My graphs and comments are on the discussion board if you need them to be copied into the blog please could you let me know and I will do so. Thanks.
I'm sorry to say that I didn't find the discussion boards particularly helpful in this situation, especially since I see the person everyday and it is much easier to talk face to face and look at something they have produced with them there to explain what they have done and then ask questions with immediate answers than it is to use the discussion board. I also think that I prefer emails if you are having a one on one discussion with someone s it is much more private and personal.
I do however think they could be useful for a class debate in the summer holidays, as a 'staffroom' forum, so that staff can discuss school issues if it is difficult to always get people together and there isn't time in the staff meetings, or as a consultation with other trainees/teachers from the local LEA who don't necessarily know eachother but are looking for some guidance or advice and want several opinions.
I think that for pupils it could be used to put homework on it so that the teacher can mark it, comment on it and then the child look again, but I think this is not the most effective way with children of this age. They may have difficulties reading the comments, using the discussion board, having access to the internet at home and the comments wouldn't be confidential. It allows for copying as children can see what others have done. I don't think that the children would actually look at the comments, they tend to have short-term memories with work and I'm not even sure they look in their books at comments. We were having this discussion in Teaching and Learning yesterday. I also think that sometimes it is better for the teacher to tell the child the feedback personally.
So how could you use discussion boards in Primary Schools for pupils.... ooh!!! Ihave it, the school council could use it to find out what people think about school life and school issues for pupils - a pupils voice, I could see this working well for the older children, but again I don't really think that discussion boards are suitable for KS1 who may find it very difficult to read and use the software.
So in conclusion I think that discussion boards can certainly have their place in schools, but they have to be carefully considered and sometimes other methods are simply more accessible to children.
Thursday, 6 December 2007
Monday, 3 December 2007
Such Fun!!!
I loved today's lesson! It was so much fun!!! I found using the new software really informative and could see a great use for it's application in the classroom. I enjoyed Textease as it was so versatile and free. It allows users to create more imaginative and exciting work and has the added benefit of being able to connect to the internet at the same time so that you can research resources or images to add to your work.
I particularly enjoyed using the tutle tool, which would be excellent for KS1 for directions. Although I couldn't get it to play on it's own, which was a little frustrating. My favourite aspect of Textease was the branching database function, which I feel is hugely beneficial. In a Science SATs practice paper my SBT1 class were doing recently they had one of these, where they had to identify what a leaf was by looking at its features. They all found this really difficult and confusing, so this function would be fantastic to help them practice and get used to them. I particularly enjoyed replacing the name of the animal with a photo of the animal from google images as I think this presents better, helps children who don't know what something looks like for example my partner didn't know what a wombat looked like and adds a even more fun to the task.
I also really loved the applications on Inspire 8. I found the idea of using a mind map on the computer fascinating and for those who like a little more order (like myself) there is always the tree format. I used it to represent some of the places that I have travelled too and places in those countries that I went to. I then used images from the software to represent my memory of the place. This would be a helpful revision tool for those that are visual learners, as they could associate the picture with the word. As said in class these are also very good for children with Dyslexia as it helps them to get their thoughts down on paper and organise them so that they can then write about them. Good for story planning. Also could to record what has been learnt about a subject.
The final application we didn't get to finish looking at, but another useful tool, a survey/test program that presents the results for you to interpret and analyse - a wonderful tool to save time, which is seriously lacking in our profession! Definately one to remember!
Thanks for a great lesson!
Tara for now!
I particularly enjoyed using the tutle tool, which would be excellent for KS1 for directions. Although I couldn't get it to play on it's own, which was a little frustrating. My favourite aspect of Textease was the branching database function, which I feel is hugely beneficial. In a Science SATs practice paper my SBT1 class were doing recently they had one of these, where they had to identify what a leaf was by looking at its features. They all found this really difficult and confusing, so this function would be fantastic to help them practice and get used to them. I particularly enjoyed replacing the name of the animal with a photo of the animal from google images as I think this presents better, helps children who don't know what something looks like for example my partner didn't know what a wombat looked like and adds a even more fun to the task.
I also really loved the applications on Inspire 8. I found the idea of using a mind map on the computer fascinating and for those who like a little more order (like myself) there is always the tree format. I used it to represent some of the places that I have travelled too and places in those countries that I went to. I then used images from the software to represent my memory of the place. This would be a helpful revision tool for those that are visual learners, as they could associate the picture with the word. As said in class these are also very good for children with Dyslexia as it helps them to get their thoughts down on paper and organise them so that they can then write about them. Good for story planning. Also could to record what has been learnt about a subject.
