ICT and Key Competencies

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ICT in the New Zealand Curriculum

I've been spending quite a lot of time looking at the new curriculum document, and personally can't see how schools can implement the key competencies in the manner intended, unless they also include a focus on ICT.

I've put my initial ideas into an Inspiration document - follow the link to download your own version (Inspiration 7.5).


Download Inspiration File

Audio on a Blog (2)

Further to my problems outlined in a previous post, I've been trying the suggestion from Iain. He suggested using box.net to store the file. Once uploaded, the files can be sent straight to your blog, with a comment, meaning there is no need to add a new post to your blog first.

This worked perfectly for me, and was very quick and easy, but unfortunately it ended up on the wrong blog! If you want to use this method, make sure that the blog you are posting to is at the top of your blogger dashboard before you send the audio file to it. You can do that by making a change on your blog first, and it will then be moved to the top of the list. I decided to write this info first, then go back and send another post.

Of course if you only have one active blog, this won't be an issue.

Once the file has been uploaded to box.net, just click on the wee arrow on the top right corner to see the option to send to your blog. Select your blogger name, add a message (appears as post content), and away you go.

Audio to a Blog: box.net

This audio file, and message, were added to box.net and sent straight to this blog from there. No need to go to two different websites - brilliant! Thanks Iain.

kays_podcast_1.mp3

Quest Atlantis

This week's lead teacher meeting was taken by Sue Partridge from Tasman School. She introduced us all to Quest Atlantis and shared her experiences with this virtual world. As far as we know, Sue's students are currently the only kids in the South Island currently lucky enough to be part of this world.

Quest Atlantis (QA) is a learning and teaching project that uses a 3D multi-user environment to immerse students, ages 9-12, in educational tasks. It has been developed by Indiana University and could be relevant to New Zealand teachers as a model of an online project. QA builds on strategies from online role-playing games and combines strategies used in the commercial gaming environment with lessons from educational research on learning and motivation. Includes unit plans for teachers.

Everything to do with Quest Atlantis is free, and of a very high standard. There is an extensive amount of background reading required - Sue uses QA as part of her reading programme - and even the story books are provided free. Before teachers can gain access to the full Quest site, they are required to complete a small amount of PD - approximately 1.5 hours a week, for three weeks. This is done online with a professional and other new users. This sets you up really well to embark on the Quest, and ongoing support is freely available.

While the amount of reading, research, comprehension, problem solving and analysis is considerable, there are also a lot of other lessons to be learnt along the way. Students choose to work in worlds such as:

• Unity World
• Ecology World
• Culture World
• Healthy World

They then choose Quests to complete from these seven arms:

• healthy communities
• compassionate wisdom
• diversity affirmation
• environmental awareness
• personal agency
• creative expression
• social responsibility

The messages contained in the various quests sit incredibly well with the key competencies of the new curriculum. With over 500 Quests currently available (teachers may allow as few or many of these as they wish), students will never get bored. Quest Atlantis is constantly being upgraded and kept to a high standard.

I was incredibly impressed with Quest Atlantis, and believe it has tremendous potential for:

• capturing the interest of reluctant readers
• engaging boys
• extending students
• developing thinking/analytical skills
• problem solving
• social interaction

Users of Quest Atlantis need to download software to their computers, and then work online. While online they are able to interact with students from around the world who are online at the same time. Note that while the Quests are online, there is a considerable amount of research and drafting that can be completed without the computer.

Teachers have full access to students accounts, and can check what they have been doing at any stage. This looks to be a very safe environment for students, while still offering them the excitement of being involved with people from around the world.

For more information, have a look at the Quest Atlantis website.

Here's a wee intro into the legend of Atlantis:

Lead Teacher Sharing Day

Discover IT Tasman had our first Lead Teacher Sharing Day last week, at Tasman School. It was a great day (with yummy lunch!) which we hope to repeat more often in the future. See the ideas shared by our teachers on our "IT Heroes" wiki.

Audio on a Blog

I've been asked by a couple of people how they can add audio to their blogs. The answer to this isn't as easy and obvious as adding videos through YouTube for example (although we may not ever need to do this again with the new video upload button in Blogger).

As with all other objects we have been adding to our blogs, the audio file has to be stored on a third party site - finding this has been the most difficult part. I've got mine working and it wasn't too difficult. I decided to upload my files (MP3) to my Google Pages account. Google Pages allow you 100MB of free storage which sounds a lot but my short podcast was 2MB so it wouldn't take long to use up your allowance - there must be somewhere else we can upload files to but I can't find it! Once uploaded, you can right click on the audio file and "Copy Link Location". This can easily be hyperlinked and added to your post as below "Hear our Podcast".

