Today was our final ICT session and we had to present our smart board presentations. I was feeling relatively happy with mine as I had added a number of the features that we learnt back in week 2 (so long ago!) and I thought it was fairly appealing for a Year 2 class. We presented in groups of 3 and I was very happy with the positive feedback I received. It was also great to see other peoples ideas. The teachers had the brilliant idea to put everyone's presentations into Dropbox so we could all share ideas. This will definitely be a beneficial support for our start to teaching.
I will definitely be sad not to have anymore ICT lessons. I have learnt a great deal and where I thought I was quite scared of ICT, I've now learnt to embrace it. Now I'm actually really excited to put forward some of the ideas we have learnt into the classroom. Thank you to Cathy who has been a great help in teaching us all of the ideas.
This blog has also been exceptionally beneficial to me and not only will I look back on it to remember these ideas but I will also add to it should I come across any other ICT ideas to use in the classroom. For now though I think I have a good starting point!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Friday 14 December 2012
Thursday 13 December 2012
Even more games- dance! Week 6
Dance to Advance
When we were first told we would be using the dance mats we were all very excited.
However, I don't think any of us really knew what to expect and as most of our knowledge of dance mats consists of dancing away to 'I will survive', we weren't too sure how it would apply to a primary class of 30.
But then in our class we were introduced to the delights that is 'Dance to Advance'; about as far away as you could go from Gloria Gaynor (much to the fortunes of the children!) Dance to Advance is described as being a way for students to 'dance their way to greater understanding and concept retention'. And it does just that! Instead of trying to tap out the moves on the screen onto the dance mat, as does the versions many of us know, it wants you us to tap out the correct answer to the question on the screen. You can see this idea more clearly below.
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| Here, children need to find out which of the presidents pictured was assassinated
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Dance to Advance has excellent cross-curricular links. It is easy for the teacher - or even the child - to come up with their own question and answers and therefore can be linked to any subject. In our ICT lesson I chose to do a Geography quiz, where the children needed to link the country to the correct flag. A video of this is shown below, which also highlights what happens when an answer is correct or incorrect.
Dance to Advance would also benefit EAL students, as the questions can be done with pictures or sounds and therefore they can be included easily.
There is no doubting how much fun this would be to use in the classroom and how much the children would enjoy it. It is highly interactive and such an enjoyable way for the children to learn and with the unlimited cross-curricular links, it would be ideal to have in a class. However, in all the schools I have worked in I have never seen one and unfortunately that leads us to their downsides; the cost. At $399 (Leading Digital) they do not come cheap, especially when only two children can use them at a time. As you have noticed, I have also used dollars and this is because they are still not very easy to come across in the UK, which is another downfall of the product.
So overall, whilst a great product and one I would absolutely love to use and could quite happily see myself enjoying making up the quizzes to, I do question how realistic it is to have these in a school. The cost is quite a lot for something not everyone can use at once and they don't seem to be something many UK schools have and therefore may be quite tricky to get hold of or persuade your school to purchase.
So overall, whilst a great product and one I would absolutely love to use and could quite happily see myself enjoying making up the quizzes to, I do question how realistic it is to have these in a school. The cost is quite a lot for something not everyone can use at once and they don't seem to be something many UK schools have and therefore may be quite tricky to get hold of or persuade your school to purchase.
Simulation and Adventure Games
Whilst most of the ICT lesson was spent looking at the dance mats and coming up with programmes for them, we did have a small amount of time to look at simulation and adventure games. The idea of simulation games isn't far off programming as children still need to analyse and problem-solve, as they take on a role that is meant to replicate a situation. In these situations, they explore possibilities and try out different solutions. These simulations can range from anything, from building your own rollercoaster to playing your own adventure game, as in Machinarisum.
Other than being enjoyable for the children and encouraging problem-solving, they can also be used cross-curricularly. For instance, when designing your own rollercoaster, it is important to think of the angles and distances that the rollercoaster will have to travel. Otherwise, the rollercoaster won't work. Kent ICT has a whole range of ideas for different simulations ranging from geography based ones such as Dumptown - a recycling simulation to history simulations such as being transported back to the Tudor time.
