When using laptops, students get locked into a private virtual world, and collaboration becomes difficult.

Set up a Wallwisher facility, and get the students to share findings - you can project the Wallwisher page, and watch as the students' findings update on the screen!

Want to get your classes voting, but can't afford the £1000s needed for a hand held voting system? Then all is not lost. Log in to Socrative, and set up your poll for free. Students log in with laptops (or, in the braver school, their internet enabled phones) to a special student screen, and vote. Results are shown on the teacher's screen which can be projected onto a wall or whiteboard.

 Brilliant for plenaries! Could be brilliant for homeworks too!

http://www.socrative.com/

Gaudir de la lectura "indigenouslanguages.com" - Twitter tecnologia en el seu millor!

 Clue - try Google Translate!

Hello

o2, the mobile people with Sean Bean's adverts, have launched a new site for teachers and students.

Teachers (perhaps with the encouragement of their students) post short video lessons, which are then filed by subject on the site. Students (and teachers) can view these videos, and even post requests for topics to be covered.

Go to o2learn to find out more!

Hello

We're exploring some of the free apps available on the 'net at the moment. A current favourite is Weebly (Google it!), which allow s the creation of simple web pages online.Wordle is well known, but we also think that Bubbl.us is good.

I'm going to develop these apps as revision tools for Year 10 GCSE students and Ill report back on their effectiveness!

Hello

 Lots of people ask me how to change YouTube videos into a format that can be used with Powerpoint. I have been using "Super C", but recently found "Format Factory", which seems to be a very reliable and easy to use program.

 As usual, make sure your anti-virus software is up-to-date before you download anything, and run a scan on the file before you try to install the software itself.

I've been using Fomat Factory to:

• Change Youtube videos into .wmv files for use on Powerpoint slides.
• Change any video into a format that works on my phone
• Change videos into a format that works on the wife's iPod (wretched thing that it is)
• Change videos into a format that plays on a Nintendo DS!

Recommended!!!

 

http://www.formatoz.com/

During the last week of the Term, before the Easter Holiday, teachers often plan a study of Holy Week.

Plan some lessons around the excellent resources at http://www.rejesus.co.uk/site/module/faces_of_jesus/, and invite your students to describe the character of the "Jesus" portrayed in each picture.My personal favourite is this one:

 

Use the pictures to provoke discussion, create the "tweets" from the disciples for key stages in the story, or to inspire groups in the classroom to present different interpretations of the Holy Week and Easter events.

You can also find various versions of the Crucifixion on YouTube - refer to a previous blog for help with downloading the clips you want.

The rejesus site has some other resources that will liven up your lessons before and after Easter.

Enjoy!

I'm a member of a Microsoft Network of teachers. We met for a two day conference in November, hosted at Microsoft HQ - we were there for the launch of Windows 7!

The key to a good network is communication, but the members of this network are in Wales, Scotland and the North East, as well as more central locations. Obviously there is e-mail, and some of the group "tweet". However, this isn't a replacement for the close collaboration that took place during the conference. There is an on-line community, with a forum and resource area, but still not as interactive as a proper chat.

We have regular conference calls built in to the programme. I have a phone number to call, and a PIN to access the conference. I call at a set time (usually 4pm on a given day) and I'm able to talk to the other members of the Network.

I was a bit sceptical at first, but a clear etiquette and skillful chairing by the convenor meant that everyone had a say, and the experience was very rewarding.

I've noticed a conference facility built in to Fronter. Would teacher network meetings in Norfolk benefit from some on-line provision? It's a thought!

Increasingly I find that I am using my smartphone to access content on the net. Twitter, Facebook and Google are all formatted to fit a mobile screen, and I can access mobile versions of The Independent and the BBC. Unfortunately, some of my favourite sites are not compatible with a 640x360 screen, and I do a lot of swiping, scrolling and zooming to read the articles that interest me.

To see what I mean, use your phone to look at "Arts and Letters Daily" - (click here to visit)! It's a daily digest of all the interesting articles (world-wide!!!, but it is formatted in a three-column layout, which doesn't easily fit my phone screen, even in landscape.

I'm going to try "Feed2Mobile" to see how well it fits my RSS feeds. Now that students' PAYG mobiles come with remarkable amounts of web-download time, I want to see whether putting homework updates into an RSS feed which automatically updates is helpful for students who use their phones "properly"! Hopefully Fronter has an RSS feature! My concern would be that Feed2Mobile is unregulated, and it's possible that my feed could be listed alongside some less savoury content.

Feed2Mobile comes from the same people who provide my QR Code Barcode Reader (Kaywa).Read this barcode to go to my Mobile Blog!

If you haven't got a reader installed on your phone, there are plenty available - try some of the following sites:

Kaywa Reader

I-nigma

Get-Jar (this is a mobile software site - it lists several readers for download)

Check your mobile tariff before you get busy - make sure you aren't going to exceed your download limits, and check how much it costs to go on-line before you even start!!!

I found this article interesting:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/sme/virtual-solution-to-a

It's interesting to note the steps recommended by the consultant to establish a reliable network, and it's particularly interesting to see that Google is mentioned as a solution.

I've been using Google Docs for some time (even found a way to write and edit documents on my phone!). The word processor application is very similar to Word, and documents are easily shared simply by adding an e-mail address to it. 

It will be interesting to see whether Fronter becomes as easy to use.