InnovativeICT.net

EduBlog Awards 2010

2010-11-17T05:34:00.000-08:00

We have made the following nomination for The Edublog Awards Homepage:

Great videos about innovation and creativity: Part 1

2009-06-21T10:59:00.000-07:00

Here follows a selection of videos I found particularly interesting dealing with ideas, innovation, creativity and the learning process.

Google:

Creativity Loves Constraint

Google:
The Founding of Google

Google:
Google Culture: Encouraging Innovation

Google:
Give Ideas Credit, Not Credit for Ideas

Google:
Encouraging Creativity

Inspirational books that have changed the way I think...

2009-06-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

My wife always gets annoyed with the amount of books I buy. When I started teaching about eight years ago my reading quickly diminished as guilt came upon me every time I picked up a good piece of fiction - 'I could be doing some work!'. Eventually I realised that reading non-fiction both stimulated my curiosity and creativity whilst easing the pang of guilt associated with 'wasting time'. However, this has led to me buying a lot of books...but hey, reading keeps you thinking!

I have read and re-read all of these books more than once (well not the last one as that's a blatant plug..)

Development of a new learning tool

2009-06-21T08:10:00.001-07:00

I have been working for some time now on a new tool for the Interactive White Board and it is looking good and almost complete. It involves a set of 5 (possibly 6 haven't decided yet) parts which enables teachers to create interactive activities and save these as Adobe Flash files (Flash Player 10 required) to upload to websites, local networks, Learning Platforms, Blogs or just add to USB memory to use whenever or wherever you need.

I have always found the IWB limited in terms of interactability and therefore wanted to create a product which would aid teachers delivery of lessons and students learning.

The final update will be posted here when it's finally completed : ) !

Johannes

21 Good links from Twitter

2009-06-21T02:44:00.000-07:00

Here follows 21 useful links I posted on Twitter :

21st Century Skills website, very comprehensive with great links and discussions http://snipr.com/kg3p5
Love this T-shirt website,such an innovative idea to use things from within films rather than just the cover poster: http://short.to/gi5i
Looks like this could be an interesting book on teaching History: Constructing History 11-19, http://is.gd/16lQz
Create tension with exam groups using video clips http://short.to/gi54
Book: 100 Ideas for Essential Teaching Skills http://is.gd/16lu8
Book: Innovate with ICT http://short.to/gitf
Download resources for Assessment for Learning http://is.gd/16lzK
New Fronter tutorial: How to Embed Video or Learning Games, http://is.gd/16jnt
Handheld Learning conference 5-7th October London: http://snipr.com/kg2c7 . Ok, I'm there.
New Fronter tutorial: How to upload resources and link them to text http://snipr.com/kg1nl
Very comprehensive list of tools to boost your Twitter following indeed (via @TheAffiliateGuy) http://ow.ly/aaXj
Open Source Schools 2009 Unconference (BECTA supported). Looks very interesting. http://snipr.com/kg1ts
Futurelab conference, 8 October 2009, Seen and Heard: Young people creating digital media http://is.gd/16l0V . Penciled into calendar : ) .
The 16th International Conference of the Association for Learning Technology, Manchester September 2009: http://snipr.com/kg22d
Really looking forward to SHP 2009 #education #shp.We have uploaded our past workshops here http://short.to/ghpi
How to embed Flash in ActiveStudio 3: http://short.to/ghpg
Mobile learning technology #education . Create quizzes for for mobile phones: http://snipr.com/kfq98
MFL resource for french grammar: http://is.gd/16aVR
The evolution of WEB 1.0 and WEB 2.0. Very cool: http://is.gd/16aSd
Create a Welcome Page in Fronter: http://www.innovativeict.net/fronter-learning-platform
Interesting. 10 Ways to increase your Twitter followers http://tinyurl.com/cs6nkv

New Tutorials for the Fronter Learning Platform

2009-06-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

Part 1: Create a Welcome Page

This tutorial will show you how simple it is to use Fronter. The first step is to create a Front Page which can link to other Front Pages and this tutorial will show you how images and internal links can achieve that.

Part 2 :Upload resources

This tutorial will show you the ease which resources such as movies, documents and presentations can be addded to your Learning Platform.

Part 3 :Embed videos and learning games into Fronter VLE

This tutorial will demonstrate how to embed videos from Youtube.com as well as learning games from other websites e.g. www.classgamesden.com. For more tutorials please visit www.innovativeICT.net

Digital ethnography: the Development of the World Wide Web

2009-06-06T05:24:00.001-07:00

Came a cross this fantastic video on Twitter posted by moTik.

Mapping made stylish and simple with MindMeister

2009-05-20T12:01:00.000-07:00

I simply love this tool. I think it's even better than Bubbl.us...don't take me off your delicious bookmarks just yet (!)... MindMeister offers something a little different which Bubble.us, at least for the time being (see their blog for updates about the new version), does not.

These are the features I particularly love:

1. Work on your mind-maps off-line: with Google Gears off-line library, you can work on all your maps wherever you are. Although Bubbl.us maps can be added to even if off-line (as the main flash files have already loaded) you cannot save the work without going on-line again.
2. Add ideas to your maps on-the-fly: Insert ideas into your default mind map on MindMeister directly from your Mac Dashboard or Windows Sidebar.
3. Easy images into mind-map: Insert images from the default library, have MindMeister insert an image based on the key word of a node or just upload your own photos or illustrations - fantastic!

And many other tools...

Here is one mind-map that I made for a job interview a couple of days ago (got the job too!): Tom's Learning Journey. Just click the image on the left to see a larger version. There are many possibilities with this online tool; I have only used the basics!

The only catch, if you want to use the free version, is that you can only store 6 maps. Mind you, you can export your brilliant creations in various formats incl. .pdf or as an image so you could always get rid of a mind-map and keep creating new ones. It is rather cheap to upgrade though, take a look on the main site.

How to find and remove a Gumblar.cn injection attack

2009-05-09T01:45:00.000-07:00

Gumblar.cn is a website that's been listed as suspicious and contains several exploit scripts and trojans that might harm and infect computers. You may have come across it or noticed that a site is 'connecting to gumblar.cn'in the left-hand corner of the Firefox browser? The scary thing is that 99% of browsers never spot it. If you regularly scan your server for vulnerabilities and have tight security then you should have noticed it by now, but it's always useful to check.

If your site has been 'injected' with the script there are several forums currently trying to solve the problem. As yet I haven't come across a solid solution as it appears that the script which is injected (which hijacks the site) changes from the original code to which pages it affects. Annoying if you have 6000+ pages of course : ) . As the virus obfuscates the script (some characters are replaced with their numeric codes) it's very hard to find it, let alone remove it!

How to find it:

As the script varies from machine to machine it's of course tricky to locate so I will only mention how I discovered the virus on a colleague's website. I first came across a file named image.php which was stored in the images folder (which now has been renamed to something else) which stored this code section:

base64_decode( mumbo-jumbo here)

This basically decodes whatever the main code is elsewhere in other files and sends the info to the Gumbar website to do, most likely, unpleasant things with your information.

So, I found the decoder, now all I had to do was to locate the main script. After reading a wide selection of posts about the topic (some listed below) I started searching for different script snippets using Windows Search (words and phrases in the file) and eventually I found the one that matched my files:

.replace(/#/g,'%');eval(unescape

...and there it was in the middle of the code: 75mbla#hidden!

I am not sure how it managed to get in, so to speak. Various posts suggest different things. The best thing to do it seems is to:

- Keep a tight ship: scan and check your server regularly and keep a secure password which cannot be guessed or hacked easily.

- Keep User Input Secure: Most sites have some form of user interaction so make sure that your script filters metacharacters from user input.
- Validate users' input to remove harmful code (thanx deKay for useful bit of information).

It doesn't seem that this virus is either keylogging your machine or collecting data, however info is still not 100% solid. Google reports the site:

"Site is listed as suspicious - visiting this website may harm your computer. [These] [a]ttack sites try to install programs that steal private information, use your computer to attack others, or damage your system.

Some attack sites intentionally distribute harmful software, but many are compromised without the knowledge or permission of their owners."

but also states that:

"Over the past 90 days, gumblar.cn did not appear to function as an intermediary for the infection of any sites."

