ICT Fun and Learning for ECE

2011-08-18T20:48:00.001-07:00

A response to a post on the Unitec teaching and Learning Community Ning

I totally agree with your statements about the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing. I love that I dont have to find my little USB drive all the time or worry about updating files - which drive/computer has the most up to date version of a document? Drop box and google docs have got around all of that. Magically I can also see both on my Ipod if I want ( dont have an iPad yet!).

I also do back up to a portable big drive - well notebook sized - in case. I don't trust any technology completely for reasons of experience. I agree it can also be scary when a particularly successful cloud app gets bought and then either disappears or changes to something I don't like. I was very nervous about what I was going to do with all my delicious bookmarks when things changed there but it worked out fine.

I dont always have reliable access to the internet and unfortunately this is most often a problem at work. Travelling can also be difficult but that is where my portable drive comes into its own and dropbox updates everything once I have Wifi again.

Having a lot of web-based information is useful for someone who moves around on teaching contracts and enables me to keep my blogs and bookmarks and documents handy without worrying about an employer thinking they might 'own' any of this. On the other hand they usually still have access to my shared information when I move on which fits nicely into my own preference for open access.

Keeping an e-portfolio (currently in development) on the cloud is also useful for all of the reasons given here as well as providing potential access to any searches from future employers.

Being able to move easily from computer to computer - 1 in the office, several in classrooms and 3 at home - all with different OS- and sharing files is so much easier with cloud computing. I am yet to convert my colleagues but we will get there

Here's a new ICT in Education Blog to look at

2011-02-01T17:27:00.001-08:00

Ipods and IPhones in Education

2011-01-31T14:14:00.000-08:00

Here is the link to the report on the Evaluation of the Early Childhood Education Information and Communication Technologies Professional Learning Programme (ECE ICT PLP)

Margaret May and ICT in ECE

2011-01-31T14:09:00.000-08:00

I have just watched Margaret's EDTalk and she mentioned her Blog so I have included it here with the other Blog links for your reference.

Margaret is a Kindergarten teacher at Greenhithe Kindergarten in Auckland, NZ and was, until recently, a part of the ECE ICT professional learning programme run by Core Education. This programme ceased last year as one of the many ECE casualties in a Budget re-shuffle under the new government.

EducampNZ 2010

2010-05-17T02:49:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the Wiki. This sounds really exciting!

Interesting article on uses of digital photography

2010-05-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

Go and have a look on my assessment Blog for more information.

IPad for toddlers and cats

2010-04-14T02:55:00.000-07:00

The You Tube site is now bursting with amazing videos of toddlers using/playing with the IPad but the cutest of all I found on the Mashable site tonight.

The Cat meets IPad!

WARNING!! Contains large amounts of material that make you go Aawwwwwww.

2 year old and the IPad

2010-04-07T04:59:00.000-07:00

Here is a great example of multi=modal literay.

The child has used Dads iphone and knows how to swipe her finger across the screen to change icon views.

The video is a bit slow at times but a great watch.

Lots of people want an IPad

2010-03-13T11:15:00.000-08:00

Clearly I am one of many.

You can now pre-order an IPad ( in the states presumably) and on the first day an etimated 120,000 orders were placed. This is the number of orders - not numbers of IPads. People were allowed to order up to 2 per order.

http://mashable.com/2010/03/12/ipad-preorder-numbers/

And thats just those who went online with their credit card. It doesnt include people like me who are waiting for others to pay their money, find the bugs ( What do you mean Apples dont have bugs!)...and for the price to drop. One thing is pretty certain in the land of tchnology. The price will drop dramatically if only you are patient. And pretty soon there will be IPad 1.2 and the price will really drop. Thats when I will pounce!

I can almost afford an iphone now except for the monthly charges. I just dont make that many calls and so cant really justify it.

Do you want an IPad?

2010-03-10T01:45:00.000-08:00

I do.

I want one.

Its a simple geeky thing really.

Its also part of being older. I love my Ipod touch and the thought of having something like that that I dont have to squint to see is just too tempting.

"Will work for IPad" might just be my new bumper sticker.

And now this video from Penguin has come to my attention. WOW.

It is a great example of technology enhancing rather than replacing books.

I will never give up paper books but love the possibilities here.

