Last week, Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told schoolkids to throw away their textbooks to help the state avoid bankruptcy. He referred to textbooks as being “outdated” and too expensive. California currently spends more than $400m annually on school textbooks. Instead of textbooks, the Californian Learning Resource Network will evaluate and list free and commercial online […]
Towards the Paperless Classroom Read More »
Here is a Web 2.0 based application I came across recently called Wordle. It’s a word cloud and the user can create a wordle from any text, website or the clipboard and change and configure the wordle to suit their own preferences. Check it out atwww.wordle.net It’s completely free and wordles can be shared on
During MIX09 which was held at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas from 18 – 20 March 2009 Microsoft announced their Microsoft Web Page Translator Widget. Those attending MIX09 were given a code to try out the Microsoft Web Page Translator widget. In addition anyone who wishes to try out the widget can register with
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I have been using Scratch software with teachers andtheir pupils from the Elevate Learning initiative of the Digital Hub and what a fantastic free resource it is. Scratch is a graphical programming language that lets you control theactions and interactions among different ‘sprites’. For those of you familiar with Logo from some time ago you
Web 2.0 tools have made it possible for anyone to use digital media in their webpages or blogs. This article from the Digital Inspiration Blog provides a handy reference forembedding almost anything in your HTML web pages from Flash videos to Spreadsheets to high resolution photographs to static images from Google Maps and more.
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EuroCreator is an educational initiative designed to encourage students and teachers throughout Europe to create at least one piece of media. The EuroCreator website provides a platform for students and teachers to share student created media such as videos, animation and music. Students receive feedback and a signed certificate from the EU Commissioner. The website
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Here are some notes I shared with those in attendance at the highly successful CESI Meet on last Friday evening, Friday 13th 2009. The event was a huge success and those in attendance all walked away with some new knowledge. Well done to the organisers on a great event. I was sharing some work I
Game Creation in the Digital Age Read More »
The new Obama administration has promised a package of €142 billion for education and €1 billion has been earmarked for ICT. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan plan promises to enable students of all ages to learn in 21st-century classrooms, labs, and libraries to help US students compete with any worker in the world. Time
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The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives website is hosted by Utah State University. It has up to 100 virtual manipulatives, mainly java based, that are categorized by grade level and mathematics topics. The mathematics topics categories include Number and Operations, Algebra, Geometry, Measurement and Data Analysis and Probability. These categories are closely related to the
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With the mobile phone now at saturation point in society how are we as educators addressing the potential these devices have for new digital learning opportunities? It is common for school authorities to place a ban of mobile phones in school and this policy is generally based on what is perceived as the potential for
Mobile Phones for Learning? Read More »