Again, these simulations do have some great cross-curricular links and are enjoyable for children. They are also a lot cheaper than Dance to Advance. I am disappointed I didn't get more time to play on these. However, I think it is something I definitely plan to use in the classroom, perhaps as an introduction to some topics such as the Tudors. I will definitely have fun in researching various simulations before I get in the classroom to know what is best for the children!
Again, these simulations do have some great cross-curricular links and are enjoyable for children. They are also a lot cheaper than Dance to Advance. I am disappointed I didn't get more time to play on these. However, I think it is something I definitely plan to use in the classroom, perhaps as an introduction to some topics such as the Tudors. I will definitely have fun in researching various simulations before I get in the classroom to know what is best for the children!
Saturday 8 December 2012
Programming Games Week 5
I have to admit that when I saw programming on the ICT schedule I wasn't too excited by the thought. Memories of programming in school and having to remember lots of commands, which I tended to get wrong, didn't make me feel at all motivated. But yet again I was pleasantly surprised, which was good considering the importance programming now has in primary schools.
So why do children need to learn to programme? I actually found a gaming website which came up with why programming in primary schools is so important. It states that children learn how to solve problems and how to break complex projects into smaller more manageable tasks; things they will need to be able to do not just cross-curricularly (e.g. maths) but also in day to day life. It is also important for children to be able to develop their own ideas and make their ideas happen.
LOGO - LOGO can be used as a starting point in teaching childen to programme, as it uses basic step by step instructions to get the turtle to move. Chris Abbott explains in his book ICT: Changing Education (2008) that LOGO was made by Seymour Papert and was based on actual theories of learning. He is described as acknowledging his debts to Piaget as he uses his way of thinking to determine that it would be effective for a child's learning if they learnt how to program. Children can generate shapes by giving simple commands to the turtles. It is a good start for children to understand programming and also has good maths cross curricular links, as well as encouraging proble-solving. I did enjoy using LOGO for a period but did start to tire of it and I think some of the other programmes, that are more interactive and colourful such as Scratch and Purple Mash, are likely to appeal more to the children.
Scratch- Scratch was mentioned by Michael Gove as being 'a potential classroom solution to “bored pupils and even more bored teachers”'. The Scratch site describes it as being programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web.
As young people create and share Scratch projects, they learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. Again, it also encourages problem-solving. I spent quite a bit of time on Scratch, starting with using the basic cat to make sound and do movement. I then decided to use different characters, that could change costumes and speak to one another. I spent about 5-10 minutes doing so and here is my result.
Scratch is ideal for all abilities of children as they can progress from doing these simple commands to more advance projects. I located a report that shows the possible ways children can use Scratch:
-A quiz style application showing several pictures and a question which responds to the user clicking on the slected answer.
The report also states the number of ways it uses ICT skills and programming skills ranging from manipulating graphic objects (ICT) to creating a sequence of commands (programming). It also states some other cross curricular links such as to science by simulating a car racing around a track and running out of fuel at a different rate depdning on the average speed around the track.
Overall I think that Scratch is ideal for the children and definitely a more imaginative and exciting programming tool than LOGO. I definitely plan to use it in schoolds
As there are so many different programmes, it means it can be differentiated to all abilities of children. PC Pro state that it is ideal as the 'projects are divided by age group and into primary-friendly themes such as About Me, Animals, Celebrations and The Environment'. This makes it very accessible for the children, who can not only access it in their classroom but can continue their learning at home. However, one downfall is that there is a cost to it -school can expect to pay around £600 for an annual license. Kodu - Kodu is a visual programming language made specifically for creating games. It will certainly appeal to the older children and as we were told, tends to be used more in KS3. This is highlighted even more as it can be used on the X-box; consoles that children will certainly use. It is also appealing and more advance then Scratch as the effects are more similar to those that are used in the games they will play and shows how they can make those games! However, for primary school children I do think it is too complicated. Having had a go myself, I really struggled using it and didn't enjoy the programme as much as the others. I think in a class setting, I would probably avoid to use it with the majority of my class and just keep aside for the Gifted and Talented.
With the exception of Kodu, I really enjoyed all of the programming software we used, especially Purple Mash and Scratch. It has definitely changed my perception on using programming and will definiely use it in the classroom. I think it promotes some excellent problem-solving skills and is a good way for children to enjoy their learning.
