http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com Most recent posts at Bite Size Tech For Busy Teachers posterous.com Fri, 21 Jan 2011 02:43:00 -0800 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~3/GsMqaReHTQ4/google-teacher-academy-video-tag-google-googl http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/google-teacher-academy-video-tag-google-googl <p> <p>Having used and blogged about using Google tools in the classroom, I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to attend the <a href="http://www.google.com/educators/gta.html">Google Teachers Academy</a> (GTA) in Sydney. It's the first time that it is being held outside the US and only 50 places are available Australia/NZ and Asia wide. So its going to be tough. One of the application requirements is to compose a 1 minute video about motivation and learning. Having just invested in a Android Phone I thought it would be a good idea to record all audio and video on it. The students were all actually using the tools that they mention. It was the last week of school and I had given them some free time to use a creative tool of their choice.&nbsp;</p> <p /> <div>Here it is.&nbsp;</div> <p /> <div><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7jZq7eOsy7U?wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="417" width="500"></iframe></div> </p> <p><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/google-teacher-academy-video-tag-google-googl">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/google-teacher-academy-video-tag-google-googl#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~4/GsMqaReHTQ4" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/494840/_1235197312_771.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4bmQUvSGGcQ9 Andrew Williamson andrewwilliamson Andrew Williamson http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/google-teacher-academy-video-tag-google-googl Sun, 14 Nov 2010 16:50:00 -0800 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~3/BqzWk7m3E2s/garageband-the-perfect-tool-for-student-compo http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/garageband-the-perfect-tool-for-student-compo <p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Every year I write at least one blog post lauding the brilliance of Garageband as a creative tool for students. Again, I cannot speak highly enough of the power of GB especially when it is used as a tool for student composition. The underpinning philosophy that <a href="http://kynanrobinson.globalteacher.org.au/">Kynan Robinson</a> and I have is that we believe in empowering the student as the composer and creator. One of the many things I have learnt from working closely with Kynan is the concept of <em>'demystifying&nbsp;the role of the composer'</em>. It is expected in an art classroom that students will practice their creativity. The same should apply to the music classroom. Students should be given the freedom to compose and test out their musical ideas. Garageband is one of those tools that empowers the students to achieve this.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">After two terms of learning to compose on Orff and untuned percussion instruments. Grade 5 and 6 students have been given the task to demonstrate the skills and creative ideas that they have developed to compose a piece of music using GB. Similar to last terms composition task, Kynan and I set some parameters. The students had to compose a piece that consisted of a Bass, main melody and accompanying harmonic melodies. The piece had to be in either binary (AB) or ternary (ABA) form. &nbsp;Existing Loops inside GB were to be used to create the bass and accompanying parts. However, they had to use a Midi Keyboard to play and record their main melodic ideas. This provided a great opportunity to discuss the concepts of Midi and dive deeper into some of the interesting features of GB. For instance creating your own midi sounds, manipulating their melodic ideas, using the editing tools and notating tools.&nbsp;</span><p /> <p /><br /></p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/andrewwilliamson/vaCWG2MfbApOXPqYaa1uZ4GqeGdzuObkEQZYT52gnsnXMSdFjiPvfuzZn7Zd/IMAG0085.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Imag0085" height="300" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/andrewwilliamson/TWzdEgD22dZpDVLF8dByr4zALpAmoJuzUT0v9R9zy3j4MxDZVbP0v8cXnMrW/IMAG0085.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/andrewwilliamson/qfOf3NLIWuBZXk3yDMXmHqTVahVQFI1nxyrIb0GtmUGmM1L3OjTB6Pz7OY3T/IMAG0086.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Imag0086" height="300" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/andrewwilliamson/4w9yTHc7iQC3w3bpuoeoSlu26Qbg69VtCiuG4eO5xvJpz4bj6ZdT5980iG6t/IMAG0086.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/andrewwilliamson/wbN4oMcYmMpW1ewVk968mfiYAhVwGw6ABRRD9OHRGgWiS9Iag85LbwznJQ9W/IMAG0087.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Imag0087" height="300" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/andrewwilliamson/Qz5QgQaMITp1L3Wd5Ikph4PseaWVXqyIU0IJQpJGDiITHqFWfM7V2jj6wWFp/IMAG0087.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <div class='p_see_full_gallery'><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/garageband-the-perfect-tool-for-student-compo">See the full gallery on Posterous</a></div> </div> </p> </p> <p><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/garageband-the-perfect-tool-for-student-compo">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/garageband-the-perfect-tool-for-student-compo#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~4/BqzWk7m3E2s" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/494840/_1235197312_771.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4bmQUvSGGcQ9 Andrew Williamson andrewwilliamson Andrew Williamson http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/garageband-the-perfect-tool-for-student-compo Sun, 24 Oct 2010 18:02:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~3/SrJOEP7yWws/a-teachable-moment http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/a-teachable-moment <p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/andrewwilliamson/CAklxhPgiQRMPjAfft6Be7suOmHqQESaIPpsf0BkPiCueDjZVqbR0LISA68s/25102010182.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="25102010182" height="667" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/andrewwilliamson/EeTbdqyf7kw4mY43JIjf9cSEF431iOGfWi0DzCA8pOeR1PHcgLSmQokDK8cz/25102010182.