I would have one in an ECE centre too. As long as there are still plent of books and enough money for basics like paint and carpentry wood.

Do you want an IPad?
I do.

MLearning and the IPad

2010-01-27T15:49:00.001-08:00

I wonder what this might have in store for MLearning?

Is it going to have enough to offer so that the size does not become a disadvantage compared to the IPod and IPhone.

For more elderly users such as myself, it looks great.

Here is the advertising blurb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z40yLdoALFs

Changing times

2009-12-08T11:06:00.000-08:00

The Kei Tua o te Pae contract along with other ECE professional learning contracts ends this month. It was as a part of that team that I began this Blog but it was not a part of our contract and was a private initiative. I have deleted or re-labelled other blogs but this one will continue as my own blog.

I will be Lecturing at Tertiary College in 2010 and will maintain a research focus on using ICT and Web 2.0 specifically in ECE centres as well as for teacher education and professional development.

Passwords for chocolate

2009-08-18T18:25:00.001-07:00

There was a really good example on the TV last night of how easily people are sharing sensitive information with strangers. In this case an exchange of passwords for chocolate!

Filtering internet information

2009-08-16T17:37:00.001-07:00

Its a bit hard to say anything about this without giving the message away too soon but hopefully you will get it.

Beating the Addiction

2009-07-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

If you are finding yourself going to various blogs and website too often in a day or checking those emails several times an hour, try this site.

You can sign up and get it to limit how often to go to various sites.

Of course I dont need this. No signs of addiction round here....

Making Twitter your own

2009-07-22T01:44:00.000-07:00

If you have been using Twitter, you may, like me, have got to the point where you have put in a background picture and even changed it once or twice. Tonight I found some instructions for truly customising your twitter page.

Fast becoming one of my fave sites is Mashable where you too can find the instructions and find yet another reason to put off that assignment/marking/reading/housework for just a little longer.

( If you are one of my students reading this it does not apply to you. Step away from the Blog and open up that assignment! )

What to do when the computer freezes

2009-07-08T02:06:00.000-07:00

I know how she feels about the little spinny thing!

Why u need to think about cybersafety

2009-07-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Netsafe's tweet for this little gem!

Wifes facebook page releases secret service personnel info.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6639521.ece

Who runs the internet?

2009-07-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

A great video looking at changes to the Web, What is Web 2.0 - or is it Web 3.0?

I some of what I have read on ICT the discussion around Web 2.0 goes like this;

First there was the Web ( well there was stuff before that of course) We could go to different sites to look at and download information.

Now we have Web 2.0 We can create the content, adapt other peoples content (e.g. Wikis), use other peoples content in a different context ( as I have with this video from a University Ning site which in turn took the video from UTube)etc. My understanding is that Web 3.0 is where the internet adjusts to our surfing preferences and helps us refine our interest experiences eg Stumble and Twitter.

See what you think.

less seriously - Twitter Twibes

2009-06-18T04:35:00.000-07:00

Yet another way to use Twitter...

Apologies to any readers with speech problems but it really is funny to hear him use the word Twibes...

But seriously....

2009-06-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

Here is another little movie from the amazing folks at Common Craft.

A bit more information on some really useful ways to use Twitter.

I knew that if I stuck around long enough that someone would find a way to make it work for grown-ups as well as for people like me.

This was quite slow to upload on my computer for some reason. A little hint: click on the pause button. The video will keep loading and when finished ( the pale red line will be all the way across) you can then watch it without all the breaks while it uploads.

Twitter, the Movie

2009-06-05T23:35:00.000-07:00

Jaqui Sharp's Blog

2009-06-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

I am sure many of you have seen Jacqui's books or been at her workshops.

Here is a link to her Blog which contains a lot more useful info for teachers using ICT.

http://sharpjacqui.blogspot.com/

I have also put a link in the blog list here.

Smilebox

2009-05-20T03:39:00.000-07:00

This is some more software I have seen in centre blogs but not used on a Blog myself. I use the free version so it does come with Ads. The cost version is not too badly priced and might be better for a centre.

It easily allows you to upload to a blog, to burn to a DVD. Getting the photos is easy and I have now used this on both Mac and PC and both work fine.

