Bromley ICT Forum Blog

As  parents, when we ask that age old question of our children ‘What did you do at school today?’,  how often do we get the reply ‘not much’ or ‘nothing?’ How surprised would we be if they replied ‘Well, actually, we talked to another class of students in China..” 

That’s exactly the reply that Ben Beal’s class at Southborough will be giving their parents last night after a successful Video Conference link yesterday.

Continue Reading »

Students who regularly use the web have been shown to be more confident and self reliant in the production and presentation of new knowledge and understanding.

The proliferation of new technologies have created a great virtual ‘playground’ where children can interact with each other and at the same time engage in effective learning. However, the freedom of the web can lead to situations where the children’s safety can be threatened either from other children or from more sinister elements within the wider community.

Schools already have the role of ‘loco parentis’ when it comes to providing a safe and secure environment for children to socialize and learn. Is it possible to extend this role in the virtual world? Can we protect children from becoming ‘victims’? Should we take the ‘Nanny-state’ option of restricting access to the internet in schools and at home? Or rather than treating students as potential ‘victims’, should we be developing strategies that will empower them to deal with these threats when and if they arise?

These are issues among many that were raised at the LGFL sponsored London E-Safety Conference, held last Friday at the City of London School for Girls. What I learnt from the conference was that there is a vast array of materials and resources avalable to help school communities develop strategies to effectively promote e-safety awareness among their pupils. The LGFL have already set up a special Safety and Security on the Web site which holds advice for school policy planning along with resources and web links for  pupils, teachers, parents and school managers.

Other sites worth investigating include the ThinkUknow site ( http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk) which aims to get young people to be more proactive in being safe online.

What type of policies and activities have you got in place in your schools? How would you like the Bromley borough to help you implement safety online within your schools? 

Just when we think we are getting used to the internet, ‘personalised learning’, ‘Managed Learning Environments’ etc, along comes another phenomenon- Web 2.0. Are you ready for it? You may be already..the fact that you are reading this blog and hopefully responding to the articles with comments show that you have taken a step into the Web 2.0 pool (albeit at the shallow end..)

What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 does not refer to any new upgrade or change in the technical standards associated with the web. However it represents a new concept in how those standards are  being used or how they will be used in the future.

Basically Web 2.0 refers to the way the web and its tools are used to engage in online collaboration and sharing with others. Rather than using your web page as a static online pamphlet, publishing your school, business or your own web site, Web 2.0 software tools allow you to collect and respond to feedback from your web site visitors. 

You can in effect set up and manage your own community, sharing photos or collaborating on work documents using blogs, wikis, podcasts or online documentation  such as Googles’ documents and spreadsheet software. The programs that you need to use are freely available on the web.

A list of free Web 2.0 services and programs have been reviewed by Don Hinchcliffe. Check his article here

What does it mean for me as a teacher?

Well, quite simply, the kids are already out there with Web 2.0 programs. The question you need to ask yourself is how can you harness Web 2 in your teaching? Remember ‘personalised learning’? I have listed some examples  where Web 2.0 software and standards are being used

Edublogs web site (For teachers and students wanting to set up their own blogs)

Wikis- online collaboration and publishing tools (Visit Shambles for more information)

Podcasting- Probably the easiest way to get started. There are a huge range of education podcasts created by children that are accessible along with open ended software programs such as Audacity which will allow you to easily create your own class podcasts.

Google’s free online document and spreadsheets application programs (This will get right up Microsoft’s nose!!) Not to mention Google’s truly outstanding CAD program Sketchup which is free to all and it interacts with Google earth. I have downloaded and tried Sketch up and would make it a mainstream piece of software in my maths class.

There is also a wide variety of sites where photos and images can be shared. Flickr is one example. I must admit that I have some reservations about sharing photo images. Indeed there are some discussions on this already. What do you think?

I wonder how many of your students are already using Web 2.0 programs? Probably a lot more than their teachers. How could we take advantage of Web 2 and use it in creating lessons that will engage and motivate?

Over to you…

Attention Secondary Head Teachers and ICT Coordinators

The term, ‘Personalised Learning’  is referred to frequently as the driving force behind the new agendas in education especially in the promotion of Managed Learning Environments and future resource planning for schools. More importantly, it has the potential to make a deep impact on the way teachers and students work and will affect future student outcomes and school performance. Therefore it is crucial that everyone involved in education has a shared understanding of this term.

But just what is “Personalised Learning” and what are its implications for you, your staff and your students?

Emap Education Conferences are hosting a one day event which examines the issue of ‘Personalised Learning’ and its challenges for the schools. The conference will be held on Thursday June 7th 2007 at the Earls Court Conference Centre in London.

The conference will enable you to

• develop a conceptual framework around the term personalised learning
• assess and evaluate the different forms of personalisation available
• integrate ICT to embed a personalised agenda
• build up accurate and meaningful learner profiles
• draw upon valuable resources and best practice

If you wish to learn more or to  register your attendance, please visit this link

The London Grid for Learning has a an updated list of resources for promoting e-safety in schools. Head Teachers and ICT Coordinators  please note: You can also book to attend the E-Safety Conference on Friday 20th April.

Click here to learn more

With the move towards implementing a Managed Learning Environment, schools will face demands for high speed and ample broadband access.  

Coinciding with the launch of the  LGFL Managed Learning Environment recommended solution, a special upgrade offer  is now available for Primary Schools operating on an existing LGfL 2 Mbps  or 5 Mbps connection.

Under the terms of the offer schools will be offered

• Upgrade from 2Mbps and 5 Mbps to 10 Mbps
• Reduced set up fee of £3000
• Reduced annual rental from £5998 to £4998

For more information about the offer and procedures for registering your interest, please click here

Enclosed is a copy of a letter sent by Chris Woods to all schools regarding the ‘new look and feel for the LGFL web site

Please be advised that the navigation system on the LGfL web site is due to change on the 19th April. The top level pages and content provided by the London Grid will be hosted within a new content management system (CMS) and the existing site will no longer be updated. The following issues were considered: - Speed of response

Here is a range of links to education professionals that may be useful for Head Teachers and Teachers.  (Thanks Creek for this)

Visit the http://www.teacherexpertise.com/blog