About Computers in Classrooms #4

Computers in Classrooms #4

Computers in Classrooms

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ISSN 1470-5524

Edited by Terry Freedman

Home Page: http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~etfreedman (or, if you are

manually entering the address, http://fastlink.to/ict)

Email: compic@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk

Volume 1 Issue 4 *** 14 August 2000

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In this issue:

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* A note from the editor

* News

* Website round-up

* The ICT in Education website update

* Jargon buster

* Next issue's features

* Some facts about this newsletter

* About the editor

* Subscription details

* Advertising rates

* Disclaimer

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A note from the editor

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It's taken a while for this issue to appear, for lots of reasons. Because

many subscribers are likely to be on holiday at the moment, or at least in

a holiday mood, I took the view that this edition should be lighter than

usual.

What this means in practice is that there is a news section, and thumbnail

sketches of several websites. The features and other regular sections --

in other words, the bits you have to think about -- have been held over to

the next issue. If you're reading this at the start of the new term,

hopefully you will find perusing this newsletter not too arduous or

time-consuming, considering everything else you're having to think about

at the moment.

I am aiming to get the next issue out by mid-September. It contains

several items that I'm sure will give you food for thought.

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News

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Feedback

Proof that sharing really does work: JB, a subscriber to this

newsletter, downloaded my PowerPoint presentation on current developments

in ICT in the UK, and added a few slides of his own. JB has kindly

said that people can use these, so if you're interested in obtaining them

-- and the original presentation -- just send any email to

compic@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk, making sure that the subject is ICTDEVS.

JB explains why he made the amendments:

"I've twisted the theme of the presentation towards a possible model of

addressing the cross-curricular issues.  This is just to get the ball

rolling -- I'll tackle assessment with departments once I can get them

into ICT!

"The idea is to use the material to highlight the role of ICT in the

curriculum.  My impression is that some still think of ICT as an add-on.

To move forward, in particular to avoid the repetition of low level

skills, departments need to be aware of the statutory requirements.  I

gave departments where possible a breakdown of the statutory requirements

from KS1* and up.  Some were surprised at what is happening in KS2*. This

demonstrates the need for liaison."

Incidentally, some of the issues touched on here are developed later in

September's newsletter.

* See Jargon Buster section for an explanation of these terms.

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Conference

Last month, we in the UK enjoyed the biggest ICT Conference (Educating for

the Third Millennium) in living memory. This was an excellent event, which

saw many prominent people giving presentations. There was a wide variety

of speakers and topics, including many academic ones. What really made the

conference special, of course, was the fact that it was organised jointly

by  a number of organisations concerned with ICT in education. There was

some debate about whether the organisations should merge, or whether an

umbrella organisation should be formed. The idea is that you would join an

organisation for a certain fee, and then within that you could belong to

particular groups (for advisers, teacher trainers etc) for a further

subscription. In theory, this would work out cheaper than joining several

separate organisations, and could result in all the organisations enjoying

economies of scale in various ways. I am not an official spokesman in this

regard, but if you have any views on this that you would like to share

with other subscribers, please email me at

compic@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk, using the subject  ORGANISATION.

As you might expect, the quality of the presentations varied widely. The

best ones were those in which the presenter had something original to say,

or at least an original way of saying it, and where some thought had gone

into the style of presentation: PowerPoint was too frequently used without

much thought! This has inspired me to pen some notes about presentation,

which will appear in October's newsletter. If you would like to contribute

any comments or observations, please email me on

compic@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk, using the subject PRESENTATIONS.

Incidentally, I gave a presentation myself. This was a session with a

practical slant: how to deal with various dreadful management situations.

I have started putting this on my web site in the form of Frequently Asked

Questions of FAQ (see below).

Getting back to the conference, some interesting points arose from certain

sessions, each of which could be used as the starting point for discussion:

* The greatest applications are not those with the greatest power but

those which teachers can use most imaginatively. The most powerful

combination is "killer applications and killer ideas!" (Gabriel Goldstein,

HMI)

* If parents are emailing school, schools need protocols both as to *who*

should answer them and *how* they should answer them. (Don Passey)

* "If we miss something that is bad, that's *our* fault, but if we miss

something that's good, that's *your* fault." (OFSTED inspector)

* "This "telephone" has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered

as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us."

(Western Union internal memo, 1876)

* "Mankind owes to children the best it has to give." (Quoted by Tim

Brighouse, Birmingham Chief Education Officer)

A presentation from Telewest yielded some fascinating statistics:

apparently, $4.5bn is wasted if web page download time is longer than 8

seconds, and 2.5bn hours were wasted in 1998 waiting for web pages to

download. I find these figures fascinating because I have no idea how they

were arrived at. I also don't know whether they pertain to only the USA or

not. Nevertheless, it's interesting that the cut-off point used is 8

seconds.

Regarding the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) training, V Zakopoulos, of

Reading University, reported that a study he undertook revealed that:

* teachers need to be supported by advisers *after* they've received their

training;

* training should be face to face in their own environment;

* training should not stop but be ongoing; and

* teachers did not feel knowledgeable or confident enough to benefit from

online training.