Here are a few tools and websites that are useful to the problem:

Discussions about possible solutions:

Virus-Code Injected in PHP File of website

Great post: 12 Facts about the injected script

Good tools to get you started:
Top 10 Web Vulnerability Scanners

The Acunetix free edition has been used by a colleague of mine
Acunetix Security Scanner - Free Edition

Good luck!

E-Help online video ICT seminars

2009-05-08T04:20:00.000-07:00

This is a great site: http://www.e-help.eu/seminars/index.htm particularly if you are interested in wider issues to do with ICT and History across the Key Stages and Levels. We hope you find them useful!

e-Help is a European Union funded project designed to promote the use of ICT in the history classroom. In addition, e-Help promotes ICT strategies for history being taught in a additional language context.

e-Help constitutes the work of 10 educational institutions: schools, universities, a professional association and an educational publisher, from six European countries.

Established in 2004, e-Help hosted seven conference meetings until September 2008, the end of the Comenius funding period. The videos and interactive seminars from those meetings are hosted here. e-Help also inspired a number of websites or 'microsites', pedagogic materials designed to case study good practice in history teaching and ICT.

In 2010 there will also be an e-Help book written by some of the members of the project and e-Help 'associates' many of whom have an international reputation in the field of history and ICT.

But the primary goal of e-Help is to produce a residential course for European educators. This will provide intensive hands-on training on the skills and applications modelled by this e-Help website.

The Loan Execution

2009-04-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them, but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths...What the photograph didn't say was, 'What would you do if you were the general at that time and place on that hot day, and you caught the so-called bad guy after he blew away one, two or three American soldiers?

Taken from Time Magazine

The story of Lem and Loan is not a simple one.

5 Great Presentation Tools

2009-04-02T03:47:00.000-07:00

How often do you use PowerPoint in your lessons? How do you make presentations useful without information overload... Here follows a brief list of tools that I use regularly to make my messages stick (a little bit longer...).

ZohoShow: create the presentation on-line or upload a PowerPoint file from your local computer. The site gives you a range of tools to make the presentation sleek and professional. A Great tool indeed.

ToonDoo.com: Create graphics and cartoon strips to highlight a key issue or significant point see French Revolution for an example

PicLens plug-in for PowerPoint 2007: This is a real gem and transforms your PowerPoint 2007 slide shows to powerful and animated presentations.

Rich Chart Live: Although this is more complex and a bit technical, you will get used to this tool quickly after a few attempts. I like this flash-generated chart tool as it makes somewhat dull looking statistics look great!

Glogster: Glogster is in many respects a simple 'poster' tool, but you can create effective, purposeful displays with students or to use within your own presentations as they can be stored online and include music, videos and hyperlinks. Glogster is ridiculously easy to use and will benefit your presentations well particularly when it comes to emphasizing key issues or give concrete examples of a concept or idea. See what you think.

How to Download Youtube Videos: ZamZar.com

2009-04-01T05:05:00.000-07:00

This 60 second tutorial will show you how to download Youtube.com videos straight to your computer.

Download Youtube.com videos

2009-03-31T11:39:00.000-07:00

Great tools to get resources from Youtube.com:

Download Youtube.com videos quickly to your PC

Download Youtube.com videos into MP3 files

How to embed Flash properly in HTML

2009-03-30T12:27:00.001-07:00

Came across this link recently when I was pulling my hair out as all my flash movies kept appearing on top of everything else including menus and image:

How to embed Flash properly

New on SlideShare: How to use Adobe Flash in Teaching

2009-03-30T12:17:00.001-07:00

How to use Adobe Flash in Teaching

View more presentations from ahrenfelt.

New on SlideShare

2009-03-30T12:15:00.000-07:00

How Comprehensive Was The Nazi Police State

View more presentations from ahrenfelt.

Create videos using Movie Maker: great hooks, no complications

2009-03-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

This is a quick hook that could be used for studying life in Britain during the Second World War and raises many issues about evacuees. I made this a few years ago to show teachers how easily you can create impact using images and music.

Great books on flash game developing

2009-03-28T04:59:00.000-07:00

Recent books added to 'Great Books' section of www.InnovativeICT.net:

Gary Rosenzweig

If you have basic knowledge of Adobe Flash but do not have time to master the more complex elements of the software and still want to learn how to create great games then this book really does the job well. Gary Rosenzweig's book is straight forward and explains everything clearly and in an interesting way. The book is very pedagogical and goes through the essentials step-by-step and covers a range of different games and activities that can be mdofied and used in the classroom for example:

Jigsaws

Paddle and Racing games

Memory activities

Platform games

Drag & Drop

and many many other

Gary Rosenweig has recently come out with a new book ActionScript 3.0 Game Programming Universitywhich is a superb addition to the keen Flash enthusiast. His website is also a brilliant resource to take your Flash skills further.

There are other great books on creating Flash Games which are equally useful. Some of these are more complex for the beginner but they do provide the reader with outstanding files which easily can be tweaked to suit your own classes. For example:

Macromedia Flash Professional 8 Game Development with CD-ROM by Glen Rhodes: although you would benefit from reading Rosenzweig's book before tackling this one, G. Rhodes' book on developing games in Flash does go through the basics of ActionScripting and the files you get are excellent!

Nintendo Wii Flash Game Creator's Guide: Design, Develop, and Share Your Games Online: this is a cheap, fun book which shows you how to create games which you can play on the Nintendo Wii - excellent idea!

There are so many books on flash gaming out there but these really move you in the right direction if you wish to develop games for your own students.

Great links to make your site stand above the rest

2009-03-27T03:31:00.000-07:00

Folio on broken links
How does Google 'look' at my pages? How do they link? - TouchGraph

Post to your blog using Firefox

Good SEO tips for beginners

How to maintain rankings for 'old' pages

Personalised Search according to TED

Speed up your broadband connection NOW!

2009-03-15T11:26:00.000-07:00

"Microfilters are used to eradicate crackling on your ADSL enabled phone line by preventing the ADSL signal reaching your telephone handsets. You will need one Microfilter for each piece of telephone equipment connected to your ADSL enabled telephone line, including your Sky box."

iPlate greatly enhances your broadband connection - fantastic reviews. I just bought one after reading it on a Twitter post by D. Belshaw (Thanks!).

I'll post my own review when I get it installed (see post below).

How to install iPlate: speed up your broadband connection

2009-03-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

Cool online tools to use with your students

2009-03-13T15:12:00.000-07:00

I have compiled a brief list of websites that Ive been using over the past few weeks which are superb to use with all Key Stages:

Great Online Tools

I will keep updating this page. There are many fab tools to go up there still of course, like classics such as Bubbl.us, Twitter etc.

Powerful Twitter-ing tools

2009-03-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

This is a great list of tools for those that use Twitter to stay up-to-date with whatever you want to stay up-to-date with like ICT, teaching etc.

Twitter Tools

Y8 Comic book: What should they do with Louis XVI?

2009-03-13T00:16:00.000-07:00

Here's and example of what I will do with my Y8 class later on today:

French Revolution: What should they do with Louis XVI? by innovativeict | www.toondoo.com

It will be their job to finish it.

French Revolution activity using online comics

2009-03-12T06:53:00.000-07:00

This is one of my earlier attempts at using ToonDoo.com - a bit crazy about this website at the moment..hence 100s of posts : ) .

French Revolution: What shoudl they do with Louis XVI? by innovativeict | www.toondoo.com

Use ToonDoo.com with A-level students

2009-03-12T06:52:00.000-07:00

Here follows a few examples of what some of my A-Level students did with ToonDoo.com:

Year 12

Tom and Dan

The 1953 berlin uprising_your doing it wrong by tshadow | www.toondoo.com

Sarah and Becky

Becky + sarah Uprising 1953 by sarahturner | www.toondoo.com

Josie and Harriet

1953 Uprising by Josie and harriet by JosieandHarriet | www.toondoo.com

Alex and Heather

The BerliNUprising by ahrenfeltsangel | www.toondoo.com

Andy

Ryan

Tom

Dan

Year 13

Ria

Assess who made the greatest contribution to russian economy? by riabush | www.toondoo.com

Wordle.net ideas?

