ICT

#Success / Challenge / ICT / Inspire — No Comments
2
Feb 12

ipadio: Textwall.co.uk

So there is certainly more to learn about using Textwall.co.uk in the classroom. It is clear from Holly impromptu interview (I spoke to her in her after school art workshop) that the textwall experiment was well received in our Yr11 PSRE lesson however there are still a few teaching and learning creases to iron out.

Testwall was useful for confirming prior learning, for example “define prejudice.” With students either ammending or copying or improving their definitions as a result of reading the 15 submitted to textwall. Where textwall was most effective was in answering moderate size, open exam questions. For example,

With all the student responses submitted to textwall, students were then able to write or construct a valuable answer. What is more, students submitted answers I had not considered and we able to discuss answers ’unlikely’ to be award a mark.

Where textwall was less effiicient was with fastest finger responses, or quick fire though still useful.

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Challenge / Curriculum / ICT / Inspire — No Comments
1
Feb 12

#ICT500

Let’s not walk the path well trodden. Whether here at #ICT500 or there at http://schoolstech.org.uk/about/ the discussion and debate of what and why ICT continues.

There are valued observations to take from each of these arenas; Nick Jackson has wrestled with the definition and diversion of ICT as a subject through #ICTcurr for moths, Kevin Moore has alluded to the integrity and qualification of staff (I am, as you may know a passionate PE teacher, an enthused ICT teacher and challenged English teacher) and the seemingly imbalanced expectation of being an ICT teacher, and from the beautiful island of St Helena in the South Atlantic, James Greenwood was ahead of the game, embarking on an ICT makeover in his role as Advisory Teacher of ICT.

Can we approach the task with ‘joinedupthinking’ bring the education community together? Can ‘we’ plot a route way through education with sufficient structure to provide stability yet with sufficient room for curriculum exploration and learning experiments? Can ‘we’ ensure we hear the voices of the learners? Will there be learners (others then ourselves) at #rethinkingICT to ensure we map a curriculum of relevance? If not, why not?

So not to stand accused of not pinning my colours to the mast….. I believe in a curriculum outline, drawn from early years through to learning in workplace (any ever changing workplace). I believe in a curriculum outline that can be ‘coloured in’ by the profession. Let the teachers and learners get creative with their talents and surprise us with their colour combinations, which reminds me of the Sir Ken Robinson little girl draw Santa gag –

And yes they may go over the lines, but they know that there are lines. I also believe that learners should be able evidence their skills and abilities from wherever they have developed. I suppose I do not fall far from  James Greenwood’s finding, using, presenting, creating curriculum, which would very easily permit the inclusion of all that we currently offer and more, and of course allow pockets of excellence to blossom.

As for the code or not to code on the curriculum dilemma. Having spent the past 18 months learning and promoting Interactive Fiction (a hybrid of literacy and coding) I am a passionate coding (novice) convert. I am confident that there is a place for coding as both a unit of work and as a discrete discipline. So far I have only read the on or off debate, can we not have both?

Are we coming at the issue from the right directions? Rather than asking what should an ICT or Digital Studies curriculum look like, should we be asking what does an outstanding ICT or Digital student look like and how do we guide them there?

Santa gag

Teacher: What are you drawing little girl?

Child: I am drawing Santa Claus sir.

Teacher: But no one knows what Santa Claus looks like?!?

Child: They will in a minute!

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ICT — No Comments
21
Dec 11

ICT Expert Review Panel

Dr Tom Crick is Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at CMU, he is also Leader of @CASWales and I am sure, has one or two other computer science veins of interest as well. What is really refreshing and most engaging, is that Dr Crick (can I go with Tom from here on in, or do I persist with formality) is curating conversation across education phases whilst working himself at the endstop of computer science education himself.

Having reported on the Expert panel report on the National Curriculum review we started a brief Twitter exchange which I intended to contribute to the dialogue only to be beaten to the punch by Nick Jackson (@largerama), an online colleague whom I hold in high esteem. Not only is her a ‘proper’ ICT teacher he is suscinct in his opinion, matter of fact even, he holds action over words. If you are an ICT teacher, NQT to AST, curriculum observer, please do contribute your thoughts, here is my two cents.

As we discussed Tom, and somewhat similar to Nicks points of a tick box ‘fudge job’ I am unsure how the panel review recommendations will mature into policy. Somewhat underwhelmed by tone, encouraged by the comment. ICT is outdated, technology enhanced learning is still, quite similar just good learning. ICT could be replaces with another term, when it should quietly simple be removed. ICT / technology enhanced learning IS learning, or tools for learning or part of the teaching methodologies at hand. Use ICT / technology where it enhances learning, this is not a curriculum audit or overview, its a teaching overview. Not forgetting that technology IS NOT a pre-requisitie for outstanding teaching and learning. In 2014 – ICT will be a skill not Subject – its barely a subject now. The best ICT teachers currently are those that teach young people, not content, seeking out inspiring learning opportunities (see Nick above) repackaged as ICT. In 2014 lets hope all teachers repackage ICT within their teaching. With that lofty aspiration, just that, an aspiration, there needs to be a digital outlet as well as computing, that is most certainly NOT ICT, and not ‘tick box fudged’ cross curricular audit exercise and at the forefront of digital learning. Digital learning that is rigorous, creative and challenging; animation, graphic design, audio engineering, video and after effective, modelling, CAD, that compliments programming. Now this might surprise you, but I also feel there is an employment benefit to being able to use Office software effectively. It is just that it is not part of a digital curriculum, but an employment curriculum. The commentary is encouraging, however this insistence with the term ICT is almost as annoying as educations insistence with the term 21st century learners. Both are 10 years out of date and offer little defintion.

