Category Archive

(Cross-posted at Think :: Learn :: Do)

Just recently I mentioned that Promethean had released the beta version of their IWB software, Activsoftware Inspire Edition. Like others, I’ve started to have a play around (Chris Betcher seems to be putting the software through its paces).  Here’s just a few things I’ve noticed that I like the look of:

Did someone give you a SMART Notebook file to view or use?  Whereas you had to previously resort to the SMART Notebook viewer, you can now import the notebook into a flipchart.

Some very common flipchart activities are now available as a quick menu selection, saving you finding the resources in the library to put them together.

Being a Year 1 teacher, I use the hundred chart fairly regularly in Mathematics lessons.  Once I choose “100 chart” from the menu, this dialog box appears for me to make my selection.

Finally, something I have been hanging out for.  Previously I’ve been frustrated, wondering why I can’t simply insert images, etc. in a similar way to Office documents (after all, it is pretty easy and straightforward).  Well now you can, with the Insert Media option.  Not only images, but sound, video and more.

Now it is really quick and easy to insert media files directly into a flipchart page.

I’m sure (in fact I know) there are many new features, but there were the first to grab my attention.  I look forward to using it some more.

(Cross-Posted at Think::Learn::Do)

Promethean has made the announcement at the BETT 2009 show in London that a brand new version of their IWB software is now available for preview.

Called Activsoftware Inspire Edition, it can now be downloaded my registered users (it’s free) from Promethean Planet. It’s a huge download though (it’s still not 50% done on my computer yet), so those with download limits at home may want to wait to download it at school.  The download is a trial prior to the official release in March

Promethean reports that it is a complete rewrite of its former products, Activstudio (which we use) and Activprimary, so it will be interesting to see what it can do and how it improves on its predecessors.

USB Flash Drive

Originally uploaded by Ambuj Saxena

Following my recent post, I’m now pleased that I received delivery of my new flip ultra video camera on Friday.

So why does this post have a picture of a USB flash drive?  Because it has everything to do with what I’m now going to do with my flip ultra.  The children in the class have speeches to present in the next couple of weeks (it’s an annual, whole-school initiative).  Mine will be the first class where the students’ presentations are recorded (using the flip).

This will not only provide us with a record of the speech to support our assessment data, but I’ll also be sending home each child with their speech on a USB flash drive.  The parents can then see exactly how their child went, and even copy the file to their home computer.

Now yes, I know, this could be very easily posted to the web in this Web 2.0 world.  We could even provide password-restricted access to them if we wanted.  We have given the parents some access to the Web 2.0 world this year, with our class’ homework blog, Travelling Trevor.

This project, however, may help to ease our parents in a little at a time rather than confront them in a huge way.  The way I intend it at present, it’s all pretty easy and non-threatening – play it on your computer, praise your child, save a copy if you want, and send the stick back to school.  Next term, I intend (with some colleagues from other grades who also attended the IWB conference), to prepare a much more technologically-rich learning unit with a digital portfolio as part of the deal.

So, for the rest of this term, I might work bit by bit to lead them up to that.

This is my latest tech gadget – my new mobile phone!

It’s been a long time since I last updated… my last phone’s only extra feature was a camera (which had poor resolution by today’s standards).  Now that my old trusty phone gave up last week, it was time to go to something new.

At least this one has a few more features; calendar, MP3 player, 2 megapixel camera and GPS navigation.  It’s all a bit too flashy for me at the moment.

Well, if nothing else, as the technology coordinator at my school, I walk around now looking as if I have a little more credibility…

… let’s not mention how long it took to unlearn how to do the basics from my old phone and achieve them on this one (yeah, I know, I didn’t read the instruction manual).

I’ll try and keep this short; for myself as much as anyone else.

I was alterted this week to the March 2008 survey results for the Top 100 Tools for Learning via Judy O’Connell.

Here are my quick, initial observations (I’m sure I’d have more given the time):

• Really pleased that del.icio.us is #1
• Really pleased that I use 9 of the top 10 (sorry Skype!  I might get there one day)
• It’s good that the list is a top 100 and not a top 10; simply because there are so many good tools from 10 down that to only do a top 10 would be an injustice
• Facebook slid from equal 17th to equal 28th.  Am I surprised?  Not really; I know my interest in it has waned somewhat
• Every Microsoft Office Application, yes every Microsoft Office Application has slid down the list…
  Word was 10th, now equal 22nd
  Excel was equal 22nd, now equal 48th
  PowerPoint was 5th, now 7th
  Publisher and Access don’t get a look in

  I think this says something about a decreasing reliance on these apps for learning, especially given the multitude of Web 2.0 tools (just scan the top 100 list) and the rise of online work products such as Google Docs and Zoho (11th and equal 36th respectively)

• Finally, one can’t ignore how many of these Top 100 tools are free.  Software developers take note: school budgets are tight.  Thanks to Web 2.0, etc., your products inspire very cheaply-available replicas.  There are also many other exciting products out there that you can’t buy off the shelf.  Teachers will keep looking for cheap, exciting and useful tools to maximise learning.

Judy O’Connell on her blog today posted on the great boredom and wasted time and energy that comes with PowerPoint used poorly.  Her post, of the same title as above, gives a good run-down of the issues and challenges.

I made my humble contribution to the discussion in the comments, but also offer this funny reflection on PowerPoint use.  I must use this one day with the teachers at my school to hopefully get some minds ticking over in a humorous way.

Remember I said that I’d blog about a thing or two that grabbed my attention this holidays?  Well, here’s one:

Yes everyone, it’s that thin.

It hasn’t yet had the same hype here in Australia that I’m sure it’s getting in the US (primarily because it’s not here yet, but you can pre-order), but this is Apple’s latest thing: the MacBook Air.

At its thickest, it’s just short of 2cm.  At the other end (down near that hand in the photo), it measures only 0.4 cm thick. It weighs only 1.36 kg.  This makes it a very light and easy to carry machine.

Now this obvious convenience has come at a cost that some may not be ready for.  The most significant cost: the CD/DVD drive is gone.

Yes, gone.

Now Apple took the bold move forward with the iMac by removing the floppy disk drive many years ago.  But by that stage, software manufacturers, etc. were no longer using floppy disks; they’d all moved to CD.  Apple’s now taking another bold move, but people are still using their CDs and DVDs a fair amount.  The trade-off is software that will let you commandeer the optical drive of another computer and download data through it to your Air.

You can also buy an external optical drive for extra, but Apple sees this laptop as the next step forward towards a wireless world, where online applications and media are far more common.  One could be cynical, though, and consider the motivations given that at the same Macworld expo in California the other week, Apple’s new iTunes new-release DVD download service was also launched.

In the end, if its features suit what you want from your laptop, then this is a brilliant one to have.  I just rely a little too much on my optical drive, my LAN port and multiple USB ports to give them away just yet (yes, the Air only has one USB port).

I’ve got to say though, it is tempting…

Photo: Untitled

Today my classroom finally became radically different!  Our installation team came in and installed my class’ new interactive whiteboard.  We’re still sorting out one thing or another (like a USB cable – must get an order out tomorrow), but it’s up and running.  It all looks really flash (our installers did a fantastic job), but now I have to make good use of it.

Now I have to start thinking about the rest of my term and what great tools we have that we can start using.