Welcome to the first Creative ICT blog post of 2006.
Let’s start with an absolutely fantastic free resource for anybody doing any work on ecological issues or wildlife. The ARKive has fantastic images and movies of wildlife the world over, as well as a completely separate area looking at endangered wildlife in the British Isles. The quality of the images and movies are all of a top professional standard (as many are sourced from the BBC and other film makers).
The Year of the Blog
My prediction for 2006 is that blogging will become hugely popular in the education sector. In case you haven’t investigated this phenomenon yet, this article was written by me about 6 months ago. It explains some of the basics and gives you plenty of links to explore further.
In schools blogging can be used in a number of ways. First of all as a news page: (here’s an example); the huge benefit of incorporating a blog into your own school website like this is that you need no experience of web design to add news articles to the site – you could even cut and paste from your standard school newsletters! However, the potential of blogging goes much further. Because of the ease in which anybody can publish, it makes it an ideal medium for instant web publishing in class. Writing is all about audience, what could be more motivational than the shared poem you’ve just written in the Literacy Hour being put straight on the Internet there and then. This International School is a good example of schools using blogging across the curriculum and age groups.
Then there is the collaborative aspect: what better way to share the international dimension of your curriculum by publishing a blog and inviting your audience to feedback. Or work on collaborative blog projects such as the Keepers’ Project on Poetry Pizzeria.
Finally, there is Podcasting – warranting a whole article in its own right, but if you have read my article mentioned above, you will get the idea. Basically, podcasting is the publication of self-recorded sound files over the internet. It costs peanuts and adds a hugely creative dimension to your curriculum. I was fortunate enough to meet John Johnston of Sandaig Primary School at a recent Naace conference and he told me all about the wonderful work that the children in his school have done in the area of school radio.
Some people have expressed concerns about the security issues around weblogging, particularly the ability to post comments on web logs (although it is perfectly possible to set up a blog to receive no comments), but here is the DFES’ take on blogging: http://safety.ngfl.gov.uk/schools/document.php3?D=d77
Setting up a blog can cost from nothing to lots. Here is what Creative ICT offer:
4 page website incorporating a news blog including all hosting and set up: £250
Fully configured multiple blog site (like the example above): £300
One day in school working with children on podcasts and blogs: £350*
Extended staff meeting (2 hr) or half-day INSET on blogging or podcasting: £250
Full day INSET on podcasting and blogging: £400
*If ordered before Easter the one day in school includes a free extended staff meeting, provided it is held on the same day.
BETT Show
January sees the annual highlight of the ICT year in the form of the BETT show in London. If you can’t make it, don’t worry as Creative ICT will bring you the highlights in a post Bett newsletter and Podcast.
Customising Google
Have you tried customising the Google home page? It’s a very easy way to make your use of the Internet much more efficient. Click on “Personalised Home Page” at the top right hand corner of the Google screen and sign up for a Google account (you don’t need to get a Google internet account or receive marketing junk if you don’t want to). Once you have done this you can add content to the page by picking up RSS feeds from various websites. Click on the “Add content” box and copy and paste these links into it:
BBC Education News: http://newsrss.bbc.co.uk/rss/newsonline_uk_edition/education/rss.xml
TES Breaking News: http://www.tes.co.uk/rss/Breaking_news/
Creative ICT News: http://creativeict.typepad.com/my_weblog/index.rdf
You can also add links to your favourite websites. Once you’ve finished, set this as your home page and you’ve got a homepage that is tailored to your needs, helping you keep up-to-date.
Ok, it’s a bit of a long newsletter, but hopefully a helpful one. I always appreciate comments and feedback either by email or by posting a comment here.
I wish you a successful 2006 and I hope that I can be of assistance in some way.