All Things ICT!

Above is a WallWisher I recently made with a group of Grade 4′s.  I have been playing with this great Web 2.0 tool for a different approach to lessons in the classroom:

http://www.wallwisher.com/

WallWisher is an online noticeboard maker where a group of people can easily communicate with each other by sticking virtual notes.

It’s fun and simple to use and lends itself to use in many innovative ways.  Visit this blog for super ideas on how to use this in your classroom:

http://seanbanville.com/2010/06/26/wallwisher-105-classroom-ideas/

I have become a firm fan of  Twitter.  Since becoming a “tweeter” I have started follwoing the most amazing people – teachers, tech fundis, Web 2.0 fanatics, ICT specialists and more.  In following these wonderful and knowledgable people, I have made the most amazing connections and “met” the most interesting personalities.  I have also picked up invaluable tips and hints as well as having collected an impressive list of recommended websites – all to do with using technology in the classroom.  I have put all these websites into an organised wiki on my school’s sharepoint site, for the teachers to use at their will.  I have truly come across some very useful sites, which will change the way learning takes place.  All thanks to the wonderful people I have connected with on Twitter!  My Personal Learning Network!  Follow me on www.twitter.com/ICT_Integrator to share my experiences.

I’m still really keen to get into this blogging thing and share it with the children, but I keep getting side-tracked!  I will make it my mission for 2011 to introduce the children to blogging and to other fun and exciting Web 2.o tools.

I played with a new word cloud generator the other day – www.tagxedo.com

It is similar to Wordle, but much more fun because you can apply different shapes to your clouds – it lends itself to fun and exciting lessons!

I have been away for ever – and so much has happened since my last post.  2010 is more than two months old already and I have not posted a word.  Suffice to say that it has been quite hectic around here…

Firstly, we retired our Linux server, with Open Office, and moved over  to Windows XP running from the local machines with Office 2007.  The change was made, essentially, to fit in with our ‘whole school’ approach, so that all our pupils from Grade 1 to Grade 12 all learn and work on the same system, using one set of credentials given to them when they start at our school.  It was also done to create a seamless approach when working from home to school, especially for our staff members who sometimes found it difficult to work with two different systems.  I must say that the change-over has been a painless one, and we are truly enjoying ourselves in the Microsoft environment.  The children have made the transition without any hiccups!

Then, one of the reasons that time has flown for me, is that I went to London to attend BETT 2010, as my prize for the article I wrote for the Independent Education magazine competition.  My year started off with a ‘BANG’, and I hit the deck running from the time I arrived home!  Be that as it may, I have wonderful memories of a short, but very sweet visit to London – freezing, cold weather and all.  See the ‘BETT – what is it all about?’ page in my blog for more details and photos!  An article on my trip will appear in the next edition (Autumn) of the Independent Education magazine.

INTEGRATION

ICT integration continues to go from strength to strength at the Senior Primary, with interesting and innovative lessons taking place.   A recent highlight was the a Grade 5 lesson in which the pupils had to create a summary of a piece of information on Soil Erosion in mind map form, using the programme ‘Inspiration 7’.  The children loved the user-friendly programme and produced some great work.  We invited our new principal to come and take a look, because he is passionate about study skills and mind mapping in particular, and this is what he had to say: “I was blown away when I saw the children integrating mind-mapping, computer work and the topic of soil all packaged into one – how powerful!!!! Well done!!”

INSPIRATION

I spent some time this morning investigating websites recommended by a wonderful lady, Naomi Harm, who was a presenter at the Intel ICT in the Classroom Conference in Durban in September last year.  She is from Minnesota in the USA and is an absolute treasure!  Naomi is an Educational Technology Consultant and E-Learning Specialist and a National Senior Trainer with Intel.  I had the privilege of meeting her at the conference and attended two of her talks.  I found her so inspiring and encouraging that I began to follow her on Twitter (twitter.com/nharm).  Almost daily, she posts links to recommended websites, which are usually exciting and relevant to 21^st Century Education.  Naomi also has a blog: http://blog.innovativeeducator.us/ – it makes for interesting reading!

 ICT is my passion – and I LOVE my job!

Time is flying at an unbelievable rate – so much to do and so little time to do it in!

Only two classes will be away on camp this week, so lessons are pretty much back to normal.

The Grade 6′s are finishing off a mind map on a specific religion.  The pupils have produced some lovely work.  They are moving on to an NS Task on Digestion.  They have to create a slide show (Impress/Power Point) to explain the stages of digestion clearly.  Pictures also have to be used.  Custom animation and slide transition must be used to enhance their presentations which will be presented to the rest of the class.  This is an assessment task.

The Grade 5′s are doing a short assessment Task for Maths on Patterns.  They have to manipulate shapes according to specific instructions to show their understanding of patterns and the vocabulary that goes with it, such as rotate, slide, flip, horizontal, vertical etc.  This will be done in Draw.

The Grade 4′s are doing a filler task, creating headings in Writer for their Science Expo posters.  This is just to mark time while the other two classes are on camp.

Looking back, these children have learnt so much and have come so far this year.  Their confidence has grown and their skills levels too.

This is my first attempt at blogging so here goes…

Things have been busy around here!  Many of our classes have been or are going on camp, so I have had a little free time in which to explore some ideas and options for 2010.  

The most exciting thing happened last Thursday – I received news that I had won a competition to attend the BETT exhibition in London in January!!  Yes, an all expenses paid trip to London from 11 – 17 January sponsored by the Independent Education Magazine (ISASA) and UK Trade and Investment!  I am awaiting all the details, but I have already put the wheels in motion for my UK visa.  Boy, what a process – they practically want to know what I have had for breakfast!  Anyway, I will gladly do it as I am so excited to be going to London.  I will apparently be going as a guest of the British Government, so I will be well looked after.  BETT is the largest exhibition for IT in education in the world, so I am honoured.

Obviously, I could not have written such an article if I did not have something wonderful to write about, so I am very grateful to the awesome group of teachers who work with me.  They have worked extremely hard to get IT to where it is at our school and without them I could not have put pen to paper in the first placed.  I am very blessed!