Beat the Bully

It is officially National Anti-Bullying Week this week (19th - 23rd November) and there's exciting things afoot.

Bullying Prevention charity, Beatbullying, has teamed up with YouTube to create a video channel where children, young people, teachers and more than a few celebrities can speak their mind about bullying. There's comments, v-logs and all sorts of links to various sources on there - well worth a visit.

This is where something like YouTube really shines. It can be used by anybody to reach so many people, raise awareness and inspire reactions and comments. There are several video messages on there from school classes around the country - what a great way to get children involved in ICT and an important national (and global) issue, too! This proves that V-logging, within a well protected and maintained forum, can be a real aid to the curriculum.

Links of note:
Anti-Bullying Week 19th-23rd November 2007
The Anti-Bullying Alliance
The Beatbullying YouTube channel
Beatbullying charity website

I'm trying it...

Having read the last two directed readings about IWBs I am feeling more than a little apprehensive. It seems that you can have too much of a good thing and the 'wow' factor of an IWB should not be a substitute for poorly planned lessons. There are loads of free IWB resources out there for pretty much every subject and lesson and yet don't think I've seen an IWB used to its complete advantage.

The classroom I'm in for SBT1 doesn't have one. Problematic. They also have three computers in the classroom and no other 'ICT suite' as far as I can see. I might be fighting a losing battle with this one. But i'm going to try and integrate ICT into my teaching, somehow. Perhaps we could spend the whole 5week placement building a computer?..

I feel like I've learned a lot in the few months that I've been looking at ICT in education. I have definately developed stronger views than I did have before about the absolute necessity of incorporating ICT into the life of the class/school. ICT should be involved in every aspect of school learning as it is in every aspect of modern life. There's no reason why children should enter secondary school able to read, write, add, subtract, say 'bonjour', paint sunflowers and do a forward roll but unable to access the increasingly technology-driven lifestyles we are required to live. But I don't even think this is the real problem. Children (largely) have no problem with ICT; it is schools which seem to have issues.

Serial Filler

Well, I've made it through a week at my placement school and I'm still smiling!

It was a really good, absolutely jam-packed week and I feel like I've learned a lot. We looked at candle-light in RE, counting in 10s in numeracy, The Owl and the Pussy Cat in literacy, Guy Fawkes in history, rhythm in music and a whole lot inbetween! And I read Zagazoo which is a children's book that everyone should read!

I've seen a real mix of ICT resources used, but not particularly frequently. They seem to favour good old fashioned books and dry-wipe boards (although in the staffroom I did overhear another teacher talking about her IWB). The class watched a BBC dvd for phonics and a very good (if a little dated) Guy Fawkes video. In their free-choice time, children were allowed to used the computers in the classroom. And several were working on a previous lesson's alliteration task which was being typed up. I also took small groups of children around the school to take digital photographs of patterns in and around the school which we then uploaded to the computer and printed off. However, it didn't feel like ICT was really being used most effectively.

Perhaps there really is a barrier between the computer-savvy children of today and their slightly slow-to-catch-on elders!

Train Your Brain

While I was at home this summer most members of my family, young and old, became rabidly addicted to a Nintendo DS game called 'Dr Kawashima's Brain Training.' The aim of the game is to visit daily and complete a series of tasks which apparently work different areas of your brain; calculations, reading out loud, spelling, memory games, drawing, sudoku and others. Dr Kawashima, a slightly rounded, bespectacled graphic then caluclates your 'brain age.' The ideal brain age is 23, so players, who start somewhere around a brain age of 50/60, are motivated to keep returning to the game. It really is addictive! By the time I left for uni, I was at 25. Not bad.

The BBC have reported on the successful use of this game by a group of primary school children, and its "dramatic" results in improving maths and concentration. It's these kind of games which are fun and challenging that should be being taken advantage of in schools, and elsewhere, for that matter!

Read the news story here.
About 'Brain Training' on Wikipedia.
Another BBC article about the game.

Oh dear, Bill!

There's trouble in Gates paradise. Follow this link to a BBC article about it.

Basically, BECTA have warned schools against signing crafty licensing agreements with Microsoft, who claim to have the school's best interests at heart; access for all, for a good price. It's very persuasive, considering the amount of money that has to be spent on ICT software for schools. However, Microsoft seems to have implemented some problematic small-print; every computer in the school has to be licensed to use the software even though some will be running something else.

BECTA just wants everyone to have access to the best service for the best price. Microsoft wants to expand the kingdom.

Web Web Web - ICT Is All Around Us

As the U1 bus rumbled past me on Burgess Road and careered round the corner to campus, I noticed the 'Wi-Fi Hotspot' sign on the back of it. Here's a quick definition from WiFi.com:

WiFi is a universal wireless networking technology that utilizes radio frequencies to transfer data. WiFi allows for high speed Internet connections without the use of cables or wires.

This baffles me. How is it possible that technology surrounds us even to the point that we can access the internet on a moving vehicle? But it is possible, and it is being done by a company called Moovera Networks. Some National Express coaches and tube services are already wi-fi enabled, and the Uni-Link 20-day trial could be the start of Southampton going wireless in a big way.

Mobile technology is becoming more frequent, and this is just a taster of what technology will be like when I am finally teaching. There really is a pressing need to be a confident and effective user of new technology if we want any hope of connecting with our class children!

Magic Beans

I've used Wikispaces to create a wiki for our science broad bean investigation. It can be found here:


Or through the Wikispace button in the right hand margin.
There's not a lot there yet, but planting takes place today, so it should start getting pretty exciting!
- Enjoy!

Sums Made Easy...Sort Of

Even though my knowledge of Excel is good, today I sort of learnt how best to use spreadsheets with children. They could easily be dismissed as boring (numbers, cells and formulae...fun fun fun!) but are in fact a really useful tool.

