| Digital - teacher | Education in a technological world

2Investigate: Creating, Interrogating and Understanding databases

In our Upper school ICT topic recently we have been learning to create, interrogate, and understand Databases. As we used 2InvestigateOnline, one of the many program's within PurpleMash, I've written a full account of the work over on the 2SimpleTalk blog.

Note: The images used within this project were with the permission of the website hosting them.

Assessing Primary ICT

“How can I assess the pupils understanding of ICT?”. A question often asked by primary ICT coordinators and assessment managers at schools throughout the country. It’s a question I’ve been asking for a while too.

Introducing Primary School Games into your school

This is a guest post by John McLear. Now I don't often do the whole 'Guest Blog' thing, and I tend to avoid allowing people to talk about their own products in posts on this site, but I know John, I've seen the ideas that Primary Technology create, I use Primary Games Arena in my own class, and we link to it on the main school website because it provides lots of resources that are great for pupils to use both in school and elsewhere.

Purple projects

2Simple are really working hard at making PurpleMash and unmissable resource. Approaching 300 projects available, but that's not enough. Take a look in their 'labs' and you can see what they are working on next.

It's here again!

Not long after the annoying adverts for toys, gifts and furniture shop sales appeared on the TV, announcing the official start of the Christmas season, I thought it was time to get the school "Online Advent" sorted.

Instant Art

Came across these two great sites today (in the latest edition of Webuser) that allow you to create simple effects like either David Hockney, or Andy Warhol.

Activities Galore

Today I make my slow return to work - I am working this afternoon, marking optional SATs papers in school, and returning again on Friday morning to continue doing more of the same.

A new home

The 2DIY archive - containing tips, tricks and examples for using 2Simple's excellent 2DIY software in your classroom has "moved" to a new web address - http://www.2diyarchive.co.uk 

There are loads of examples on there now, and a new tutorial for using a soundtrack.

A few resources

I've recently loaded some files onto the TES resources website related to some world war 2 gas mask work that my class were researching last term. The resources were all built with 2DIY, and consist of;

Interactives makeover

I've not been onto the Interactive Resources website for a while. Today I did, and boy I got a shock! They have redesigned their website completely. I managed to eventually find the "old" resources page, and those activities with the wonderful words "For Evaluation Only", but the main focus of the site has now moved to their online resources.

It looks interesting, and seems to allow a registered user to create a favourites list of titles used in class, as well as linking the activities into the curriculum. I may take out a 2 week trial to see just what is on offer.

You live and learn

Tonight at school I stayed back to help a teacher from another school recall some of their learnt skills of moviemaker that were a little rusty (you know what it's like with anything - if you don't do it regularly, you start to forget things).
Anyway, at the end of the session the teacher opened Smart10 and showed me some features that I hadn't come across before.  It was nice to see something that I hadn't used before being demonstrated with such confidence. I'll be incorporating these into lessons soon.

The end result of the meeting  - we're now looking at a possible  joint Inset sometime next term in which I'll be showing staff from her school some moviemaker / visual literacy ideas, and she'll be demonstrating the additional features of Smart10.

Sparklebox goes Free!

Have you visited the Sparklebox website before, seen the great resources but then wished you could get to them without so much cost involved?  As of the start of this month everything they produce is now freely available!

See http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/ (resources for KS1) or http://www.sparklebox2.co.uk/  (for KS2)