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#Success / Games Based Learning / ICT / Inspire / Teaching — No Comments
29
Jul 11

Quest 5 Day 1

questI am playing, and really enjoying “As Darkness Falls.” I have watched ‘Get Lamp” on Youtube (insightful) and worked my way through to Chapter 5 of Aaron Reeds excellent INFORM7 book. So why the transfer to Quest5, especially as its still in BETA? There are three very good answers to this question.

  1. Alex Warren is an English software developer. He is now focusing all his efforts on developing Quest 5 and that, at the very least, deserves some recognition. Also, being able to discuss Quest 5 with Alex in the same time zone, via Twitter, EMail and Skype is an amazing resource. To add, Alex has been more than supportive, he is open to the application of Quest to education, now that’s just fantastic.
  2. INFORM7 maybe more sophisticated, with multiple views of the narrative, it is also presents a open editing interface. Quest5, at first look, appears to offer a somewhat structured editing interface and may well be a more appropriate starting point for 9-16 year olds.
  3. Quest5 also permits the inclusion of various media, image, sounds and video. Now that makes for an interesting multimedia experience and one I am keen to explore.

Creating a simple game with Quest

Alex Warren has written a very comprehensive tutorial package that gets you writing and planning with Quest. In addition there is a forum and help pages on the Quest wiki.

Tutorial

  1. Introduction
  2. Creating a simple game
  3. Interacting with objects
  4. Using scripts
  5. Custom attributes

IMHO with just these five tutorials completed, about 3-4 hours learning, students could go on to create some very creative, complex and exciting games. Very quickly I was able to blue printing my game landscape, the room descriptions, objects and directions. It is also worth noting that Alex would advise creating small 1, 2, or 3 room adventure to explore and apply Quests capabilities rather than investing time and effort building an ‘amazing’ game map upon which to build a game. Alex noted that he has received numerous ‘big project’ emails from enthusiastic Quest coders, but as yet, no completed master pieces.

As for "top tip", I think you’ve already got the biggie in there – start small, don’t try to create an epic. I would also add, read the tutorial but don’t be afraid to ask questions on the forums – and it always helps to attach your game file to any questions, so we can see exactly how you’ve got things set up. (Alex Warren – Quest Creator and Developer)

See I told you he was an awesome and supportive guy. So, keep it simple, it does not stop you being creative. If anything, like Twitter, it will encourage you to be even more creative and efficient.

Tutorial 3 started to reveal the power of Quest5 and really got me thinking about the possibilities of IF. This is somewhat daunting as I am also acutely aware that we are scratching the surface of the platforms capabilities.

Tutorials 4 and 5 only served to confirm my initial impressions. Do not be deceived by Quests straightforward interface, there is power in the scripting and the attributes. I have only followed the tutorial examples, but I did notice the ‘many’ options presented in the drop down menu.

You all know I am not a ubergeek and most certainly no coder or developer. That said, I made my way through the first five tutorials without too many issues. My only pitfall was the use of a capital letter in a naming convention that I didn’t used in a custom attribute. Basically I references an object “Eggs” and when I wrote the attribute expression – "A box of eggs, weighing " + eggs.weight + " grams." Quest 5 identified a script error. Next step, commands.

I really enjoyed writing the narrative but even this task required a thoughtful appreciate of what described, of course anything you write into the description needs creating. Certainly these early steps have underlined the importance game infrastructure and planning in Quest. Here is hoping that the exam boards and teachers see that IF writing is a really taxing and amazingly creative, mathematical experience

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#Success / Experiments / Games Based Learning / ICT / Teaching — No Comments
25
Jul 11

As Darkness Falls–Quest5

Its been an entertaining half an hour working through the opening of ‘As Darkness Falls.’ A mystery IF where you play a private detective investigating the disappearance of your friend. His last known location was a small run down motel in the middle of nowhere.

Now, I may have only played a few games, but the ‘middle of nowhere’ happens to be quite a popular interactive fiction destination, a little like ‘Springfield,’ America. The game itself was entertaining and written with lots of trials to follow. I really liked the in-game play windows for inventory, places / objects and compass. One thought, I wonder if it is possible to create an in-game map as you play?

After about thirty or so minutes I was stuck, I had the gun, I had found the kennel and was fairly certain that the ‘flashing red light’ need to rabid dogs collar to open it. I was pretty sure I needed to shot the dog…. Finally I managed to solve the problem…. with the help of the community / game noticeboard. I was on the right lines, I just needed a little familiarity with how to use Quest commands. I was again reminded about all the soft skills that IF creation and playing can developed and the vibrant community  and conversation behind the games. Conversation between players seeking progress in the game (like me) but also between author and player, as they work together to improve the game experience for others.

Alex has created a very easy to use noticeboard system behind the games with a social review and ratings system built in. Does this mean ‘assessment for learning’ is inherently part of the experience. I would say so. Back to the game before testing out the creation experience.

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