Kent ICT Blog

Myst Computer Game in the Classroom

2008-07-21T08:12:00Z

In Kent, we have many schools eager to use the computer game 'Myst', after being inspired by Tim Rylands at our recent ICT Conference. January 2008 is the official launch of Kent's writing project using the computer game Myst, when we will be inviting Tim back to Kent to run a series of workshops and lesson observations. Whether you are joining in with the official launch or considering doing a unit of work using Myst, I am sure you will find the following two websites interesting: A...(read more)

Google Launches Lively a Virtual World Across Social Networks

2008-07-15T16:14:00Z

Google has launched Lively , a new social network built around the concept of each user creating an avatar and a personal virtual room that can be embedded anywhere on the Web. Although, as with all pupblic chatroom, we can't see Lively being a safe tool to use it schools , it is being used with educators to meet and chat. Getting Started To use Lively, you need to sign up using a Google account and download a browser plug-in. From there, you are able to create your own avatar – starting from...(read more)

Victorian themed days

2008-07-15T09:47:00Z

The clock will be turned back to Victorian times again at the Museum of Kent Life in October. Children will take part in a carousel of 6 workshops with a Victorian theme. This year's workshops are The Victorian Dinnertable, Meet the Toymaker, Victorian Schoolroom, See the Blacksmith at work, What happened in the Scullery, and Learn a Victorian dance. Children are encouraged to come dressed up in Victorian costume to heighten the atmosphere. We have been able to keep our cost the same as last...(read more)

Free British Pathe Film Archive to Schools ending this Summer

2008-07-15T09:38:00Z

From 31 July 2008 the national contract which provides the British Pathe film archive to schools at zero cost will end. Schools may continue to use downloaded film material to the end of August 2009. After that date such material will have to be deleted. The low resolution film material will still be available. For further information, please see attached document. British Pathe Letter [Size: 96Kb] ....(read more)

Website of the Week - The Downs ICT Wiki

2008-07-14T08:52:00Z

The Downs CE Primary School's Wiki http://thedowns.wikispaces.com/ Planning for an ICT Club has just got easier with the help of Mark Warner, at The Down's Primary school. Wikis, like other tools (content management systems, weblogs), are being used by educators as effective teaching and learning tools. The Downs Primary School in Walmer, Kent have created a very interesting and useful Wiki on resources for ICT Clubs. Many schools have approached me asking where they can find avatars for...(read more)

Tim Rylands coming to Kent AGAIN

2008-07-11T09:43:00Z

After Tim's inspirational afternoon presentation at the EIS ICT Conference , we are inviting Tim down to Kent for the last two weeks of January 2009 to kick start a whole unit on using Myst to develop Literacy and ICT skills. Tim will be visiting Maidstone, Tonbridge, Malling, Darford East, Cranbrook & PW and Tun Wells in January and we have space for three more Clusters. To register your school's / Clusters interest please leave a comment below or email mandy dot barrow at kent dot gov...(read more)

Website of the Week - Bishops in Action

2008-07-07T11:18:00Z

www.bishopsinaction.com The bishops of the Anglican church worldwide meet at the Lambeth conference every ten years to discuss issues which concern the church and pray together. The ‘Bishops in Action’ website: contains material for Religious Education, particularly at KS2 includes powerpoints for the interactive whiteboard, photos, posters and fact files about bishops and their role in the church encourages multi-cultural, global perspectives in teaching about Christianity provides 5 acts of Collective...(read more)

Tim Ryland inspired us all

2008-07-07T10:30:00Z

The Kent ICT Conference was another huge success with the added bonus of an afternoon enthralled with the imaginative ideas of Tim Ryland . Tim, who is mainly well known through his work using Myst to inspire children’s writing, captured his audience attention right from the start with his wit and imagination and, over two hours later, we all left wanting to know more! ThanksTim. Click here to visit Tim's blog about his afternoon with us . "WOW!! It’s a mark of a good afternoon when 2 hours...(read more)

2 Simple Offer

2008-07-03T17:20:00Z

Just to let you know the 2 Simple offer for the entire software collection at £999 will end on July 15th. For more information visit http://www.2simple.com/...(read more)

Gordons - ICT - Simple ITPs for numeracy

2008-07-01T14:24:00Z

Simple interactive Flash programmes from Coventy Learning Gateway . Bingo Number Known Facts Calculations Money Problem Solving Problem Solving 2 Shape, Space and Measures Data Handling Foundation Stage Various strands Special Schools...(read more)