2009-03-12T03:49:00.000-07:00

Some of my students have been playing around with Wordle.net and it's looking rather good. We discussed 'war' and 'conflict' and the class came up with a series of different words they felt summed up these two concepts. Here are a few examples of what they have come up with:

Example 1

Example 2

Online comic books

2009-03-10T08:34:00.000-07:00

Online tools such as Pixton.com can provide teachers with an opportunity to really engage students, challenge whilst at the same time ensure that they progress. These type of websites also allows exam groups to think about:

- audience
- purpose
- context
- argument

There are similar websites available like ToonDoo.com. This particular website allows the user to quickly register and then produce high-quality and varied comics in only a few minutes. Although there are very few differences between Pixton.com and ToonDoo.com, the latter offers more in terms of usability, graphics and sleekness. I have used both sites with both GCSE and A-Level groups with great results .

ToonDoo example for A-Level History

2009-03-10T06:15:00.000-07:00

Thank you Meera for this website:

Who made the greatest contribution to the Russian economy: Witte v Stolypin by innovativeict | Create your own Cartoon at www.toondoo.com

Another comic: A-level Russia

2009-03-10T02:49:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to see if students can modify and re-publish my earlier version, which would speed up the process a bit. They probably want to do their own version though : ).

Using comix strips in teaching

2009-03-09T08:46:00.001-07:00

Thanks Tom Stafford for this cool idea. using Pixton.com with exam classes. Here's my first contribution:

A bit cheesy but hey - hopefully it'll work with my AS group tomorrow morning...

Great Educational Websites to use with your students

2009-03-02T07:04:00.000-08:00

Fantastic websites to use with students from starters to main activities, check it out:

KartOO I really like this site as it give students a visual of how search term link together and which sites link to a particular word or phrase. Here's an example.

Visuwords: This website allows you to look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. You can then produce a diagram of those associations as well as, if you're geeky, install the software on your own site! This is an example of the word 'freedom'.

Wordl.netThis interesting website was passed onto me from Tom T (thanx!), and it's essentially a 'collage' tool; excellent for presenting ideas and visualising concepts : ) .

Second Life in the History Classroom

2009-02-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

Read interesting post by middleclassgirl hereabout using Second Life in the classroom. Look forward to seeing where she'll take it. I will certainly be checking back often.

Make it stick

2009-02-08T13:19:00.000-08:00

Make it 'sticky'

Sticky = understandable, memorable and effective in changing thought or behaviour.

* Teacher talking to a class (5%)
* Student reading a book (10%)
* Student watching an audio visual presentation (20%)
* Student watching a teacher demonstration (30%)
* Students taking part in a discussion group (50%)
* Students involved in an activity that is related to what the teacher wants them to learn (75%)
* Students teaching others (90%).

Speaking or lecturing without dialogue continues to be the most common form of teaching mode in both secondary and higher education, in the face of overwhelming evidence that it produces the lowest degree of retention for most learners.

Some lessons seem to ‘stick’ in students memories more than others, why? If we think about it, some information, facts, ‘knowledge’ is inherently interesting, whilst some will be inherently uninteresting. The million-dollar question is of course how we can ensure that all (or at least most – let’s be realistic!) lessons stick. For example, how do we get students to care about being healthy; relate to life in the Warsaw ghetto in 1943; get them to really understand the notion of a mathematical function?

The brothers Chip and Dan Heath have explored the idea why some things stick and why some disappear[1]. In a nutshell, they argue that the main reason why people, such as teachers, fail to create effective, memorable - 'sticky' - messages or lessons is because what they call 'The Curse of Knowledge'. This refers to the notion that educators and presenters of information sometimes fail to see that abstractions, the wealth of knowledge which they have and which makes sense to them, may not make sense to the students. In order to ensure that their their lesson become memorable and therefore 'sticky', according to the authors, we need to consider six simple principles which the Heath brothers call SUCCESs:
§ Simplicity
§ Unexpectedness
§ Concreteness
§ Credibility
§ Emotions
§ Stories

Some of these may seem fairly obvious to some (maybe you?). Let us take a look at a few examples.

Simple:

If you think about the topic ‘Titanic’ issues such as inequalities, poverty and social dispair might spring to mind. However, if you start the first in a series of lessons investigating these issues you will most certainly see the enthusiastic spark disappear in many of the students faces. What is the core that students will understand and how can you ensure they understand that? The core is of course social inequalities. How will you reach the students? Titanic sank two hours and forty minutes after setting sail and 1,517 people died most of them from the working class.

Another powerful point to consider are the simple questions What's the point of the lesson? and Why does it matter - will it matter to the students? It may seem obvious to many but it can be easy to forget when you have taught the same topic for several years. Why should they care about the skills of evaluation or synthesis? That is a fair question. If we cannot provide a good enought explanation then what is the point?
By considering these ideas, coupled with lashings of our own creativity, we can produce powerful, purposeful lessons which contains enriching tasks that will ensure skills and learning progression for all classes.

How to create an interactive diagram in Adobe Flash

2009-02-06T08:14:00.000-08:00

We just uploaded a new tutorial on how to use Adobe Flash to create your own Interactive Diagrams. Please visit the site to find out how to make your own diagrams which you can use with students.

How to create a website in Adobe Flash

2009-02-06T07:31:00.000-08:00

Just uploaded a series of tutorials on how to create your own website using Adobe Flash, see InnovativeICT.net

Active Learning resources now available

2009-01-28T11:08:00.000-08:00

Just updated Staffroomproject with a bunch of the resources mentioned in the book. Feel free to download them and use them with your classes - drop us a line to say what you think of them and the website : )

New resources available

2009-01-28T10:59:00.000-08:00

As we're getting closer to the end of our book on teaching exam groups, we have started to add resources mentioned in the book over at Staffroomproject.com, download what you wish but leave a comment please : ) . Our resources are scattered all around he site so do browse for those 'hidden ones'!

Thank you for all your support throughout the writing process.

Book almost written...

2009-01-26T08:42:00.000-08:00

Staffroomproject is coming to an end and we have almost finished writing the book. We have gained tremendously from the writing process and hope to start sharing our ideas earlier than the first time around. All theory has been omitted, so have images, graphs, illustrations etc but these will be in the final publication. Some of the more lengthy examples have also not been uploaded.

We'll keep you informed!

How to use Flip Camera part 1

2009-01-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

Flip Video Camera is quite possibly the most convenient mini camcorder available today. I have just bought one and the quality is good, sounds great and ridiculously easy to use!

Blurb:

* Simple to use, pocket-sized camcorder with one-touch recording and digital zoom
* Holds 60 minutes of full VGA-quality video on 2GB of built-in memory; no tapes or additional memory cards required
* Convenient USB arm plugs directly into your computer for easy viewing and sharing
* Built-in software lets you easily e-mail videos, upload to YouTube and MySpace, and capture still photos from video
* Watch videos instantly on TV with included cable

I will create a mini tutorial and post it soon.

Mobile Study works well

2008-12-15T07:26:00.000-08:00

Ok I just tried to create a quiz on the Mobile Study website and it worked very well. You can take a look at one of the 'test' quizzes I made in less than 10 minutes. Students simply go online and click this link (please note that it will not work in your browser)and then it will ask them to install the file. After installation just run it from the main mobile menu - cool! The potential for learning is immense as you could set up revision notes in the 'explanation' box (see my mini quiz) and get students to comment on a particular question on your website.

I am going to play around with Mobile Study a bit further...

Bring GPS into the classroom

2008-12-15T06:29:00.000-08:00

Grab your GPS and get out of the car. Look at it. It still knows where you are, right? Walk to the end of the parking lot. When you get there — instead of Turn left or Turn right — you'll discover a whole new dimension to reality.

Mediascapes are rich in interactivity — full of sound and music, images and text, videos and animation, narrative and dialog, all embedded in the space where you’re standing.

Mediascapes offers a free service where users can create an added experience to GPS e.g. if you are visiting a historic site with your students, switch on the GPS and launch your Mediascape to see film footage and listen to music, poetry and narration about what happened there.

Imagine what you could do...

Create quizzes for yout students to download on their mobiles

2008-12-15T06:22:00.000-08:00

I just came across a website called Mobile Study where you can create quizzes for your students which they can download and install on their mobiles. I am still somewhat unsure about the some of the security elements, but will report back as soon as I know. You can also embed the quizzes on blogs etc using their widget. Looks very promising!

Twitblogs

2008-12-15T06:03:00.000-08:00

Twitblogs is targeted towards Twitter users who want to write more than 140 characters, or want to embed images into their posts, etc.

