Espresso Junior Journo Competition
Teachers in UK Primary schools might be interested in a fun competition being run by Espresso Education and First News: The Junior Journo Competition.
Pupils are encouraged to write an interesting, well-researched news article with an attention-grabbing headline. The winning entry will win the chance to see their story in a real newspaper and as a news video, being read by Espresso’s own newsreader Olivia.
This would make a great focus for a class topic. If you subscribe to the Espresso service you can check out the KS2 English area and take a look at the News Resource Box. There’s lots of help and advice on how to write your own news report. You could also take a look at some of the editors tips on the First News website.
More information, and terms and conditions can be found on the Espresso website.
Good Luck!
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Digital Storytelling with Comic Master
Comic Master is another in a long line of online comic creators that would be great for digital storytelling.
Supported by Reading for Life, it allows students to create their own graphic novel using pre-designed characters and backgrounds. The end product can be printed A4 size.
The working area is a little small, but you can zoom in and work on individual panels which does make things easier.
If you like this kind of thing you should also check out:
You can find more on my delicious feed.
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Podium for Podcasting
I’ve had the chance recently to have a little play with Podium from Lightbox. Podium is a PC based podcasting software which enables users to create, edit and publish audio and video podcasts from a simple interface, meaning that pupils do not have to work with a number of different software packages in order to podcast in lessons.
Podcasting with Podium is very easy, pupils are able to create, edit and publish their audio or video podcasts all during one lesson! Podium has a handy scripting tool which allows for group working as pupils can create scripts together and assign dialogue to different members of the group. When they begin recording, they each know whose turn it is to speak.
The Podium interface should look pretty straightforward to anyone used to software such as MovieMaker or Audacity. There’s not too many buttons to confuse and provide too much choice.
Recording audio and video is a very simple process. Click the red record button, and if your webcam or microphone is set up, off you go!
There’s no way of changing the settings within the main piece of software. You need to run an additional application called Podium Options that installs at the same time. Make sure you keep the manual nearby as it has initial password to get into this area (You can change the password once in).
I found this a little confusing at first (as someone who rarely reads the manual first and just dives straight in), but I can see why it’s done as pupils should not need to ever go near these. If you make changes to the settings, you need to exit Podium and go back in to get them to take effect – as I found when trying to modify ftp information and select which folder to upload into.
I had a little difficulty getting my FTP settings correct, I wanted to put my podcasts into a podcast folder – which causes some confusion. But once it was sorted the software would automatically upload an audio and video podcast to the designated folder. I found that if you add a podcast folder into the settings, you also need to add it to the web address, I assumed it would do that automatically.
Once recorded, and edited – it only takes one click to upload the podcast to your ftp site. You can if you wish purchase hosting space from Lightbox, or use your own school space. You can set a password for uploading so that pupils can be restricted from uploading before the teacher has had a chance to approve the finished product. Podium will then produce the rss feeds that your visitors can subscribe to:
So…. by of way of testing the whole thing out, here is my quick video podcast feed produced by Podium automatically as an mp4 file:
Whiteboard Blog – Testing Video Podcast
and here’s the audio one if you want to hear but not see me
In all the process was very simple and once you’d got to grips with the interface for Podium the whole thing was very easy to do. Apologies for the quiet audio, I think that’s more down to my own audio settings on my system. I did this in a hurry!
Getting Podium:
If you like the sound of Podium, you can download a trial version from the Podium website.
Also, if you come to TeachMeet Essex, there will be a copy of the Podium Audio version in the charity raffle, so someone will go away with a copy!
Podcasting Links:
For more ideas, Podium have produced a free booklet ‘Top tips – 50 podcasting ideas for the classroom’ which is well worth downloading, even if you don’t use Podium.
My presentation on Podcasting can be found on SlideShare here.
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DeviantArt Muro plus Jackson Pollock
I’ve written before about some of the great online painting and drawing packages that you can find, for free, online. Here’s an old blogpost with 12 of my favourites. All of these are great on the interactive whiteboard, which basically becomes a massive graphics tablet!
I’ve come across two more to add to this growing list.
DeviantART Muro
The DeviantArt website is the largest online social network for artists and art enthusiasts. It allows emerging and established artists to exhibit, promote, and share their work online.
As part of their website – there’s a very useful HTML5 drawing package called Muro. At the basic level it’s free, and you can purchase additional brushes using DeviantArt points, if you’re a registered member of the site. Check it out here: http://muro.deviantart.com/
Jackson Pollock
If you’ve ever wanted to paint like Jackson Pollock – then check out this great little application which lets you paint just like him. http://www.manetas.com/pollock/ Click on the big picture to enter the painting application.
Happy painting!
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A few of my favourite things
On my whiteboard training courses, I find that there are several websites that I am always sharing, and they are always well received by the trainees. I’ve shared most of them on this blog before, but as a way of distilling down a few of my favourite things, here’s the list again.
Classtools.Net: I love this website – there are two tools in particular that are very handy
- Countdown Timer - a firm favourite. Choose your music to countdown an activity.
- Random Name Picker – as seen on Teachmeets. Pick a student/group at random from a list.
The Big Picture – simply one of the best photojournalism sites I’ve seen. Every few days another set of stunning images is uploaded. Jawdropping.
FlickrCC Creative Commons Image Search – much better to use than Google Image Search as you know that all the images returned have a creative commons license.
Wallwisher - great little site for building your own online noticeboard. Any user can stick post its on here. Great for using with a group.