Kent Success in Jaguar Maths Challenge

2008-06-30T16:05:00Z

Many congratulations to Madginford Park Junior School. The school achieved a magnificant third place in the Primary category of National Finals in the Jaguar Cars Maths in Motion Challenge. On 26th June four year 6 boys travelled to Warwickshire to take part in the national final. It began 5 months ago with over 100,000 entrants! The boys won themselves an mp3 player, trophy and goody bag as well as some useful ICT equipment for the school. Well done from all of us at Kent NGfL....(read more)

Website of the Week - Visual Geography

2008-06-29T08:19:00Z

“ Visualgeography.com lets you explore the world through images, flags, money, language, maps and other information.” View photos of a country, listen to the native language of that area, learn more about transportation, education, religion, people, etc Ideal for use on the interactive whiteboard for introducing a topic on a country or comparing countries. You may like to start with exploring China , in preparation for the Olympics. Click here to visit our other "Website of the Week" Click...(read more)

Young People and Social Networking Services

2008-06-26T18:01:00Z

A new report , compiled for Childnet International and funded by Becta, has been launched providing teachers and lecturers with a comprehensive guide to social networking services. It includes an evaluation tool designed to walk teachers through key features of sites they may like to consider using to support teaching and learning. The report Young People and Social Networking Services is available from the Digizen website. http://www.digizen.org/socialnetworking/...(read more)

Bee Bot Jackets

2008-06-25T14:41:00Z

Jackets to fit on your Bee Bot There's an aeroplane to use if you are having a Seaside or Holidays topic. The engines drag on the floor though, so I wouldn't bother with them unless you are really enjoying yourself. There is also a Handa's Surprise jacket. This one includes a basket where you can put the fruit. (Handa herself needs to be found elsewhere on the Internet, then cut out and glued onto the jacket). There's a sealife jacket. Finally, in the Beebot Jacket game you can find...(read more)

Changing technology - Changing lives

2008-06-24T09:02:00Z

ICT2008 Exhibition and Conference Ashford International Hotel Thursday 3 July 2008 www.eiskent.co.uk Guest speaker Tim Rylands Tim Rylands has been described as “an extremely gifted and inspirational teacher, with a love of the creative potential of technology and an excellent rapport with his pupils”. He has gained notable recognition for using the games in the Myst series to inspire children’s creative confidence in many areas of the curriculum e.g. creative writing, speaking and listening, music...(read more)

Website of the week

2008-06-22T10:24:00Z

The Kented website has been moved onto the Kent servers and we are presently experiencing problems editing pages. So ..... Please find below our website of the week for this week: Tikatok is a free creative community for kids under 13 where they can write, illustrate, and share their original stories, and have them printed out into real hardcover and paperback books. It was developed by two mothers to encourage the imagination and creativity of their children and children everywhere. Click here to...(read more)

Creative use of Flickr

2008-06-20T09:36:00Z

Taggalaxy is one of many online tools that that is a search engine for Flickr. ( Flickr is a photo sharing site powered by Yahoo! that allows users to upload and share their photos. http://taggalaxy.de/ The way it works is that you type in your key word e.g. Egypt and Taggalaxy finds all of the photos on Flickr which has that key word in its Tags and then presentsthem all as planets which you can manipulate with the mouse. Click on a planet to zoom in. Taggalaxy, among other things could be used...(read more)

Web tools for different learning styles

2008-06-19T15:38:00Z

Christina Laun on the College@Home blog has compiled a list of 100 Helpful Web Tools for Every Kind of Learner . This is a very useful list and highlights the wide range of tools we have available to us to meet the needs of different “ learning styles ". Christine list the tools under the following headings: Visual Learners Mind Mapping Charting and diagrams Videos and Photos Auditory Learners Podcasts Presentation Tools Audio Tools Text Readers Audio Books Kinesthetic Learners Note Taking Tools...(read more)

Schools Tube

2008-06-11T07:49:00Z

We first had You Tube, then Teacher Tube and now we have Schools Tube. http://www.schoolstube.com/ (Hopefully the site is not blocked) I have been watching the Vikings this morning and also a stream in Ashford!...(read more)

Crime Scene Investigation

2008-06-03T18:58:00Z

What better way to get your pupils fired up about science than to take them through a real murder mystery? Crime Scene Investigation follows one school who, with the help of experts, did just this. This four part series begins with Planning the Crime , its dramatisation, and the pupils arriving at school to find an unusual scene. Follow Wylde Green Primary School as they take Year 6 through Collecting the Evidence , DNA Fingerprinting and then deciding on The Verdict . Described by viewers as '...(read more)