Users actually don’t even create accounts. Instead they log in with their Twitter credentials.

This is what's mentioned at TechCrunch.com. It seems like an interesting move forward but critics wonder what S. Sethi (owner of twitblogs.com) will do with users' data. Mind you, Bubbl.us faced similar criticisms.

Create your own Drag & Drop activity : The Basics

2008-12-14T07:28:00.000-08:00

Create your own Drag & Drop activity : The Basics

Drag and Drop tasks are fairly simple to create but can become powerful teaching aids if planned carefully. Thinking Skills Mysteries, matching tasks as well as more complex teaching ideas can easily be produced using this Adobe Flash tutorial.

Watch tutorial here

New Tutorial: Make your own Drag and Drop activity in Adobe Flash

2008-12-14T05:22:00.000-08:00

Drag and Drop tasks are fairly simple to create but can become powerful teaching aids if planned carefully. Thinking Skills Mysteries, matching tasks as well as more complex teaching ideas can easily be produced using this Adobe Flash tutorial.

Please visit InnovativeICT.net for the latest tutorial.

Error 500 with Drupal on 1&1 server

2008-12-10T11:57:00.000-08:00

Had this problem all day today and only on my Admin page which is highly frustrating...

Add this snipper inside your .htaccess file and it should solve the problem (mine's been working for a few hours so far!):

AddType x-mapp-php5 .php

Good luck.

How to embed Flash in PowerPoint

2008-12-09T08:08:00.000-08:00

Embedding an Adobe Flash file in PowerPoint is fairly straight forward. Click the link below to watch a mini movie about how to embed Flash easily.

How to Embed Flash in PowerPoint

It is also worth noting that this guide only works for PowerPoint earlier versions prior to the 2007 release (thanks phtar!).

A very good guide for the 2007 version is available here (scroll past all the various ads and freebie software until you get to the 2007 guide).

Enjoy.

How to use Adobe Flash in Teaching

2008-12-09T04:47:00.000-08:00

Presentation in 2006, Toulouse, France.

How to use Adobe Flash in Teaching

View SlideShare presentation .

SlideShare Link

What is Flash?

It is difficult to define Adobe Flash. Doing a quick search for a definition provides us with a myriad of explanations, from very simplistic: ‘a technology that allows for animation or moving graphics on a website.’ Gravitate Design, to Adobe’s own:

‘…[the] industry's most advanced authoring environment for creating interactive websites [and] digital experiences… design and author interactive content rich with video, graphics, and animation for truly unique, engaging websites, presentations or mobile content’ Adobe.com.

In the past Flash was often used in the development of e-Learning by Flash experts well-established in the world of hard coding. The learning curve has always been steep and the use of Flash by the average person has been rare. But this has changed recently as the development of e-Learning in Flash has been made a little easier, more insightful and, most importantly, more accessible to teachers. This is partly due to Macromedia’s new features, for example templates and components such as learning interactions. However, the biggest progress made thus far in encouraging educators to use the software has been due to the insistence by many training institutions to focus on ICT and individual teachers continuing to develop on their own. There are now also numerous sites devoted to spreading the usage of Flash (see part four for a brief list of some of these sites). More recently, companies have started to create software where teachers produce their on educational material e.g. Contentgenerator.net Fireflylearning.com.

In the context of education, one could suggest that Flash is an open canvas where teachers create the content. This means producing interactive, engaging and pedagogical resources for their pupils. In the past, Flash-produced resources used to be primarily for delivering content for the Internet, but the practice has developed significantly since then, something which will be examined in further detail in part two. Unlike other e-learning development tools, Flash does offer its users the opportunity to create online content. This presents major benefits for several reasons. Firstly, as it uses a plug-in it can run on most platforms and can therefore be used by everyone. Secondly, as bandwidth is still an issue particularly if you want to include audio or video, flash files are small compared to other authoring tools, even if you include video files, which makes it a perfect tool for creating activities for the web.

Why should it be used by teachers and pupils?

View video 1

‘…students want an education that serves their needs. For many that means an education that is convenient, accessible and most importantly, relevant.’ (Macromedia Whitepaper 2004)

Children have different expectations about the role of technology in their lives and if teachers do not eventually meet these expectations then it could become difficult to ensure that learning is maintained for every pupil.

Flash gives pupils great opportunities to extend their skills. I recently finished an Enterprise Project where a group of pupils produced a CD-ROM with interactive activities which they created for local primary schools. This project highlighted the potential for developing children’s skills and how quickly they progressed whilst working with the software. Some of these included:

* Problem solving (View video 2)
- involving discussion, analysis of what is being explored and how to express the information effectively.
* Planning and Organisation
- Flash is a complicated instrument which starts with a ‘blank stage’ and requires the pupils to think clearly about what they want to achieve. The pupils also have to consider the intricacies of the software itself whilst thinking about for example purpose and audience.
* Showing understanding
- pupils can use the software to explain e.g. change - how Law and Order changed from 1450 – 1900.
* Motivation
- with Flash, students set themselves challenges to accomplish. This approach produces high levels of motivation as the challenges have been created by them and are generally suited to their ability.
* Independent learning
- placing the pupil in charge of the project and only use the teacher as facilitator encourages children to work independently and creates a positive learning environment where they take the lead.
* Reflection and evaluation
- the evaluation of the result is generally led by the pupils themselves or their peers. At the start of each session, pupils were asked to place their newly created files in a shared folder. A few of the files were then viewed on the IWB and the class commented on the work, for example, its usability, layout, and questions were asked about how it was created and how they would change it to suit a different audience.
* Communication and teamwork (View video 3)
- encourages the children to work collaboratively on a project where a number of smaller jobs are given out to individual team members. These tasks could include e.g. creating a layout, script to control movement, assessment opportunities to check understanding and project managing. When all smaller tasks have been completed they are added to the main project file. This process is demanding and challenges the team to work through a detailed plan before commencing and encourages them to set long, medium and short-term targets to support the team’s performance.

What are the problems with Adobe Flash?

Adobe Flash is complex, challenging, expensive and time consuming to learn. Nevertheless, Flash is the future, or at least the beginning of a new wave of tools for creating educational activities and online experiences. We once had to learn Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, and later digital video editing, IWB software and some even took the step to learn Dreamweaver and other more complex programmes. Many argue that Flash is too time consuming, yet we spend hours reading literature on pedagogy and how to use ICT effectively in the classroom. If teachers had the opportunity to learn just what they need from Flash to create resources for their own pupils then more would be interested in learning the software. This way it would become manageable and purposeful, saving teachers the need to learn hard coding and every aspect of Flash.

If we are to target pupils from where they learn and meet their expectations, then Flash is a good starting point. In the age of Interactive Whiteboards, Flash has opened up new opportunities to engage and challenge pupils. There are now many companies and individuals who specialise in creating content for the IWB for all subjects and some offer ways into Flash - some better than others. Numerous sites give tutorials on how to use Flash but are limited as they focus on teaching ‘How to use Flash’ rather than ‘How teachers can use flash’.

How to embed Flash in ActivStudio

2008-12-09T03:56:00.000-08:00

ActivStudio Pro 3:

Right click - Insert Flash File Link - Find file and click Ok - Add Link As Placeholder - Ok - resize if necessary - Ok.

ActivStudio 2:

You can't embed as far as I know. However, you can add a link which then opens up a 'movie' window within ActivStudio. This used to work well for me.

Right click - Insert Action Link - Find your file - Add Link As (image and Store in Flipchart if you wish to bring it with you). You have now created a link to the Flash file which will launch inside ActivStudio. Not as cool as Pro 3...but there you go ; )

How to mentally prepare students for the exam

2008-12-09T00:18:00.000-08:00

We have become more and more aware of the needs of a certain group of students. Up until now we have both concentrated on exam technique as a way of preparing students with an arsenal for tackling the exam. The rest of this section will give you plenty of ideas about how this can be done and why it is so vital. However, in 2007 we taught a group of students who could by the end of May quote evry technique back without a moments hestitation - they understood the need to create multi-part answers and to explain fully, they knew that not all the content required was visible in the question (see the page on watch out for icebergs) and how to combat this. And yet, they still under-performed in their mock exams by a significant margin.

After careful analysis of the papers we discovered a worrying trend. Several students had attempted the first couple of questions and no more, or had not even put pen to paper. Some might put this down to a lack of revision and the apathy that mock exams can create. But we strongly believe that there are deeper issues involved.

