Kristianstill

Topic or Tool: Smallworlds

What does it cost? FREE. SmallWorlds is a 3D virtual world (similar to Second Life and Lively) but it runs inside your web browser – no software to install. Targeted at anyone aged 13 years and above, Smallworld creators Outsmart believe that,

‘the combination of social interaction, self expression, media consumption and casual gaming features of SmallWorlds means there’s something in there for everyone, and the ease of use and general accessibility of the product means that even novice users can have a satisfying experience.’

Once you have designed your avatar, you are dropped into your virtual home with or without your virtual pet, you teleport into a multilingual international virtual world. Importantly for educators, Smallworlds is Moderated. Moderators and helpers are real easy to spot, they all have a saintly (some might say unearthly?) glow as they travel about in-world. They also wear a snappy looking blue cape with an “M” or “H” on the back just in case you miss the glow.

Whats more Smallworlds a mash-up or is mashable! ‘Mashable’ means you are able to mash together different web applications. A more professional definition can be found in the Horizon Report 2008

‘A mashup is a web application that combines data from more than one source via a single, unified tool.’

Same difference. For example you can play selected radio stations through your ghetto blaster, you can hang your pictures/artwork stored on photo sharing site flickr on your walls. You can take part in game tournaments such as chess and pool and much more. Smallworlds is a real interactive experience.

How it could be used for teaching?

At this moment in time, I have used Smallworldsto introduce students to social media. Once logged in, there is an enormous amount for them to do, people to meet and etiquette to learn. The importance of personal safety, security and 21st Century safety awareness are easily reinforced through Smallworlds. Features such as room design (Design Technology) and Chat (MFL), can be easily applied in Smallworlds as students complete ‘Missions’ to help them earn credits. These credits can then be used to make purchases, an instant reward, often used to ‘pimp’ their home space.

How it could be used for learning?

More recently, I have been corresponding with the Outsmart team, discussing ways to use the many features available in Smallworld to create learning experiences. In particularly we have been looking at how Outsmart can offer staff and headstart or ‘teacher package’ and ways to use the missions to develop learning opportunities for students. For example, heading to a Maths room full of equations, with supplying the correct answers earning you credits. Or by creating rooms or great characters in history, again with questions to answer but also rooms to display photo and artwork, then entered into international competitions….. More ideas please.

I cant remember the format, just give me two seconds to copy and paste it from the last meal, to keep things orderly.

Topic or Tool: Busbi Camera, small, portable and easy to use video cameras.

What does it cost? The Busbi’s we purchased were from Insight, look for a price bracket of £30-35. Google shop for it! We have a purchasing agreement with Insight, so quick, easy, next day delivery and the VAT back of course.We purchase 30, in our mind, 2 sets of 15.

What do you get?

The camera comes with a mini cd (basic arcsoft video editing software, not that you will use it, as you have access to Windows Movie Maker), USB Cable, 2 X AA Batteries, 1GB (no brand) SD Card (enough for around 60 minutes of video) already in the slot and a lanyard. Remember, the latest Windows Movie Maker now supports mjpegs so no conversion necessary. In summary, the Busbi is very easy to use, with just three buttons, record, playback and delete, staff and student training should be minimal, shouldnt it?

Can there be a downside? Well the video quality is not great, much like that from a webcam – recorded at a tiny 320×240. Think mobile phone video, but more of that later. The sound quality is passable. Look don’t expect it to look and feel like a £100 gadget, because it didnt cost you that much now did it.

How it could be used for teaching?

This is a difficult question, but here are a few ideas. Use the Busbis to record your instructions for class on a planned absence? Create technical models in for Physical Education GCSE. This was difficult to answer.

How it could be used for learning?

Remember, Busbi is not a powerful camera. Think of activities you can get close enough to, to record. Also,  with battery life of about an hour, think 1 lesson at a time, although batteries and SD Cards can be replaced. On the plus side, no re-charging necessary.

