Adventures in Teaching and Learning

Not just for those in Haringey of course! But I think over the next few weeks we’ll be seeing some interesting work being shared on some of the following sites. (Some were begun a year ago and have not been updated recently – hopefully that will change, and it would be great if you add your comments!)

National Year of Reading 2008 – A blog where pupils will be able to send their book reviews.

Education ideas for using CrazyTalk – A blog where you can share your good ideas about using CrazyTalk in teaching. There are already links to examples here, and links to sites where you can create interesting characters, eg make your own Mr Potato Head.

AppleMacs in Education

Assessment for Learning and Blogging

DigiMemo Blog

Judy, if I am missing any, it would be great if you could let me know so I can add them here!

I was just browsing, catching up on the latest on Ewan McIntosh’s blog, when I came across this link to the Wolverhampton LA Mobile Learning project.

On the TTP literature we got, EDAs/PDAs were mentioned … I didn’t really know what they were, but having read through this summary, I want one! Or, rather, I want all my pupils to have one! (I think …)

It’s okay, I know I have loads of things to try out already – and I was using my DigiMemo to useful effect again today in my A Level revision classes – but it is so exciting to read about all the exciting new technologies that there are, that we may be able to use at some point in the future in our schools.

Which reminds me, I had a good chat with some friends about the educational use of technology. They are using new technologies in order to educate people about global justice issues, and are finding that lots of people don’t really understand the pedagogy behind the technologies. That’s definitely something that we need to consider, perhaps more explicitly as we continue on our journey with new technologies – I think I’m still a bit at the “look at all the exciting things I can do with my computer!” stage, still on the way to “this is my learning aim … can any of the new technologies I have access to help me achieve this aim more effectively than what I do at present?” stage.

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with the attitude and behaviour of my Year 8 class today. I had invited Janet, the MfL BT, to visit the class, and they had a TA in as well, and unfortunately some of them began acting in a defensive and out-of-character manner from the beginning. I had spent the previous lesson outlining the task, and briefly reminded them of the task at the beginning – they were then given about 10 mins to plan their message, and told that they could use a variety of methods to get that message across. The pupil who has been using the DigiMemo immediately got on with that, using PhotoShop again to try and complete his first character, and a pupil who was absent last week wrote a script that they will record next week. The larger group of boys who wanted to make another film went outside to practice their next drama production, but were not as focused as before. Another couple of groups took the camera to take some photos for a comic, but then the batteries ran out, and I had no spares! So, all in all, there was not much progress this week! Disappointing. I hope that next week – the last lesson before half term – they will be able to produce something quickly!

A couple of Year 8s came at lunch today to draw on the DigiMemo, and to see it being animated. Unfortunately I couldn’t manage to record on CrazyTalk, but I’ll figure that out when I’ve got a moment. They plan on colouring in the figure using PhotoShop Elements, then animating that cartoon figure. I look forward to seeing the end product … the important thing now is to transfer the “fun” part of playing around into a “serious” and educational end result. Wonder what will happen on Friday … I continue to invite other teachers to that class!

After last week’s fun (for me, anyway!) lesson, today I showed them the fruits of their labour. And they seemed suitably impressed! It was satisfying to see their faces as they watched the “stop the shooting” video. They seemed keen that I should show it to other classes, but not so keen that it goes on the internet! I outlined the way they can achieve a higher AT2 RE level, and shared with them some of the different ways they can present their message next week. One pupil was very excited about the idea of CrazyTalk, and asked if he could bring in a cartoon that he will draw next week. I showed him the DigiMemo, which he loved, so I think with him we’ll be animating a hand-drawn (and Photoshopped!) cartoon character … now all his group needs to work on is the message and the script, and argue about who will record the message! He says he’ll be back on Monday lunchtime, and Tuesday, and Wednesday … we’ll see, but it’s great to see the enthusiasm and excitement. I just hope I can pull it off now, and get them all on task next week with some clear results (and good levels) at the end of it!

For my GCSE classes. Keynotes presentation, exported to quicktime, using pictures drawn on DigiMemo and coloured using PhotShop Elements.Parable presentation (parable_sheep_goats.mov)

… taken by camera, drawn by hand on the DigiMemo, then coloured in using Photoshop Elements on the PC side. I’ve now included it in a Keynote presentation on the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.

My Year 11s have been producing revision cards for each topic in preparation for the exam. So, today, I plugged in my DigiMemo, managed to get the screen onto the IWB (eventually, with a bit of help from my friends, and a surprisingly and disappointedly lack of help from my Year 11s!) … and used it effectively to write out notes, sitting calmly facing my class, and managing to have discussions at the same time. A few pupils had to go to English coursework lessons, or arrived late, or were not there … I will upload my notes either here, on my school blog, or on the school topics file, and pupils will be able to download the notes that they have missed.

I would agree that it’s a bit “chalk’n'talk” still, as discussed yesterday, but it was going to be that anyway to an extent, and this was much more civilised, and the notes are saved (and were more readable).

In one of my year 10 lessons, a pupil has just arrived back who has been off for a while with a problem with her arm. If I get another pupil to take notes yesterday while leaning on the DigiMemo, then the pupil who can’t write will still get notes …

The admin side of the DigiMemo seems great at the moment! I do look forward to using it in more interactive ways too!

Samson, my husband, loves my new DigiMemo … he thinks it’s the best piece of equipment I’ve been given on this programme. First of all I showed him the clipboard and pen … he was trying to work out what was special about it. So I plugged it in … the first results were great, I had written out three pages of planning notes for my Year 8 lesson, and they showed up really clearly. Mostly transferred correctly too (although I’m still working on the best way of doing that … text only, or text and graphics? Not sure yet, I think it depends on the circumstances). But the real thrill was when I started writing on the paper while the DigiMemo was plugged in, and the writing goes straight to the screen. I then started drawing a picture … and he was hooked! We sketched for a bit, saving the results (some of which I’ll try and upload at some point) – and then I changed the background to a picture of a philosopher. I took a blank piece of paper, and, watching the screen, began to draw round the outline. Samson pointed out the darker wrinkles, saying things like “Make sure you add those” – I was more aware of light and dark. Then, when I looked at my paper … I had a not bad sketch of AJ Ayers! I then took away the background … and had a sketch on the computer of Ayers! I can see great uses in Art for this. So can Samson … I think I’ll need to keep it under lock and key!

I’ve now been trained in the use of – and have – a Digimemo! How exciting … to be able to write on the pad and see the writing come up on the screen straightaway, to be able to download immediately what you’ve written, and even to turn it into a Word document, to be able to draw pictures or diagrams and have those saved as jpgs, to even take the lightweight DigiMemo away with you (Mike is planning on using them on field trips) instead of a laptop and upload all your notes later … what potential! I am heartily looking forward to trying this out … Those pupils I have mentioned the DigiMemo to have also all sounded really interested in it. Watch this space!