: if you really have so-called writer's block, all you need to do is write about that. Hardly a difficult task.

Writer's Block? There's a technological solution!Writing against the clock for fear of losing anything you have managed to write would, I should think, be another effective antidote: nothing like a mild panic to get the mind into gear!

If all else fails, you could always stand up, take a deep breath, and talk about the first random topic you come to in a dictionary or encyclopaedia and see where that gets you. (Locked up would be a distinct possibility if you tried that in public, so don't!)

I've just written this using the online version of Write Or Die at http://writeordie.drwicked.com. There's a desktop version too, for $10. So what does the application do? Apparently, the desktop version won't let you save anything until you've reached your target word count. There's even a setting for making it delete what you have already written if you're not quick enough off the mark.

A great idea; a great, darkly humorous, use of technology. There are myriad possible applications in a school setting. Discipline problems? What discipline problems? The kids are too busy trying to beat the clock.

Here's a badge I 'earned' while trying out the online version of the program for this article:

And here is a video about the product:

 

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WtdVJF4PiF0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WtdVJF4PiF0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Web 2.0 Project: Sharon Peters' work

Here’s a thumbnail sketch of some interesting work that Sharon Peters is doing with Web 2.0. It is taken from the forthcoming second edition of the free Web 2.0 projects Book which was published last year -- over 11,000 copies downloaded! The book itself will contain even more information, so look out for that early in 2010!

Name: Sharon Peters

Application type: Take2 Videos, Video/Video Podcast,Social networking

Age range: 14-16 years

Description of project

National Geographic Photojournalist, Karin Muller, embeds herself in areas of global conflict to take HD footage which she releases to students so they can create meaningful documentaries. Last year, she released footage from Darfur, this year, Cuba.

Benefits of using Web 2.0

Motivation,Participation,Variety of means of expression,Any time,Anywhere,Ownership,Forms of literacy,Collaboration,Creativity

URL: http://take2videos.ning.com/

Are you doing interesting work with Web 2.0 applications in your school or college? If so, why not contribute to a new ebook containing ideas that other teachers can pick up and use? Further information is right here:

http://www.ictineducation.org/home-page/2009/10/14/web-20-projects-book-deadline-extended.html

Look at for another 'thumbnail sketch' this time tomorrow.

Interesting embeddable widget I discovered on Wesley Fryer's blog. It shows how many blog posts etc there have been since you loaded the widget, in real time.

I'm not actually sure how valuable or even how valid such information is. There is no doubt, however, that using it in a presentation, as Fryer intended to do, would be a good way of grabbing people's attention right from the start.

Perhaps it would work well in a classroom setting too, as a starting point for a discussion about what such statistics mean, in a 'real' sense.

You can obtain the widget, and more information about it, from Gary Hayes' website.

Video choice: 10/28/2009

Warren Etheredge – The Art of the Interview (Or How to Grill a Star) ~ Chris Pirillo

This video has nothing to do with educational technology as such. However, I decided to bookmark it because it contains some important lessons for would-be student media stars:

  • Do your research
  • Only prepare the first question
  • Above all, LISTEN.

    •  

    Definitely worth watching with your class and then discussing.

    tags: video


    Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

    Building up slowly: more changes to this website

    Walk past any building site, and what will you see? More than likely, people lolling around drinking tea. Yet as you walk by every day you notice something strange: slowly, inexorably, the building is taking shape. Here is some scaffolding where only yesterday was an empty space; there a wall, where only yesterday there was scaffolding.

    Thus it is with this website. From your point of view, no doubt, I am lolling around drinking tea. Yet look more closely, and you will notice changes here and there. Small, incremental changes, but not insignificant ones I hope.

    Last week I listened to the reminder from Doug Woods that blue/yellow was almost as bad a colour combination as red/green. So out went the yellow background and most of the blue text, apart from the hyperlinks.

    IMG_0751

    As another aspect of making the site accessible to all, I've been experimenting with Talkr, which converts text to speech automatically. Unfortunately, it would seem that if you have article summaries, Talkr converts the summary and not the main article. So, out went the summaries despite the fact that I quite liked the idea of presenting several headlines and abstracts on the front page of the website: what a glorious choice the visitor had!

    Sadly, ditching the summaries had the unintended consequence of making the early (summarised) articles unamenable to conversion to speech. I hope you will agree that this is a small sacrifice for the greater, and longer term, good.

    Of course, this now meant that having five articles per page required, in Ray Tolley's words, "having to endlessly scroll further down the page in case there is a different topic further down." Therefore I took a leaf out of his book and reduced the number of articles to just one per page -- but still with the last six headlines just over to the left of the main area.

    Like any consultant, part of the purpose of my website is to make it easy for people to find out what I do and why I'm qualified to do it, in the hope that they will offer me some gainful employment. So up went the CV (resumé) in a web-friendly form, on the page titled Assignments Undertaken.