Probably not many surprises there, but it's nice to have one's suspicions

confirmed by academic research findings! See also the next news item.

The best part about the conference, of course, was meeting up with old

friends, making new ones, and putting the world to rights over a cup of tea!

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Learning Schools Programme

In a completely independent development from the research findings at the

University of Reading (see previous news item), the Open University and

Research Machines recently agreed to extend access to the FirstClass

on-line National Conferences, for all teachers and school librarians on

the Learning Schools Programme, to the end of the NOF Teacher Training

initiative. Previously, the on-line facilities lasted only for the

duration of the individual teacher's involvement with the programme.

Chris Powley from the Learning Schools Programme said "In recent months,

we have received many requests from teachers and advisers to extend access

to the National Conferences to maintain and develop the communication and

collaboration between colleagues. We are delighted to be able to respond

and hope that colleagues will be able to build upon their NOF Training

with the Learning Schools Programme."

I hope to bring you more news about the LSP in next month's newsletter.

Note to non-UK residents: if you are wondering what NOF is all about, look

at the Current Developments in ICT on the ICT in Education website, where

all will be revealed (well, the key points anyway!).

Another note to non-UK residents: if you know of similar programmes

elsewhere in the world, it would be interesting to find out more about

them and how successful they've been. If you know of anything, please

email me at compic@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk, using the subject header NOF.

Thanks.

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Web site round-up

The UK Government and its agencies continue to develop web sites like

there's no tomorrow. This is great news, especially as they're all good,

but remembering them all can be a bit of a problem. A good strategy is to

bookmark the following web sites:

the BECTa home page (http://www.becta.org.uk) or...

the DfEE home page (http://www.dfee.gov.uk).

In the meantime, here's the latest:

Calling all parents -- again

The DfEE's Parents Online website is now up and running, at

http://www.parentsonline.gov.uk/. I haven't had a chance to look at it in

depth, but it has some lively links and looks child-friendly. This is

important because there are still too many people who focus only on the

negative aspects of the internet.

The aims of Parents Online week, which runs in the week beginning 18th

September, are:

* to prove to parents that the Internet is a powerful tool for their

children's education;

* to encourage parents to invest in technology;

* to show that the technology is easy to use and non-threatening;

* to introduce parents to high quality educational websites and give

advice on how to avoid inappropriate material.

Look at the site, and give the DfEE any ideas for activities during

Parents Online week. How could you open up your school to parents and give

them a taster of what the internet is like? Most schools have to think

about the issue of getting parents involved and keeping them informed;

this initiative could provide a useful focus for addressing the problem.

Sure Start http://www.surestart.gov.uk/home.cfm

"The aim of Sure Start", to quote from the web site itself, "is to promote

the physical, intellectual and social development of pre-school children

-- particularly those who are disadvantaged -- to ensure they are ready to

flourish when they get to school."

This is a good source of information, with some useful links to news

articles about the scheme. It does not (currently) have much relevance as

far as ICT is concerned, except from a web design point of view. It works

very smoothly and quickly, although the typeface is on the small side and

the background colour (purple) makes the site look a bit dark. Evidence

that the site is still under development appears on the links page, where

we see several instances of "Descriptive text to be inserted here" on the

page. This would be a good site to bookmark and return to on a regular

basis, especially if you are involved with children with special

educational needs.

Connexions http://www.connexions.gov.uk/

This "is the UK Government's strategy to ensure every

young person gets the best start in life." This is a brightly-coloured

site which is easy to navigate. Perhaps the most useful aspect of it for

ICT teachers is its lists of links which can be found under the main

headings of Young People, Parents/Guardians etc.

Inclusion (1)

http://www.becta.org.uk/inclusion/sen/resources/casestudies/index.html

The latest version of the National Curriculum addresses the teaching of

children with special educational needs in a very specific way. This web

site gives you access to a range of resources that can help. The general

document, "20 reasons why ICT is an excellent tool for teachers and

learners" is a good starting point for discussion, and would probably be

useful in the context of a staff training day. There are also very

specific resources, ranging from Early Years to Secondary.

Inclusion (2) http://inclusion.ngfl.gov.uk/

This is "a catalogue of on-line resources to support individual learning

needs".

This has a very easy to use interface, and is both fast and useful: many

resources are gathered together or linked to in one place. The search

facility is very innovative, and is well worth a visit. Niel McLean, Head

of the Schools Directorate at BECTa, has explained that it has been

designed with teachers in mind. Teachers do not have time to continue

searching during school time. Also, it's very frustrating for them when

the bell goes when they are part-way through a search.

The Inclusion site's search facility helps teachers in three main ways:

* It helps you narrow the search down without the need for understanding

how a search works: you just select from various options. This is good,

although personally I found it a bit frustrating in that I could have

conducted a search more quickly myself using the normal methods.

* If it doesn't find what you are looking for, it directs you to a mailing

list where you can ask other people for help.

* It allows you to save the results of your search and email them to

yourself.