Now my favourite part of this: to show a list of all MP3s linked to your site, I've added a Streampad Player to this post. It's easy to choose any audio file to listen to. NB: It may take 2-3 hours before new MP3's appear on the player.

Hear our podcast

Instructional Design

I am currently facilitating Producing and Integrating effective ICT resources into the classroom, with a group of teachers from our cluster. This is part of the GradDipICTEd previously offered by the College of Education and now, since the merger, a University of Canterbury course.

While this course has always had a very practical focus, there is also an expectation that resources are not only created, but are based on sound learning theory. Discussions amongst our group have been a great way of refocusing on all the things we know already, but can have a tendency to gloss over when busy.

This week we looked at two different Instructional Design models: ARCS and ADDIE. The PowerPoint presentations we will be creating are to be designed based on one of these models. As I prepared my presentation to this group, I decided to base it on the ARCS model - the end result was a session that ran smoothly, with participants going away feeling that they had achieved what they set out to achieve. There were only a couple of small things I needed to add to my presentation to ensure this happened - nothing new, but techniques from the classroom which I sometimes forget when talking to adults. These included:

• a short video to get everyone's attention
• explicitly defining the learning objectives of our session
• explaining the relevance of the readings and how they fit into their projects
• maintaining attention by asking a question at the beginning, the answer to which was included in the following slides
• giving opportunities for them to share their knowledge and relating this prior knowledge to the new system we were looking at
• working together to complete the presentation, for sharing afterwards
• modelling the system we were talking about
• reviewing learning objectives at the end of the session.

We came up with this summary of how we could apply the ARCS Instructional Design system.

AttentionRelevanceConfidence
Satisfaction
ATTENTION

Key Characteristics:

• grabbing learners attention
• providing sensory stimuli
• inquiry through questioning
• maintaining attention through a variety of stimuli

Examples:

• thought provoking questions
• 'hooks'
• videos
• links
• audio: oral/music
• photos
  

l

RELEVANCE

Key Characteristics:

• what's in it for me?
• advance organiser
• setting direction for learning
• stated learning objectives
• so what?
• tying instruction into learners' experience

l

l

l

Examples:

• sharing learning intentions
• choice of presentation tools, according to learning styles of class

CONFIDENCE

Key Characteristics:

• setting students up to succeed
• explicit success criteria
• high level of student control and involvement
• scaffolding for success

l

Examples:

l

• rubrics
• feedback/feed forward
• 1-1 conferencing

SATISFACTION

l

Key Characteristics:

• evaluation and self-assessment
• intrinsic rewards
• extrinsic rewards
• enjoyment

Examples:

• opportunities to present
• opportunities for further exploration
• gain a certificate/award
• students describe how their new knowledge/skills have helped them

l

l

Videos in the Classroom

Students today take in as much as 50 percent of the information they receive through visual images. Teachers are using visual media such as television, movies, video games, photography, and Facebooking both to engage this "eye-curious" culture and to help students think critically about what they see.

The Washington Post, July 6, 2007

VIDEO BASICS

Videos are a powerful visual resource for your classroom - whether you download them to show your students, or upload students' work to share with others. Some terms you will come across:

Streaming: playing video straight from the internet

Downloading: saving the video to your own computer, to play at a later date (you would no longer need to be on the internet)

Embedding: Add a streamed video to your own webpage or blog. The video would then play from your page - it is not a hyperlink to another site, although it is stored on an external site (you do need to be connected to the internet).

Example of embedded video: When I Become a Teacher ....

Editing: making changes to a video. You can use Windows Movie Maker (free download) to cut away the bits you don't want eg you might only want 5 minutes of a 20 minute video. It's easier than you think.
Help with editing in Movie Maker.

Converting: Changing the format of the video so you can play it from your computer.

VIDEO SOURCES

The Loop
Clickview - try here first! These are fabulous educational videos created for Australian and New Zealand schools. They are neatly divided into chapters, so you can play as much or little as you wish. You can also choose to take them home in your 'schoolbag'; put a few clips together to make a 'lesson' for your students to work through at their own pace; request a recording of a TV programme coming up; use resources supplied with the video. ONLY available as part of The Loop (school, not home).

New Zealand ContentTV New Zealand on Demand View or download full-length New Zealand shows. Streamed only.
TV New Zealand on You Tube popular segments from a selection of New Zealand shows - mostly news and current affairs. Streamed from YouTube, or can be converted via ZamZar.TV3 Current affairs; news; business; science/technology; weather/environment; health and sport videos. Streamed only.