After student voice sessions with those students affected we came to realise that they were missing one crucial technique: they did not know how to think their way through an exam. They knew how to tackle individual questions, but not how to solve issues as they arose. Faced with this seemingly insummountable problem, they simply gave up and did nothing more.

We ran a series of sessions for these students to help them to learn to cope with the exam situation. These went as follows:

Word Trees - students start with a key word in the question and think of two words that are associated with it. Each of those words is then taken on and two new words are made from them. This continues until they have run out of words. The purpose of this is to show students that a little bit of thinking can give them a whole vocabulary to use.

TASC Wheel - this is an eight part process designed to help students work through issues. Although it is meant for group activity, we felt it had an impact as students were able to attach their situation to a programme and work through it.

Three panel vision - we gave each student three pieces of paper and got them to condense content, techniques and problem-solving skills so that they each occupied a piece. We then got them to place the panels in front of them so they were staring striaght at them amd got them to memorise the panels. They then helped test each other. We then took them to the exam hall and asked them to visualise the panels. This produced a great resopnse in students.

Read the full article at Staffroomproject.com

Model Answers (Blue Peter Style)

2008-12-09T00:16:00.000-08:00

We are big fans of visual apporaches to learning and this technique uses it to brilliant effect.

When you have completed a unit, get students to create a 3D model to represent the topic. The idea is to create the shape and fill it with words and phrases to help make sense of the topic. The beauty of a 3D model is that it has sides and surfaces that can mean different things.

For example, a Physics unit on 'Producing Electricty' could be represented by a model of battery (without a bottom). You could write about types of current on the inside and ways of making electricity on the outside.

Or, use flaps! If you require a set of information and then a layer underneath. For example, if you are doing a character study in English Literature and want to show two views (e.g. good and bad side of Frankenstein) then layer two images one on top of the other and add a set of words to each one, adding symbols and images to aid the memory.

The idea is to connect a process and creativity (i.e. thinking) with knowledge. This helps students to remember and make sense of a topic

Bave and Bold Course Guides

2008-12-09T00:13:00.000-08:00

We have seen lots of course guides in the last few years, and to be honest, most of them were awful. They lack any shape or structure and are definitely not 'sticky'.

We believe that each section of a successful course guide should have five elements:

An interesting breakdown of the core information that shows where the section fits within the overview. it should incorporate stories and and questions that challenge and engage - not just passive reading. Also, make sure that it contains images.
A short article or passage that extends and strengthens knowledge of the topic. This should be accompanied by an activity designed to raise questions and curiosity.
A thinking skills activity that forces students to use information and manipulate it - for example, a concept map.
Exam question practise. Here, you can include markschemes and hints about answering succesfully. Sometimes you might expect a full answer, others might be planning activities. Heads of Department might want to develop core assessment tasks through this route, so that they can monitor progress.
A link back to a key question or an overview activity. This may be as simple as creating a mindmap of the course, or as complex as an ongoing debate that requires careful management.

String them along

2008-12-07T14:16:00.000-08:00

For us, the point of active learning is to make thinking and skills visible to the learner: it is not something that happens inside their heads, but can be seen and and manipulated right in front of them.

A crucial skill in any subject is the ability to link ideas or data. Take the following level descriptor for Business Studies GCSE:

"For 4 marks [out of 4] the role of the Competition Commission and how it can prevent abuses of monopoly power will be described fully, with clear use of terminology and links between ideas within the thought process"

There is no better way of teaching the skill of linking than making physical links with string. Split the class into smaller groups and give them an element of a topic to look at. They should be supplied with a banner or headline text and an information sheet. Once students have gained an understanding of the concept or section they are looking at, get out the string.

Students must now physically link themselves to another concept, with the string acting as the connection. Another member of the group can loop a piece of paper over the string to say what the link is. Within minutes the clas will have created a physical representation of the topic.

Use a camera to capture the moment and then back up understanding with a concept map afterwards.

Simple, but effective.

www.staffroomproject.com

Use Movie Maker to create great hooks and starters

2008-12-07T09:20:00.000-08:00

Microsoft Movie Maker is a very easy-to-use video editing software and very effective to use with students particularly when it comes to creating smaller hooks and starters. Getting students to create a documentary instead of writing another essay can be an ideal way of encouraging students to think more creatively and become more involved in your subject.

Here's an example which I made for one of my Y9 history lessons. I played the film as they entered the classroom. We were studying evacuation during the Second World War.

Accent and character tool

2008-12-07T09:05:00.000-08:00

This new accent tool enables the user to simply insert characters and symbols from a range of 11 languages into the most commonly used applications including Word, PowerPoint®, ACTIVstudio , SMART Board software and popular E-mail programmes such as Outlook / Outlook Express and Macintosh Mail. Why not download our demo to find out how The International Assistant can make typing accents easy for you! International Assistant is competitively priced and represents excellent value for individuals and institutions.

Great tool. Simple to use.

The International Assistant

Download demo here: Fireflylearning.com

Workshops

2008-12-07T03:12:00.000-08:00

We have had the opportunity to run workshops at various locations over the past few years. We have uploaded most of the resources that we used with the various delegates on this page. Feel free to download any of them, all we ask is that you let us know what you think of them by posting a comment below - thank you!

Schools History Project Conference in Leeds in July 2007:

This was the description of the workshop on the official SHP Conference the programme:

This workshop will present ideas which use multimedia to engage pupils and move their thinking on. “One Lesson Movie” uses Movie Maker to develop understanding of chronology and Thinking SKills with Key Stage 3. “When students teach you a lesson” hands over the Interactive Whiteboard to KS4 pupils to develop meta-thinking on questioning, learning styles and lesson plans. “What did Stalin really sound like?” uses a voice recorder and Audacity” to explore meaning and tone in primary sources with A Level students.

Schools History Project Conference in Leeds in July 2008:

This was the description of the workshop on the official SHP Conference the programme:

It is a new school year and you have a dilemma: on the one hand there are a group of bubbly students wanting something original and new, and on the other is a stuffed specification and an impatient senior leader demanding greater 'value added'. How do you please them both?

This workshop will show how teaching exam groups can be exciting for both you and students, while maintaining a firm grip on results. It will share activities and perspectives on building an enquiry, content choice and teaching techniques. This session is for those people who want to go against the flow and re-invigorate their exam group teaching.

Please visit the InnovativeICT.net to download our resources.

Twitter in plain English

2008-12-05T05:52:00.000-08:00

Commoncraft explain in their own particular way how Twitter works. Simply brilliant.

iPods in the classroom

2008-12-05T05:45:00.000-08:00

Using iPods and RSS feeds in the classroom

Gimmicky? Perhaps, but at the same time this is also an opportunity to move away from the iPod Zombies (Neal!). Podcasting is useful and hopefully these examples will show you how simple they are to use with the help of online tools and how effective they can be to use with students.

How to use Podcasting and RSS

We will post a mini step-by-step tutorial later but for now watch these brilliant videos by Commoncraft:

and What is RSS?

Gcast.com

You have probably gathered that podasting is more than simply creating an MP3 file and uploading it online; that it enables you to set a channel using RSS to share your creations to anyone that subscribes and that they will receive all the updates automatically when they connect. Gcast.com is a free service where you focus solely on creating the content e.g. a discussion, monologue, interviews, jokes, poems and music, then will Gcast.com finalise all the technical issues for you. Another great thing about this site is that it also has a music website Garageband.com which seamlessly integrates with Gcast.com which means that you can import fantastic music into your podcast at the click of a button. The music you store on 'MyPlaylist' can be accessed on both sites - simple!

In a nutshell:

register with Gcast.com
register with Garageband.com
upload your creative MP3 files or record content via phone (oh yes, you can do that- great for 'Last Minute Ideas' channel!)
select the order of tracks including music added from Garageband.com
click create podcast

Real example: the A-Level class

This example was used with an AS class (16-17 years old) of 18 students. It is a mixed ability ranging from grades A-D. They are used to different approaches to teaching e.g. creating movies, presentations, teaching mini-lessons and using peculiar 'games' for improving communication skills. They had just completed the first half of a History course and the intention behind creating a podcast, a radio show, was to encourage students to consider what they had been taught over the past couple of months.