The activities that we carried out today took away the laborious sums from math problem solving and allowed us (the children) to focus on manipulating the data, using higher thinking skills. Once you get to grips with adding formulas, all you need to do is click-and-drag your way to a fun maths lesson!

Leave Us Kids Alone

I have been watching this programme on BBC3 (an altogether upsetting experience because of the sporadic functionality of my TV aerial!) which follows a group of 16-18year olds who have been given the chance to run a school for 3 weeks. The teens are in charge of a group of thirty 12-year olds, teaching them, feeding them and generally getting them over-excited before home-time.

Despite the fact that it's reality tv - and one must always doubt the actual authenticity of these things - they are a real mixed bag, and it's very interesting viewing. They're all there for different reasons, whether it's their own experience of being bullied, being the class clown, being the class genius, or hiding a love for poetry, and they all want to radically change the education system.

What is interesting is how they all started out with really exciting, different ideas about how to shake up the education system and make it more relevant to kids, but have gradually drifted into a very structured, traditional school set-up. They do some things differently though. Teachers and pupils are all on first name terms. They give high-fives. They eat cereal while teaching. They swear a little too liberally.

I can't wait to see what happens when the children have to sit exams. I can't imagine they've learn much more than they do in 'normal' school. So, I think this programme says something important. Children know what they want in school, they know how they want to make learning exciting. But they don't know how to manage time, plan, lead and put their ideas into practise. Teachers need to listen to what their pupils are telling them, and then do it. Then we might be getting somewhere.

Leave Us Kids Alone continues Wednesday 24th October, 10.45pm, BBC3

Thinking about Wikis

Ok, perhaps I was being over cautious with my apprehension about the all-hands-in service that wikis provide. I'm reliably told that the head Wikimaster (what an awesome title that would be) is able to track all changes and anyway, provided all people involved understand the need to collaborate and not sabotage, the wiki should sail along swimmingly.

In fact, I've been thinking. If a wiki can't be most effectively used by a single class, then it's surely the best way to work collaboratively with other schools. It's not beyond possibility that children and teachers from a whole range of schools might decide to collaborate on a piece of work, or some kind of topic based project. Imagine a collaborative 'School Newspaper' which isn't just stories from one school, but the joint effort of many across a region, country or continent! Children can share their opinions on what they think are the most important things in education, what they would like to change, or even what are their favourite websites. And, if they really get organised, they might even make plans for a cross-establishment meeting! It all sounds quite hyperbolic, but a wiki would definately be the way to start such a venture!

While I remember, here's an educational(ish) wiki on the web - Wikiversity

Illustration: Andrew Wheldon

Week of the Wiki

This weeks ICT session was spent exploring the world of wikis.

I have come across wikis before, although never contributed to them, and hadn't really considered how they might be used in the classroom. I'm still not convinced but they are a great idea! I'm sure we've all used Wikipedia, and the ICT Wiki looks like it might be a really handy resource. However, easy as it is, I don't know where a wiki would fit into the school curriculum.

One problem I can immediately think of is the accessibility of registered wiki users to edit and delete information on the page. Surely there are problems with people deleting what thy don't agree with? Just imagine that one grammar stickler in your class who systematically goes through adjusting their classmates posts! Still, I'm not one to dismiss new ICT resources, so I'll give it a think!

In the mean time here's a few useful wikis that you might like to look at:

WikiWikiWiki Web - Claims to be the first ever wiki from which all others are descended. It does look a bit stone age!
Why Nobody Deletes Wikis - Just about answers my query about freedom to delete!
Wikipedia - Maybe not the gospel truth but it's close enough
Pilkipedia - An example of a subject specific Wiki; in this case all things Ricky Gervais & co.
HomestarWiki - Wiki containing amazingly detailed ins-and-outs of youth cult website homestarrunner.com
WikiMusicGuide - A wiki for music lovers!

"Miss, maybe you just switch it off and on again!"

I'm happy to say that the QTS folk think I'll pass my ICT test, so I better book it.

But I was thinking about how, even in my experience on Introductory Placement etc, there really does seem to be a problem with teachers who just can't use the technology. I even remember it from school, "Ooooo-k, does anyone know how to work a video player?" And I remember sitting in ICT lessons in secondary school thinking, 'I know how to do this, and you don't?' I always felt slightly short-changed with having a teacher who couldn't use the resources.

So, as with all of the subjects that we teach, ICT must be re-learned. I might have fairly competent ICT skills, but I don't know it all and children will be the first to pick up on that!

Perhaps teachers don't want to make the best use of ICT because, secretly, they fear that the pupils will respond better to electronic learning (which certainly fits their society) and computers will take over the classroom! However, it's just never going to happen. I am a firm believer in the need to encorporate ICT more and more in the classroom, but I don't think anyone is going to let a robot teach their children. So, Teachers - befriend the computers, they only want to help!

Blog of note:

Here's an interesting article about using IWBs and some teacher's apparent lack of confidence in making the most of a pretty amazing resource.

There's a hole in the blogosphere

This week's ICT lesson was on blogging, and I'm now the proud owner of a shiny new ICT related blog. This won't be the first time i've blogged, but I forgot my password so couldn't just use the same account - I'm such a great model for the children!

It's an interesting idea, using blogs in school. I hadn't really thought of it before, but I can see some advantages in it. There is the small worry about having photos of children on the web but I'm sure that could be combatted by a simple letter home. Or, in fact, by not blogging about things that will involve photographing the children. Aside from that, it's a good chance for children to say what they want, independently and about whatever subjects interest them. I like the idea of making a journal of a specific unit of work or school trip, for example.

So, all in all (prepare yourself for a tenuous link to a photo!), blogs in schools are a good move...