Made for Teachers
Teachers TV 15 minute videos which can be streamed or downloaded.To download a video you must first register with Teachers TV and log in to the website. All of their downloadable videos are available in Windows Media Video (.wmv) format (no conversion needed). More recent downloadable programmes are also available in QuickTime (.mov) format. Most videos also have supporting resources available.
Teacher Tube Videos from teachers, for teachers. Can be streamed, downloaded (and converted via ZamZar), or embedded into your webpage. Some even come with support files! What about uploading some of your own videos here to share with others?!

Video Classroom Videos for teacher Professional Development. These videos cover most subject areas and provide a lot of inspiration for teachers.

International
YouTube A plethora of videos on every subject imaginable. Try searching for something - you might be surprised!

• YouTube do not include a download option, but videos can be dowloaded and converted via ZamZar.
• If you want to play several videos at once, create a 'playlist'. You can save your playlist and access at a later date (you will need to create an account).
• To include a YouTube video in your Slide Show, just copy and paste the URL to your PowerPoint slide.

Google Video Streamed video, many of which have an option to download for both Windows and Macs, or can be embedded straight into your blog (blogger) with the click of a button. Also worth a look is BBC on Google Video.

Internet ArchiveMoving Images library of free movies, films, and videos. This library contains thousands of digital movies which range from classic full-length films, to daily alternative news broadcasts, to videos of every genre uploaded by Archive users. Most of these movies are available for download.

Breaking News Videos from CNN Streamed videos only
Expert Village Video tutorials on all sorts of topics - don't forget to browse through the 'Other' category.
National Geographic High quality, professional videos: Environment; Animals; People and Places. Streamed only

VIDEOS IN THE CLASSROOM

Get ready!

• if you are showing a video to the class, bookmark your video page in advance then open it and let it play through once directly BEFORE the class. This will ensure it plays smoothly.
• if you want students to look at several videos, create a page of links for them. This can be as simple as a word document; add the links to Moodle; or create your own Google Page.
  To add a hyperlink in Word, just type the descriptive word for the video - highlight it - right click - hyperlink - add the web address. Make it look like a 'proper' webpage by formatting the background with a nice texture, and saving it as a webpage. This can then be opened from your browser - your own webpage (for in-school use), complete with hyperlinks!
• locate the class set of headphones, so students can listen without disturbing each other.

To download and convert videos:
Choose this option only if it's impossible to use the internet in the classroom. Preferably save the downloaded video to your flashdrive, or a CD, as space is precious on the school server.

If a downloaded video won't play on your computer, go to ZamZar to convert your video into an appropriate format. For Windows machines, you want a Windows Media Video File (wmv), or Windows Video File (avi).
For Mac users, look for an Apple Quicktime Movie (mov).

Get Creative
Many of the above sites also allow you to upload your own videos. You will be amazed at how engaging students find this activity. Think about Digital Story Telling - you don't need a movie camera, still digital photos can quickly and easily be turned into a movie with narrations, titles and background music using either Movie Maker or, even easier, Photo Story (both free downloads from Microsoft).

Podcasting and the Key Competencies

Click here to get your own player.

See my Create a Podcast page for:

• direct links to Audacity Video Tutorials
• downloadable instructions for creating a GarageBand Podcast
• link to a podOmatic tutorial
• downloadable Podcasting Plan

The Slideshow below may help you introduce the concept of Podcasting to other teachers:

Download a copy of this PowerPoint Slideshow

Interesting Session!

IMG_0232
Originally uploaded by kaymaree_1

I wish I knew which session these people were in - there's something good going on!

Actually, this picture (from our Cluster PD Day last year), was just an experiment. It was added to this blog straight from Flickr. If you are looking for a way to store or backup your precious photos, or share them with others, take a look at Flickr.

There are many ways you can use this free internet service at your school, and photos uploaded there can be sent directly to your blog (it was even quicker than adding them into the blog itself).

Working with individual photos

Just click on any photo to find options. From here you can:

• add ‘Notes’ – a fabulous way to add more information to ‘bits’ of your photo (children’s descriptions or comments could be added here)
• If viewing others photos, you can add comments here. If sharing with other children they would love to see comments about their photos
• you can also add a photo and text straight to your blog from here.

For more information / help with Flickr, please contact Kay.

Inspiration

Impossible is not a fact ... it's an opinion!
For more ways to inspire your students try Inspiration, or Kidspiration, software. With such a strong emphasis on the key competency of Thinking Skills, I consider these programs to be essential in the classroom. Very rarely would I consider paying for software, but would make an exception with Inspiration.