I apologise for the clearly obvious ideas on where/how to use the Busbi, but I hope to offer one or two potential ideas you can try or mull over. Any more ideas, please send to me and I will add them to the list.

1. An Introduction to Video (there goes the obivous). Within 15 minutes of paired work we had footage on the desktops and imported into Windows Movie Maker. (This did not include getting the Busbis out of the packaging and the packaging in the bin. That took longer than 15 minutes!) The students were bouyed by the novelty factor, I am not sure how much longer that novelty factor will last.
2. Recording small skits in English or Drama, but remember you will need to get close. The Busbi is not the tool for full stage productions.
3. The Busbi is great for reflection, film gymnastic balances, science experiments, or how you solved a maths equation! Play back is instant and on the camera.
4. Get students to edit a science expereincment using Windows Movie Maker.
5. Mentor or tutor time. Preparing for interviews. There is little more powerful then seeing yourself at interview.
6. Film a particular technique is Design Technology or Food Technology and upload to instrutables.
7. Use as a remote tool to interview students on placements or students on vocational courses.
8. We are currently geting short film clips from students, we are going to use these to make a talking wall on our website.
9. In English, ask students to create the College news and post it on the website, rather than writing an article.

Step aside, here comes big brother, the Bubi Plus, the Flip Ultra and most recently Flip Mino (£120). Now suggesting the Mino is a little expensive for College use lets focus on the Ultra. Like the Busbi, ‘The Flip Ultra,’ which costs £99 now £79, is an astonishingly simple. Like the Busbi, you take it out of the box (with batteries) switch it on, press the red button and start shooting. Unlike the Busbi, the 2GB also gives you 60 minutes recording but at twice the resolution, a 2x digital zoom and when you want to get at the footage, you flick a switch and a USB arm flips out (hence the name) allowing you to upload everything to a computer in a couple of clicks. Now I wonder if that flip-arm is education proof? Anyone?

Topic or Tool: Screencasting, a digital recording of computer screen.

What does it cost? Low end FREE, at the Professional end, it can be expensive. For use in your classroom, on your website or CPD, Jing, Wink, ScreenToaster, Screencast-o-matic and the many others, are just fine. Just in case you get hooked, Camtasia, for professional level recording, editing and sharing high end screen video.

The new kid on the block is ‘in browser’ screen casting. Enter ScreenToaster, a free web based screencasting tool that requires no installation, no software and can record your full desktop screen (or just a rectangular section) in few clicks. It will even host the finished screencast for you and is therefore immediately available for sharing via email or for embedding on other sites. You can download it of course, but why would you? Ok you might want to.

A hidden bonus is that Screen Toaster is written as Java web applet, which means it works pretty much on every Operating System. Any difficulties here, as your Network Manager, considering there is nothing to install s/he should be more than happy to help !

The downside – Screen Toaster doesn’t not currently record audio, but its coming, in the mean time you can add subtitles. On the up side, they were more than happy to help when I asked for a few extra accounts for students to use.

Screencast-o-matic is another similar online screencasting app but what you may like more about Screen Toaster is that it renders videos as streaming Flash so it becomes easy to embed screencasts in web pages. For those of you that love your firefox browser, there no reason to leave with Capture fox.

How it could be used for teaching?

An obvious answer, create ‘How to’ screencasts. Screencasts to show students how to login into your VLE? Or create functions in a spreadsheet, or any skill in a ICT lesson. Screencasts for staff on how to complete the NEW online registers or assessments?

How it could be used for learning.

I recently asked the students to evidence they could attach documents to their emails using screentoaster, I know I am not the only teacher using screencasting as OCR Nationals evidence. I know Gideon Williams at Perins School was complimented by his External Moderator for using screencast to  evidence some of the criteria in the OCR Nationals. This process requires thinking and planning and if your use the audio features, scripting skills as well. Getting senior students to create ‘how to’ screencasts for junior students is a very powerful learning tool but also a great resource creator / base for the teachers.

