Having lamented the decline of ICT in UK schools, I spent the rest of the afternoon bugging Mrs RNG who was preparing for an interview tomorrow. One of her tasks is to teach crumple zones and she wanted to have a nice, simple way to demonstrate this effect (yes, I know there is loads of stuff like this on the interwebs but time and resources where somewhat limited). After much head scratching, it was decided to drop an egg onto (a) a plastic tray and then (b) the same tray covered in cling film (to simulate a deforming crumple zone) and so it was. We headed into the grounds of Chateau RNG armed with a clue of eggs, a tray and some cling film.
The iOS bit
Yesterday I finally upgraded my beloved, reliable and well abused iPhone 3G to a spanking new iPhone 4S. My main justification for this was the ability to film and edit high quality video on the go so this seemed like a good time to prove if this was a good enough reason. Armed with said iPhone and a copy of iMovie, I set about filming and editing our little experiment and ten minutes later, the results where loaded to my You Tube channel. Sweet, you can see the results below:
Now, this got me thinking (oh oh, here we go)
What if
What if we allowed the students to use there own ICT in class? What if we actually encouraged them to use the same communication methods they use to arrange a mob to smash up a phone box* and then post the results up to You Tube? What if, rather than write up an experiment, they filmed it, recorded there spoken conclusion rather than wrote it down? They could post it up to You Tube/Soundcloud etc and then share the link with you, kind of like modern ICT usage, the so of stuff we adults do.
This reminded me of one of my lesson last week, we where doing a worksheet about volcanoes and I saw an iPod Touch out on a desk. I approached the student and had a look to see which lame social networking site they where on. Up on the screen was a Wikipedia page about igneous rock!
If only...
*phone box, a kind of kiosk that may or may not contain a working telephone. Originally designed as a way for people without home telephones to communicate with others on the phone network. Now mostly used as toilets.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, November 20, 2011
If only...
I'm back teaching Science this term and it's quite an eye opener having spent three years teaching Project Based Learning (PBL). PBL was very ICT intensive, all students in year 7 where given their own netbook and where expected to use it most session. Now obviously a lot of time could be wasted with games etc. but a well managed lesson was a joy to behold. How different it is in Science. Our idea of ICT is to show a PowerPoint presentation or the odd video and getting the data loggers out. Lessons have structure and timings and generally, the teacher is in control. I teach a couple of groups I had last year and It is interesting to watch how the students behave. Generally, there is less time for being off task and students like the structure and knowing what they have to do but they lose out on some of the skills they where using in PBL. This is most obvious when it comes to report writing time. At my school, we use Attitude's to Learning (AtL's) as part of the report. We have 4 R's, Resilience, Resourcefulness, Reflectiveness and Reciprocity (based on Guy Claxton's Building Learning Power). When teaching PBL it was fairly easy to assign grades for these as they where built into the projects with plenty of scope to demonstrate them. In Science, we set the work so Resourcefulness is less easy to grade as little opportunity is given for students to be resourceful. Ditto with Reflectiveness so my task this year is to work on how to integrate more student guided learning into Science thus giving students opportunity to demonstrate Resourcefulness and Reflectiveness.
Off course, this would be an easy task if we weren't subject to quite large budget cuts in education here in the UK. We no longer have the money to supply all students with their own netbook. All that work on our Learning Platform and uploading resources, setting projects that require ICT etc. all for nothing. It's even worse when I think of how well my year 8 groups can integrate the use of their laptops into Science lessons. They will happily sit with a worksheet in front of them and use the netbook to look up words or complex processes like the Rock Cycle to help them answer questions. They will research uses of rocks for a mini project (we are doing rocks and weathering and I set the question " why are rocks so special" to run alongside the work in class) and share their research with me on Google docs as if it's second nature.
So what a shame then that the UK government have decided that a good way to cut the deficit is to slash education spending and cut ICT from the core curriculum. What happened to education being important for not only the individual but also the country?