Free teaching resources from Sparklebox

2008-06-03T08:03:00Z

Sparklebox is a a fantastic place where you can download all sorts of teaching resources. All their resources are now free. Link: Sparklebox K s 1 Link: Sparklebox Ks 2...(read more)

2 Simple offer maybe 2 good 2 miss.

2008-06-02T19:07:00Z

As part of the 2Simple ' 10 Year Birthday Celebrations' , for short period of time schools are able to purchase site licences for the entire collection of 2Simple software ( 28 titles and 2 online titles that could be used at home) for either £999 (existing customers) or £1499 (new customers). A huge saving on some excellent teacher friendly software. For more information on this offer, visit www.2simple.com/collection/ Products highlighted by the Kent ICT team are those recommended to us...(read more)

Play Maths games across the world

2008-05-30T20:28:00Z

Tutpup is an exciting and new safe way of playing games against children in the UK and across the world. It is free , has no ads , doesn't grab kids personal data and allows them to play competitive maths games against their friends or students from around the world in a safe educational environment. For example, they could try a division game and find themselves instantly challenged by a child in India! Children cannot: Send messages to other players. Use their own names. When a child registers...(read more)

Panorama - e-Safety

2008-05-30T10:04:00Z

For those who were unaware or missed it on TV on Monday night, Panorama followed up their “One Click from Danger” episode to show how they were able to assist with the arrest of an offender when they posted the fake details of a teenage girl on social networking sites – very interesting viewing. Below is the link to watch/download it via BBC’s iplayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b00bv3fm.shtml?src=ip_mp...(read more)

Pinhole Camera templates

2008-05-30T07:47:00Z

Corbis is offering free PDF templates for real working 35mm pinhole cameras. There are six fantastic artistic templates to choose from. Pinhole cameras work wonderfully on a bright sunny day. Let's hope summer is just around the corner after the wet week we have just had. The templates can be downloaded from http://www.corbis.readymech.com/en...(read more)

Adventure Rock

2008-05-30T07:30:00Z

Adventure Rock is a 3D virtual environment offering exploration and creative opportunities for children to experiment with music, drawing and animation. The online world is a themed island built for the BBC’s CBBC. Children explore the world and use message boards so they can share what they find and what they make in the various creative studios dotted around the virtual space. The virtual world does not allow chat. BBC wants to protect children and thus disable any communication between the game...(read more)

Smart Notebook

2008-05-13T15:13:00Z

How to upgrade to the new version of the Smartboard Software - Notebook 10 To activate and get hold of the full version, you will need to know the serial number of your Smartboard (or other Smart product such as an Airliner slate) and visit the registration page. One serial number will do multiple installations - so you can still activate your classroom version and your home version for preparation purposes. Serial number is found under the pen tray and looks like the following (x = a number) SBxxx...(read more)

Jaguar Cars Maths Challenge

2008-05-12T16:32:00Z

Congratulations go to the year 6 boys at Madginford Juniors who have got through to the final of the Jaguar Cars Maths Challenge. Over the last few months they have been engaged in an exciting and motivating mathsbased project and have been inspired by what they have been doing. The Challenge involves students working together in small teams, who compete against each other in an effort to win a Grand Prix type race and become U.K. Champions. This activity involves using a wide variety of basic mathematical...(read more)

Video Help Files

2008-05-12T13:44:00Z

TOTTON SCHOOLS EDUCATIONAL ICT WEBSITE contains short flash tutorials on a variety of different software and hardware that are great for refreshing how to do somehing or for learning step by step. Software/Hardware covered include: Inspiration, Spreadsheets, Logo Log IT Explorer, Publisher 2003, Junior Viewpoint, Flowol3, Digital Blue, Junior Librarian, Adding sound to various applications, Audacity, PowerPoint, Word, Flexi tree 2, Moodle http://www.tottonsch.co.uk/videos/ How did we find this great...(read more)

BBC Doctor Who Trailer Maker

2008-05-09T09:14:00Z

Doctor Who is very popular with a lot of pupils. Here is the link to the BBC where pupils can create their own trailer. http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/trailermaker/ A great activity to do during an ICT Club. This site and many more have been added to kented on del.icio.us Add us to your network To find out more about del.icio.us click here http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/...(read more)