Language learning

I was reading on this blog about how to use the second life web applications for learning languages.
The idea is the language teachers log on and walk around the second life scenarios and talk in the target language to their pupils. Sounds appealing to the young but not sure how successful it will be. There is certainly a novelty factor but I can see it wearing off as you get used to the idea.
You can read more about it here.

BETT 2007

Going to BETT is always an exciting prospect. Will there be new interesting technologies that can enhance the teaching learning process? It is impossible to see everything at BETT, in fact sometimes I think it is impossible to find anything at BETT, it's so huge but I always hope to make new discoveries.

Waiting outside in the weak winter sun I talked to the people around me to understand who was coming to the exhibition. I talked to South Africans, Australians and I could see from the badges that this was a truly international exhibition. We should be proud and realise how lucky we are this event has such a draw.

This article is a personal view of some of the things that caught by eye and it is not meant to be representative of the whole exhibition.

Web 2.0 technologies

For me it was the first time that Web 2.0 technologies really came alive at BETT. Within minutes of walking in to the main gallery I seemed to be bombarded with podcasting, blogs and Moodle.

The Apple stand was showing off the latest version of GarageBand which has a sophisticated yet simple way of producing podcasts.

GarageBand has all the usual track editing facilities but also has the ability to divide the podcast into chapters and insert pictures as chapter headings. If you use Apple Macs this latest version is very enticing but whatever software you are using to record podcasts, a good investment is a decent microphone above all else.

Although PC users can use Audacity, a free, open source program that can be used to record, edit and export MP3 tracks, it can be quite tricky to use. 'Podium', from Softease could be a good alternative and has a good user interface. It does what GarageBand does for the Apple Mac but for PCs. The great advantage of Podium is that it has an in built tool for writing what you are going to say. So, on the same screen you can write your script, click record and then read out your lines. Each script can be allocated to different people. This makes the whole podcasting production much easier.

Last year Moodle had a real struggle to get to BETT but now it seems an established part of the scenery at Olympia. The open source content management system seems to have a real grip on the educational community and the Moodle stand was offering plenty of advice on how to use it. Although Moodle is free, the support load in school can be quite demanding so I was pleased to see so many people offering to support and host the service.

One such company, Advisory Matters were offering three day courses for beginners on Moodle and were selling 'Moodle on a stick' – a USB memory stick with a working model of moodle. Not that they were suggesting you run your system on a memory stick but as a good way of trying out the product and getting others to try out the system.

They also offer a set up of WordPress MU, the multi user version of WordPress blogging software. Although this is open source and you could set it up yourself for free. You may be tempted by the idea that someone will run, set up and theme the site for you and even offer support and training.

Opensource

More schools are beginning to think about using open source software. I have seen 'Edubuntu' in use in Southern Africa. It is an open source application of linux that has been bundled together with a range of other open source software to provide a complete solution for schools. Ubuntu is an African word meaning ‘humanity to others’ and its good to see this spirit being brought to the world of software.

Also worth looking at is the School-Forge-UK project which brings together many of the open source products that will be useful for schools and it was at this stand that I had my interest reawakened in the Ingots scheme which is good low cost IT skills certificate scheme and offers a way of using free e-portfolios.

Digital Worlds GIS 2

With the advent of Google earth people have taken a new interest and perhaps have a greater, well, misunderstanding of what Geographical Information Systems are all about. You may ask if you really need to buy anything else when Google Earth is freely available but this system takes over where Google Earth stops. All the Ordnance Survey information, aerial photography at high resolution, satellite imagery and Census data for the British Isles is available as well as Historic map data from the 1860’s. This means that the user can load layers of information and inspect them in a variety of ways. With a flick of your mouse layers can be revealed to see the difference between, say, an area now and what if looked like in 1860. Then inspect how many people lived there and what the ethnic split was for example. The application is enticing for any user but in the hands of a geographer it will provide far more power than Google can offer.

Newsmaker

I have always been keen on turning the computer room into a working newsroom so the launch of 'Newsmaker' from The Guardian was one of the main stands I wanted to see. 'Newsmaker' is an application that can be used in the classroom to pull together the resources and allow pupils to submit stories to an editor who can work on the layout without having to deal with all the usual desktop publishing problems. The Guardian believes (well, it would do) that making a newspaper is a good way of teaching. It involves working on a collaborative project and involves high level thinking as students have to select and interpret evidence.

Space

Bring space into your classroom with Sarepta. The Norwegian Space Centre offers a way of using a whole host of resources including satellite imagery and this year they were advertising a space camp for youngsters that is surely going to capture your students’ imagination.

Interactive whiteboads

I can still remember seeing the first interactive white boards at BETT. There has always been the problem for people of different heights using the board. So I was very pleased to see the 600i front projection interactive smart board that can adjust up and down. It can only do this because the projector is attached by an arm to the top of the board. So, as the board is pushed up, the projector goes with it.

British Computer Society

Membership of the BCS is increasingly an option for ICT educationalists. I should know. As a member myself, I enjoy the benefits of the Society and the publications and talks are more geared to general audiences. Membership is now very accessible without having to sit specialist examinations and I am pleased that the industry is now recognising teachers as part of the professional body.

Whilst at the stand, I tried out the new e-Type software. A system for teaching and testing typing skills. It seems excellent and is low on administration and could be a useful qualification to do alongside the ECDL course for general ICT skills. Certificates are awarded at Bronze, Silver and Gold depending on your speed and the tests are conducted on-line and marked automatically. Comprehensive reporting is available to the teacher and the tests only last about 5 minutes each.

