Open Resource Centre

MindMeister supports all the standard features of a classic mind mapping tool - only online, and with as many simultaneous users as you like!

All online and free - just register 

again from thinking stick

"We must reengage students in the learning process invite them back into the learning process and make them the center of learning, not the receivers of information.

If we are going to teach students to ‘Learn how to Learn’ then we must at times push them to do so and get out of their way so they can."
 

and from a student

“What do you do here MR. U? I mean you never teach us anything.” - excellent!

read the whole article 

So here's silent reading (SSR - "sustained silent reading") in my reading group this afternoon. Tried this out yesterday, and today the kids were much more comfortable, started getting into it, maybe a little novelty had worn off. What were they reading? Blogs!

more from Mark's edtechblog Is this SSR, 2.0? 

Improving Student Learning:  Teacher Professional Development

 I saw this slide presentation and thought it had some interesting angles when looking at CPD (continuous professional development) in ICT  for teachers.  I have long felt that the "one course for all" is not the best way to move people's ICT skills  forward in a comfortable manner. 

I say this, becasue I have been on a number of ICT training sessions which have left me confused and feeling more disillusioned.  I endeavour to recommend training that meets the needs of individuals, not that ticks the most boxes at one time for the largest number of people - NOF (new opportunities funded training) proved that model doesn't work.

ACOT Technology Integration Stages.

Stage                   Examples of What Teachers Do

Entry                 Learn the basics of using technology

Adoption            Use new technology to support traditional instruction

Adaptation         Integrate new technology into traditional classroom practice (Here, they often focus on increased student productivity and engagement by using word processors, spreadsheets, and graphic tools.)

Appropriation      Focus on cooperative, project-based, and interdisciplinary work-incorporating the technology as needed and as one of many tools

Invention           Discover new uses for technology tools, for example, developing spreadsheets macros for teaching algebra or designing projects that combine multiple technologies.

Thanks for the reminder from Wes Fryer's post Podcasting KWL and Adoption-level Podcast Uses 

KWL =

What we Know

What we Would like to know

What we have Learned 

see Wes' chart  

On Thursday last week, a privilege of sitting in on a presentation by a representative from Intuitive Media.  The core offerings are for safe online social networking communities for children in primary and secondary schools.  At the moment, from my experiences, it would seem that many children under the age of 13 have their own web sites either through Myspace, Piczo or Bebo,  none of which are particularly secure of the children of this age.

So it was with great interest that I listened to the information in this presentation.

  
Intuitive Media are a spinoff from Grid Club which has been around number of years.  In providing a safe social online community site, there are obviously costs involved and these were approximately £6.50 for primary and £13.50 for secondary per student per year. 

Although this sounds like a high cost and runs contrary to my more frugal instincts, these sites provide opportunities to teach students how to manage their online information as well as providing parents with the security of knowing their children are safe. 

Some schools funded from within their budgets but others choose to charge the parents.  In either case, providing a managed environment is much better than just hoping children are safe.

Intuitive Media provide two products:

• Superclub plus for primary students
• Goldstar cafe for secondary students

•  Both require a password and log-in and students can only register through a participating school, hence all members of the community are who they say there are.  There can be no intruders to the community as it is inaccessible to the rest of the world.

• Superclub plus is available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Goldstar cafe is available 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at weekends, both are available from nine to 12 a.m. and from five to 8 p.m.
• at all times, there is a live mediator who checks content
• members can build a home pages with all information being moderated for safety
• there is an internal e-mail system which allows members to access other students within their school or a mediator
• there are tests which students can undertake and as a reward for passing these tests, they will earn additional pages
• they can also earn additional pages by submitting articles or taking part in projects
• students can have a maximum of five pages
• on their pages, students can add code, polls, guest books, quiz boxes etc
• submissions are usually mediated within one hour and this includes copyright issues
• attachments all come from the Central library and students can add to this but their content will be mediated
• teachers can have their own pages

I did ask what advantages this had over the free offering from think.com.

In think.com, the email system allows students from within the system to email anyone else withing the system - even well outside their age ranges.  The concern here was that there may be  a wide gap between interest areas and views expressed
 
An Evaluation of the Educational and Social Benefits of SuperClubsPLUS for Children

I have always had a problem with to do lists, the principal one being... they are just that; lists! Personally I find them daunting  and occasionally de-motivating, their linear nature makes it harder to prioritise tasks.

Zirr.us might help with this problem 

More From digital signposts What do I need to do next?

School 'all downhill from age 10' Testing increases as pupils grow older

School days may be the best days of your life - but only until you reach the last year of primary school, a survey suggests. It finds that happiness peaks in the penultimate year, but, because of exams, it is all downhill from then on.

More from BBC 

Following my post on the Smartboard lesson podcast, I listened today to the last three podcasts in their complete series, and this one was an outstanding example for me

SMARTBoard Lessons 55: Take Me Anywhere In The World… An Interview with Alan November

In this podcast, Alan November - the  host of this blog, outlines a number of key issues to do with current educational thinking and the inclusion of technology as an integrated part.

Never mind the Smartboard  - how are you using your $2000 blackboard.  Have a listen to this podcast and I assure you that you'll be nodding in agreement, just like I was.

Just as an aside - a little mention of this blog at the end cheered me up no end! 

The Hot Potatoes suite includes six applications, enabling you to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises for the World Wide Web.

 

 

Hot Potatoes is not freeware, but it is free of charge for those working for publicly-funded non-profit-making educational institutions, who make their pages available on the web.

Other users must pay for a licence. Check out the Hot Potatoes licencing terms and pricing on the Half-Baked Software Website.

Have you noticed the podcast section  in the community bit on November learning?

It has taken me a bit of time, but finally got there and started to go through them.

I really enjoyed listening to Tim's comments on blogging in schools 

Tim Tyson - The Blogging School