MGL World

Making Great Music

editor — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:29:48 +0000

Had a wonderful day in Nantwich yesterday with a great bunch of teachers looking at iPads and iPods. One of the hits with the early years people was an app I saw for the first time last week. It is called Baby DJ. The app lets you (or your pupils) use sets of 9, pre-determinted loops to create some great beats and tunes. The interface is great to use- simply tap the discs to start and stop. Users can record and export via e-mail. My colleague who showed us this app was raving about the way FS were using this. I reckon the outputs are so good that it reaches up into lower KS2 as a good addition to iKaosillator and GarageBand.

Ruby – Programming made easier

editor — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 06:18:48 +0000

I was talking with one of our Web Development team about the need to get programming back into the curriculum, when he asked had I seen RUBY or KIDS RUBY. Ten minutes later I had tried the full language tutorial in my browser and was sufficiently impressed to download the latest stable version of Kids Ruby onto my Mac. As someone who has a (dusty) qualification in Advanced Programming in LOGO I don’t need convincing with regards to the value of getting kids to program. (I remember a group of Y5 boys in my class programming simple games on a Spectrum and a BBC B, during lunchtimes). It will not be for everyone. Just as not every child is a talented writer (or a gifted footballer for that matter), we should not expect every child to be an ace programmer. However, as someone who was never going to make his living kicking a ball, I always enjoyed kicking one and thankfully was given the opportunity at school.

Similarly, we need to provide the experience and opportunity for pupils to program in the expectation that some of them will find that they have a talent for it, while some may just enjoy it as a learning activity or maybe as a way into work as part of a CV that shows a breadth of knowledge and a flexibility of thought.

Anyway try it out for yourself and then let your class have a go.

MGL Mersey Regional Conference 1st March

editor — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:14:50 +0000

Want to find out about Cloud Computing, iPads and Apps? Want to discover new ways to use ICT? Want to see the latest tech kit, including the new SMART board? Want to meet colleagues and share thoughts and ideas? Get booked into our conference on 1st March. The Manchester Area event was a lockout so book for Merseyside now

Sefton ICT Co-ordinators Meeting 29th Feb

editor — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:07:57 +0000

Just a reminder that Sefton ICT Co-ordinators are meeting on 29th at our Binns Road HQ 2.30 -4.30

Yes! We do still have to teach ICT.

editor — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:00:55 +0000

At our team meeting yesterday, one of our colleagues related a conversation between herself and a teacher who believed that the government has scrapped the need to teach ICT. This is a classic example of wishful thinking. ICT has not disappeared from the curriculum. In fact OfSTED should be looking more closely than ever at what schools are doing with regard to ICT. What is clear is that the emphasis on integrating use of ICT into the curriculum is greater than ever. However, what was clear from our discussions yesterday was that there are still KS2 children who cannot perform tasks like creating a new word document or even saving a word document in a correct manner ( not just calling it doc1…)

Yes, we can teach ICT through using it in other subjects, but there needs to be a clear understanding of the basic skills that children need to acquire. We would not expect children to read as part of their History curriculum without teaching the basics of reading, similarly we would not expect students to apply maths in a science lesson without them having the core skills. These are the core skills of Literacy and Numeracy.

Yet often teachers seem to expect to be able to apply ICT in a cross curricular context without identifying and teaching core skills or imparting a basic Digital Literacy. Looking at yesterday’s post, it is clear that for all those children who arrive in school in EYFS with a good experience of ICT there will still be a significant group who have not experienced much ICT and will need teachers who can impart the basic skills as well as use ICT across all areas.

ZERO to Eight – Report on Children’s use of Media in the USA

editor — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:47:48 +0000

Yes I know it is an American Report… However given that many of the trends in technology in the USA are mirrored here (and so many of our political leaders look to the USA for clues on how to do things) this report should be of interest to educators in this country. Perhaps the key finding for teachers is the fact that the USA has not managed to close the digital divide and there is in fact a new divide which the report calls the App Divide. This is the gap between those who have access to the latest cutting edge smartphone tech and those who don’t.

It is a readable report and for those who want to skim, the key findings are easy to get through. Download here

David Warlick – Co-Learners and Gamers

editor — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:29:37 +0000

I have a list of bloggers/educators sitting in my Google reader. Amongst them is David Warlick. If you have trawled through this site (and our old one) you may have come across my post mentioning his book about Digital Literacy (Hey, even Michael Gove is using that term now). His stuff is always thought provoking and gets you thinking. One of my favourite Will Richardson quotes is “I like to read stuff that bends my head”. David Warlick is capable of that. However, what I like about his stuff is his ability to articulate ideas that in essence are simple yet immensely powerful. Looking at his Co-Learners website I clicked on the Games Based Learning stuff and was once again struck by the truth in what he was saying. I remember using a BBC “B” to run a decisions based adventure/maths quest game (BBC ‘B” – look it up and work out how long ago!) and being chuffed at the way the kids immersed themselves in it, with the problems set by the program leading to further investigations – driven by the children.

Games based learning is so often limited to simple maths or spelling drills on a computer that the real power of gaming is lost.

Immersive Play – go into any Foundation Stage and it is happening – is how we humans learn best. Why else would the US military use immersive game-based learning to prepare its soldiers for combat duty in foreign parts.

Anyway I suggest you take a click and check out David Warlick for yourself.

Apps – what are they good for? Check out this great reference point

editor — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:14:47 +0000

Before anyone breaks into Edwin Starr mode, the question in the title is about locating apps within a learning structure. I am increasingly asked my opinion about which apps are best and what can they be used for. Well Kelly Tenkely has published a free book on Issuu called Blooms Taxonomy of Apps. It gives a good picture of where a whole range of apps lie in relation to Bloom, allowing teachers to give structure to the burgeoning collection of apps currently available. Obviously, such a list is out of date as soon as it is published due to the rate at which apps are emerging. However, it is a great starting/reference point for this of us trying to make use of handheld technology.

Stockport Conference slides

editor — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:01:33 +0000

To access the slides from the Conference on Friday please click on this link Stockport Amalgamated to download. Please be patient as the pdf is a large one.

100 years ago… The Titanic Story – Great resources

editor — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:45:12 +0000

Came across a great site called The Ultimate Titanic. As it is 100 years since this terrible disaster which cost some 1500 lives, some of you might be looking to include it in the curriculum, or even simply do an assembly on the subject. Try this site out and see what it holds for you.