The final application we didn't get to finish looking at, but another useful tool, a survey/test program that presents the results for you to interpret and analyse - a wonderful tool to save time, which is seriously lacking in our profession! Definately one to remember!
Thanks for a great lesson!
Tara for now!
Saturday, 1 December 2007
ICT Resources in Schools
Good afternoon!
This week in ICT we were unfortunate not to have a computer room, so we went through some ways of using spreadsheets in the classroom for maths investigations, which the children would really enjoy, but there are not the resources in many schools to actually allow for this to really be developed. In my SBT1 class they go to ICT for 45 minutes once a week. By the time they get to the room, log in and fuss around for 5 minutes, log off and go back upstairs they only actually have 30 minutes of a lesson, which is not even taught by the class teacher, which would have helped as the input and plenary could be done in the classroom before and after the lesson, so that time on the computer is maximised. You could start the task, but by the time they have all understood and got into it it would be time to pack up, by the next week they will have forgotten what they did and it all has to be reiterated. Having said this I don't think it should put us off trying to show them how to use computers for maths investigations, I just think that it is ridiculous how little time the children get to use the computers each week!
There are only 13 classes in the school from reception to year 6. Each class is split in half to use the computers so that is only 19.5 hours a week for all children to use the computers for 45 mins a week, that leaves us 6 hours a week where the computers are not in use surely this time could be divided so that some classes get an hour one week and 45 minutes the next, or if more computers were brought then there would be a lot more time. I know that money and space are tight, but I think that in this day and age children should have a lot more than 45 minutes a week on the computer in a structured lesson. If the teacher wants to use ICT as a cross-curricular subject they can't, its very frustrating!!!!!
We also looked at some of the IWB software available for smartboard. I think IWB's are brilliant, I know they have problems, but doesn't everything!! I think that we should use them for their advantages which are huge and stop moaning about why they are problematic. At least we actually have this resource in the classroom available to us and the children love to use it in my experience. I was making a bit of a mess of it, I kept forgetting to put the pen down when I was trying to move something, or rub something out and the children were ever so helpful, telling me what to do. Anything that I can find to help me in the classroom this year I am going to embrace as it helps to make this very hectic and stressful year that little bit easier!
Okay, rant over for now! See you next week!
This week in ICT we were unfortunate not to have a computer room, so we went through some ways of using spreadsheets in the classroom for maths investigations, which the children would really enjoy, but there are not the resources in many schools to actually allow for this to really be developed. In my SBT1 class they go to ICT for 45 minutes once a week. By the time they get to the room, log in and fuss around for 5 minutes, log off and go back upstairs they only actually have 30 minutes of a lesson, which is not even taught by the class teacher, which would have helped as the input and plenary could be done in the classroom before and after the lesson, so that time on the computer is maximised. You could start the task, but by the time they have all understood and got into it it would be time to pack up, by the next week they will have forgotten what they did and it all has to be reiterated. Having said this I don't think it should put us off trying to show them how to use computers for maths investigations, I just think that it is ridiculous how little time the children get to use the computers each week!
There are only 13 classes in the school from reception to year 6. Each class is split in half to use the computers so that is only 19.5 hours a week for all children to use the computers for 45 mins a week, that leaves us 6 hours a week where the computers are not in use surely this time could be divided so that some classes get an hour one week and 45 minutes the next, or if more computers were brought then there would be a lot more time. I know that money and space are tight, but I think that in this day and age children should have a lot more than 45 minutes a week on the computer in a structured lesson. If the teacher wants to use ICT as a cross-curricular subject they can't, its very frustrating!!!!!
We also looked at some of the IWB software available for smartboard. I think IWB's are brilliant, I know they have problems, but doesn't everything!! I think that we should use them for their advantages which are huge and stop moaning about why they are problematic. At least we actually have this resource in the classroom available to us and the children love to use it in my experience. I was making a bit of a mess of it, I kept forgetting to put the pen down when I was trying to move something, or rub something out and the children were ever so helpful, telling me what to do. Anything that I can find to help me in the classroom this year I am going to embrace as it helps to make this very hectic and stressful year that little bit easier!
Okay, rant over for now! See you next week!
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