So why do children need to learn to programme? I actually found a gaming website which came up with why programming in primary schools is so important. It states that children learn how to solve problems and how to break complex projects into smaller more manageable tasks; things they will need to be able to do not just cross-curricularly (e.g. maths) but also in day to day life. It is also important for children to be able to develop their own ideas and make their ideas happen.
LOGO - LOGO can be used as a starting point in teaching childen to programme, as it uses basic step by step instructions to get the turtle to move. Chris Abbott explains in his book ICT: Changing Education (2008) that LOGO was made by Seymour Papert and was based on actual theories of learning. He is described as acknowledging his debts to Piaget as he uses his way of thinking to determine that it would be effective for a child's learning if they learnt how to program. Children can generate shapes by giving simple commands to the turtles. It is a good start for children to understand programming and also has good maths cross curricular links, as well as encouraging proble-solving. I did enjoy using LOGO for a period but did start to tire of it and I think some of the other programmes, that are more interactive and colourful such as Scratch and Purple Mash, are likely to appeal more to the children.
Scratch- Scratch was mentioned by Michael Gove as being 'a potential classroom solution to “bored pupils and even more bored teachers”'. The Scratch site describes it as being programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web.
As young people create and share Scratch projects, they learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. Again, it also encourages problem-solving. I spent quite a bit of time on Scratch, starting with using the basic cat to make sound and do movement. I then decided to use different characters, that could change costumes and speak to one another. I spent about 5-10 minutes doing so and here is my result.
Scratch is ideal for all abilities of children as they can progress from doing these simple commands to more advance projects. I located a report that shows the possible ways children can use Scratch:
-A simple game where the player controls a sprite chasing another sprite around the screen
- An animation with sprites representing the letters of the programmer’s name with each lettern spinninf or otherwise moving around the screen and played a sound when clicked.
-A quiz style application showing several pictures and a question which responds to the user clicking on the slected answer.
-A multimedia presentation incorporating photographs with sound recordings providing explanations as the user clicks on each item.
The report also states the number of ways it uses ICT skills and programming skills ranging from manipulating graphic objects (ICT) to creating a sequence of commands (programming). It also states some other cross curricular links such as to science by simulating a car racing around a track and running out of fuel at a different rate depdning on the average speed around the track.
Overall I think that Scratch is ideal for the children and definitely a more imaginative and exciting programming tool than LOGO. I definitely plan to use it in schoolds
Purple Mash - Purple Mash is what I spent the most time on during our ICT lesson. On the website, it states that purple mash is a ' mash-up of creative tools and curriculum focused applications to support and inspire children throughout the curriculum'. It has a large range of activities for children. Some are simply educational games for them to play by themselves, whilst others involve children to programme their own games. I spent my time on Purple Mash creating a game as you can see below. At first I had made it too easy and the second time I had made it too difficult. Problem-solving is being extensively used to try and figure out how to make the game challenging, but do-able.
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| Creating the game on Purple Mash |
As there are so many different programmes, it means it can be differentiated to all abilities of children. PC Pro state that it is ideal as the 'projects are divided by age group and into primary-friendly themes such as About Me, Animals, Celebrations and The Environment'. This makes it very accessible for the children, who can not only access it in their classroom but can continue their learning at home. However, one downfall is that there is a cost to it -school can expect to pay around £600 for an annual license. Kodu - Kodu is a visual programming language made specifically for creating games. It will certainly appeal to the older children and as we were told, tends to be used more in KS3. This is highlighted even more as it can be used on the X-box; consoles that children will certainly use. It is also appealing and more advance then Scratch as the effects are more similar to those that are used in the games they will play and shows how they can make those games! However, for primary school children I do think it is too complicated. Having had a go myself, I really struggled using it and didn't enjoy the programme as much as the others. I think in a class setting, I would probably avoid to use it with the majority of my class and just keep aside for the Gifted and Talented.
With the exception of Kodu, I really enjoyed all of the programming software we used, especially Purple Mash and Scratch. It has definitely changed my perception on using programming and will definiely use it in the classroom. I think it promotes some excellent problem-solving skills and is a good way for children to enjoy their learning.
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