iCT@C

Presentation for Yr7 parents information evening:

So what are you doing?

This simple question is being asked by thousands of people all over the world. It is the prompt used by Tweeters that helps people with similar interests to keep up to date and in touch. I began my use of twitter back in 2009, although I never really discovered its real potential until recently. I began, perhaps, like most people, by setting up an account and posting my first Tweet. However, it was not until I started to follow like-minded people that I saw how powerful Twitter is. Soon, by carefully selecting Tweeters to follow, my personal network began to grow.

Recently prior to the annual BETT show, Twitter really came into its own. It allowed me to find out what was going on in London, at the show before I went there myself. During the show while I was there, I was able to Tweet about technologies that I discovered, in turn, sharing my findings with my followers. The power of Twitter seems to me to be about sharing, and building networks. I now follow many Tweeters, and in turn I am followed by many more, and this helps me keep in check with what is going on, locally, regionally, nationally and all over the world. The best bit, is that the Tweets that I recieve are personal to my own interests because of the Tweeters that I follow.

Many of my fellow Tweeters are related to education, or technology. It became clear that many of my colleagues (a large high school in West Yorkshire), could benefit from the use of Twitter by creating and building their own personal networks. This prompted me to ask my followers to help me create a database of Tweeters based on curriculum speacialisms. This database became know as #Tweechers.

The results came in quickly and I soon had a database of Tweechers for almost all curriculum areas. The idea is for my colleagues at my current school, and for teachers throughout the UK to be able to build their own network of followers on Twitter based on curriculum areas. In doing so, helping teachers share and collaborate on topics and information which is useful to individuals.

CLICK HERE to go to this database.

If you are a Tweecher, CLICK HERE to add yourself to this database.

Also of use to new users of Twitter, would be this helpful guide (below):

How to Twitter Effectively 09

After building my own personal network using Twitter, I saw the potential for its use as method of communication for my school. Initially, an account was created for the school, and although this is still a trial, applications and possibilities are positive. The school Twitter account has not been publicised, and Tweets posted are done so on the understanding that they may not be seen/ read by anyone at the moment. However, as the number of followers and interest grew, I decided to ask the Tweeters that decided to follow the school account if it should continue. Below are some responses gained from this survey:

@holmfirthhigh should we continue to Tweet?

The reason for the school Twitter account is to help parents, students and teachers informed and in touch with what is happening at our school. Daily the Tweets will be taken from the school bulletin, but recently on a school Skiing trip, the Twitter account was also used to help parents keep up to date with events that took place throughout the week trip in Italy. #SkiTrip2010

Other schools are also using Twitter to help keep thier community in touch. A good example is The Wellington Academy, that have also posted a Twiiter feed/ widget directly onto their school website.

A recent development in our school staff room (digital display screen), will also give scope for the school Twitter feed to be displayed inside the staff, to help keep staff informed of news and events which are published.

Full Screen 360′s give you the experience of standing in a space and looking in all directions 360 degrees. Two types of 360′s are common; cylindrical and cubic. Cubic 360′s give you the ability to look up and down as well. Object 360′s allow you the ability to rotate an object, product, or anything that can be photographed 360 degrees.

See how the volcano Mount St. Helens changed in the three-year span between 2003 and 2006 with these 360-degree panoramas.

Mount St.Helens is one of 18 different Virtual 360′ tours available on this site.

CLICK HERE to go to this resource

Welcome to HHMI’s virtual exhibit, Vital Signs: Understanding Cardiovascular Diseases. It has been adapted from the museum-quality exhibit that complemented our 1998 Holiday Lectures on Science series. Each year HHMI hosts a 2-day lecture event for high school students at its headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Drs. Richard P. Lifton and Christine E. Seidman, both HHMI investigators exploring the genetic basis of disease, delivered the 1998 lectures, “Of Hearts and Hypertension: Blazing Genetic Trails.” We hope you will find the experience of this virtual exhibit to be rich and compelling and that it will serve as a valuable resource to you for science research projects or as a source of background information about cardiovascular disease.

CLICK HERE to go to this resource

A virtual art gallery from Athens, Greece that allows you to explore paintings by rolling your mouse over them.

Frissiras Museum supports the European Painting and aims at promoting and presentating new artists and movements.

The museum, in its parallel presentation of foreign andGreek artists propose a fertile dialogue of juxtaposition of ideas and promotion of culture.

CLICK HERE to go to this resource

Listen to sounds and audio from around the world. As part of the BBC World Service, this unique map allows users to upload sounds and audio from all over the globe. Could be useful for providing an alternative to text and images. Useful as a whole class resource via an IWB, and could also be useful to students creating project work based on other parts of the world, by adding links to sounds and audio made in the region they are studying about:

CLICK HERE to go to this resource.

Read newspapers from all parts of the globe. Find newspapers and use via an IWB for class/ lesson activities. Print copies of text for teaching and learning resources. Direct students to this site for interactive exploration:

CLICK HERE to go to this resource.

Welcome to our gallery of Turning the Pages™ presentations – high-quality digital facsimiles of manuscripts which replicate the physical experience of reading the original works as closely as possible. We hope that these will give you a flavour of the fascinating and diverse range of material held within our collections. We will be adding more items soon.

A recent addition to the ‘Turning Pages’ collection is a biography of Sir Isaac Newton.

CLICK HERE to go to this resource

Final report and summary of the SID10 campaign at Holmfirth High School:

Ictac Memo Sid10 Final Report

Using a VLE to support teaching and learning: This presentation was prepared for an LEA meeting in 2009. The planned meeting did not take place, but the concepts and models used in the presentation may be useful for other teachers and schools, to help use a VLE in ways that supports teachers and students.