| Digital - teacher | Education in a technological world

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)

Create interactive resources

Magic Studio  allows you to create interactive learning resources to use within the classroom. Once registered you can upload images to share with others / use already prepared interactive activities or create your own. It's straightforward to use - no technical knowledge is needed, and the results look impressive.

Shrek the third

With the premiere having taken place, it won't be long now until the third Shrek film hits the cinemas, and Dreamworks have gone all out on the internet. The official Shrek the third website contains so much for children - games, activities, downloads (colouring sheets for those rainy days!), Shrek sudoku and more. There  is also 'Virtual Shrekland' - a zoomable map of the entire Shrek landscape with animations and videos (will look great when more content is added).
Oh, and they've really thought about their audience, as they have tailored portals for kids / boys / girls / teens and adults - all with suitable content in each portal.

Literacy Matters

Brought to the attention of Digital-teacher by another ICT teacher, Literacy Matters has free downloadable literacy lesson plans for primary ages from pre-school to Year7.
In addition the site has sections for parents, and a teachers forum to discuss issues, as well as many other pages too.

Totally Dotty

Imagine taking a normal photograph and being able to turn it into a dot to dot. Well imagine no longer, because it's possible with picture dots.

This website does all the hard work for you. Simply upload the image you want to use, then click wherever you want a dot to be placed. They are automactically numbered for you, and once completed you can print off a pdf of your creation.

A wonderful resource.