As a school who doesn’t have the luxury of 1:1 iPads, BookCreators summer update, whereby it is now possible to create interactive ebooks, in the chrome browser opens up a whole range of new possibilities.

Before this, I loved to use the visual storytelling of apps like Storybird but only I as a teacher could create books and it didn’t have the flexibility that BookCreator offers. I’m a big advocate of blogging, using stimulus such as the hundred word challenge by Julia Skinner, however apart from the confident writers in my class, many children cannot afford to show off their creativity.

The ability to unleash student creativity by combining text, images, audio and video creates an unlimited world of possibilities within the classroom. From creating interactive stories, retelling stories, creating comic adventures and combining children’s work is a fantastic addition to any classroom as it engages the reluctant learners.

As Computing coordinator in a large primary school, I have been able to create ebooks to support staff in using iPads:

iPad tips and tricks

As well as highlighting how to ‘Inspire Computing with Robotics’:

Using Robotics to Inspire

It is completely possible to create professional ebooks, such as My Pet Monster by Robyn Torry and Jason Sand.

My Pet Monster

The ability to share books online or embed them onto our class blog breaks down the barriers of the traditional classroom. Providing an authentic audience when demonstrating their understanding by publishing their work online ensures all children are intrinsically motivated to raise their game and ensure their work is the best that it can be.

I am excited this year to investigate how Bookcreator can set a purpose for learning by enhancing traditional methods as reading and writing into a collaborative, interactive and authentic learning process to improve educational outcomes in our class.

For further support Bookcreator has a whole host of support on their blog, webinars, and #BookCreator Twitter chats.

BookCreator was originally published in Radburn on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

If you have any questions, or want any advice please do not hesitate to leave me a comment and I’ll get back to you.

CAS Regional conference.ppt

CAS West Midlands Regional Conference was originally published in Radburn on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Attending my first Computer at Schools conference was such a privilege. Even on one of the hottest days of the year so far I had a tremendous time presenting along Matt Warne a fellow Master Teacher on ‘Robotics to Inspire’. Even my old university lecturer, Oliver Quinlan decided to attended our seminar. Hopefully over the summer I’ll have more time to explore to reflect on this, but in the meanwhile here is the book to get you inspired in using robotics [Beebots, Lego WeDo, Spheros, Drones etc.] in the classroom to support the Computing curriculum.

Using Robotics to Inspire

Using Robotics to Inspire was originally published in Radburn on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Its always much easier to edit code than start with a blank canvas.

When starting to explore the Scratch Music Machine Unit, I got my Year 3 Class to decompose an example from the Scratch website. The children had time to explore the game whilst filling out the decomposition sheet. They tested whether the given statements were true or false, and thought of any improvements they would make in the game. Children want to explore and play and already had some preconceived ideas what they want the game to do next. Whether it was adding a variety of complex sounds or being to create a rhythm.

Children are naturally curious. They want to explore, manipulate and test to the extremities of games and programs. In decomposing this game I didn’t let children explore the code, this will come later.

I will use this method again in further units, getting children to break down what the game does. Think about the outcomes and how they, as coders, will achieve their aims. I am looking forward to seeing what the children produce when they create their own version next week.

Decoding sheet.pdf

We have also used this with planning traffic lights in Flowol for Year 6.

traffic lightsaa.pdf

Teaching Decomposition was originally published in Radburn on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

There are many different models of educational technology integration when your looking at how to incorporate technology into the classroom. Doug Belshaw has explored several in this blog post.

One such model, SAMR originally designed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, is a model I have shared with my staff and one in which I constantly think about when introducing technology into the classroom. However as a word of warning I still think the WOW factor is a necessity when trying to engage both staff and children alike, so with any theory use it as a guideline for your own practice.

Technology has the power to enhance, but more powerfully transform how children learn from the world around them.

A working example of the model in practice.

Original Task: Give an overview of a location [Egypt] consisting of hand written content with cut-and-pasted magazine clippings.