24 Hour Museum

Although accessing a museum on the web is not the same as a day out visiting the place. The 24 house Museum is a good website to use in the classroom. I had an interesting demonstration of the site and it’s free as it is government funded. Many of the exhibitions are on line and there is a good search facility so this is a useful website to use.

Similarly, the Michael Cultural project helps you find websites, learning resources, images and videos to use in teaching that have been sourced from UK European museums and libraries. All these resources are prepared by the Museum Libraries Archives and as 2007 is the bicentenary of the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, they are providing information on various events around the country so it would be worth joining this year if this is of interest.

Conclusion

New technology seems alive and well and there are plenty of ways of achieving a great deal from BETT, either by exploring new technologies or looking again at some old ones and taking the chance to talk to the suppliers. If all that fails, the Naace lounge is a comfortable place to rest those weary feet.

Websites

Apple GarageBand	http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/
Softease Podium podcasting software	http://www.podiumpodcasting.com
Digital Worlds GIS 2	www.digitalworlds.co.uk
Moodle on a stick	Advisory Matters Tel: 048702 415742
Michael Culture	http://www.michael-culture.org.uk/mpf/pub-uk/index.html
Schoolforge project	http://www.schoolforge.net/
Ubuntu	http://www.ubuntu.com/
Norwegian Space Centre	http://www.spacecentre.no/English/Learning/
24 Hour museum	http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/
British Computer Society	http://www.bcs.org/

Notate

Notate from Logotron is a music composition tool that offers a means of exploring and composing music using ICT. Many of the features are kept simple to avoid over complication of the software although the complexity level can be increased. It’s essentially a teaching and learning tool rather than a package to produce printed scores for your next concert but the print option will be perfectly adequate for classroom use.

Notate can be used as a whole class teaching tool and using a projector with whiteboard would be ideal as the display is large and attractive. It could be used in this way to show pupils how to use the program and to teach general concepts such as pitch and tone. It can then be used with pupils working in pairs or alone to explore ideas in more detail. The package comes with pupil and teacher worksheets that are matched to the QCA schemes of work as well as program instructions. Pupils do not have to start from scratch; they could open existing works and then experiment to change instruments or aspects of a composition. The teacher guide is supplied separately to the pupil guide so they can be used independently by the pupils at their workstation.

The software is easy to get to grips with. The interface is clear and accessible and can be set to three levels of difficulty. Although I was unable to use a keyboard to try out Midi input. I could still compose tracks by dragging notes or chords to the staves. Using the control key, notes can be easily duplicated. There is room for up to eight staves. Each stave can be set to a different instrument and they can be mixed at different levels. Speed of the output can be controlled which could be useful to bring out some teaching points.

Editing is straightforward and intuitive. Select, copy and paste is as one would expect but there is also a transpose option as well as moving a selection up or down the stave using the arrow keys or edit menu.

One of the examples from the work book requires you to compose some music that creates a mood. Pupils are asked to look at a picture and to express their feelings of the picture through music. They can explore the different textures and timbres of groups of instruments as well as the structure of patterns and phrasing. There is a full range of such activities and more ideas on the website.

To sum up, this is a package that could be used by both non specialist or specialist teachers for beginner students or the more able. There is plenty of scope to encourage creativity and to develop a clearer idea of notation at the same time.

Notate.

Platform –Windows PC

Age range –KS 2/3

Supplier – Logotron / Cambridge Software

URL: www.logo.com

Email: info@logo.com

Tel: 01223 425 558

Fax: 01223-425 349

Price £59

from a review published in InterActive

Coming of Age -an introduction to the new world wide web

Thanks to the weekly e-mail from NAACE, I have just been reading the free to download book entitled 'Coming of Age -an introductin to the new world wide web. Edited by Terry Freedman and includes lots of articles about Web 2.0 - podcasting, the blogosphere, RSS and wikis etc. The book is free to distribute and I shall be making copies available to the teachers at school so they can read up about this new ICT developements. There are some excellent contributions including one from Miles Berry on the use of ELGG in school. He gives plenty of anacdotal evidence of how the use of ELGG as a blog / e-portfolio has been used alongside Moodle to give a personalised learning experinece for his pupils.
I hope this book grabs the attention of the non-believers and gives them some ideas of how to make some tentative steps towards e-enlightment.
Coming of Age

bebo.com

An article in the Sunday Telegraph about the dangers of social networking.
Bebo is not a great site - the article is quite right. Surely webdesigners can come up with proper rules and a good way of moderating networking sites.

Uses for iPods in Education

I came across this interesting site from Georgia USA about uses for iPods.

"This school year, it started iVillage, a virtual community that encouraged incoming students to start communicating before the start of classes. The first dozen freshmen recruited for the effort were asked to think up innovative uses for the iPods.

The team is creating an iPod-based freshmen survival guide that includes advice on classes, dorms and nightlife in this sleepy community 100 miles south of Atlanta."

British Computer Society

I have been a full member of the British Computer Society now for about a year. I have found it very useful. Apart from the prestigious MBCS after your name, I find the journal and web site updates very interesting and make me feel part of the profession. Entry for ICT co-ordinators in schools has been made easier. There are no exams to do if you can demonstrate qualifications and professional practice.
I can't believe that it has taken so long. I remember when I was at school being totally unimpressed by the BCS compared to the other engineering and scientific organisations. Maybe the next step will be for them to produce some really good careers information for schools as I find the current material uninspriring. I refuse to put up the latest offerings in my classroom.