Kent ICT Blog

Do you want to improve your spelling?

2010-03-15T10:33:00Z

The Times and Microsoft have teamed up to form a website called Spelling Bee. www.timesspellingbee.co.uk There is a section called Mini Bees that is suitable for primary aged children to use. There are a range of activities and games to play to help children improve their spelling. Why not let parents know about this resource or even link to it from your school website....(read more)

Games Link Not Working

2010-03-13T13:30:00Z

We're having a bit of trouble with the games tab on the top right-hand-side of the Kent ICT site. If you find that it is not working please follow this link instead: http://www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/kentict/content/games/index.htm I am sorry for any trouble caused. James...(read more)

Crazy Talk offer for UK Schools

2010-03-12T20:00:00Z

Take a digital image and make it talk? Easier than you might think. CrazyTalk 6 is an easy and powerful tool for generating talking characters from an image or photo and facial animation for video, websites and widget. Many schools are using to bring photos alive in projects across Kent. http://www.taglearning.com/productdetails/Crazy+Talk+6.html The software retails at £34 per licence but UK schools can buy it at the special £12.55 (ex.vat) per licence . Please note this offer is for the standard...(read more)

Kent School ICT Mark Success

2010-03-12T14:54:00Z

Congratulations to St.Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Northfleet Gravesend for achieving the ICT Mark. Well done to all the staff for their efforts and especially the ICT Leader for collating all the evidence together....(read more)

“Kent Bird Watch 2010 Ask an Expert Day”

2010-03-11T21:03:00Z

“Kent Bird Watch 2010 Ask an Expert Day” Thursday 1st April 2010 Dear Colleague No, this is not a hoax! Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils will have the opportunity on Thursday 1st April 2010 to ask questions and interview RSPB Education Officers from across the region. For schools taking part in Kent Bird Watch 2010 this is the chance for pupils to learn about: Birds in Winter Classifying birds by observable features What birds like to eat? Habitats – Viewing birds outdoors Hanging bird boxes How can my school...(read more)

Owl nestbox game

2010-03-01T20:31:00Z

It has been available for years, but this online, or downloadable Flash activity, originally from MAPE helps you think of a good place to site an owl nestbox you may need to enable ActiveX in internet explorer to make it work....(read more)

Feeding Birds in Winter FlashMeeting Vidcast

2010-03-01T11:37:00Z

To help pupils feed birds during the winter click on the link below to view the Vidcast made by David James (RSPB Education Officer.) Created using the FlashMeeting Memo Board it is full of good ideas about what to feed birds at this time of year. Click here to replay the vidcast - Feeding Birds in the Winter (duration: 18 mins) For information about how to use your class Interactive Whiteboard during a FlashMeeting session click here. It only takes a few minutes to discover how you can engage all...(read more)

Kent Bird Watch February 2010 Survey

2010-02-23T22:40:00Z

****** Starting Now! - Are you taking part? ******* 35 Kent schools took part in the January 2010. The February 2010 Kent Bird Watch Survey will be taking place from Monday 22nd - Sunday 28th February . To take part in the survey pupils will need 1 hour to record all birds visiting your school grounds. Click here to download The RSPB Bird Watch Recording Sheet Following the survey all results should be entered on the Online spreadsheet. To enter your results online and to view the results after Monday...(read more)

Kent Bird Watch March 2010 Project Twilight Meetings

2010-02-23T22:25:00Z

Get the most out of this exciting project for your school! January 2010 - Over 70 primary schools in Kent have purchased a Nestcam! Pupils at Ward Stewart School, USA preparing different bird foods Following the recent very successful project launch meetings will be taking place in schools across the county throughout March 2010. For details click on the links below: Bird Watch 2010 Spring News Kent Bird Watch 2010 March Twilight Meetings Please note: All twilight meetings are from 4.00 to 5.15 p...(read more)

Free posters and labels for displays

2010-02-22T16:58:00Z

Available at www.schoolslinks.co.uk/resources_displays.htm...(read more)

New Research Section

2010-02-11T22:13:00Z

There is a now a Research section added to the Games pages. There are three 'safe search' resources for finding information about animal life, rivers and dinosaurs. These resources are aimed at supporting the sometimes tricky Research and e-Awareness Themes. These resources only search through content in a specific folder on Kent ICT, hence they are very much within our control. On the negative side this does mean that the available key words are limited. To see and print the full list of...(read more)