Read the whole article on Staffroomproject.com

ICT in the MFL classroom

2008-12-04T07:26:00.000-08:00

Just came across an excellent blog by Joe Dale. It may be geared towards the teaching of Modern Foreign Languages but much of his content and ideas are easily transferable to other subjects. There are a several good ideas for using podcasting which I particularly liked : ) . This blog is certainly worth subscribing to...

online mapping

2008-12-03T07:13:00.000-08:00

This is a site I've been using for a while now and it works very well with students:

www.bubbl.us

The best thing about Bubbl.us is that you can collaborate with each other. After the students have got used to deleting each other's mind-maps it actually works rater well ; )

Students create revision movie

2008-12-03T06:21:00.000-08:00

Gavin Jolly's students helped to write, film and produce a fantastic revision DVD. See clips from the DVD here:

Medicine through Time Revision Part 1 from johannes ahrenfelt on Vimeo.

Updates and article to follow on Staffroomproject.com

Great blog

2008-12-03T05:45:00.000-08:00

Check out this great blog:

The Whiteboard Blog

Lot and lots of good ideas for using ICT in the classroom.

Great websites

2008-12-03T03:10:00.000-08:00

Great Websites

Most people probably have stacks of websites listed in their Favorites/Bookmarks. How often do you use them? In fact, how many websites do you actually visit regularly? Yahoo, Google, Youtube, Windows Live, Facebook and Wikipedia are amongst the few sites that gain top hits every day according to Alexa.com. The websites you find on this page are the ones we use regularly and find particularly interesting and have helped us to become better classroom practitioners.

We hope you find them useful!

Johannes Ahrenfelt & Neal Watkin

Terry Haydn - Teacher Training

Dragonfly Training

What makes your lessons 'sticky'?

2008-12-02T05:23:00.000-08:00

The brothers Chip Heath and Dan Heath have explored this particular question in their book Made to Stick. In a nutshell, they argue that the main reason why people, such as teachers, fail to create effective, memorable - 'sticky' - messages or lessons is because what they call 'The Curse of Knowledge'. This refers to the notion that educators and presenters of information sometimes fail to see that abstractions, the wealth of knowledge which they have and which makes sense to them, may not make sense to the students. In order to ensure that their message, their lesson, become memorable and therefore 'sticky', according to the authors, we need to consider six simple principles which the Heath brothers call SUCCESs:

Simplicity
Unexpectedness
Concreteness
Credibility
Emotions
Stories

Another powerful point to consider are the simple questions What's the point of the lesson? and Why does it matter - will it matter to the students? It may seem obvious to many but it can be easy to forget when you have taught the same topic for several years. Why should they care about the skills of evaluation or synthesis? That is a fair question. If we cannot provide a good enought explanation then what is the point?

By considering these ideas, coupled with lashings of our own creativity, we can produce powerful, purposeful lessons which contains enriching tasks that will ensure skills and learning progression for all classes.

More over at Staffroomproject.com

Independent Learning Projects in practice

2008-12-02T05:22:00.001-08:00

Experiential Learning and the teacher as facilitator

Carl Rogers investigated the relationship between teachers and students and found that approx. 25-30% of students are self-directing, the rest will do just what they are supposed to do. He recognised two types of learning: cognitive, the memorisation of different things and experiential, the applied knowledge that comes from doing, for example active inquiry and problem-based learning (Freedom to Learn 1969). This is why the role of the teacher becomes crucial. Rogers saw the role of the teacher to be one of facilitator - a person who creates an environment for learning:

students participate, control and direct the learning process
self-evaluation is used to assess student learning.
experiential learning is fostered when the instructor is not teaching directly, but facilitates learning

It is very challenging to be able to gage how much guidance is needed for a certain group or individual student without giving them too much direction. Too much direction moves away from their sense of ownership of the learning journey. So, to follow in the spirit of Carl Rogers, teachers need to find the right balance as a facilitator and provide enough direction so that the learners can identify and tackle areas of difficulty on their own. What can we do to ensure that this balance is maintained?

More at Staffroomproject.com

Use webcams in teaching

2008-12-02T05:10:00.000-08:00

Take a look at our website for ideas to use webcams in teaching

There are a million and one different web cameras to choose from and the quality and price will vary as much. It is crucial that you buy one that suits your needs., The webcam we feature on this site recieved 5 stars from ComputerActive.co.uk and is regarded as the best webcam on a budget.

The StarCam CliP has a small stand section that can attach to the top of a monitor if needed. Installation is very straight forward using the software which comes with the camera. The camera integrates well with Windows whcih means that images can be viewed from My Computer. This camera is also ideal for using with Skype. Image quality is very good for this price and the built-in microphone certainly does the trick.

Of course, if you decide to spend a bit more than why not go for The QuickCam Sphere AF webcam from Logitech which is equipped with a motorised lens and intelligent face-detection technology, so the webcam follows you as you move and keeps you at the centre of the frame at all times. This little gem will set you back approx. £70 (about $140). Well worth the money!

Just great books

2008-12-02T05:09:00.002-08:00

Great Books

Teaching should be about exploration, implementation and reflection. It is when these aspects blend together that the teacher has the opportunity to experience real progression. Let us not forget why we, the educators, are here and what the purpose of teaching actually is: to train a new generation of children and young adults to become mature, level-headed individuals, professionals who will eventually lead our companies, run our country and most crucially teach our children and take care of us when we grow older. Let us ensure that we provide a challenging and enriching experience for our learners so that they can look back and say their education was the cornerstone of who they have become as individuals.

We have compiled a list of books we found invaluable in our own practice as teachers, authors and when we run workshops and INSET with colleagues. Some of these books are great in terms of teaching, learning to use ICT and some are simply inspirational.

If you have read a book that has helped you become a more effective classroom practitioner, made students more engaged in their learning or made you view pedagogy in a more holistic way then do drop us a line using the form here

We hope you find them useful! See posts below...

Make your own games in Adobe Flash

2008-12-02T05:09:00.001-08:00

Gary Rosenzweig

Jigsaws
Paddle and Racing games
Memory activities
Platform games
Drag & Drop
and many many other

Mind-mapping galore

2008-12-02T05:08:00.003-08:00

Ian Harris, Oliver Caviglioli, and Carol Thompson

Thinking Skills and Eye Q: Visual Tools for Raising Intelligence is perhaps one of the best books available on mind-mapping and Thinking Skills diagrams. Many of the ideas you'll come across on this website has been inspired from Thinking Skills and Eye-Q.

We have used this book during INSET with our departments as it works through strategies to encourage and develop a range of skills particularly for thinking, writing, but also discusses methods to use for Gifted and Talented students, and to make speaking, listening, questioning and responding an intergral part of lessons.

If you have a chance to attend one of their workshops you will not regret it as they are outstanding!

Presentation Zen - best book out now!

2008-12-02T05:08:00.001-08:00

Garr Reynolds

Reynolds book is, to put it simply, outstanding. There are several books that discuss the issues of presenting information in various ways, some of which do an excellent job for example Cliff Atkinson's Beyond Bullet Points, but Presentation Zen takes the reader to another level when it comes to understanding the nature of presenting one's message.

Reynolds summarises current literature on the topic and gets you thinking about why your key point(s) matter and how we can go about ensuring that the audience, in this case our students, are engaged, want to continue to listen or discuss and that they remember what your message is all about. Presenation Zen encourages the reader to become more creative and, something which we feel is essential, shows us as professionals how we can teach our students to become inspirational and thoughtful communicators.

When we deliver INSET or workshops we always use Garr Reynold's ideas and his theory behind a successful presentation.

Shirley Clarke - new book!

2008-12-02T05:07:00.001-08:00

Shirley Clark

Active Learning through Formative Assessment is the latest book by Shirley Clarke where she dicusses and provides concrete examples of how to intergrate Assessment for Learning in a natural way where students become part of the whole learning proccess from planning to delivery. Active Learning through Formative Assessment follows her previous book Formative Assessment in Action, and shows us how we can take a more active and practical approach to assessment with for example effective dialogues with students, how to use questioning effectively and ways in which we can encourage students to communicate more openly - a problem for many older students!

This book has been written using primary school examples but we found it just as rewarding to use with our Secondary as well as Sixth Form students. If you want to get involved in a more engaging approach to what can be regarded as a rather dry subject matter, then this book will hopefully give you some ideas. Also look at Staffroomproject.com for a discussion about making assessment useful and engaging.