I am not able to use this at work because of problems with the University firewall but using it on my Mac from my home connection was fine.

I have not tried adding text or anything fancy. This is pretty much how it comes as a template! So pretty good. There are hundreds of templates to choose from.

This could be a great way to collect childrens photos to burn to a DVD when they leave the centre, if you have your photos filed so they are easy to locate.

If you play with this and find problems let me know by leaving a comment. I dont want to be reccomending this to teachers without knowing the problems and I dont have enough time to play lots with it.

Maureen

trying out Smilebox - the free version

2009-05-20T03:35:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Add a slideshow to your Blog

2009-05-13T17:16:00.000-07:00

A teacher on the Montessori Cluster discussion forum just asked about inserting a slideshow of their selected photos into their blog.

I can see two easy ways to do this but there are probably more. If you know other tools and techniques please share them here in a comment and we will share them further.

1. A Slideshow Widget

The easiest way to do this seems to be to add a widget.The advantage is that it stays on your blog home page.

In order to do this you will need an account with Photobucket, Picasa Web Albums or Flikr. If you don't know how to do this, go to UTube for some videos that show you how or just follow the on screen instructions.

BUT FIRST!!! Have you considered the cyber safety issues. Do you have informed consent from families and from children? Go to your Cybersafety kit and/or to Netsafe for information.
go to the Layout button ( We are using Blogger), click on that and then click on "Add a gadget". Scroll down through the gadgets till you find 'Slideshow and add this. You will be offered a choice of using your own website, Flikr, Photobucket or Picasa Web Albums.

2. Add a slideshow as a post

You may have seen these on some other ece centre blogs.

These get uploaded as a post onto your blog and so will eventually be moved to the archive section. But perhaps you want to keep updated slidehows visible anyway.

Many centres are using either IMovie ( for Apple Macs and generally comes wit your Mac) Photo Story 3 (for PCs this is a free download) or Smilebox for which there is also a free download. Smilebox videos can be very slow to open but look great.

You make the video and then upload as a video post to your blog using the video button on the tool bar of the post box. its up there on the right at the end.

I hope this answers the questions for now.

I cannot say which is better out of all these applications as I havent used them all that much so please feel free to comment if you have.

regards

Maureen

Video cameras monitoring in ece centres

2009-05-09T01:03:00.000-07:00

We heard today from a centre using Tiny Telly so that parents can have streaming video access to the centre at all times.

This raised interesting questions of privacy, professionalism,and parental expectations that we did not have time to address today.

I do have a number of concerns although I realise there are also some good points for this sort of surveillance - maybe.

What about the teachers. Although this may offer some protection,does it invade privacy?

Are parents fears allayed or increased?

If parents share their password with other friends or family members or if the information is hacked into - what about the privacy for children other than their own?

I have so many questions about this....

A real notebook computer

2009-05-06T14:46:00.001-07:00

This is so cleverly done I just had to share it!

Noteboek from Evelien Lohbeck on Vimeo.

The famous twitter song!!

2009-05-04T03:24:00.001-07:00

A great Blog

2009-04-26T13:22:00.001-07:00

Steve Wheeler has a really good Blog Learning with 'e'-s. Great to follow if you are interested in ICT for teaching and learning. Make sure you scroll down through the blog and visit some of the other blogs that Steve has listed. Way too much to describe here but I have set up a link on this blog as well as in this post.

How to save for the iphone

2009-04-23T18:04:00.000-07:00

Buy a cheaper bike. You dont need the latest transport!

Here'e what a student at Massey Univerity in Palmerston North is using

8 weeks to a better blog

2009-04-13T22:32:00.000-07:00

Having had a look through this web page I realise that I need to start slow. There is no way I can complete each of these tasks in a day! Especially when each item is a learning curve and there are several blogs to maintain. it is not just about doing First I have to find out how!

So I decided to make a list of 8 things to do, and to do these over 8 weeks. This is far more manageable as an action plan.

If nothing else it gives me something to post about each week!

1. Interlink Archived Posts

2. Plan Next Week’s Posting Schedule ( and make this a habit)

3. Comment on a Blog that you’ve never Commented on Before

4. Declutter your Sidebar

5. Run a Reader Survey on Your Blog

6. Go on a Dead Link Hunt

7. Learn about Search Engine Optimisation

8. Run a SWOT Analysis on Your Blog

review goals as a result of this analysis and create new action plan.

