Can I thank everyone who attended the session at UWE this afternoon for your time, and hope that you found the session useful. Much of what I wanted to say this afternoon is presented here, plus a few things that I missed, and some links to free downloads that I have used. Over the next few weeks as the rigours that are the end of term wind down, I will begin to add some other tools and materials from the classroom to this space perhaps including some of the "unit plans" if there is an interest. I also have a number of Smart Notebooks and template files to accompany these that I am happy to share. Please feel free to leave a comment, and look forward to either hearing from you or meeting you at next years event. :O)
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
South West Regional ICT Conference
Can I thank everyone who attended the session at UWE this afternoon for your time, and hope that you found the session useful. Much of what I wanted to say this afternoon is presented here, plus a few things that I missed, and some links to free downloads that I have used. Over the next few weeks as the rigours that are the end of term wind down, I will begin to add some other tools and materials from the classroom to this space perhaps including some of the "unit plans" if there is an interest. I also have a number of Smart Notebooks and template files to accompany these that I am happy to share. Please feel free to leave a comment, and look forward to either hearing from you or meeting you at next years event. :O)
Thursday, 22 May 2008
A View of Progression In Control
By the end of KS1 | Must | Should | Could | |
By the end of lower KS2 | Must | Should | ||
By the end of upper KS2 | Must | |||
Area of Learning | Strand | Characteristic of Level 1 | Characteristic of Level 2 | Characteristic of Level 3 |
Making things happen | Models and simulations | Use ICT in role-play | Explore real and imaginary scenarios | Explore ICT-based simulations to help them find things out and solve problems |
Control | Make simple choices when using devices | Plan and give instructions to make things happen | Create sequences of instructions to control devices | |
Review, modify and evaluate | Developing ideas | Review what they have done | Review their work and Talk about what they might change in the future | Review their work and make improvements |
Impact of ICT | Appreciate uses of everyday technology | Understand that people use ICT for a variety of purposes | Understand that ICT may support them in their learning | |
By the end of KS1 | |||
By the end of lower KS2 | Could | ||
By the end of upper KS2 | Should | Could | |
Area of Learning | Strand | Characteristic of Level 4 | Characteristic of Level 5 |
Making things happen | Models and simulations | Explore the effects of changing numerical variables an ICT based model | Construct a model to solve a problem |
Control | Create sequences of instructions to control events in a predetermined manner | Create sequences of instructions to control events depending on sensory inputs | |
Review, modify and evaluate | Developing ideas | Refine the quality of presentations in the light of peer review | Reflect critically in order to make improvements in subsequent work |
Impact of ICT | Compare their use of ICT with other methods | Assess the use of ICT in their work | |
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
What is Control and What Does It Look Like At Teyfant
The Emergent Learner
In the Early Years, structured play scenarios provide opportunities for students to engage practically with a variety of learning tools. ICT is no exception, and at Teyfant we seek to structure play in order to enable our young learners to explore ICTs, and how they impact on their daily lives. These include engaging with tools from the real world through role play, as well as the use of more specialised tools such as floor turtles, adventure games, tape recorders and the computer. Drawing on student personal experiences we feel is key to supporting our student's emerging understanding of how ICTs are used inside and outside school not only to support our learning, but also to enable things to happen.
A pair of students from a foundation class explore the use of a BeeBot as part of a counting game SDM 2007.
Control technologies enable us to make things happen. By giving instructions to the turtle, we can make it do things. Move Forward, backward or turn. We can begin to make suggestions and ask questions about what would happen if.. Using role play we can draw on the real world experiences of our students to explore together everyday devices.
When using ICT tools such as the BeeBot floor turtle, we are learning more than how we control programmable "toys." Small group work supports development of social and thinking skills.
Click image to enlarge SDM 2007
Students learn how to take turns. They begin to make predictions, and to test them out. They rehearse and sequence events. The develop spatial awareness, and learn the language associated with it. They play games, that help them to apply their new ICT Skills in other areas of learning, such as Mathematics Literacy and Geography.
The Dependent Learner
Building on the foundations laid in the early years, children begin to apply their understanding of input and output by planning and giving instructions that make things happen in a predictable order. This could include programming a floor turtle to carry out a dance routine while remaining within a set space, or creating extended sequences of instructions while playing games, enabling in one procedure the turtle to travel from one place to its desired finishing space.
The idea of imaginary places has proven a powerful idea in supporting control based activity in the middle years.
Click Image to Enlarge SDM 2007
From the preprogrammed quarter turns of the Bee-Bot, students are introduced to the more complex, mathematical ideas associated with rotation and turn, through geography and imaginary journeys.
Click on Image to Enlarge SDM 2007
Transferring to the onscreen world of LOGO, student's prior floor based experiences, are translated into the more abstract world of a computer programming language, where they explore what happens in provided and imaginary situations, following instructions and exploring imaginary places, through the eyes of an onscreen character, as they embark on simulated adventures.
LOGO as a language and an ICT tool, lends itself well to the teaching and learning of Shape and Space Elements in the Mathematics Curriculum, and at year 4 has been linked directly to exploration and investigation of the Properties of 2 d shape, symmetry and pattern.
Click on Image to Enlarge SDM 2007
These flower patterns are also very pretty, and when saved, the children are able to use them to explore and create symmetrical designs.
The Independent Learner
Students are beginning to use and apply their knowledge and experience to identify what needs to be done in order for specific outcomes to be achieved. They begin to evaluate, plan and break down sequences of events and consider the instructions that might be needed to make particular things happen.
Click on Image to Enlarge SDM 2007
This involves disassembly type activities such as those central to the design and technology process, and engaging with ideas and environments which model or simulate control technologies and how they work in the real world. Using desktop and onscreen resources studentsuse flow and logic diagrams to plan sequences of actions that will enable for example the Belusha Beacons at a zebra crossing to flash, or a set of traffic lights to work, turning on and off each light in the correct sequence and then repeating. Using simulation software the students are able to model and test their thoughts refining and developing their proposals.
