Jist Haiverin

Here’s a fairly common scenario - you want to introduce a topic to a class and you’ve found some information and pictures on the web and even a short piece of video. So what do you do? - create a PowerPoint presentation.

While PowerPoint does allow you to quickly put something together, it can be be boring. There are other ways of presenting material which we’ll look at over the next while. Here’s just one example.

[coolplayer width="360" height="288" autoplay="0" loop="0" charset="utf-8" download="1" mediatype=""]
Fleming Video
[/coolplayer]

The presentation above was put together using some photos and a short piece of video from the web. I’ve put them together as a video using Pinnacle Studio 10 but you could use Microsoft Movie Maker or any other video package. One of the features of Pinnacle Studio 10 is that you can zoom and pan over still images, giving the impression of movement. This makes a series of stills much more interesting.

I’ve used narration, rather than text, to tell the story as this engages more than one sense so should enhance learning. It’s also more interesting than silent slides containing text.

The animated picture was created using Crazy Talk but you could use Talking Photo. These programs allow you to take any picture, add sound and make it look as though the picture is talking. In the sample above, it makes it look as though Alexander Fleming is telling his own story.

Creating this type of presentation is certainly more time consuming but the results are more interesting than a bland PowerPoint presentation.

Let me know what you think.

A link to the MFLE Chinese New Year Guide.  It is full of ideas and resources.

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/mfle/sharingpractice/seasons/chinesenewyear/introduction.asp

If you are looking for resources about the life and works of Robert Burns here are a couple of useful links.

http://burns.visitscotland.com

http://www.worldburnsclub.com/schools/schools_learning_pack.htm   

This site has details about competitions but also has links to the words of his poems and songs.

Try putting some of these in the search box of a famous search engine

• 45% of 130
• 123.4 + 765.21
• area:scotland
• define:photosynthesis
• define:literary criticism
• 15 euro in gbp
• population:japan
• population:ireland
• one pint in teaspoons
• one uk pint in cups
• 160 pounds * 4000 feet in Calories
• 160 pounds * 4000 feet in kilojoules

Click on the Preferences tab (just right of the search box) and change the interface language to “Klingon”
To change it back you need to know what’s Klingon for “English”! ( dlvl’ hol )
There are a few other strange languages to try such as “Elmer Fudd” but a serious use might be to set the interface to German for a language class.

The BBC Panorama programme “One click from danger” (Mon. 7th Jan) has again highlighted the potential dangers for children on the internet. The programme records the very negative experiences of a number of young people and should ring alarm bells for many parents, who may be quite unaware of their children’s experiences on-line. It’s available online from the Panorama website and definitely worth a look.

I am very concerned about the issues raised in the programme and also about the possible negative reaction to the web which may follow. Social networking is not going to go away just because we block Bebo and Facebook in our schools and there is much good that can flow from appropriate on-line interaction with others. Educating and supervising children in the careful, responsible use of the internet must be the way forward.

We had a great discussion about this in the office this morning, revolving around the “banning things doesn’t work” idea. What do you think? Post a comment below.

The ICT education team are available to provide Internet Safety advice and support to schools - just drop us an email or pick up the phone. We can provide sessions for staff and/or for parents. Our leaflet “Bebo - advice to parents” has been downloaded over 300 times.

Bett is the the biggest educational technology show in the world.  It runs from 9th to 12th of Jan at Olympia in London.  Unfortunately none of us can go this year ( financial constraints).  However, all is not lost.  We can, with the help of Teachers TV, have a look at some of the the new ideas and trends that will be coming our way. http://www.teachers.tv/video/23906

In addition to the above link, there a number of ICT focused programmes in that can be downloaded or watched online as part of their ICT Week.   Some show how to make very good use of your interactive whiteboard.  If you register with Teachers TV you are able to bookmark your chosen resources for future quick access.