Better Blogs

2009-04-13T15:24:00.000-07:00

I have now got to the point where I want to be able to make blogs better,more planned, better thought-out, taking less time.

I found this page which might help. But it is so indepth that it might make things worse!

I guess the best thing is to identify the areas I want to address and make my own list of '31 days to a better blog'.

Some of the areas discussed in this page do not apply to the blogs I work on. It is not a concern, for instance, that we have the most readers (as long as there are some!)

I will post my own list soon.

Meanwhile have a look

31 days to a better blog

Found this on the ICT PL site

2009-04-12T16:43:00.000-07:00

Another cool discovery!

Go to www.PictureTrail.com

If you want some more...

2009-04-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

One of the best makers of videos that explain these new technologies is Common Craft.

I have used these often and think it is only fair to give them a mention and a link.

http://www.commoncraft.com

igoogle as your homepage

2009-04-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

In case you need another reason for a Google account, there is igoogle.

I use this as my homepage.

I have my google docs, twitter, NZ Herald, weather, etc all opening everytime I open Google, and I can personalise it. Declutters my life a bit and makes it so much easier to get the most efficient use out of the other tools, especially the ones from Google.

What is Google Docs

2009-04-02T18:26:00.001-07:00

GMail

2009-04-02T18:25:00.001-07:00

how to set up a blog

2009-04-02T18:22:00.000-07:00

About Blogging

2009-04-02T18:20:00.000-07:00

When in doubt...

2009-04-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

When in doubt, Google or U Tube i Wiki-how.

My first ports of call these days if struggling with ICT.

Utube in particular is great because they are videos. I am a visual person and this suits me better than a description.

I wouldnt necessarily use these indiscriminately - especially utube, with children alongside. You do have to be careful about the word you are searching.

www.utube.com

www.google.com

www.wikihow.com

And then of course your local friendly ICT PL person from Core Education

Software for teachers

2009-03-31T15:18:00.000-07:00

I found this Website today. I havent had a chance to really play with it but it seems to have some useful material for teachers.

It would certainly benefit from some ECE voices! Lets get more involved so that ECE innovations adn ideas are more visible in the wider world of teaching in the digital age.

http://softwareforlearning.tki.org.nz/

U Learn Conference 09

2009-03-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

If you havent made a decision yet, or havent heard yet about this Conference you better get your diaries out.

I missed out last year - I have heard nothing but rave reviews about this conference.

I have also heard that the Christchurch venues are fantastic, particularly accessible for out of town visitors.

Margaret Carr, Margie Carter and Helen Timperley are among the guests you will be able to hear from.

IT looks at all levels of the education sector adn my understanding is there will be plenty for ECE people to get their teeth into.

http://centre4.core-ed.net/spaces/space.php?space_key=22950

A really good site to visit regularly

2009-03-12T16:00:00.000-07:00

www.ted.com

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

This site makes the best talks and performances from TED available to the public, for free. More than 200 talks from our archive are now available, with more added each week. These videos are released under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely shared and reposted.

here is an example

Kindle - reading books electronically

2009-03-11T14:36:00.000-07:00

This looks interesting. The equipment is actually a bit pricey but I like the larger screen and book - look ( being a person with aging eyes!)

My daughter has just bought an Ipod touch and apparently one can download the software for Kindle for that as well.

I certainly dont see this technology replacing books for people like me who love the touch and smell of real books, but I see this as being an enhancement. It makes it easier to take books away when travelling. I wouldnt have to choose which book to take.

Currently I have some ebooks on my MP3 Player but I am finding that I dont get the same effect from this. I cant listen to an ebook while driving because I either stop hearing the book when concentrating on traffic or I dothe opposite - not so safe!

They are good when flying, better than music which causes an ever present fear that I will start singing along without realising...

But when lying in a hotel bed at the end of a long day I need to use my eyes not my ears. I am sure this is a personal thing. A visual rather than auditory learner.

Finding sounds

2009-02-19T23:28:00.000-08:00

Another fun site thanks to Naketa is Soungle. Like google but for sounds.