Education, if only...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Off course, this would be an easy task if we weren't subject to quite large budget cuts in education here in the UK. We no longer have the money to supply all students with their own netbook. All that work on our Learning Platform and uploading resources, setting projects that require ICT etc. all for nothing. It's even worse when I think of how well my year 8 groups can integrate the use of their laptops into Science lessons. They will happily sit with a worksheet in front of them and use the netbook to look up words or complex processes like the Rock Cycle to help them answer questions. They will research uses of rocks for a mini project (we are doing rocks and weathering and I set the question " why are rocks so special" to run alongside the work in class) and share their research with me on Google docs as if it's second nature.
So what a shame then that the UK government have decided that a good way to cut the deficit is to slash education spending and cut ICT from the core curriculum. What happened to education being important for not only the individual but also the country?
Education, if only...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Virgin Superfast Broadband!
Apologies, I haven't been able to post for a while due to my moving house. For non-UK readers, this is a lengthy ordeal that involves many months of paying people to sit around and do nothing whilst you tear your hair out and wonder why a solicitor will charge you £75 for two phone calls you had to make.
Anyway, I have moved, 5 miles outside of the 5th largest city in the UK. This is relevant as for the last 8 years, I have enjoyed high speed Internet access via fibre optic cable. Well, those days have now ended. Even though I can see Bristol city centre from my house, I am stuck on Virgin Superfast Broadband (VSB) no cable out here in the sticks.
So, I moved and as requested, my VSB kit was waiting for me in my new house. I followed the instructions (basically, plug in a splitter on your phone line, plug half of the line into a combined ASDL modem/wireless access point and away you go. Indeed, away we did, it all worked swimmingly well for the first day or two. Two iPads, a MacBook Pro and an iMac sat nicely on the network, two Linux Netbooks where added and all was well, speed was down a little but this was to be expected. The fun started when I wanted to update a couple, of apps on on the iPad, I kept getting an error message saying the server timed out, strange. Then I ran software update on the iMac and got a similar error, hmmm. Then I started getting signal drop outs on all the machines, my network also had the speed and reliability of a message in a bottle, time for action, time to phone Virgin
Virgin where very accommodating and informed me, quite nicely but with a firm tone, that the problem lay with British Telecom (actual owners of the line). This was quite perceptive of Virgin given I hadn't yet told them what the problem was! Anyway, they where quite insistent so I phoned British Telecom (BT). They informed me that the line was state of the art (although they didn't say for which decade) and that the problem was most definitely with Virgin and not with them! A pattern now developed with each side playing one another off until I finally got fed up and decided there was only one way to solve the problem-Internet forums!
They long and short is:
1. To solve ASDL problems, find the socket that comes into your home,
2. Unscrew the faceplate and take it off to reveal a hidden phone socket.
3. Plug your equipment into this socket (it is the engineers test socket).
4. Wait a couple of days, it won't solve your problems but will p**s off your telecoms company who will send an engineer round and sort your line.
5. Take the supplied equipment (usually a combined Netgear job) and throw it in the bin.
6. Buy a proper ASDL modem and a proper Wireless Access Point.
7. Buy a proper splitter and cable.
8. Under no circumstances must you mention any operating system other than Windows* as doing so will severely delay any proper response to your problem.
9. Do not move to the country.
So, I bought a Netgear ASDL router (big up to PC World Cribbs Causeway who actually knew what they where talking about and gave me sale or return on the kit), plugged it into a new splitter and wire and connected it all up to my Airport Extreme and we now have a stable (ie. no dropping out) network and the line is a little faster too.
Anyway, I'm back up and running inn cyberspace and will post more soon, off to grab iOS 5 and have a play.
*when asked what computer I had, I stupidly said "an iPad". This was met with "ah, well there's your problem.." Regardless of the fact that my Win XP machine wouldn't play either (in fact worse really as its a Netbook with a rubbish wireless card), the official diagnosis was now "it's a Mac problem".
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Anyway, I have moved, 5 miles outside of the 5th largest city in the UK. This is relevant as for the last 8 years, I have enjoyed high speed Internet access via fibre optic cable. Well, those days have now ended. Even though I can see Bristol city centre from my house, I am stuck on Virgin Superfast Broadband (VSB) no cable out here in the sticks.
