Primary Bits and Bytes

(Posted by Fiona)

It seems a long time since I have updated this blog, and much has happened over the last few months. As many of you will know, the Learning Service has now been restructured, and the good news is that both Dughall and I remain in post to support schools with primary ICT and elearning.

The next ICT network meeting will take place at the Deighton Centre on Wednesday 12th October, 1.30 – 3.30pm. A full agenda will be sent out shortly. A full programme of ICT courses is available, full details can be found on Inset Online and on the new Traded Learning website.

(Posted by Dughall)

YHGfL – ‘Google Image Search’

YHGfL have identified a potential issue for schools searching for online images through ’Google Image Search’.  Google have changed the way that they are displaying images and, as a result, images which previously would have been filtered are now circumventing the filter system and are being displayed.

The problem seems to have arisen because Google have changed the way that they display images: after a user request, they are delivered as part of the page request rather than as separate image files, meaning that the filtering system cannot detect the origin of these files. In consequence, an innocent request for images on say, ‘Roman Gods’ may display images which have been unfiltered and cause upset for  staff and students alike.

While the YHGfL support team are doing their utmost to alert Google of the problems, this may be a good opportunity to direct staff and students to use other search engines which provide a greater degree of filtering, thus reducing the chance of unfiltered images being displayed. Examples of these include Bing (http://www.bing.com) or Yahooligans (http://kids.yahoo.com/).

Now could be a an ideal opportunity to raise the issue of using copyrighted images and ICT leads could encourage students and staff to use Creative Commons licensed images. Examples of these were covered in the Autumn YHGfL newsletter and include the following sites:

http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/

http://www.morguefile.com/

http://primaryschoolict.com/

(Posted by Dughall)

Don’t be put off. Please bear with me! Believe me this is interesting and not as super-geeky as it might look!

I first saw these things code things a while ago and also noticed that John Davitt actually had an iron-on one on his shirt at LOB10. I knew they were a way of ‘attaching’ stuff to a simple black & white ‘code’. However, I also knew that my 18 month old (not very smart) phone was incapable of unlocking the gateway to this magic kingdom. I have since upgraded my phone and, in more ways than one, the world has changed.

The key to unlocking the (QR) codes is having a device that will read them. This might be a phone with a camera and associated QR code reader app; this could be an iphone, new ipod touch, Android based phone etc. Once you have a device, you can then point it at the codes and instantly ‘see’ or read the ‘stuff’ that is attached. The attached stuff (in the case of QR codes) could be some text, a link to a website, an action (such as ‘send a text message’) etc. So what? Well, this is not particularly anything new and systems such as this have been used effectively in museums and art galleries to ‘enhance’ the visitor experience. There are also examples of info posted around a village and accessed via children using Playstation Portables (PSPs). The possibilities for the use of these things in schools are endless and it seems that there is an ever-increasing set of creative teacher minds turning in their direction (more later).

If you’re still here, stick with me, we’ll get on to the schooly pedagogical stuff soon. Honest

Not long after I met QR codes, I came across Stickybits (thanks to Tim Rylands and his blog post). Stickybits is a bar-code based system. Again, you need a reader (there is an app for iphone and android). The big difference with Stickybits is that anyone can add stuff to the code. In my opinion this is incredibly powerful! (QR = one way, info received only, Web 1.0 model. Stickybits = two way, collaborative, info in & out, web 2.0 model). Stickybits allows you to not only access ‘stuff’ attached to a barcode, but you can also add your own ‘stuff’. By ‘stuff’, I mean anything (anything electronic): documents, photos, video clips, audio files etc – the list is endless. Adding stuff can be done on the hoof (via the device itself) or via the website – browse>upload. Stickybits allows you to create (for free) your own unique barcodes but also to add stuff to any existing barcode (a 500ml bottle of Coke has loads of stuff attached to the barcode).

So what?

Well, things came to a head when I was lucky enough to hear Julian Wood speaking passionately at Teachmeet Stoke about a magical QR code adventure that his children went on at his school and I am finally getting my thoughts down.