SEN Resources http://www.geocities.com/sen_resources

This is a private, as opposed to an official, site, which has a wide range

of resources available for teachers of children with special educational

needs. The site can be slow to download at times, but it's worth the wait.

The resources should appeal to UK teachers especially because the content

of the site is UK-based.

E-Books and E-Book Readers

At the moment, there are several types of electronic book readers (e-book

readers) available, with no clear standard. (An e-book reader is a

hand-held device which can hold many books in electronic format, and on

which you can read the books, and annotate and bookmark sections, and look

up individual words.) One of the most popular devices is the Rocket, but

before you rush out and buy one, you may like to try the Microsoft e-book

reader software, which is free.

Barnes and Noble are giving away 100 classic titles in the Microsoft

e-book format, and there is a link to the software from their home page,

which is http://www.barnesandnoble.com.

At the moment, I am reading Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins, in this format.

I like the software: although it takes some getting used to, it's fairly

intuitive on the whole. To make full use of it, however, you really need a

portable computer.

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The ICT in Education website update

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This newsletter is supported by the ICT in Education website,

http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~etfreedman (or http://fastlink.to/ict). The

two main concerns of the website are:

* managing the provision of information and communication technology in

schools and colleges;

* using computers to reduce teachers' admin burden.

The website is usually updated at least once a week. I have recently been

making changes to the formatting of the web pages. The pages should now be

much more readable on screen resolutions lower than 1024x768, and should

load much faster as I have dispensed with most of the graphics.

As well as cosmetic changes there have been changes in the content. I have

temporarily disabled the "Managing for Success" pages, and am in the

process of replacing them with a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section

on the same subject matter. Some of the new pages are already in place.

Another page is a worksheet I wrote which includes an image taken with a

digital camera. The image quality is not as good as the original, which

was 4 Mb in size, but it does illustrate how a digital camera can be used.

I took the photo on my way home from a  school, and then produced the

worksheet as soon as I got in. It couldn't have taken more than 10 or 15

minutes. If you know of other ways that a digital camera can be used,

email me on compic@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk, with the subject header

CAMERA.

The website has been granted an award by Schoolzone -- pretty amazing

really, considering that I didn't apply for one! Schoolzone is worth

checking out, as it has loads of links to curriculum web sites which are

particularly relevant to UK teachers. Its address is

http://www.schoolzone.co.uk.

Look out for more links pages on the web site too. Recently I've started

supporting any articles I write with collections of web site links on my

own web site.

In the meantime, Ben Franklyn, editor of the electronic newsletter of

MirandaNet, an on-line educational research community, reviewed Managing

ICT. You can read his review on-line at

http://www.mirandanet.ac.uk/pubs/terryreview.htm. While you're at it,

check out the MirandaNet web site itself, at http://www.mirandanet.ac.uk.

It's very interesting, and easy to navigate.

If you have any comments on the website, or discover any glitches, please

let me know by emailing me at ict@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk.

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Jargon buster

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Some of the terms used in this newsletter may seem a bit arcane to anyone

living outside the UK, so here is a quick guide:

DfEE...............Department for Education and Employment

ICT................Information and Communication Technology

KS1................Key Stage 1, corresponding to ages 5 to 8

KS2................Key Stage 2, corresponding to ages 9 and 10

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Next issue's features

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In the next issue of the newsletter we will look at the new QCA scheme of

work for Key Stage 3 ICT, including some information from Niel McLean,

currently Head of Schools Directorate, BECTa, and cognitive dissonance.

The next issue is due out mid-September.

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Some facts about this newsletter

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The purpose of this newsletter is to provide a means of looking at issues

which affect teachers of Information & Communication Technology (ICT), and

teachers who *use* ICT in their lessons. We look at what works and what

doesn't, and the day-to-day challenges involved in using computers in

classrooms. Also included are hints and tips for teachers new to using

computers, and items that I hope will be of interest to ICT co-ordinators.

This newsletter now has a large and growing subscriber base. Most of the

people who subscribe are from the UK and USA, and range from new teachers

of ICT to "old hands".

Please pass this newsletter along to anyone whom you think might gain some

benefit from it. Send me your comments on any aspect of the newsletter via

email to compic@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk.

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About the editor

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I am an ICT advisor in London, and a freelance writer. You can find out

more by going to http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~etfreedman/tfcv.htm, or by

sending any email to tfresume@fastfacts.net.

My most recent book is Managing ICT. My previous book was Make Time With

IT.

There are more details about these books on the ICT in Education website,

and both of them are available from Amazon via

http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~etfreedman/buybooks.htm

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To subscribe to this newsletter...

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Send any email to compic-subscribe@listbot.com

Please feel free to pass on this newsletter or extracts from it to anyone

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source.

Like the ICT in Education website? Click to Recommend-It (r)

http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=677651

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Past issues of Computers in Classrooms

Visit the Computers in Classrooms home page for an issue-by-issue guide.

It's at http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~etfreedman/compic.htm

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Disclaimer:

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Whilst every care has been taken in the preparation of this newsletter, T

Freedman cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the information

within it or for any consequences arising from it.

(c) 2000 T Freedman   email: compic@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk

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