So, I moved and as requested, my VSB kit was waiting for me in my new house. I followed the instructions (basically, plug in a splitter on your phone line, plug half of the line into a combined ASDL modem/wireless access point and away you go. Indeed, away we did, it all worked swimmingly well for the first day or two. Two iPads, a MacBook Pro and an iMac sat nicely on the network, two Linux Netbooks where added and all was well, speed was down a little but this was to be expected. The fun started when I wanted to update a couple, of apps on on the iPad, I kept getting an error message saying the server timed out, strange. Then I ran software update on the iMac and got a similar error, hmmm. Then I started getting signal drop outs on all the machines, my network also had the speed and reliability of a message in a bottle, time for action, time to phone Virgin
Virgin where very accommodating and informed me, quite nicely but with a firm tone, that the problem lay with British Telecom (actual owners of the line). This was quite perceptive of Virgin given I hadn't yet told them what the problem was! Anyway, they where quite insistent so I phoned British Telecom (BT). They informed me that the line was state of the art (although they didn't say for which decade) and that the problem was most definitely with Virgin and not with them! A pattern now developed with each side playing one another off until I finally got fed up and decided there was only one way to solve the problem-Internet forums!
They long and short is:
1. To solve ASDL problems, find the socket that comes into your home,
2. Unscrew the faceplate and take it off to reveal a hidden phone socket.
3. Plug your equipment into this socket (it is the engineers test socket).
4. Wait a couple of days, it won't solve your problems but will p**s off your telecoms company who will send an engineer round and sort your line.
5. Take the supplied equipment (usually a combined Netgear job) and throw it in the bin.
6. Buy a proper ASDL modem and a proper Wireless Access Point.
7. Buy a proper splitter and cable.
8. Under no circumstances must you mention any operating system other than Windows* as doing so will severely delay any proper response to your problem.
9. Do not move to the country.
So, I bought a Netgear ASDL router (big up to PC World Cribbs Causeway who actually knew what they where talking about and gave me sale or return on the kit), plugged it into a new splitter and wire and connected it all up to my Airport Extreme and we now have a stable (ie. no dropping out) network and the line is a little faster too.
Anyway, I'm back up and running inn cyberspace and will post more soon, off to grab iOS 5 and have a play.
*when asked what computer I had, I stupidly said "an iPad". This was met with "ah, well there's your problem.." Regardless of the fact that my Win XP machine wouldn't play either (in fact worse really as its a Netbook with a rubbish wireless card), the official diagnosis was now "it's a Mac problem".
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, July 7, 2011
A poll
using the fantastic polleverywhere:
Get a free sms student response system at Poll Everywhere
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Another day, another video!
OK, got the bit between my teeth now, so another video is produced! As I explained yesterday, I purchased a new point and shoot camera last week (the superb Fuji AV 180, plug it again as I'm really impressed by this camera) now obviously, as I had a new toy, so Mrs RNG must have a new toy also (she bought a Canon SX220, substantially more expensive than my Fuji) to complement her SLR and digital SLR. So, this afternoon, armed with new cameras, we set of for the local beauty spot known as Chew Valley Lake. It really was a gorgeous afternoon here in the South West of England and nature was in full swing making the most of what will probably turn out to be The summer.
Photos and videos where taken, on return to Chateaux RNG, the Fuji AV 180 was plugged straight into the iPad via the camera connection kit, photos and videos downloaded to iPad ready for viewing. One neat trick the Fuji has is the ability to take a 3 shot panorama, it's a bit of a novelty but quite nice and I used this feature to take the opening photo on the first frame in the slideshow (the panorama of the lake).
I made the opening title in iDraw (using the aforementioned panorama) and saved this to photos, them loaded it into PhotoPad to crop it to size and then saved it back to photos.
Once everything was ready, I opened up ReelDirector and began loading in my photos and videos to make the slideshow below. A few pan and zoom effects, altered timings (the default is 4s), closing credits and a soundtrack (apologies for the music, don't have a large selection on the iPad) and we are ready to go. OK, ReelDirector crashed (a sort of half crash, it closes but is still in the app switcher and when you tap it and open up your project, it is saved to the point it crashed. Weird) a few times along the way but no big deal. Video rendered whilst I cooked tea (it does take long time) and then uploaded to YouTube before being embedded into this post.