The safe use of new technologies

2010-02-11T10:25:00Z

This report is based on evidence from a small-scale survey carried out between April and July 2009 in 35 maintained schools in England. It evaluates the extent to which the schools taught pupils to adopt safe and responsible practices in using new technologies, and how they achieved this. It also assesses the extent and quality of the training the schools provided for their staff. Available at http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Publications-and-research/Browse-all-by/Documents-by-type/Thematic...(read more)

National Schools Quiz: 12th March

2010-02-10T13:38:00Z

Schools entering the Next Generation Learning National Schools Quiz , which will take place on Friday 12 th March, could win up to £3,000 worth of ICT equipment or training for their school, plus there are fantastic spot prizes for successful individuals and teams who take part. The quiz will run exclusively online, via the NEN, covering curriculum areas, including history, science, citizenship, numeracy and literacy. For information on the Next Generation Learning National Schools Quiz visit www...(read more)

21st Century Teacher - Are you ready to meet the challenge?

2010-02-09T17:29:00Z

Your students are already using technology as part of their daily life and increasingly expect to use it for learning in school. But what does this mean for you as a teacher? As a 21st century teacher you are a learner yourself – adapting your previous technology skills and knowledge as new technologies emerge. You know when to use technology and when other strategies are more appropriate. You continually review how you use technology in your role. To download a booklet that helps teachers address...(read more)

Caught In The Web

2010-02-09T09:48:00Z

There is a Newsround special tonight narrated by David Tennant entitled Caught In The Web. The 20 minute episode tackles the dangers of meeing someone you have first met online. It is being aired tonight Tuesday 9th February at 16:55 and repeated at 18:30 on CBBC. There are also further chances to see it on Thursday 11th and Saturday 13th February. For more information visit the BBC Website ( www.bbc.co.uk ) or follow this link www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qp1pm . There is also some good advice on...(read more)

Home Access Programme

2010-02-08T08:53:00Z

Home Access is a government drive which will help low-income families to get access to a computer and the internet to get online at home. Families who are on a low income in receipt of certain benefits could qualify for a grant to buy a computer and/or a minimum of one years’ internet access. The programme is aimed at those that need it most and targets families that do not have access to a computer or the internet at home. More information is available at www.homeaccess.org.uk Parents can call the...(read more)

Free Online Reporting Briefings for Primary and Special Schools: 26 February 2010 – London Hilton Metropole

2010-02-04T13:10:00Z

By popular demand, Becta are re-running the very successful primary online reporting event held last year in Birmingham. Hear from fellow primary and special school leaders about how they are exploiting ICT to improve parental engagement. Key national speaker Kirstie Andrew-Power - Head of Achievement at SSAT Travel expenses for the day may be submitted - forms will be available on the day – please keep all receipts in advance of claim. Further information can be obtained by emailing customerservices...(read more)

Thinkuknow e-safety resources

2010-02-04T11:30:00Z

The new e-safety resources created by CEOP are now available to download (with the exception of 2 downloads). Lee and Kim's Magical Adventures are aimed at pupils aged 4-7. The pack contains an animated cartoon, song, set of lesson plans and resources and a range of fun activities including making masks. So why not join in and use these resources to help spread the e-safety message with our youngest children. You need to be registered with Thinkuknow to download the resources. If you haven't...(read more)

I-Board resources now free

2010-01-27T10:47:00Z

The I-Board interactive whiteboard resources will now be free to all. You can use the full i-board collection for free now, at http://www.tes.iboard.co.uk . I-board resources can also be found on TES Connect by searching or browsing the TES Resources site at http://www.tes.co.uk or by going direct to this link http://www.tes.co.uk/tes-iboard TES Resources will continue to grow the collection as TES iboard, with new KS1 Literacy and Phonics activities being added through February 2010 and KS2 development...(read more)

Sebastian's Waddle

2010-01-26T12:07:00Z

I've just heard that Sebastian has been receiving quite a few emails recently. Lots of people writing about the changing seasons. Why not try Sebastian's Waddle , it's a good introduction for talking about changes in the Spring and also encouraging children to go outside and look for signs. ( Neat trick: why not look in the bottom RHS of your browser window and zoom in to make the book even larger). There's also the Sebastian's Search resource with three types of searches. (Along...(read more)