Alan November - great book

2008-12-02T05:06:00.000-08:00

Alan November

Fourteen year old: "I'm working on a history paper about how the Holocaust never happened."
Long pause. "Zack, where did you hear that the Holocaust didn't happen?"
"The Internet. It's on a Web page at Northwestern University." November Learning

How often do you hear students, and teachers, mutter something like 'find it on the net' or 'just do a google search'? We all face the same dilemma of how to use the World Wide Web effectively and wisely. There are good websites out there which can enrich learning, excite students and challenge them to think. What websites do teachers use that do all of this? Alan November raises many important questions about how children, and adults alike, use the internet to access information. One of the most interesting articles, Teaching Zack to Think, on the topic is still hosted on his site and available to download. Well worth a read as well. Web Literacy for Educators provides concrete examples of how to use the internet effectively, from dealing with plagiarism to searching safely. This is one of those books you need to have.

Great 'small' ideas for making textbooks more fun

2008-11-25T05:21:00.000-08:00

As fixed sources of information, textbooks are inevitably imperfect guides to a subject. Many are bound to textbooks as they provide a basis for discussion and for information gathering. In 1997 thousands of GCSE students aged 15-16 were asked which sources of information they trusted the most. The vast majority listed textbooks as the number one choice. Teachers came far down the list. It is therefore important that we educate students to use these tools for learning effectively and perhaps challenge them to be critical of what they read.

Starting with the most trustworthy, which sources do you think are the most trustworthy?

This are the final outcome of Howe's research:

School textbooks
CD-ROMS
The Internet
Non-Fiction Books
Teacher
Television
Radio
Newspapers

To read the full article please visit our website

voluntary extra lessons

2008-11-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

I taught in an inner city comprehensive where many of the pupils were not particulary driven or scholarly.

Initially I offered one lesson in the middle of the pre exam holiday to my A level pupils, partly because I thought it would be good for 'morale', and partly as I thought it would nudge them into working together with each other to revise outside the session.They nearly all turned up and there was a good 'mood' to the session, and they appreciated that I had given up a bit of my spare time.

This led me to experiment with offering an 'early start' lesson to my GCSE group on the morning of the exam.

Read the whole article at Staffroomproject.com

Visual Assessment

2008-11-17T11:47:00.000-08:00

Using Active Learning techniques benefit students greatly as discussed in the introduction to this chapter, and creating opportunities for using this method with assessment really does produce excellent results.Students who work with assessments on this level eventually gain a concrete understanding about:

the various components of an answer;
how to build an ideal solution to a problem/question;
how/where they 'hit' each Level;
different versions of an answer to the same question;
exploring links/categorisations, themes and trends.

Read the about the whole activity about how to make assessment more exciting by using Active Learning techniques.

Students in charge of exam preparation

2008-11-15T05:37:00.001-08:00

A good way to involve students in their own exam preparation is to get them creating resources, such as revision notes, which they can share with others online. Students enjoy taking responsibility over their own learning and giving them opportunity to discuss, write and share what they know about exams and revision is always appreciated as it shows them that we trust their judgements about the subect or topic. Students could do what the American graduate did and create their own movies which they then upload to Vimeo or Youtube. For example their movies could be about:

how to write the perfect answer to a cross-referencing question for a History Paper 2
what to think about when preparing for a GCSE oral exam
the most effective way to read a text and take notes

And so on... It would be great to see what other people have done with their students!

Staffroomproject.com

email bursts

2008-11-15T05:34:00.000-08:00

It can be difficult to motivate students to revise before exams so getting them inspired to practice exam skills at home might be an even greater challenge. If we give them more bite-sized portions to work on at regular intervals, say 15 minutes, then it seems achievable without being too taxing for them.

Once such way is to put a class, or a series of classes, on a 'group list' in your email client. Then email students tasks or activities lasting about 15 minutes. If you want to ensure that your workload does not increase then using 'flash-card' activities where students get the correct or ideal answer could be a solution. Assessment for Learning is also a tremendeous tool for these shorter tasks e.g. If you send them a question (possibly a mini scaffold), and a peer-mark sheet for them to do before. Then when they have completed the question you send them an 'ideal'answer to compare their answers.

Feedback from students has been great and the vast majority signed up for the 'email bursts'. Some students liked the idea that doing these mini tasks meant that they were doing something extra, whereas other students felt that they were doing some work before the exam which they may not have done otherwise. Also, many thought that teachers had provided them with a more personalised approach to their studies with consideration of their academic needs. It really does not take long to discuss the various groups together as a department and then get individual teacher's specialising on a particular need e.g. moving between Level 3-4, A* or G&T, or a certain skill or section of your exam.

The key to a successful email campaign is to be regular and keep doing it until the exam. What do students wish to focus on? What do they feel are their weaknesses? Starting with a quick review/questionnaire will provide you with a clear idea of the sort of skills and activities you wish to start the 'email bursts' with.

Staffroomproject

Can assessment be engaging?

2008-11-15T05:32:00.000-08:00

How often do you hear a big sigh filling the classroom when you utter the words 'assessment'? Many classes will react in a similar way however much time you have spent creating the brilliantly structured mock exam. If you can get them interested in assessments and make them see that progress will occur often if they put their minds to it, then the sigh might be replaced with looks of concentration instead - or maybe that's expecting too much of our students? Here follows a couple of ideas that will hopefully get students engaged in their learning and about assessment.

Speed-AFL

There are different ways to do this activity.One way is to hand students one of their own answers and get them to peer-mark based on set criteria. Students need to complete their assessing in pairs facing each other and the first one to spot e.g. a Level 3 wins; or the first one to find a number of examples; the solution to a problem; etc.

Another way of doing the same task is to show students an answer that deals with something many of them find difficult to overcome. They then have to mark the answer using a student-mark sheet which you have prepared (maybe a generic one if that is possible). Students then answer a question/problem on their own. After they have finished (all of this needs to occur within one lesson to have the greatest impact)they peer-mark each others work. Same as before, the first one to spot where they have ticked all the criteria wins.

Speed-AFL may seem a bit gimmicky but both varieties do this well:

give concrete evidence that they can improve and what they need to do to progress further. show the class what makes a good answer.
make them 'see' that they can progress between but also within lessons.
challenge them to beat their fellow classmates!

What makes your lesson 'sticky'?

2008-11-15T05:30:00.000-08:00

Simplicity
Unexpectedness
Concreteness
Credibility
Emotions
Stories

Revision: challenge them whilst making it fun

2008-10-30T04:20:00.000-07:00

I have just updated Staffroomproject.com with a series of ideas for making revision more interesting and useful. Terry Haydn just added one of his ideas so do take a look!

You can find the updates here

Make Assessment for Learning more engaging

2008-10-30T04:16:00.000-07:00

In order to ensure that students' progress we need to know not only what they are going to do in each lesson but, most importantly, what they should learn. Once these learning outcomes are clear they need to be explained to the class. This process also needs to include a stage where the teacher and the class define what a successful outcome looks like, so that students are aware what they should be aiming for. Their progression is greatly enhanced if they understand why a particular grade is achieved and what they could do to improve. This will become easier if the teacher gives clear feedback using targets after assessments that can guide them further. Peer assessment and evaluating other's work is also an important part of this process although self assessment skills cannot be assumed and must be taught and developed like other key skills.

This activity will show you how to produce an Assessment for Learning (AFL) activity with the help of your a word processor. This particular task can be set up at any time but is perhaps best suited after an assessment or mock-style examination. Likewise, it can be used very effectively as a revision tool for Fast Track students in Modern Foreign Languages, Mathematics and Science, GCSE and A-Level groups to name a few. At the end of the activity students will have edited and assessed their peers' work using a very simple feature called Track Changes, if you use Microsoft Word, or Changes, if you have OpenOffice installed. Whether you are familiar with this tool or not, read on and find out how it can benefit using AFL in the classroom.

Read about the full activity here

Insert accents quickly

2008-10-30T04:14:00.000-07:00

I have just created a new software, an accent tool, which enables the user to simply insert characters and symbols from a range of 11 languages into the most commonly used applications. Please note that the demonstration version only contains two working characters per language.