As I said in a previous post, I'm not the most creative person but I am loving the way the iPad encourages you to do things you wouldn't normally do. It doesn't do anything you couldn't do on a "proper" computer but it does it such a way that it feels way easier. I use Movie Maker a lot at school but it's no where near as nice to use as ReelDirector on the iPad (crashing and all). Throw in the Camera Connection kit/cheap Fuji camera combo with no stupid wizards trying to help and the whole experience is a pleasure. One that can be enjoyed whilst semi-reclining on the sofa watching antiques roadshow (sorry, I'm not even going to try to explain that one to non-UK residents. Just chalk it up as an "English thing").
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Photos and videos where taken, on return to Chateaux RNG, the Fuji AV 180 was plugged straight into the iPad via the camera connection kit, photos and videos downloaded to iPad ready for viewing. One neat trick the Fuji has is the ability to take a 3 shot panorama, it's a bit of a novelty but quite nice and I used this feature to take the opening photo on the first frame in the slideshow (the panorama of the lake).
I made the opening title in iDraw (using the aforementioned panorama) and saved this to photos, them loaded it into PhotoPad to crop it to size and then saved it back to photos.
Once everything was ready, I opened up ReelDirector and began loading in my photos and videos to make the slideshow below. A few pan and zoom effects, altered timings (the default is 4s), closing credits and a soundtrack (apologies for the music, don't have a large selection on the iPad) and we are ready to go. OK, ReelDirector crashed (a sort of half crash, it closes but is still in the app switcher and when you tap it and open up your project, it is saved to the point it crashed. Weird) a few times along the way but no big deal. Video rendered whilst I cooked tea (it does take long time) and then uploaded to YouTube before being embedded into this post.
As I said in a previous post, I'm not the most creative person but I am loving the way the iPad encourages you to do things you wouldn't normally do. It doesn't do anything you couldn't do on a "proper" computer but it does it such a way that it feels way easier. I use Movie Maker a lot at school but it's no where near as nice to use as ReelDirector on the iPad (crashing and all). Throw in the Camera Connection kit/cheap Fuji camera combo with no stupid wizards trying to help and the whole experience is a pleasure. One that can be enjoyed whilst semi-reclining on the sofa watching antiques roadshow (sorry, I'm not even going to try to explain that one to non-UK residents. Just chalk it up as an "English thing").
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Saturday, April 16, 2011
iPad does video
I've always fancied producing videos, in fact, the only thing that has really held me back is the lack of ability in creating said media. Now, at school we use Windows Movie Maker a lot for producing videos, or more accurately, slideshows with music, and to be honest, it doesn't do a bad job. However, I have always thought that the iPad would be an ideal tool for making videos, the interface lends itself well to moving things around on screen (like moving clips along a timeline) and the screen is ideal for viewing finished videos. Alas, I have an iPad 1 and it doesn't have any cameras. Also, as we all know, iPad is only good for consumption of media, not for creation.
I had a meeting with a colleague last week who is also looking to use iPads in an educational setting and was a little concerned that all the advice they had been given indicated that iPads where only of use for consumption and that they couldn't be used for any kind of productivity. Luckily, they had read my blog and weren't convinced that the iPad was totally useless. This got me thinking, I wonder if I could create a video on an iPad?
Earlier in the week I bought a new digital camera and a camera connection kit. I had been meaning to do this for a while, I wanted a cheap, point and shot camera that I could carry in my pocket, just in case. Handily, Jessops (a UK camera shop) had a rather nice Fuji AV 180 for sale for £49 so one was purchased. All I needed now was something to photograph/film and an app. The subject was easy enough, Saturday was the day of the Italian Car Show in the centre of Bristol. A little reading around on the Internet saw me purchase Reel Director (£1.49) and we where ready to go.
Photo's where taken, video shot, camera connection kit plugged in, media uploaded and video production commenced. I won't bore you with the details but the finished article was uploaded to YouTube (direct from the app) and the results can be seen below:
OK, not the greatest video but it does give you an idea of what you can produce. Reel Director certainly gives Movie Maker a good run for the money. It might not be as fully featured (although it's not far off) but what it lacks in features, it makes up for in ease of use. It is a little flaky and prone to crashing (just like MM!) but unlike Movie Maker, if it does crash, you don't lose all your work. Rendering can take a while but it will render in the background.
