This blog has now moved to our new secure Learning Platform and is viewable by Derbyshire teachers/ICT subject leaders.
Click here to go to the new blog

If you are unable to view this, and feel that you should be able to, then please email me at john.legood@derbyshire.gov.uk with your Kaleidos username, preferably from your offical school email address.

Thanks for reading.
John

Derbyshire Schools Birdcam Project

If you love Springwatch, then head over to the Derbyshire Schools Birdcam Project web site, which features live images from 35 nest boxes in schools around the county. In addition, the project has a Kestrel Cam located in a barn near Dronfield. To date, three schools have boxes with chicks in and a number of others have birds incubating eggs. Even the ICT Curriculum Support Team have eggs in their box this year!



The project has a blog and a shared picture/video gallery for all the latest news and images, with each school also having their own individual blog. There is some fantastic blogging going on within schools, between schools as well as good home/school links being demonstrated.

Real time collaboration on the web using EtherPad

Has anyone tried out EtherPad in the classroom, could be a lot of fun! Have a go on my example. Just click on "edit name/colour" next to the unnamed person in the right hand toolbar to start adding your adjectives, which will highlight in a different colour showing your contribution. Add your ideas for a collaborative project. Up to 8 people can collaborate at any one time.

If you start your own EtherPad, you can collaborate with others simply by sharing the "Share this URL" info at the top of the EtherPad screen or invite others via email.

Next briefings-now cancelled

Unfortunately the weather affected our first four briefings, leading to them being cancelled. With more snow likely to affect briefings later in the week, we have taken the decision to cancel them all. It was not possible to find venues or dates to rearrange so many briefings, and therefore we felt that it would be unfair for some schools to receive the briefings, when others couldn't.
We share your disappointment, but feel that everyone's personal safety is more important - the less travel the better!
We look forward to seeing you all at our summer briefings, being held in May/June.

Welcome to Nikkidev

Just want to welcome Nikkidev, who has joined our team to help publish more regularly to this blog. As some of you will know, this blog was started up as an experiment to see how effective blogs can be to share ideas between ICT leaders/co-ordinators within Derbyshire. I have to confess that at times I've found it hard to find the time to post, and many of our teachers who had their arms twisted to join in at the start have faded away. This has helped me to understand that blogging is a very personal thing, my own views - great for people to read, but not always the best tool for collaborating, which might be better with a discussion or a wiki. So that is exactly what this is, my own views (and now that of Nikki too), as two professionals who work as leaders of ICT in Derbyshire schools (myself at LA level, and Nikki at the chalkface/[IWB-face?])... and are not necessarily the views of Derbyshire County Council ;-)

Story Creator 2 - online application

I've been using Story Creator 2 with our Year 2, 3 & 4 children. Although this online application is part of E2BN's Myths and Legends web site, it can be used to create many types of stories. Using the backgrounds, characters and object clipart provided, children can build stories from a few pages long to real epics with many chapters. They are able to add speech and thought bubbles, narrative text as well as using sound to really bring their stories to life.

So what do the children think of it - they love it!

One of the most exciting outcomes of using this online application has been that the majority of those children who have home Internet access, have used it to continue their stories at home or even create new ones (by using the accounts created for them at school). It also appears to have become a family affair, with several children reporting that their parents and siblings also enjoy using it!

It's really worth persevering with this tool, the children eventually do get past trying to make too much happen on each page and start to adjust their stories using the storyboard to add and delete scenes.

Google gadgets

Not sure if anyone ever scrolls down to the bottom of this blog, but have a go at the Brain Trainer gadget that we have. Feel free to comment with your best time! My tip is to use the tab key to move between sums, I also use the number pad for speed. A nice gadget to add to your school blog, website, or page on your Learning Platform - so that your pupils can compete against themselves or each other!

Resizing images!

Whilst I've used a few Microsoft Powertoys before, I hadn't tried this one until recently. It is such a simple easy feature, I'm surprised more people don't know about it. Most Derbyshire schools use Irfanview to manipulate images, but for simple resizing you now need resizer.exe!

It is a little plug-in that installs quickly, and adds a right click option over images. Click here to go to the Microsoft site, scroll down to near the bottom on the right hand side. Run the installer and then when you right click over an image you see the new option 'Resize Pictures' - easy! Try it!

Web 2.0 is great

Briefly, this Becta report shows that web2.0 tools can really make a difference to teaching and learning, with 11-16 yr olds - but teachers need more time to encourage pupils (and teachers) to utilise their personal use into learning scenarios.
Click here for article.

How wide spread is home access?

As we start another phase of training/implementation of Kaleidos, schools are clearly concerned about how widely available home access is. Nationally it appears that although homes many have computers, only two thirds have broadband access. I wonder how many schools have actually canvessed their schools to see what level of access is available. I know many Derbyshire schools have tried a questionnaire to get that (and other) answers. But how has that information transformed into a different approach to lessons, homework, implementation of Kaleidos, availability of resources...? There is no doubt that lack of home access doesn't help, but it is frustrating that some schools give that as an excuse for not being ready for an LP - without thinking imaginatively about other options for their learners (and teachers), or even how useful it could be with the 'confines' of school!
Thankfully the news below should remove this excuse! All rolled out by 2011... just in time for primary school deadline of 2012 for full integration of an LP ;-)

Becta news on home access HERE