Britain in the snow seen from above

Much of the UK experienced disruption as a result of snow and icy weather during the last two weeks.

This image, taken by Nasa's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on its Terra satellite, captured Britain blanketed in white on Saturday 26 January.

Nasa image courtesy of Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response

WOW 28.1.12

Wow of the week comes to us thanks to Caroline James and is all about

'Safer Internet Day' on the 5th February.

The theme this year is 'Rights and Responsibilities' with the slogan
'Connect with Respect'. As Internet users, children have rights online
and have responsibilities too. This weeks WOW session is on the topic
on whether or not parents have the responsibility to be checking and
monitoring their children's online activities.        .

Claire Perkins, a government adviser, believes that is a parent's
responsibility to check their children's online activities. She
believes that  they should be checking texts, Twitter and be friends
on Facebook so it's easier to see what's going on.

Read this news story about this topic. - http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/21141561

Discuss:
Do you believe that parents should check your Facebook account,
Twitter account or texts?
Do you believe that your parents or family should monitor what website
you access?
Are you friends with your parents or family on any social network site?
Do your parents know what websites you go on / what social network
accounts you have?

Pupils can also discuss what rights and responsibilities they have
online. Here is a link to help 'Rights and Responsibilities' -
http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/About%20Cybersmart/Newsroom/Annual%20Events/Safer%20Internet%20Day%202013/SID2013%20-%20Connect%20with%20respect.aspx

If you have time can you also please promote 'Safer Internet Day'.
Pupils will be having one ICT lesson next week dedicated on the theme
of 'Rights and Responsibilities' online.

Here is a promotional video for the 'Safer Internet Day'    -

A huge thanks to Caroline and a reminder that if you think there is a
news story or current event linked to your subject that would make a
great WOW then please let me know and I will gladly try and include
it!

Links and Apps Bucket List

Web 2.0 Sites

• 9 Slides - A fantastic site for adding narration or video to a wide variety of presentations.
• 19 Pencils - A great free site for teachers to curate the web and find resources to add to a customized class web page.
• Animoto - One of the most popular sites for education for creating stunning videos and presentations.
• Biteslide - A wonderful free site w/ educational portal for students to create digital scrapbooks and projects.
• BoomWriter - An amazing site for students to create digital books in a safe/secure environment.  These books are then published and can be ordered.  Also, has an educational portal where teachers can create classes and student accounts.
• ClassBadges - A new site for teachers to award digital badges for student accomplishments.
• ClassDojo - A terrific web 2.0 sites for teachers to manage student behavior in a fun innovative way.
• Edshelf - A wonderful site for finding, curating, and reviewing educational web tools.
• Glogster EDU - One of the most popular Web 2.0 sites around for creating interactive posters/projects w/ educational portal.
• Kidblog - A safe secure way for students to create and learn how to blog.
• MentorMob - An innovative site for curating the web into learning playlists to help support guided learning.
• Meograph - A new site for 4 Dimensional digital storytelling.
• PowToon - A fantastic new site for creating stunning animated presentations.
• SpellingCity - The best site around w/ educational portal for teachers to create Vocabulary & Spelling lists for students and integrate them into educational games.
• VoiceThread - Might be the most popular Web 2.0 site around ideal for digital storytelling.
     

Educational iOS Apps

• The Answer Pad - An amazing web tool and iPad app for capturing and assessing student data.
• Brainstormer - A great iOS app for brainstorming in a visual way that is ideal for generating writing prompts and more.
• Doceri - The perfect all-in-one solution for the iPad that allows teachers/students to create on an interactive whiteboard then record/screencast.
• Educreations - A great free app/web tool to find and create video lessons.
• Experience Life - A beautiful interactive iPad app that is ideal for learning about the different systems inside the body.  Great for MS/HS Science/Biology teachers.
• FluencyFinder - The best iOS Reading Assessment app for teachers.  Ideal for grades 1st-8th w/ instant real-time feedback as well.  New updates will include questions for Reading Comprehension.
• Go Class - A excellent and robust web tool/iPad app for teachers to create lessons on an iPad and share w/ their students as well as track student progress for instant feedback.
• The Grading Game - A fun iOS app to help strengthen one's grammar and writing skills.
• Level It Books - The perfect iOS app for scanning a book barcode to get a Reading Level.
• Nearpod - One of the best all-in-one solutions for the iPad that helps teachers engage and share presentations w/ students.
• Sentence Builder - A iOS app for El Ed students to help build/strengthen their grammar/writing skills.
• Show Me - A great free iPad app for creating and recording tutorials/lessons.
• Story Patch - A fantastic iPad app for digital storytelling that teaches the different parts of a story.
• Teachers Tech - A wonderful iOS app for teachers to find "how to" tutorials/videos on educational Web 2.0 technologies.
• Timeline Maker - A great iPad app for creating timelines.
• Toontastic - One of my favorite free iPad apps to use w/ kids to create to digital stories.
    

Digital Videos in the Classroom

While there are a number of paid solutions for finding educational videos such as Discovery Streaming (United Streaming) or BrainPOP, there are a number for excellent free solutions as well.

• Backpack TV - A new site for finding educational videos on a wide variety of subjects.
• Explania - A great site for finding educational and instructional animated videos.
• Knowmia - A fantastic place to create and find 1000's of educational lessons.
• Mobento - A terrific place to find educational videos w/ the added ability to search for spoken words inside a video.
• Neok12 - One of the best places to find educational videos, lessons, and games.
• WatchKnowLearn - A great free site similar to Discovery Streaming for finding educational K-12 videos.
• YouTube Teachers - YouTube offers a educational portal for teachers for finding educational videos.
    