Most of this is academic as if you have an iPad 2, you can purchase iMovie however it is useful to know that the camera connection kit works well and that movies for digital camera's can be loaded onto the iPad (into the Photo's app) and accessed by other apps such as Reel Director. Reel Director is easy to use, allows for titles, transitions, text, and pan and zoom effects as well as trimming and cropping video. It will export to the camera roll or upload straight up to YouTube.
All in all, iPad and Reel Director make a very usable combination and prove once again that iPad is so much more than just a media consumption device. If only Apple had fitted a Floppy Disc Drive!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I had a meeting with a colleague last week who is also looking to use iPads in an educational setting and was a little concerned that all the advice they had been given indicated that iPads where only of use for consumption and that they couldn't be used for any kind of productivity. Luckily, they had read my blog and weren't convinced that the iPad was totally useless. This got me thinking, I wonder if I could create a video on an iPad?
Earlier in the week I bought a new digital camera and a camera connection kit. I had been meaning to do this for a while, I wanted a cheap, point and shot camera that I could carry in my pocket, just in case. Handily, Jessops (a UK camera shop) had a rather nice Fuji AV 180 for sale for £49 so one was purchased. All I needed now was something to photograph/film and an app. The subject was easy enough, Saturday was the day of the Italian Car Show in the centre of Bristol. A little reading around on the Internet saw me purchase Reel Director (£1.49) and we where ready to go.
Photo's where taken, video shot, camera connection kit plugged in, media uploaded and video production commenced. I won't bore you with the details but the finished article was uploaded to YouTube (direct from the app) and the results can be seen below:
OK, not the greatest video but it does give you an idea of what you can produce. Reel Director certainly gives Movie Maker a good run for the money. It might not be as fully featured (although it's not far off) but what it lacks in features, it makes up for in ease of use. It is a little flaky and prone to crashing (just like MM!) but unlike Movie Maker, if it does crash, you don't lose all your work. Rendering can take a while but it will render in the background.
Most of this is academic as if you have an iPad 2, you can purchase iMovie however it is useful to know that the camera connection kit works well and that movies for digital camera's can be loaded onto the iPad (into the Photo's app) and accessed by other apps such as Reel Director. Reel Director is easy to use, allows for titles, transitions, text, and pan and zoom effects as well as trimming and cropping video. It will export to the camera roll or upload straight up to YouTube.
All in all, iPad and Reel Director make a very usable combination and prove once again that iPad is so much more than just a media consumption device. If only Apple had fitted a Floppy Disc Drive!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, April 15, 2011
Testing animoto
Just been checking out the Animoto app, it's free and it makes slide shows.
Gospel Pass Audax (Edited)
Enjoy
Edit: apologies if you've been to this post looking for information on the Animoto app, I threw this post together on Friday and never got around to finishing it off so a few words about Animoto:
Firstly, it's a free app for iPhone/iPod Touch.
It allows you to select up to 16 photos and a piece of music (provided by the app, you can't use your own music) and it will make a slideshow for you.
You can then share your Animoto shows online (via a URL as above, Animoto e-mail you the link when you upload), via Twitter, FaceBook or e-mail.
There is a free web service Animoto that allows you to do similar, but more featured, shows online.
The app doesn't load up your shows to your online account, which is a shame as it does download shows from your online account.
It's free and it's quite a nice app and the online service is really good.
You are limited to 30 second shows in the free app/account
The photo's where taken on my iPhone on this years Gospel Pass 150 km Audax.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Gospel Pass Audax (Edited)
Enjoy
Edit: apologies if you've been to this post looking for information on the Animoto app, I threw this post together on Friday and never got around to finishing it off so a few words about Animoto:
Firstly, it's a free app for iPhone/iPod Touch.
It allows you to select up to 16 photos and a piece of music (provided by the app, you can't use your own music) and it will make a slideshow for you.
You can then share your Animoto shows online (via a URL as above, Animoto e-mail you the link when you upload), via Twitter, FaceBook or e-mail.
There is a free web service Animoto that allows you to do similar, but more featured, shows online.
The app doesn't load up your shows to your online account, which is a shame as it does download shows from your online account.
It's free and it's quite a nice app and the online service is really good.
You are limited to 30 second shows in the free app/account
The photo's where taken on my iPhone on this years Gospel Pass 150 km Audax.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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