Some Highlights from BETT

Nicki   January 18, 2009   No Comments on Some Highlights from BETT

I would like to share with you some of the highlights I found at the BETT exhibition on Friday. My first stop was the Microsoft stand where the speaker was showing an excellent demonstration of three products, Live Photo Gallery, Autocollage and Live Mesh. I found the most interesting product to be Autocollage which, as its name suggests,  will automatically create a collage from a given selection of photographs. I downloaded the trial edition from Microsoft to make the collage you see below but unfortunately it adds a watermark to the bottom so I may actually purchase the full product for £18!

Holiday in Egypt Collage

Following this there was a demonstration of Microsoft Surface, a product I have been interested in since I saw a video some time ago. I was lucky enough to be invited on stage to try out Surface, using a DJing program in which you use your hands to drag and drop various instruments onto the “decks” on screen to make music. One of the particularly innovative features of Microsoft Surface is its multi-touch technology which means it can be used by more than one person at once. This technology has also been utilised for enlarging/shrinking pictures on screen by “pulling” them inwards or outwards.

Here is a video which demonstrates some of the features of Microsoft Surface:


 

Next my obsession with anything robotic led me to a range of different stands .2Simple NXT software The first being Lego Mindstorms, although as I already use this in school there weren’t many new features to look at here except a new piece of software made by 2Simple called 2control NXT. This is a simplified version of the Mindstorms software allowing, among other things, users to convert the Lego robot into a floor turtle using the Logo programming language. I found this quite interesting, especially if I can find a way of getting my Lego robot to hold a pen!

WowWee RobotsA captivating site were the dancing Femisapien robots on the Go-Robo stand. Go-Robo have produced an ingenious  product and software which allows you to program any of the WowWee robots (Robosapien and friends) using the computer and infrared device. 

The software costs £60 and the infrared device is £25. Of cause the expensive part is purchasing a robot but luckily I have the Robosapien V2 sitting in my loft at the moment (due to a lack of space) so I will be bringing him into school to try out my purchases with the students. For more information go to www.q4technologies.com.

 

There were several other robot stands that attracted my attention, each one lets you build your own robots and program them (I wish I had an unlimited budget!), but I won’t bore you with my account of each one on here as you’re probably not as geeky as me! However, if you wish to take a look for yourselves here are the details:

 

US Online ScreenshotAn interesting find in the field of Internet Safety was a learning activity called Us Online. With an extremely student-friendly interface Us Online gives students the opportunity to learn about Cyber Bullying, Social Networking, Online Gaming, Security, Instant Messaging and Sensible Searching. The resource is very interactive and from the demonstration I was shown it looks like an enjoyable way to learn about these important issues. The only downside is the cost at £280 Per Annum so I will need to speak to my head of faculty very nicely I think! For more information go to: www.roareducate.co.uk.

My final stop was the Serif stand where they kindly gave me some free software and  I learnt that if the school buys a licence for the software Serif will provide us with free OCR Nationals Units (that have been approved by OCR). My main focus here was the animation software which is built into DrawPlus, it’s almost like a scaled-down version of Flash, simplified so will be very easy for the students to use. At the moment for Unit 20 students use Animation Shop to create frame-by-frame animations which is quite primitive in comparison to the tweening method used by DrawPlus and Flash.

Well that’s it for my summary of the BETT exhibition, please contribute by adding comments if you spotted anything useful I have missed.

Controlling the Flow of ICT – Seminar

Nicki   January 11, 2009   2 Comments on Controlling the Flow of ICT – Seminar

As I’ve mentioned in a few posts on here I hosted a seminar on 9th January called “Controlling the Flow of ICT”. This went ahead on Friday as planned and I feel it was a success. My aim was to keep the day as hands-on as possible and keep my delegates interested in the tools I was showing them and I think I achieved this. The morning began with using Scratch to create games which involved delegates working on laptops for the majority of the time, firstly working on small tasks/projects and finishing by creating a working “Shark Attack” game. All delegates were extremely focussed on what they were doing and really enjoyed the experience and achieved some great results. I facilitated the session by assisting where needed and demonstrating how to complete the extension tasks.

 

In the afternoon the delegates were given another hands-on experience by using Lego Mindstorms to adapt existing robots with sensors, then program them by working through tutorials on the laptops. One problem occurred at the start of this session in that the user accounts that had been set up for the guests were not displaying the software in the Start Menu meaning nobody could load the Mindstorms software. This was quickly rectified by the school support team so luckily did not waste too much time. Another issue was that two of the robots would not switch on, despite having been charged the previous day, luckily this did not pose too much of a problem as having the delegates working in slightly larger groups seemed to work well.

After working through the tutorials built into the Mindstorms software the delegates then worked together on a challenge I had set them, only one group managed to program their robot correctly so they could complete the challenge but the others seemed to have fun trying and were not too far off! In hindsight I believe the challenge I set was perhaps a little too difficult and I should have created an example project to demonstrate at the end, in future demonstrations I would ensure I did this beforehand.

Delegate pack and mugsThe delegates had lots to take home with them at the end of the day. I provided customised mugs, filled with sweets and a memory stick containing resources, as well as delegate folders containing all the paperwork they needed for the day. I also provided a certificate for delegates to use as CPD evidence.

If anybody is interested in learning more about Scratch or Lego Mindstorms please contact me and I’ll do my best to support or help in any way I can. I will soon be uploading my Scratch gaming scheme of work to my website www.interactiveclassroom.net so please check there shortly. 

Strip Generator

Nicki   November 15, 2008   No Comments on Strip Generator

Today I found a fantastic online resource that allows children to make their own comic strips. Strip Generator is really easy to use with its simple drag & drop interface and all the graphics are provided for you. Once you have made your creation you can simply right-click and save it as a picture for later use. There is an option to sign-up for an account, which gives you slightly more functionality, but this isn’t essential, especially if you are using it in the classroom and want to save time.

I made the following very corny and sad example in around five minutes (as you can probably tell). Let’s hope the children have a little more imagination than I do!

ICT Lesson Comic Strip

ICT Seminar – RESCHEDULED

Nicki   October 27, 2008   No Comments on ICT Seminar – RESCHEDULED

As mentioned in earlier posts I was due to be hosting an ICT seminar called “Controlling the Flow of ICT” next month. This has now been postponed until Friday 9th January.

The seminar will be a hands-on look at the control element of the National Curriculum with the main foci being Scratch games programming and Lego Mindstorms NXT (robot programming). There will be time to “play” with these technologies as well as discussion time. Lunch and refreshments will also be provided. Delegates will receive a full KS3 Scheme of Work and teaching resources to help to teach Scratch in the classroom.

To book a place on the seminar visit the SSAT Website. The event ID is SVN1007389. Alternatively contact the Lead Practitioner hotline on: 020 7802 9003

If you have any questions or would like more information please add a comment to this post and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Seminar flyer can be downloaded here.

Free Memory Sticks

Nicki   October 11, 2008   No Comments on Free Memory Sticks

I heard about this great project from a work colleague yesterday that has been introduced by the website “Memory4Teachers”. The aim of the project is to support teachers and educators by funding the provision of 750,000 USB memory sticks (2GB) across the UK, which also contain free teaching resources for most subject areas.

To claim your free memory stick go to this website Memory4Teachers – Registration and fill in the registration details for your school.