Flowal programme!

Last session we had to create a flow system of an object that uses electricity. There were several items to choose from such as a feress wheel and a variety of others. I chose the traffic lights, pictured here on the left. Each trafic light colour had a different number of which you had to switch on or off and alter the timings for. There were a selection of boxes on the left hand side of the screen in which you selected according to which action you wanted to perform. The diagram began with start, then the the output you wanted on, how long you wanted to delay it for and the another ouput etc. You continued with this process untill you had formed the correct order and then added in the arrows for the system to flow. The lights then corresponded to each other and your own set of traffic lights were created!

Overall I did find the whole process pretty tedious, however for the more technically minded this may have been heaps of fun! I just got pretty annoyed with it!! For schools however, it seems like a good way of getting the children to order ceratain things and concentrate hard on producing a technical product.

Geo-Caching and Geo-tagging!!

What is Geo-Caching and Geo-tagging you may ask??? I had absolutely no clue what so ever untill the other days lecture!!

Geocaching is -'a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online.' (for more info on this check out this website all about this fascinating 'sport!' http://www.geocaching.com/
Geocaching would be a great game to intergrate within the outdoor adventure curriculum in PE. Especially on residentials as the children would have great fun participating in the treasure hunt whilst improving on and enhancing their ICT skills! So what are GPS devices?

GPS devices-Global Positioning System (GPS) is a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) it is used for map making, land surveying and Geocaching amongst others. Tom Toms and mobile satilite navigation systems are GPS devices.

Geo-Tagging is a way in which to add geographical information to various medias including photographs, videos and websites. For eg- linking a certain photo to google maps to show the exact location.

For our task we had to create an interactive map of the university in which we geotagged certain areas. This would be a great activity for the children to do as they can tag places they have been, for eg trips. This provides many cross curricular links and is a fab way of enhancing the children's ICT skills!

GIS- Geographic information systems

GIS are great in schools, kids absolutely love them! Examples of GIS are applications such as google earth, earth browser and info mapper in which you are able to locate pretty much any area around the world to observe. They are fab when teaching geography lessons as children are able to realistically discover different countries through finding them through the GIS. I have used these in several lessons and have found that children are fascinated by them and really keen to learn more about the countries. I think it's a fab device to start using at a young age as it brings the world to life. Children can see first hand where the countries are positioned on the globe and find out specific information about a certain country. These appliances fit in brilliantly with the baranaby bear topics. Here are a few of the links to the GIS sites...

http://mapzone.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone/giszone.html

http://earth.google.com/

http://www.google.com/sky/

http://www.earthbrowser.com/

http://ulearn.webbased.co.uk/ulearn

Podcasting sesh!!

The session we had on podcasting was great fun! It allowed us to be creative and expressive as we experimented with different ideas combining them to produce our radio show! For kids to have the chance to create something like this is brilliant as it is something so different from the normal. I really think that it could be so benificial for children's confidence as you feel a sense of accomplishment when you listen to the end result! ....Although it's so so weird listening to your own voice!!! Our podcast was produced as a school radio show including an advert, brain teaser school news and the weather! It was lots of fun to do!!

I found this video on you tube, that goes through a proggramme called Audacity, this allows you to create podcasts. He pretty speedily goes through the instructions however the programme is free to download, so may be usefull if ya wanted to use it in schools, or for ya own personal use!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hrBbczS9I0

Kent ICT!...Pretty good!!

While searching for any useful ICT and music software products I came across the Kent ICT website, which I vaguely remember looking at possibly in a lecture once upon a time! It has some pretty awesome software products on it that may be beneficial to people! The link is....
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/index.htm
I found couple of KS1 music games that were easily down loadable and had a look at one in particular which looked interesting. The link for this is...
http://www.inclusive.co.uk/downloads/downloads.shtml#musicgames
This music product could be done in pairs or individually throughout the lesson. It seems a good way of musically tuning the children's ear to different tones and pitches. It is extremely easy to use and includes different levels depending on how you want to pitch it.

This website is pretty good!! It has heaps of software ideas-free and down loadable or purchasable. It sets out in detail the content of the product so that you have a clear idea of what it is that you are investing in. This is helpful as you then know exactly what you are getting and whether you can hack it!! I really recommend this site to browse through!

Music and ICT...Is ICT a crucial component within the music curriculum?? What d'ya reckon??!!

Looking back a few weeks at the lecture we had on music and ICT, I thought I would add my comments as I found the concept of combining the two quite interesting! Until this lecture I hadn't actually come across ICT being used as such a fundamental resource in a music lesson. Although I enjoyed the session I did have a few hesitations at using ICT as the basis for the music sessions. I do believe that ICT can enhance children's learning in a whole range of areas, but is it wise to incorporate ICT in absolutely everything?? It will get to the point, which it almost already has, where we are so dependant on ICT, that we forget the natural more simple elements in life. My experience of music lessons have always been based around sheet music, composing through experimenting with different instruments, rhythms and singing/clapping along to good ol' fashioned pianos and gee-tars!! There has always been a significant amount of group interaction when it came to music lessons and performances in which we could proudly participate in. I'm not against ICT being used in music to enhance it, however I just feel that putting too much emphasis on ICT in this area endangers us of directing the focus away from practically engaging with the resources music has to offer!...What d'ya reckon??!!

Super dooper music looper!!

Creating our tunes on this programme was great and so easy to do. It was heaps of fun to mix the various sounds together and place them in different areas to create our mix! This is a fab programme for children to use at school as it easy and accessible. It allows the children to create and express their ideas in a fun and imaginative way, it also enhances team work and collaboration of ideas!

Here are our two mixes!!.....

http://www.esnips.com/doc/97e6bab6-d2da-468b-9194-3e63f6552eec/groovy..-mental

http://www.esnips.com/doc/007aab0c-53f4-4637-b00b-90780f71df2e/the-crew-tune

You may need to let them buffer as they stutter a lil bit at first!