Etherpad – well Etherpad itself may be dead but the tech lives on. Check out iEtherPad or PrimaryPad as alternatives. Google Docs has the same facility, but if you don’t want to mess with logins and sharing, then Etherpad is for you.
SlideShare - a very useful resource for obtaining presentations on a multitude of topics. Many useful in education. Do a search before you have to produce a presentation and you’ll probably find someone has already uploaded a presentation on a similar topic. Can save you having to reinvent the wheel. If you want you can also share your own presentations here – just upload a powerpoint file. Here are my presentations.
What are your must-share websites? Add them to the comments below!
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Iris Connect – lesson observation with video
As a PGCE tutor, I do a lot of lesson observations. I’ve also just completed a module for my Masters on Coaching and Mentoring. It often comes up in discussion about the benefits of the teacher themselves being able to observe themselves. Teachers are often suprised when they see their lesson from a different perspective.
The use of video allows teachers to make more specific observations than if they have to rely on memory (see Rosaen et al., 2008). The use of video allows the observer to slow things down and so facilitates specific and detailed observations. Parts of the session can be replayed, which enables the observer to capture what was missed the first time either orally or visually.
Technology also allows moments to be frozen in time through the isolation of specific clips that can be extracted for further analysis. This would be useful for looking at body language and visual cues – it would be possible to even watch the film with the sound off and look purely at visual cues.
Many schools are implementing peer coaching systems where colleagues observe each others lessons. I’m also aware of schools that are looking for examples of good practise to share on CPD days etc.
With this in mind, I was very interested to get involved with a product called IRIS Connect. This is essentially a networked video camera which can be positioned at the back of a classroom. A web-based interface allows the teacher to record a lesson themselves, or for an observer to record it for them. With an observer, the camera can be panned and zoomed around as needed. The teacher wears a bluetooth microphone to make it easy for sound to be recorded.
The video is recorded on the system and can be recalled at any time. It can be shared with colleagues, or kept private.
When watching the video – an observer can add notes which are timestamped alongside the video and can even be overlaid. The teacher can also make notes, or respond to the questions from the observer. Schools can add electronic versions of their lesson observation sheets to allow different criteria to be recorded, which can then be printed as a report.
It’s an interesting bit of kit – and I’ve already been into schools which are using this as part of a CPD programme on improving teaching and learning through observations and peer coaching.
If you are interested in finding out more about IRIS, then check out their website. If you do get them in for a trial – please tell them where you heard about them! If you’re in North America, check out: http://www.therenow.net/
By way of disclosure – I am now an approved trainer for Iris Connect, and so am part of the team providing training on this product in schools.
Research:
Rosaen, C., Lundeberg, M., Cooper, M., Fritzen, A., & Terpstra, M. (2008) Noticing: How does investigation of video records change how teachers reflect on their experiences? Journal of Teacher Education. 59 (4), 347-360.
More research on the Iris Connect website.
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BBC Dimensions
Dimensions is a cracking little site from the BBC which takes important places, events and things, and overlays them onto a map of where you are: http://howbigreally.com/
Dimensions is an experimental prototype for the BBC designed to bring home the human scale of events and places in history. The D-Day landing beaches measured from London to Norfolk in the UK. How far would the Titanic stretch down your street?
Dimensions simply juxtaposes the size of historical events with your home and neighbourhood, overlaying important places, events and things on a satellite view of where you live. Certain “Dimensions” can be transformed into short walks, so you can get a physical appreciation of the distances involved.
See how big the Gulf oil spill is(below) or the journey of a Mars rover compared to your own postcode, superimposed into a Google Map.
This would be of interest to History, Geography and Science teachers – a handy bookmark to have.
Thanks to Kevin Mc Laughlin for sharing this link on Twitter.
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Of Monkeys and Bananas
Found this online recently. Apparently it is based on actual research, and although may not exactly be as described it’s still a nice story:
Start with a cage containing five monkeys.
Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water.
After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result – all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him.
After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.
Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.
After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know that’s the way it’s always been done round here.
And that, my friends, is how company policies are made.
Replace company with education. Don’t just do something because it’s “how we’ve always done things”.
Don’t be those monkeys.
Stephenson, G. R. (1967). Cultural acquisition of a specific learned response among rhesus monkeys. In: Starek, D., Schneider, R., and Kuhn, H. J. (eds.), Progress in Primatology, Stuttgart: Fischer, pp. 279-288.
Mentioned in: Galef, B. G., Jr. (1976). Social Transmission of Acquired Behavior: A Discussion of Tradition and Social Learning in Vertebrates. In: Rosenblatt, J.S., Hinde, R.A., Shaw, E. and Beer, C. (eds.), Advances in the study of behavior, Vol. 6, New York: Academic Press, pp. 87-88:
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Hitachi Starboard Community
The Hitachi Starboard support centre is an Australian website which has been put together to unite members of the academic community adopting the Hitachi Starboard brand of interactive whiteboard into the modern classroom.
Teachers can search, browse and download a range of interactive whiteboard lessons, resources and activities – all free for download for registered members. Registered members also have the ability to upload their own interactive whiteboard lessons.
I’ve always found there to much more support for Smart and Promethean users out there, so if you are a Starboard user this should be a welcome site for help and resources. Worth bookmarking!
Visit the site here: http://www.hitachistarboard.com.au/
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About Me
Danny Nicholson : Educator, Science teacher, ICT Consultant, PGCE lecturer, Author and Web2.0 / SMART Masters/ Interactive Whiteboard Trainer. Contact me for any training requests. 
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