Here are just a few ideas that have sprung to my mind (and others) recently and seemingly simultaneously:

• Enhance a tour of the school by adding a multimedia element. OFSTED, prospective parents, other visitors are given a device and as they move around the school, they encounter codes that they read. Imagine walking into the empty school hall, reading a code and immediately accessing a short video extract of the school show from the previous term. Imagine if outside each classroom you were treated to a snapshot via audio, picture slide-show, video of a selection of art, poetry, etc of what the children had been up to over preceding weeks.
• Stick a code on the front of a pupil’s exercise book. Feedback can be added in any format as time goes on. This can be done by peers, the student, teachers, parents etc. The same could also be done for homework presumably.
• Add book reviews to a barcode on a reading book.
• Associate a code with a classroom/corridor display to add multimedia or enhance the display.
• Children follow a code treasure-trail where each code contains a clue as to where the next can be found (the clue could be video, pictorial, audio or text). These treasure trails could be created by the pupils to be used by others.
• Codes could be used to tell, or stimulate a story process.
• A code could be attached to a ‘resource pack/box’ so that teachers’ planning, children’s artwork, writing (stories, poetry etc), video clips of drama etc could be added to the code. Subsequent users of the box may then access the rich resources and ideas and add their own. I owe this particular brilliant idea to Tim Rylands and have spoken to our LA Schools’ Library Service about it just this week. They are very positive about it.
• Stick a code into a pupil’s book and it links to a website, blog, resource etc.
• A code in a maths book has a video clip created by a child that explains how they have done a mathematical calculation.

These are just a few ideas. I have found that once something like this is in the hands of teachers, they start to get very creative in generating their own ideas.

There is just one downside to Stickybits at the moment and that is that their terms and conditions state that the app and website are for the use of people aged 13 and older. I emailed them at the beginning of October explaining some of the ideas above and how useful I thought their resource might be for education. I got the following response back:

“…we’re in the process of working with our legal team to investigate the best way to handle this because we certainly don’t want to limit who can use our application. As soon as there is some news to report, I’ll follow up with you…”

I am sure that if I weren’t a lone voice then things might move along quicker perhaps. help@stickybits.com

I am grateful to the following people for the bouncing and generation of ideas: Pete Richardson, Tim Rylands, Julian Wood, John Davitt, David Mitchell, Ian Addison, Tom Sale, Doug Woods, John Sutton, Kevin McLaughlin, Zoe Ross, Paul McKean, Tom Barrett, James Langley (and if I’ve forgotten you, please let me know – it is an oversight and nothing personal!).

Here are some useful associated links:

David Mitchell’s blog and what he’s doing with Year 6 pupils
Tom Barrett’s #Interesting Ways to Use QR Codes (Where there are some other ideas for using them (I must add the ones above…)
One place where you can make the codes: Kaywa (There are plenty of these, Google knows where).

Stickybits
This Google doc about QR codes in school.

If you like, you can leave a comment via this barcode + the Stickybits app. I will be notified via email every time it is scanned or if a bit is added.

(Posted by Dughall)

Growing Greener Futures Conference
Holy Trinity Rosehill C.E. Primary School (Stockton on Tees)
Friday 22nd October 2010

Just to let you know about an exciting forthcoming conference that promises to combine two of my passions: outdoor learning and technology. The conference promises to:

explore outdoor learning through the themes of gardening, conservation, cooking, sustainability and digital technologies. Delegates will have the opportunity to experience keynote presentations from nationally recognised experts in the field as well as participate in hands-on and thought-provoking workshops throughout the day.

Amongst the stellar lineup of contributors are:

•  internationally renowned learning technologist Ollie Bray who will be presenting a keynote on ‘Outdoor Learning and Digital Technologies’.
•  Andy Black  an inspirational educator whose company I had the pleasure of at the LOB10 conference earlier this year.
• Bill Lord a passionate advocate of the written word and Teachmeet regular. His presentations have the air of stand-up comedy with a serious educational edge.
• Steve Bunce, the ‘Wit of Twitter’ will provide a session on outdoor learning and video games.
• Kirklees’ very own Jo Liversidge who is a shining light of Forest School philosophy and a keen advocate of new technologies.