Chinese New Year 14th Feb 2010

2010-01-26T11:45:00Z

Chinese New Year is fast approaching, 14th February, (the first weekend of the holiday). The Kent ICT Chinese New Year pages have been updated for 2010. The Hong Bow is now available in a low ink use version . The old red background version is still available. :) James...(read more)

A Computer Per Student Leads to Higher Performance

2010-01-22T15:27:00Z

Students equipped with their own laptop demonstrate higher achievement and increased engagement, according to the findings of studies published in the Journal of Technology, Learning and Assessment. All of the studies found that students in the 1:1 settings outperformed their traditional classroom peers on English/Language Arts standardized tests by a statistically significant margin. Study authors also reported on evidence of increased student motivation and engagement, as well as changes in teachers'...(read more)

Visualisers

2010-01-20T11:34:00Z

Visualisers have been around for quite sometime now, but with the recent drop in price, many schools and Partnerships are now buying them to compliment the use of interactive whiteboards. A visualiser, at its simplest, is a video camera mounted on a stand that connects to a data projector. Objects can be placed under the camera and the image projected onto an interactive whiteboard. It is great for showing 3D objects, sharing books, children’s work, photographs and Blue Peter style “how tos”. Case...(read more)

Teachers take over BETT

2010-01-19T11:32:00Z

For those of you who able to attend Bett this year you may have seen exciting things happening. This years Bett was less about how many freebies one could stuff in a bag and more about how many good ideas one could gleam to use in class on Monday morning. Throughout the four days, passionate and inspiring teachers from all over the country took over suppliers stands to share with us how they are using ICT creatively in their classrooms. For many teachers attending Bett this year, it was these presentation...(read more)

New Elmo Software

2010-01-18T15:38:00Z

Having been to BETT and seen the new Elmo L-1ex Visualiser, with a remote control feature, I discovered that new software has been released for capturing and editing pictures and video. It also allows time-lapse photography. The download is free (27Mb) and you will need to uninstall the original software that came with the L-1N first. Get it here from the US website where it goes by the American model name of TT-02-RX, rather than L-1ex http://www.elmousa.com/download-archive.php scroll down to Document...(read more)

365 Facts of the Day Calendar

2010-01-14T10:05:00Z

The new Facts of the Day calendar is like an advent calendar,with an educational twist for each day of the year! Each date on this pictorial calendar contains a short article about a special event, famous person or interesting fact related to the day. It’s great way to encourage interesting registration discussions and gives students ideas for topics they can research themselves. It is also a very handy assembly planner http://www.projectbritain.com/calendar/ How would you use this calendar in the...(read more)

Healthy Lunchbox

2010-01-13T11:40:00Z

Here's a useful BBC News article about healthy lunch boxes. Includes images and a pie chart for anyone running a Healthy Eating topic: (Thanks to Simon Haughton for this one : Twitter: @simonhaughton) James:)...(read more)

RSPB Vidcast January 2010 - Using the FlashMeeting Presenter Board

2010-01-06T20:40:00Z

The FlashMeeting Presenter Board enables staff and pupils to use the classroom interactive Whiteboard to display images and record messages during a live web conference. Identifying and classifying common birds by observable features 18th January - 1st February 2010 Is your school planning to take part in The Kent and RSPB Bird Watch Surveys? To identify common birds Heather Chanter (RSPB Lifelong Education Officer) has created a short video for staff and pupils to view. To view this excellent learning...(read more)

Kent Statement re the blocking of Sparklebox

2010-01-05T21:32:00Z

The following post is from the Kent e-safety blog It has been bought to Kent County Council's attention that many Local Authorities are blocking a teaching resource website: sparklebox.co.uk. Although this website is popular with schools, CEOP has issued a statement supporting both this action and the following statement from South West Grid for Learning: “ It is understood that a person who is on the record as an owner and director of Sparklebox Teacher Resources Limited (which appears to claim...(read more)

Publishing Bird Trails and Walks

2009-12-18T16:41:00Z

Many schools in the Kent Birdwatch 2010 project will be using "I-Got-U 120" GPS data loggers to create and publish "Bird Trails" on Google maps. To illustrate how effectively this technology can be used to share information click on the links below. Route 1 - Dungeness RSPB Nature Reserve Created by Gill Hollamby (ARC Leading ICT Teacher) and Heather Chantler (RSPB Education Officer) Click here to view Dungeness Bird Walk Route 2 - A stroll along the River Medway Created by Lucy...(read more)