An experiment with the common .IWB file format in Smart/Promethean (and now Easiteach/Mimio)
A new feature with the latest version of ActivInspire is the ability to export your files as the Becta-driven .IWB file format. This is an interesting step for Promethean to take since previously they’ve removed the ability to move your files out of their own flipchart format – even removing the old ActivStudio/Primary feature of being able to export to PowerPoint. For teachers who don’t want to be “locked...
Espresso Education : Video in the Classroom
A short video by Espresso Education about the power of video in the classroom. Take a look! I deliver freelance training for Espresso and think it’s a fantastic resource to have in the classroom. Access some free Espresso resources here....
The Ed Tech Blog Carnival 2012 #1
A few weeks ago I asked for educational bloggers to share some of their posts as part of a Blog Carnival. The idea would be that they would write about aspects of technology in education, and I would then collate into a single post that points to them all. Hopefully you the reader will discover some blogs you haven’t seen before. So here’s the posts that make up the first Ed Tech Blog Carnival for January 2012: To start,...
Learning Without Frontiers 2012 #lwf2012
This week I had the opportunity to attend the Learning Without Frontiers conference in London. I’ve wanted to go to this before but it’s clashed with other things. It’s always a little too close to BETT for my liking, I’d prefer a little bit of breathing space between the two, to be honest. I arrived early, thanks to an invitation to attend the launch of a new book by Charles Leadbeater “Innovation in...
Desmos Interactive Graphing Calculator
I’ve written about Desmos before – they are developing some very interesting online whiteboard software which is still currently in beta. But while we’re waiting for the full release, Desmos have released something else they’ve been working on as a side project, and thats their Desmos Calculator, available at www.abettercalculator.com You can very quickly enter equations using a combination of the keyboard and...
Circus Physics – videos and teaching resources
Here’s a really fun website for science teachers from PBS. The Circus Physics website uses jugglers, clowns and high-flying acrobats provide an entertaining and engaging way to introduce basic physics concepts to high school students. Eight videos feature footage from the PBS television series about the circus and interviews with the performers to illustrate the laws of physics at work. For deeper exploration, each video has a...
Using interactive whiteboards without whiteboard software
This is my contribution to an Ed Tech Blog Carnival, you can find out more by going here. While I wandering around the BETT show the other week, there were many interactive whiteboards on show that did not come with what I’d recognise as Notebook/Flipchart software. This was especially true of some of the cheap chinese boards who seemed to purely be demonstrating that you could use their board to to use Google Earth. Some brands...
ICT Reviews for Schools – Whiteboard Guide
You may not know this but PC Pro magazine produces an occasional supplement for education called ICT Reviews for Schools. The free guide is packed with buyer’s guides, reviews and features to help schools spend their IT budgets wisely. Issue 4 is just out, and this time features a very interesting article written by Terry Freedman entitled “Getting the most from your interactive whiteboard”. The guide also includes...
Adobe Education Exchange – resources for teachers
The Adobe Education Exchange hosts a range of free, peer-reviewed teaching and learning resources, developed by Adobe Education Leaders, educators who are already integrating technology in to classes with great success who also use the Exchange themselves to find inspiration for creative teaching activities. For example the site contains guidance on teaching code for games design and app development which supports collaborative...
QuadBlogging and Blogging the Leap Year projects
A quick post to make my readers aware of an excellent project set up by Deputy Headteacher David Mitchell. He’s developed an excellent model for school collaboration called Quadblogging which sets up groups of schools to talk, share ideas, information and comment on each others’ work. At present there are more than 1000 classes in 27 countries working together creating some incredible moments of learning as well as...
Dumpr – fun with your photos
Dumpr is a great little website that has lots of tools for doing creative things with your images. Simply choose an effect from the 21 on offer, upload your photograph and Dumpr will do the rest. You can then save your image to use elsewhere. For example, turn an image into a Rubiks Cube: This is a great way to create avatars images for social media, or present your images in creative ways in blog posts or student presentations. The...
Video – Inanimate Alice BETT 2012 Presentation
Here’s the video of my Inanimate Alice presentation from Friday. This formed part of the TeachMeet Takeover event at the BETT Show 2012. For a copy of the presentation itself, check here. Links from the Video: Inanimate Alice Trailer Inanimate Alice Flipchart and other files on Promethean Planet http://www.inanimatealice.com/education http://aliceandfriends.wikispaces.com/ https://www.facebook.com/InanimateAlice...