Primary Learning Technologies Network

The following link will provide instructions for those interested in setting up a school iTunes account without a credit card

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2534

Where to find iTunes cards on sale 
http://www.giftcardsonsale.com.au/

We have quite a few schools initiating their own after school PD focusing on different aspects of Learning Technologies. In some cases its just ‘conversation’ exploring the learning potential of various tools, programs or applications etc. It may often be focused on discussion around purchasing of hardware or mobile learning devices.

There are some real benefits of opening this conversation beyond your own school/staff and inviting others interested schools to participate.

One recent example is a school looking to explore how they would implement the iPads within their school. As this is something that is relatively new to most schools, they extended the offer to nearby schools within our diocese to attend their afternoon PD which was basically arranged as a discussion on how to go about this implementation, exploring a variety of options etc.

As we are in the early stages of implementation and most of us are looking for ideas on how to do this, so opening up the conversation can be of benefit to this process. We can learn from those who may be further along in this process.

If you already run some in-school PD on aspects of learning technologies- consider opening this to nearby schools, or simply putting it out there for interested schools to possibly send along 1 or 2 representatives that will then feed back to their staff.

If you are interested I have attached a blank flyer which I created in Pages – you could fill in your details and use this as means of promoting your ‘Learning Conversation’.

This flyer is currently in PDF format (click on image to download)  – to be able to edit this just add the extension .pages  and this will convert this back to pages format . Fill in the details and then save as PDF and forward out to interested parties.

Click here to view the instructions Don’t forget to join the Be Cybersmart Eliminate Cyberbullying Group

Be Cybersmart, Eliminate Cyberbullying is a group for educators and students interested in improving cybersafety and minimising cyberbullying within our schools

Don’t forget to install the Diigolet if you haven’t already

iLife 11 has a number of great new features which will engage and empower your students. Listed below are 3 of the biggest changes which could have a positive impact in your classroom.

iPhoto 11

The biggest change in iPhoto is the full screen view which really transforms the appearance of faces, places, events and albums. Those students who have mail app configured can email their photos with a range of templates or create and export a range of new and interesting slideshows.

iMovie

The biggest change and the one that will find a use in your classroom immediately is the quick and effective Hollywood Style movie trailers. These are very quick ways to create a movie via a “template” much like you would make a poster from a template in pages. For those people making movies from scratch there is much better audio control with easy to use audio editing controls. Also of great use is the new tools to find the people with people finder.

GarageBand

The biggest change for schools is the new Flex Time and Groove Matching tools that help you improve the rhythm and feel of your recordings. Along with seven new guitar amps for the guitar heros there is now a play along function with each of the lessons so you can get feedback on how you are doing.

Maths in Madrid is a collaborative maps activity where students solve a range of maths puzzles using google maps. Students explore the placemarks and complete the maths challenges, activities and tasks. Its straight forward, fun and you can use the existing maps or create your own maps within your local community. Try Maths in Madrid or prepare for the Wollongong Maths Challenge

Don’t forget the Diigo group “Purposeful Learning Technologies” where we share useful resources with each other.

Download the instructions for creating a Diigo account and joining the group here Joining the diigo group instructions

Google is a great search engine, quick and effective. The alternatives below provide some different options, different ways of searching, viewing and thinking about results.

A computational knowledge engine, it aims to provide definitive answers to factual queries.

When to Use Wolfram|Alpha?

This will work really when doing factual searches, comparisons or calculations. Compare countries, populations or birthrates, convert fractions or units, solve maths problems and even look at the steps involved in solving the problem.

Not sure about a music scale? Let Wolfram|Alpha play it for you.

Google Squared takes a category and creates a starter ‘square’ of information, automatically fetching and organizing facts from across the web. You can add to the facts to be gathered and even choose the data you want, having it automatically organised in a table.

When to Use Google Squared?

This is a great search engine for when you want to compare and contrast in table like format. The results can be manipulated and downloaded for use elsewhere. Try searching for James Bond Movies, African countries, religions or fairy tales

searchcube is a graphical search engine that presents search results in a compact, visual format in three dimensions. It delivers a visual representation of the movies, images and sites found, spread across a 3 dimensional cube.

When to Use Search-Cube?

Its a great visual stimulus when exploring a new concept or trying to broaden students thinking about a subject.

This image search engine allows you to browse through Flickr photos in 3D. By selecting individual images from the sphere you can view the information the uploader has written about the image.

When to Use Tag Galaxy?

When you want a powerful collection of images to stimulate students imagination. The way it searches by tags encourages students to drill deeper and be more specific with their searches.

Scoopler is a real-time search engine. It aggregates and organizes content being shared on the Internet as it happens

When to Use Scoopler?

When you are after up to the minute information, movies and images about current affairs, scoopler will deliver the very latest posting. When timeliness matters I would choose Scoopler and news searches to get the very latest information.

Remember – If your NOT happy with the search results your getting, try a different search tool.

The winners of the 2009 Best Education App Awards.

Worth a look!

Click on image below to go to site.

Another good resource is links compiled through the 2009 National Educational Computing Conference. This site provides some ideas for classroom application and links to descriptors of each app.

http://learninginhand.com/notes/necc/index.html

Link to OLHC’s iPod Touch Blog