If you havent been to Naketa's site yet go and have a look.

http://www.soungle.com

Interesting article

2009-01-22T16:03:00.000-08:00

""The fine line between what's worth documenting and what's not is a hard one to define. We immediately assume that the most important, the biggest, the most incredible moments are those that should be recorded. But it's these very moments that are best to experience live, with our full focus.

As religious-focused blogger Martin Kelley notes, "there are times where our presence is much more important than any documentation." (He had just surprised himself by reviewing the grainy, blurry photos he felt it necessary to take while watching a bride walk down the aisle. In retrospect, this was exactly the kind of moment that could have gone unrecorded.)"

for the full post go to

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/technology_is_great_but_are_we_forgetting_to_live.php#comment-124077

BACK IT UP!!!!!

2009-01-22T12:38:00.000-08:00

I had a freaky moment early this morning. Writing a really important report. By last night things actually seem to be coming together into something readable. Got up early, had brekkie, looked forward to at least a couple hours before children up (working from home) and the macbook was cold!!. Wouldnt turn on. Finally stopped panicking and plugged it into another power point and everything OK. Whew!

Now got an extension cord and pendrive attached.The thought of starting again was unbearable.

I know I should back everything up so why didnt I?

Never again!!!! ( except I know I will)

Tech geek heaven!

2009-01-16T14:24:00.000-08:00

All the gadgets you didnt even know you needed!

This is actually my Christmas list
http://technology.sympatico.msn.ca/CES/

More ways to Twitter

2009-01-14T00:57:00.000-08:00

Even your house plants now have a voice

look at

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/add2/

Its a joke btw

2009-01-06T10:46:00.000-08:00

thought i'd better add that in case you are sleepier than I am this morning. It took me till half way thru to suspect!

Trust Apple to come up with the latest!

2009-01-06T10:45:00.000-08:00

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Zooming on a Mac

2008-12-26T12:50:00.000-08:00

I stole this from Naketa's blog! See her link on my list.

<How to Zoom! (For Macs)

Hold the CTRL button down and then drag two fingers up your mouse pad. The Zoom effect will move towards your cursor.>>

Comic Life

2008-12-26T12:18:00.000-08:00

It is clear that many teachers are already using this great software but I thought Id mention it anyway. It came out first for Apples and is now also available for PCs. You can download it directly from http://plasq.com/downloads/

The cost will depend on the ever fluctuating dollar but is about NZ$45.
I recommend going for the 1 month free trial to have a play first if you are unsure.

Many people are using this as a template ( actually many many templates) for learning stories. The risk is that they get overused with so much colour and detail that they actually are hard to read and the learning is lost in the layout. Tehy can also be time consuming.

A few teachers are using this program really well by using it as a time saver without making every story like a comic strip. In fact often it can be hard to tell that the work was not done in Word. The difference is in the speed and ease of production.

The reason comic life makes things so fast is that you dont have to draw boxes to insert photos and the photo library comes up on the same window so your photos are there just to click and drag.

A phone symphony

2008-12-19T12:57:00.001-08:00

Elf Yourself

2008-12-18T15:08:00.000-08:00

Every year my family waits for the elf yourself site to start up again.

this is great fun although I had to use my PC as it wouldnt work on the Mac for some reason.

from Maureen

http://www.elfyourself.com/

Twitter

2008-12-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

I have been playing with Twitter for a short while. To begin with it was honestly just to try and work out why anyone would do it. But it is easy to use and there are lots of tools for using it. I havent tried them yet because I cant download to my Mac without it going through IT services and the queue for the PC at home has been too long round exam time

I wonder if it could be a useful place for centres to record everyday successes or barriers arising from their PD programmes. It is easier than email, especially if you do as I have and put it on your google home page.

Trouble with flip my text

2008-12-05T21:51:00.000-08:00

I tried to put htese things in the body of my text but got an errror message and had to try to change the html codes. The site did make suggestions but....

Guess I will have to try to learn a bit about html. My eldest taught himself at 12 so I guess I could if I really try. A fun Christmas project for those rainy days!

Trying another

2008-12-05T21:48:00.000-08:00

center
FlipMyText for Dummies"

trying flip my text

2008-12-05T21:17:00.001-08:00

Lady Bug Note from FlipMyText