Substitution

• Word processing.
• Copying information from the internet.
• Using presentation software to construct a presentation.

Augmentation

• Incorporate interactive multimedia — audio, video, hyperlinks — in the presentation to give more depth and provide more engaging presentation.

Modification

• Create a digital travel brochure that incorporates multimedia and student created video.

Redefinition

• Explore the locale with Google Earth; seek out and include interviews with people who have visited the local.

SAMR Model was originally published in Radburn on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A STEP BY STEP GUIDE

Animoto is a great site for quickly creating professional looking videos from your images. It is a great tool to use with students because it allows them to focus on content creation rather than trying to learn an editing or manipulation tool. In the school context, Animoto For Education is ideal tool for students to create their own booktrailers, digital stories or music videos.

Below is an example of a student created animito. Check out more student work here and learn more about using Animoto with students here!

Make a video of your own at Animoto.

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW A STEP BY STEP GUIDE

Using Animoto to create professional looking videos. was originally published in Radburn on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Click here to download a help sheet

Using Audioboo to capture magic

Audio Hosting Websites

Audio is used for a wide range of purpose including: grammar and fluency reading practices; delivering content; and engaging auditory learners.

Educators use audio hosting websites when they want to embed their audio within embedded players rather than uploading them directly to posts as a link. AudioBoom and SoundCloud are the most commonly used audio hosting websites. Both have iOS and Android applications which make these steps so much easier.

AudioBoom

AudioBoom is a website, and a smartphone and tablet app, which allows users to post and share sound files.

Here is a audio boo I created.

Click here to download a help sheet

Using Audioboom in the classroom was originally published in Radburn on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Example Padlet

Click here to download a help guide.

Padlet is an internet application that allows people to express their thoughts on a common topic easily. It works like an online sheet of paper where pupils and teachers can put content (e.g. images, videos, documents and text) any where on the page, together with anyone, from any device.

Think of it like a multimedia friendly, free-form, real-time wiki. Best of all, the children do not need to login.

Using a similar application (called lino.it) I used this in Year 4 — whereby I extend children’s answers by posting further questions in pink. They were researching the difference between India and the UK. I personally prefer Padlet as you can now approve posts if you want that level of security and atheistically you can have free form or stream posts.

Comparing cities

Geographical features (India)

Human geography (India)

Using Padlet in the classroom. was originally published in Radburn on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Using Coveritlive in the classoom
Using Coveritlive outside the classroom!
Coveritlive in Year 1 as they talk to toys in their class.

Click here to download a help guide by Brian Harkins.

Here is an example of a Coveritlive with Pie Corbett.

CoveritLive was originally published in Radburn on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Mark Addison wrote a similar post recently so I thought I would update my old post on a similar note below.

Primarily this is a guide how to upload and use images to your blog, but there are many useful links near the bottom about where to find images on the internet.

The majority of teachers use Google Images for all their images. However, doing this is wrong. The photo’s are licensed and you are opening yourself up for lawsuits or photographers to come after you to demand money or for you to remove the image from a publication.

However the solution is easy!

Uploading images to a blog.

If you want to use an image off the internet follow the guide below. Remember if you don’t own the image or it isn’t licensed under Creative Commons. DO NOT UPLOAD!

If you want to upload images you have taken on your class camera, make sure you have checked children’s permissions and follow this guide.

1. Login in
2. Click ‘New Post’
3. Click ‘Add Media’ [located above the big box]
4. Click ‘Upload files’ [this can be done straight from the camera]
5. Drag the images from your computer into this box
6. Select the right size from the drop down menu and click ‘Insert into Post’

If you have several images you may want to create a slideshow. Follow this link to find out how.

If your blog admin is on the ball they would have installed the Compfight plugin or a host of other options that allow you to pull Creative Common licensed images straight into your blog post.

Screen cast how to upload images to a blog.

Google Images

Compfight

Pixabay

Unsplash

Does it really matter where I can get images off the internet? was originally published in Radburn on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.