There are so many things you can do with it! It's a fantastic concept-mapping tool for your students or, if you only have one computer and a projector, use it to put the whole classes ideas together. You can brainstorm, group, compare, organise, arrange and rearrange. It's also fantastic as a writing frame, especially for our more visual learners, and with one click turns a colourful diagram into a word document. Download a free trial here.

mmmm ... del.icio.us

By now most of us have heard of delicious, the social bookmarking site. What does 'social bookmarking' mean? Just that - it's a way of storing our internet favourites, and being able to share them with others (or not!).

As part of our cluster inquiry project, I've set up a delicious account with some sites that might be useful for your Discover Tasman project. This can be shared amongst yourselves, or with your students. View this at: http://del.icio.us/discoverit . Just click on the 'tags' at the side (these are keywords used to describe a site) to see a list of websites on that topic. For this project, you will find the most useful, and reliable, sites under the tag 'new_zealand'.

Our lead teachers have set up their own accounts, and now share their bookmarks with each other. A couple have set up an account for their school syndicate, and will use this with their students for directed internet searching. Of course the kids can get into this site from anywhere, so can easily continue with their research from home.

Netsafe - again!

Our primary lead teacher meeting this week focussed on the wonderful free resources provided by Netsafe, to help us teach children about Internet Safety. There is a wide range of free material available, to assist with everything from creating a cybersafety policy for your school, to the explicit teaching of internet safety to all children from years 0 - 6.

Please take the time to check out Hector's World and share this terrific video with your children. While you're there, take a look at the Teachers Resources. Lesson plans are provided, based around the Hector video, suited to children in years 0-2, 3-4, 5-6. There is also a Hector Protector download, which will put a swimming dolphin on the screen when you open your browser. If children come across something they don't like, they can click on Hector Protector and he will cover the screen until an adult comes (see picture).

I strongly urge you to print these off and work through the lessons with your class. You wouldn't set your children loose in a dangerous motor vehicle without teaching them about safety would you?

A bit of fun (for you and the kids!) - great free gadgets to download:

Countdown timer (great on the data projector to time a starter activity)
Lingo Bingo (click to drop a ball with a word for the children to match to their card - could be foreign language or specific vocabulary)
Fridge Magnets (have a selection of letters/numbers on the screen and move them around to put them into the correct order)
Writeboard (display many different backgrounds and use the felt pen to write on)
and many more ...

Back into it for 2007!

It's been a long time (in blogger time) since I've added to this but posting should be regular from now on. This blog was created as a record of our lead teacher meetings, and we've only just got back into the rhythm as we embark on the second year of our ICT Professional Development.

However, that doesn't mean that nothing's been happening! It has been a term made up of lots of conferences.

It was kickstarted by Learning@School 2007, held in Rotorua. This year we were delighted to be able to take 10 people to conference. It was totally awesome having so many there, and many of these were classroom teachers who came back full of ideas for their own classes and schools. Apart from all the terrific learning that went on, it was also fantastic to be able to give something back to these teachers who have made such a committment to our cluster as a whole and I know for some, this was the first time they had attended a conference of this scale. Did I mention our motel? The big outdoor swimming pool was so hot we couldn't get into it until late in the day. Half an hour in there before bed was bliss!

Julieanne and Kieley from Motueka South were introduced to Mathletics and the kids at Mot South have just taken part in World Maths Day. They had a fantastic time - you can read more about some of their experiences on their class blogs:

Room 9
Room 7

There were also many opportunities to hear about other peoples inquiry learning journeys, and we will be sharing some of the many ideas and resources we heard about with all our teachers as we work through our Discover Tasman project.

Of course, we have also just had TUANZ and iSchool, with 20 and 10 people respectively attending from our cluster. These two conferences are quite different in their structure. TUANZ had a fantastic keynote speaker from the USA, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach. Her blog, 21st Century Collaborative, is well worth a look.

iSchool is truly a school, rather than conference, with totally hands-on learning. Workshops last a full day and cover one topic only. The presenters are top-notch and target learning in a school environment. If you are a Mac user and haven't yet attended an iSchool, make sure you get in early next year.

Our first lead teacher session this year focussed mainly on Atomic Learning. Our cluster has purchased a subscription to Atomic Learning, which is available to all teachers. Ask your lead teacher for more info about this and don't forget to try there first when you have an ICT problem. The videos are short (1 - 3 mins), high quality, and easy to understand. The best thing is that they have each topic broken up into such small chunks so you can choose to either work through them all at your own pace, or target a specific problem you are trying to solve. Don't forget to look at the 'Teacher2teacher' resources as well - you'll find many high-quality lesson plans which integrate ICT.

Last but not least, here's a few sites with ideas for fun Easter activities your class may enjoy:

Easter Crafts

Easter Egg Hunt
Easter Cyberhunt (includes links to lots of other Easter websites)

Easter Ideas for Teachers