Solving real life problems, using sensors, models and the computer to control physical models is beyond our current capability as a school. But will seek to use the facilities provided by the Local City Learning Centre in the immediate future to fill this gap.
In the Early Years, structured play scenarios provide opportunities for students to engage practically with a variety of learning tools. ICT is no exception, and at Teyfant we seek to structure play in order to enable our young learners to explore ICTs, and how they impact on their daily lives. These include engaging with tools from the real world through role play, as well as the use of more specialised tools such as floor turtles, adventure games, tape recorders and the computer. Drawing on student personal experiences we feel is key to supporting our student's emerging understanding of how ICTs are used inside and outside school not only to support our learning, but also to enable things to happen.
A pair of students from a foundation class explore the use of a BeeBot as part of a counting game SDM 2007.Control technologies enable us to make things happen. By giving instructions to the turtle, we can make it do things. Move Forward, backward or turn. We can begin to make suggestions and ask questions about what would happen if.. Using role play we can draw on the real world experiences of our students to explore together everyday devices.
When using ICT tools such as the BeeBot floor turtle, we are learning more than how we control programmable "toys." Small group work supports development of social and thinking skills.
Click image to enlarge SDM 2007Students learn how to take turns. They begin to make predictions, and to test them out. They rehearse and sequence events. The develop spatial awareness, and learn the language associated with it. They play games, that help them to apply their new ICT Skills in other areas of learning, such as Mathematics Literacy and Geography.
The Dependent Learner
Building on the foundations laid in the early years, children begin to apply their understanding of input and output by planning and giving instructions that make things happen in a predictable order. This could include programming a floor turtle to carry out a dance routine while remaining within a set space, or creating extended sequences of instructions while playing games, enabling in one procedure the turtle to travel from one place to its desired finishing space.
The idea of imaginary places has proven a powerful idea in supporting control based activity in the middle years.
Click Image to Enlarge SDM 2007From the preprogrammed quarter turns of the Bee-Bot, students are introduced to the more complex, mathematical ideas associated with rotation and turn, through geography and imaginary journeys.
Click on Image to Enlarge SDM 2007Transferring to the onscreen world of LOGO, student's prior floor based experiences, are translated into the more abstract world of a computer programming language, where they explore what happens in provided and imaginary situations, following instructions and exploring imaginary places, through the eyes of an onscreen character, as they embark on simulated adventures.
LOGO as a language and an ICT tool, lends itself well to the teaching and learning of Shape and Space Elements in the Mathematics Curriculum, and at year 4 has been linked directly to exploration and investigation of the Properties of 2 d shape, symmetry and pattern.
Click on Image to Enlarge SDM 2007These flower patterns are also very pretty, and when saved, the children are able to use them to explore and create symmetrical designs.
The Independent Learner
Students are beginning to use and apply their knowledge and experience to identify what needs to be done in order for specific outcomes to be achieved. They begin to evaluate, plan and break down sequences of events and consider the instructions that might be needed to make particular things happen.
Click on Image to Enlarge SDM 2007This involves disassembly type activities such as those central to the design and technology process, and engaging with ideas and environments which model or simulate control technologies and how they work in the real world. Using desktop and onscreen resources studentsuse flow and logic diagrams to plan sequences of actions that will enable for example the Belusha Beacons at a zebra crossing to flash, or a set of traffic lights to work, turning on and off each light in the correct sequence and then repeating. Using simulation software the students are able to model and test their thoughts refining and developing their proposals.
Solving real life problems, using sensors, models and the computer to control physical models is beyond our current capability as a school. But will seek to use the facilities provided by the Local City Learning Centre in the immediate future to fill this gap.
Thursday, 13 March 2008
Scratch
Download Scratch from hereWant to learn how to use scratch for yourself, then this fantastic collection of online tutorials in the form of screencasts (videos) at learnscratch.org is a must see.
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
UWE Conference Sandbox
I am currently planning and collecting thoughts for a practical presentation I want to share at the West Of England ICT Conference, to be held at UWE in July. I know it is quite a way to go, but knowing how rushed these things have been in the past, and inspired by Doug Dickinson I thought I would try a slightly different approach, moving away from PowerPoint, and gradually collecting all my tools and ideas in one place. Additionally to acting as a presentation platform the blog will also be a great place to refer my audience after the gig, rather than generating handouts, and with the possibility of linking back and refering colleagues to my teaching and learning blog where I regularly reflect on and share the uses to which I have put ICTs as tools in the classroom. Lets just see how this progresses. Using a blog in this way it seems could also open other doors for colleagues to see how web 2.o tools might impact or support learning in other areas too. By using slideshare or Google Apps to mash up the presentation, there seems opportunities to share the potential for teaching, learning and sharing through Web 2.0 environments while using them as a vehicle to share the message I would like to on the day. Wouldn't it be cool to have images of colleagues engaging with the workshop live either during or directly after the event.
Saturday, 1 March 2008
Our Current Core Toolbox, Weblinks and Wishlist
TTS Beebot (Class set of 6)Focus on Beebots Software
Tizzy's First Tools: Move (Sherston)
iBoard Interactive purple (rec) and red (Y1) Software
TTS Probots (Class Set of 6)
TTS Probotix Software
MSW LOGO (Freeware for Educational Use)
Turtle Softease
Crystal Rainforest (Sherstons)
Flowol 2.0
Working Towards and My Wishlist
Scratch
2Control nxt (2 simple software)
LEGO Mindstorms nxt Class Set
Go-Robo
Monday, 25 February 2008
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