A demo is available to download here

Overviews and Communication

2008-10-30T04:12:00.000-07:00

Making students see the bigger picture is difficult but crucial. Using overview early in the course, say, when you introduce a new topic or Unit is an ideal way of getting them thinking abou the 'story' of what you're doing. Re-visiting these overviews are also important so students can see where they are heading, particularly if you are teaching a thematic or synpotic approach; how will students grasp why peasants across 1855-1956 link with Russian 'empire' or 'nationalities'; or how policing in the 1750s connect with the thinking of the period.

We work hard at creating activities that makes overviews matter to students - getting them thinking about how the smaller picture 'slots in' with the bigger.

Here's an example of encouraging them to consider just that. What do you think? How do you do it? How important are overviews and bigger pictures in your subject?

Pecha-Kucha, or 'chatter' is a method of presenting using visuals which was first introduced by two Australian architects in 2003 who sought to keep presentations tight and focused.

Read about the whole activity at Staffroomproject.com

How [NOT] to do it properly...

2008-10-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

I have just updated Staffroomproject.com with a great starter resource for teaching exam and coursework skills which Neal found. A graduate named Michael Harper has produced a guide to How to Write a Paper where he deals with all the things students should not do, it's really good actually. You can find the topic here.

Thinking skills Mystery in Modern Foreign Languages

2008-10-20T06:14:00.000-07:00

Joanne Baldwin discusses how she used 'Mysteries' with her A-Level class over at Staffroomproject.com:

I used this lesson with an AS French class when revising for the unit 'La Santé.' Students were expected to have covered and be prepared to discuss a variety of topics within the unit, including learning about the French health system, the dangers of drinking, smoking and taking drugs, and so on. This lesson focused on the issue of drink driving and instead of using the somewhat dated articles from the textbook, I wanted to encourage students to be fully immersed in the issue, exploring real, up-to-date situations. From carrying out some research myself, I came across the emotional story of Jacqueline Saburido; a young girl who was involved in a horrific car accident caused by a drink driver. Jacqueline suffered over sixty percent burns and is now fighting to campain internationally against drink driving. At the time of the lesson, drink driving was an issue prevalent in the French media as new breathalyzers were being introduced in France in clubs/ pubs and also installed in cars.

Read the full article here:

Thinking Skills Mysteries in Modern Foreign Languages

Teaching Skills - translated!

2008-10-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Our first book 100 Ideas for Essessential Teaching Skills will become translated into Chinese! We are very pleased as you can imagine. You can read more about it here

Inserting Accents made easy

2008-10-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

The International Assistant

This new accent tool enables the user to simply insert characters and symbols from a range of 11 languages into the most commonly used applications including Word, PowerPoint®, ACTIVstudio , SMART Board software and popular E-mail programmes such as Outlook / Outlook Express and Macintosh Mail. Why not download our demo to find out how The International Assistant can make typing accents easy for you! International Assistant is competitively priced and represents excellent value for individuals and institutions. Find out more...

Video editing in the classroom

2008-10-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

Some topics may be regarded as, let's face it, rather dull by some students. Faced by such dilemma one needs to think hard to get the students remotely interested before asking them to start preparing notes or essays etc.

Movie Maker is an ideal tool to turn the pressure up in the classroom and it does not have to take long to produce. I quickly edited a brief video clip downloaded from www.britishpathe.co.uk to make it appear that Joseph Stalin was standing in the Kremlin waiting, patiently, for...the students. The task was simple:

Targets set during the first Five Year Plan had been too high and factories were unable to meet them.
Students' job was to prepare a speech explaining to Stalin what they had done to meet targets and why they consequently had failed.
The class was also informed that their speeches would be rated according to 'chance of survival' after delivering their masterpieces.

For a full run-down of this activity including an example of what we used please visit the website

Interview at The Education Forum

2008-10-15T02:19:00.000-07:00

We were interviewed about Innovate with ICT today on the Education Forum

What are the biggest challenges facing teachers in terms of using ICT?

I agree with what Terry Haydn writes in the foreword to the book when he states that:

In several recent studies, lack of time to fully explore ICT, together with the lack
of high-quality guidance, ‘role models’ and examples of effective ICT use emerged as the factors which most frustrated teachers in relation to ICT.

Full interview available here

Create your own content

2008-10-14T22:02:00.000-07:00

A colleague and I have set up a company called Firefly Learning.com where we provide interactive resources for teachers. Most of our resources are tailored for Modern Foreign Languages but our new resources, Think It! where users generate their own interactive diagrams and other activities, can be used by all subjects at all Key Stages.

Make Thinkings Skills work with exam classes

2008-10-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

This section of our website examines how to integrate Thinking-Skills and meta-cognition to ensure maximum learning in and outside of the classroom. How do you use Thinking-Skills with your classes? We have posted many of our ideas about how we teach exam groups here:

Turn a story into a mystery
One Lesson Movie

Hope you find these ideas useful. If you use them, modify them or have other suggestions for Thinking-Skills, do add a comment on Staffroomproject.com

Best wishes,

Johannes Ahrenfelt

Using Active Learning with exam classes

2008-10-14T12:28:00.001-07:00

This part of Staffroomproject.com raise the debate and give examples of how kinaestetic learning can benefit all abilities, encourage them to think laterally and prepare students for exams. Here's a quick list of activities that have recently been added to the site:

Using physical continuums with Sixth Form students

Active Mind Mapping

Creating actual 'interactive diagrams' with GCSE students

Book about teaching 'skills'

2008-10-14T12:20:00.000-07:00

We were approached and asked if we could write a book, 100 Ideas for Essential Teaching Skills, to share some of the ideas and activities we have amalgamated over the years. Ideas range from designing challenging lessons to keeping students interested and on task to organising your teaching in order to control challenging behaviour. We loved writing the book, hope you enjoy reading it.

We hope you enjoy the book!

Teach exam classes effectively

2008-10-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

Staffroomproject.com is a new website which explores ideas for teaching exam groups, both KS4 and KS5. Although still in its early stages, the website will eventually become a book and we aim to include concrete examples and discussions about how teachers from across the curriculum subjects teach exam classes.

All our ideas and thoughts will be published online and shared with anyone that wishes to use them. When the final draft of the book is being written, we will decide which contributions should be included from the website. Each contribution will be clearly acknowledged (name, website for example).

If you would like to join an open discussion about what ideas work in the classroom, whatever the subject, then do join us by registering (takes three seconds!).

How to use ICT effectively in the classroom

2008-10-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

We have just launched our new website InnovativeICT.net which provides practical ideas for using ICT in the classroom. The website is accompanied by the book Innovate with ICT: enhancing learning across the curriculum, as well as a series of interactive tutorials on how to create resources with many popular software e.g. Movie Maker, Adobe Flash and PowerPoint.

We have also uploaded a series of freely available resources for you to download and use with your students including interactive diagrams and other challenging tasks.

We hope that you will find it a useful tool!

Online ICT training seminars

2008-10-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

Learn to use Adobe Flash in teaching

2008-10-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

Flash Education offers tutorials, resources and expertise on how to use Adobe Flash to create interactive resources for the classroom, INSET or board- meeting. Some of these currently include:

* Create a website
* Interactive Diagrams

Although Flash Education is aimed at teachers, students and other educators, the resources available can also be modified and used for curriculum managers, teacher training institutions and corporate companies.

Best Wishes,

Johannes

2008-10-05T11:20:00.000-07:00

If you want to learn how to make your own interactive diagrams like the ones you can buy online then try the tutorials listed below. They will show you how to make a double-bubble diagram which you then can tweak to create pretty much any diagram that you want e.g. Venn, Fishbone diagram and so on. You need to enter a password to be able to use them: flashforteachers

Interactive Diagram Part I: The Diagram This tutorial shows you how to set up the layout of the actual diagram. It will also teach you to create graphics and other specific features of Flash.

Interactive Diagram Part II: Make it work!

This is the final part of creating interactive diagrams. After you have completed the tutorial you will be able to create a variety of different diagrams - imagination is everything.

Interactive Diagram Part III: Create a 'Show Answer' button

You can modify the diagram to work even better by for example including a Show nswer/Example button. This feature is kind of like the Hint button you created in Part II, but this one only appears when students hover their cursor over the button. Excellent way to show an 'ideal answer'. Can you think of other ways of using this script?

Hope you find these flash tutorials useful.

Best wishes,

Johannes Ahrenfelt