I was lucky enough to be asked to contribute to the HIAS SLD days and this time I have been asked to review some NEW technologies. I thought that it might be a good idea to write short blog post on each technology or tool, colleagues could then either download / print or share the blog post for anyone to take advantage of. I am trying to be a little more eco responsible. I will try and set out a template, so anyone with any thoughts or comments, please feel free to let me know.

I thought I would start with how much, it seems to be the question everyone needs to know but was wary of asking (with the except of a few and arent pleased for the few). Then, what the tools is/does. How it could be used for teaching and how it could be used for learning. Simple, quick and easy. My version of 5 minutes meals for ICT.

Each of the blog posts that follow will be tagged HIAS SLD and hopefully, if I can keep myself organised, numbered! So look out for periodical tools reviews starting with screencasting and mini cams, well these were the first two items I was asked to review.

We only two ICT staff last year, a Digital Leaders programme was almost impossible. We opened the facilities as much as possible but it was exhausting. Now with three staff, fewer discipline issues, we have a structured support programme. At least one ICT room is open every lunch time for all students, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons were originally set aside for Yr 11 Workshops, although this has been extended to include Yr 10s aswell.

Wednesdays are now officially the Digital Media and Gaming Club sessions. It combines teaching the students simple ICT skills, set out in a small curriculum, and networked gaming opportunities in the second half of the session.

‘The Digital Media and Gameing Club (DMGC) blasted off on Wednesday after College and it was fantastic!! There were about thirty students there but Mr Sangster wants to make it sixty, class room vs class room! Virtualy of  course! We all gave in our small donation, a few silver coins, and got cracking. First we learnt how to access our users areas and email remotely and then we played Urban Terror, a great first person shooter.’

Incorpated into these extra curricular session are the Digital Leaders, positions of responsibility within IT that we hope will have a significate role in promoting ICT at Hamble College. We have sent in our proposals to HIAS to see if we can get some much needed financial support.

ICT Digital Leaders, Digital Media and Gaming Club (DMGC) and Generation Y projects

ICTAC Netbooks Project – Proposal

We are currently in the progress of developing a Digital Leader project which also encompasses the (DMGC) and Gen Y projects and a second project that investigates the feasibility of Netbooks at Hamble Community College. Although separate projects each draws on the benefits derived from the other.

Our aim is to address four key areas of ICT at Hamble Community College which we expect to impact ICT attainment in KS 3 and KS OCR Nationals

1. Student Behaviour in ICT (focusing on low achieving boys)
2. ICTAC, specifically showcasing, trailing and advertising new software for cross curricular use
3. ICT CPD through the subsidiary GEN Y training programme
4. ICT for Gifted and Talented

Senior Digital Leaders and Digital Leaders posts are currently being advertised. The advert is available here.

Digital Leader posts are attached to the Attitude to Learning assessment. Students are expected to work towards an ATL grade 1 or 2. Students who are not achieving this benchmark will br able to attend the workshops not will have restrict Gaming time / roles during gaming (eg non captain roles, reduced playing time).

A number of the workshop activities are planned, focusing on IT access, use of software for academic learning, (Microsoft Office, Outlook and Internet, specially linked to Assessment Outcomes in Unit 1) Digital Art (linked to Unit 4 Design and Use Multi-Media Products and branding aspects of in Unit 1), collaboration (google docs and social-book marking), new technologies (netbooks and busbies) but also PC and printer maintenance (Gen Y). These workshops will also be used to showcase, trial and advertise new software, for example Comic Life, preparing students to support staff in using ICTAC. These workshops will also provide an opportunity to extend learn for the gifted and talented students, an addition to extension activities in class.

Gen Y used the outline and inspiration from the http://www.genyes.org/about/ programme, especially the GenYES (students helping teachers with classroom technology) and TechYES (student technology literacy certification and peer mentoring). We aim to develop a students training programme, introducing the Digital Leaders to the College VLE in an effort to facilitate staff CPD.

All FLOSS software will be shared with HIAS staff TRAINING iSC