Full details and booking details can be found on the conference website.

(Posted by Dughall)

Remember when you were 10 and you went on that residential visit with school? You did rock-climbing, canoeing, pond-dipping. You learned actively and in non-formal ways. You learned by playing and collaborating with your peers in different, more extended ways. You formed new and more productive relationships with them and your teachers. You were challenged in ways that you weren’t when learning in the conventional classroom environment.

Do you remember that double Maths lesson on a run-of-the-mill Wednesday at school when you were 12 years old? You may do. But which of the memories are most vivid?

No one would really question the value of outdoor learning, least of all me, a proud Chair of Governors at an outstanding school that fully embraces the ‘Forest School‘ ethos. However, it does one good to be reminded of that value and what better way than by being fully immersed in an outdoor learning experience oneself.

LOB10 (Learning on the Beach 2010) was a first for me. I have attended many brilliant conferences and ‘unconferences‘, but nothing quite like this. The brainchild of John Davitt, LOB10 questioned how we can think outside the box when we spend too much time sitting in one. The focus for the conference was ‘outdoor exploration, activity, new technology and learning in the broadest sense’. In his introductory spiel, John asked, “Why do we call it ‘understanding‘ when we have to sit down to do it?” and we did very little sitting down.

Located on the western fringes of Europe in the small village of Mulranny, Co. Mayo, Republic of Ireland, LOB10 brought together an intrepid band of learners from all walks of life but all sharing an interest in learning and technology. A fairly loose itinerary was followed and included a rich mix of activities and challenges – all of which would have been perfect for pupils of any age. Some highlights from many were:

• A version of John’s ‘Learning Event Generator‘ (now available as an ‘App’). The Learning Event Generator asks learners to ‘do’ something in a particular ‘way’. Random challenges are generated such as: Do: ‘How the tidal system works’… …as ‘a mini opera’, Do: ‘The History of Ireland’… …as ‘Drawings in the sand’, or ‘The salt-marsh’… …as ‘a group theatrical whisper’. These group activities thrust learners together into pacey, focussed, collaborative activity that is often way outside people’s comfort zones (a place where some very effective learning often happens).

• Discovering a ‘geocache‘ with the help of an iphone.

• Learning about sand dunes and biodiversity from a local expert, Sean Carolan who helped challenge some of my long held views on the environment.

• The ‘Explainolympics’ – using only a stick, the sand and an ability to explain, delegates take an idea, or concept and explain it to the assembled group. This activity was wonderfully facilitated by the waves themselves that repeatedly washed the explanation slate clean between ‘slides’ in the explanation. (Eat your heart out all those flashy slide-transitions in Powerpoint and Keynote!).

Many of the proceedings were shared via an ingenious wifi arrangement running off a car battery.

We all know that of equal (if not greater) value to the activities themselves, it is the spaces in between the activities that are just as rich in learning. LOB10 offered such space in abundance. It was a privilege to engage in stimulating conversations with some luminaries of the world of educational technology from UK and Ireland as well as get some perspectives from delegates from outside of the circles in which I usually mix (most notably Chris and Sandra Kerndter who signed up and attended at the last minute with their two young daughters).

So, I am enriched, refreshed and delighted to have been reminded of the importance of active, outdoor, truly collaborative learning and in such an experiential way.

It hasn’t changed my opinions of technology and the important role it can play in learning. I am however, reminded of the importance of balance and contrast in learning experiences. I can’t wait to explore some of the ideas I came across such as geocaching and the use of QR codes (see this site called ‘Tales of Things’ for some idea of the possibilities).

Special thanks go to John and Angie Davitt and Eliza Mountford for the preparations and work in making the event so successful. Thanks also to those wonderful people who (amongst other things) enriched the spaces between the activities: Richard Millwood, Andy Black, Mags Amond, Dominic Davitt, John Heffernan, John Cuthell, Chris, Sandra, Lily and Erin Kerndter, Sean and Matthew Carolan and Father Matty.

Will you be at LOB11?

Further reading:
Andy Black’s LOB10 Blog post