Images for Education

• 3D Toad - A new site for finding interactive educational 3D images.
• Humanline - A terrific new site for finding royalty free educational images.
• Pics4Learning - One of the most popular places for finding images to use in education.
    

Search Engines

Students browsing the internet for information can be a very tricky issue when having to deal w/ CIPA/COPPA compliance.  That's why a lot of schools use a paid solution such as Nettrekker or something like that.  However, there are some nice free alternatives that can be used in a school setting.

• KidRex - A safe search engine for kids powered by Google.
• Sweet Search - My favorite safe search engine to use by students.
• Top Marks - A nice place to find educational web content.
     

Content Management Systems

There are a ton of paid CMS solutions that are ideal for education such as Blackboard.  However, this can get rather expensive for most districts.  That being said there are some nice free alternatives that are being used in schools throughout the world.

• Edmodo - A free CMS/Social Network combined into one, made just for education.
• Moodle - Probably the most popular free CMS used in schools.
    

Mobile Phones in Education|

• Cel.ly - A great way to use phones in education such as taking notes, messaging, and more.
• Remind101 - A safe/secure way to text message students and parents.
• SendHub - A fantastic secure way to send group messages to staff, students, and parents.

By DAVID KAPULER'S 

Mapping The Future Of Education Technology

If it’s true that 65% of today’s grade school students will work in jobs that don’t exist yet, then we better get ready for some drastically different learning environments.

Add this massive infographic to the recent discussion of what education will look like in 2020--and beyond. Designed by Michell Zappa’s Envisioning Technology (which also created that fantastic interactive infographic mapping the future of technology), this chart maps innovations in education technology for the next few decades.

It illustrates a shift from a classroom-centered approach toward an increasingly virtual set of learning environments. Of course the most eye-popping statistic is the idea that 65% of today’s grade-school children will end up at jobs that haven’t been invented yet. Hence the need for looking forward to try to anticipate how technologies might evolve and how we should expect to incorporate them into our schools.

"Despite its inherently speculative nature," the graphic’s creators write, "the driving trends behind the technologies can already be observed, meaning it’s a matter of time before these scenarios start panning out in learning environments around the world."

Tango thing to try

Two Word Tango.mp3 Listen on Posterous

A colleague saw this in a lesson that she observed - sound file - give the pupils a topic - ie: web design and each time the music stops a kid has to say a word related to that topic.

Works really well

Life in Seconds

Description

Life in Seconds lets you capture a moment in time. The app turns a single second into a mega moment.

Record one single moment every day – then sit back and watch a week in 7 seconds, a month in 30 seconds and a whole year of memorable moments in just 6 minutes – create your own personal video calendar and share it with family and friends on Facebook!

The app is user-friendly and so much fun, it solves the problem of recording and sharing special moments and keeping them safe on your Android Phone.

It's a digital time capsule you can pull up when you want – start the app at any point and then stop it wherever you want.

Create and share your own personal short film on Facebook.

Share it, Pin it, Tweet it, send it to friends but most of all - love it!

MORE

App Screenshots

Videos

New Google App Search Feature

A Twitter friend of mine @miss_martins tweeted a great find today on Google. It is a search feature just for apps. Type in any subject or category and let Google bring the apps to you. This is a great new feature from Google.

Thanks to Greg Swanson

Snowday 2013

Techno-fun

Have you seen this? Starter?

Code Monster

Code Monster is a new site for students for learning how to program in Javascript.  This is ideal for Year 9  students on up and covers 58 lessons for learning how to program.

Checking out Code Monster by clicking here!!

15 Sites for Learning how to Program or Code

There is no denying the popularity of computers and technology in schools.  More and more students are integrating technology into their everyday lives and learning new skills at a younger age.  Programs such as Project Lead the Way and Gen-Y help facilitate these skills w/ innovative technology tools.  Computer Programming is another one of these topics that is being covered more and more in school and a great way to integrate technology into the classroom.

*This list is in alphabetical order.

15 Sites for Learning how to Program or Code

1. Alice Storytelling - A free Windows app that is ideal for Digital Storytelling.  This app teaches students how to program by drag-n-dropping actions/blocks into sequential order.
2. C Programming - Want to learn C and C++ programming, this is the place to start.
3. ClassTools.net - A site that allows teachers to create games, quizzes, activities, and more through the use of templates.  The finished product can then be embedded into a site or blog.
4. Code Academy - A nice free site that allows users to learn to code for creating websites, games, apps, etc.  This is done in step by step instructions and a user can track their progress.
5. Code Avengers - An innovative site that teaches Javascript in 40 short lessons filled w/ 5 tasks each.  HTML/CSS coming soon.
6. The Code Player - A nice way to learn HTML5, CSS3, and Javascript through the use of video tutorials.
7. Gamestar Mechanic - A fun site for students to learn how to make games.
8. Google Blockly - Is a visual program editor that reminds me a lot of Alice Storytelling and Scratch, in that a user arranges blocks of code to create an action.
9. MIT App Inventor - A wonderful site filled w/ educational resources from the creators of Scratch.  This site teaches users how to create mobile mobile apps.
10. Playfic - A unique site that teaches programming through the use of Digital Storytelling by text based games.
11. Programr - A nice site for learning a variety of programming languages over the web.
12. Scratch - One of the most popular sites for students to learn how to program through the creation of interactive games.
13. Stencyl - A great site for making iOS and flashed based games by putting blocks together (ie, Scratch).
14. What2Learn - A nice site for educational games as well as creating your own.
15. YoYo Games - A great company w/ apps for Mac and Win to make games.

Promoting Computing Posters

Computing_CC_Lower_Res.pdf Download this file