    Lastly, I added a section called 'Social Profile' which gives my addresses on Twitter, Linked-In, and elsewhere. Rather cleverly, Squarespace allowed me to make that visible only on the 'Contact Us' page. (If you're impressed enough to want to create your own Squarespace website,  you might consider clicking on the 'Powered by Squarespace' icon on the right-hand side of this page. That links to an affiliate scheme which will place untold riches into my coffers. Well, a couple of quid I think, but every little helps, to coin a phrase!)

    Back to the website, and I must thank everyone who has been kind enough to provide feedback on the new site. I've done so in private emails, but I think a public acknowledgement of people's kindness would not go amiss. If you have any feedback, you can get in touch with me in all sorts of ways, as shown on the Contact Us page.

    Do keep visiting! It took five years to build up the wealth of content on the original website, so please be patient! I'm doing a fair amount of posting at the moment, but you know what they say: Rome wasn't built in a day. And you can always help by suggesting an article that you would like to write.

    If you like the site, please do tell others about it, comment on the articles and write about them. Visitor stats are looking pretty good at the moment, but I'm a Type A person and I need results yesterday!

    But for now, I think it's time I had another cup of tea....

    Checklist: 9 Guidelines for Managing a Technical Support Team

    You don't necessarily have to be a "techie" in order to be able to manage a technical support team effectively. These guidelines explain how.

    • Recognise that output is more important to most people than input. In other words, what matters is not so much how long or how hard the technical support team works, but whether the systems are reliable and functioning well most of the time.
    • Most technical support problems have non-technical causes, and therefore non-technical solutions.
    • If you have just started in the role of managing a technical support team, undertake a fact-finding exercise, to determine what the technical support experience is for various groups of people in the school -- including the students. I have undertaken this work for schools on several occasions, and the findings often come as a surprise to the technical team.
    • Introduce reporting and measurement procedures. How many faults were reported this week? How long did it take, on average, to resolve them? What has been done to reduce the risk of the same fault occurring again?
    • Insist on the proactive involvement of the senior management team. In the work I've done with schools, a consistent message has come through that a passively supportive attitude, while better than an unsupportive one, is not enough.
    • Invite the network manager to your department or curriculum meetings, both to listen to what's important to you and, perhaps either briefly every time or, say, once every 6 weeks, to give a report about the network and any matters of concern.
    • If you are the educational technology co-ordinator or manager, work towards having the line management of the technical support team taken out of your hands. The technical infrastructure and support of the school ought to be regarded as a maintenance function, not part of a curriculum area.
    • In the meantime, allocate some of your budget for training purposes for the technical support staff, especially if they will be asked to implement or manage a new network system, say.
    • Ensure that there are clear guidelines for responsibility in place. The role of the technical support team is to advise, implement and maintain. It is your role to ensure that learning takes place. When new computer facilities are being planned, both parties will need to be fully involved in the discussions from the outset.

     

    Checklist: 9 General Principles for Recruiting Technical Support Staff

    IMG_0028.JPG

    Image by Terry Freedman via Flickr

    You may have the opportunity to advise your senior management team on the appointment of technicians to support the educational technology provision in your school. Here are nine factors to consider.

    • Decide on whether to recruit your own technicians or use agency or Local Authority (School District) staff. The decision will be based on considerations such as finances, and whether there would be enough work to justify the employment of a full-time technician.
    • Decide on what sort of tasks you need the technician to do. If they require little technical expertise, such as changing printer cartridges, it may be better to hire or give additional training to a teaching assistant instead. Use Becta's technician job description tool to assist you.
    • Decide on the level of expertise you're looking for. This is related to the previous point.
    • Decide on the sort of person you need: a backroom person who will have little contact with staff, or a frontline person with whom staff will feel comfortable in approaching on a day-to-day basis.
    • Decide on how many technicians you will need. Hiring too few may prove to be a false economy, especially if they leave and take their knowledge of the network with them.
    • Ideally, there will be a budget to cover salaries. Bear in mind that for a network manager or technical team manager's post, you are competing in the "real world" market place.
    • If the school cannot offer a commercial salary, you will need to sell the advantages of working in your school. For example, will the person be required to come into school every day during school vacations? In many respects, working in a school environment is more challenging than working in a small to medium-sized company. This is a potential selling point to anyone who wishes to acquire a wide range of experience in a short period of time.
    • Advertise in the most appropriate place. For example, if people skills are more important to you than technical skills, it may be more cost-effective to send a letter out to parents than to advertise in a technical periodical.
    • Make it a requirement that applicants be ITIL (The Information Technology Infrastructure Library) trained, or experienced in something similar (such as Becta's Framework for ICT Support, or FITS), or be willing to be trained.

     

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    Checklist: 8 things to check every day in a computer room

    Here's a checklist you can use to help keep a computer suite in tip-top condition. Make sure the students know you will be checking as well. It's not rocket science by any means, but may be useful to give to a classroom assistant, parent helper or student monitor.

    • Are all the computers working?
    • Are all the printers working?
    • Do the printers have paper in them?
    • Have discarded print-outs been cleared away?
    • Are all the mice working?
    • Are all the monitors working?
    • Is the network working?
    • Is there a student User ID list handy in case someone forgets their details?