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Just had one of those wonderful teachable moments. The whole class are currently researching about the solar system in order to find a particular place to build a biosphere that will sustain life. The image I took below are of three boys who are doing some research about one of Saturn's moons (Pandora). As you can see one is on the iPad via the NASA app, one on a Macbook looking at Wikipedia, the other a book from the school library. The boys had come across some conflicting information from all three sources. This was the perfect time to stop the class and discuss some critical literacy skills. After a short class discussion on the validity of each source we came to the conclusion that the NASA App on the iPad was the more reputable source because of its connection with experts in the field of astronomy and space science.&nbsp;The students were aware that anyone can add information to Wikipedia and therefore providing information not necessarily from an expert making it less credible. When questioning the validity of the library book most students assumed that it was from a credible source. However, when the question was posed 'How did they know for sure?', they found it difficult to answer. Eventually the students recognised that the Author needed to list their scientific expertise and or sources of information that enabled them to write the book. We found that the book was lacking in this information and hence making it a less credible source. You could see the light bulb switch on as students moved to gather a number of differing sources of&nbsp;information and comparing their facts.&nbsp;</span></p> </p> <p><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/a-teachable-moment">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/a-teachable-moment#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~4/SrJOEP7yWws" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/494840/_1235197312_771.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4bmQUvSGGcQ9 Andrew Williamson andrewwilliamson Andrew Williamson http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/a-teachable-moment Sat, 28 Aug 2010 03:42:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~3/rpWvdUFS0NA/why-i-will-miss-google-wave http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/why-i-will-miss-google-wave <p> <div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"> </span></span><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On the 4th of August Google announced via its </span><a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/update-on-google-wave.html"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Official Google Blog</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> that it was no longer going to support Google Wave at the end of 2010, pulling the plug on a tool that I believe had great learning potential for students and teachers. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> Google wave had been on my radar for quite some time. It was on the ever expanding list of Web 2.0 tools to check out. When I finally did get to it, Google had just announced that it was opening it up to everyone and enabling access via Google&rsquo;s suite Education Apps which our students at North Fitzroy Primary enjoy using. This was perfect timing as it was the beginning of the school year and so I quickly dived into the &lsquo;mind bending&rsquo; world of the Wave. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> At the same time Google had also updated their Docs enabling real time collaborative editing and chat functions to most of their tools. My students love the chat function built into their email. Having the chat function built into their Docs was going to be a real plus making it possible for them to use the chat for collaborative purposes rather than just a social communication tool. Some of my students were quickly onto this feature and have been collaboratively writing some amazing stories which they are now doing in their own time for enjoyment. The new additions to Google Docs helped ease the students into some of the &ldquo;free flow&rdquo; architecture of Google Wave. At first they treated it like another chat tool and some soon realised that the conversation didn&rsquo;t just disappear into the ether like their other chat tools. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="color: #ffffff;"> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">During term holidays we usually set the students a blogging challenge. Last term this was changed into a </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1EFMNWP12ywRZkQVxmaauCU5lV2e2OpQGzJ8e0xRJsbI"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">&lsquo;Web 2.0 Challenge&rsquo;</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. The challenge was a series of online activities the students needed to complete. Some of which were 4 Google Waves. Each Wave contained a controversial question that the students need to answer. For example &lsquo;Should school require students to wear a uniform?&rsquo; (North Fitzroy Primary has no school uniform requirements) and &lsquo;Does television have a negative influence on society?&rsquo;. Each question was designed to elicit some discourse between students using Google Wave. There was some great discussion between those students who participated and some convincing arguments put forward. Each argumentative Wave also contained a poll however, I found that some of the students tended to just answer the poll rather than join the discussion. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> Examples Below. </span><br /><span style="color: #ffffff;"> <a href="http://awesomescreenshot.com/017r3z1c"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Persuasive writing Wave</span></a></span><br /><span style="color: #ffffff;"> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/xsT5u1zs3NM4M_4MVaSCdA?feat=directlink"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Persuasive writing Wave 2</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="color: #ffffff;"> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In term 2 I had the pleasure of working with a group of grade 5 boys using Scratch. Part of our role in the </span><a href="http://www.aiz.vic.edu.au/"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Achievement Improvement Zone</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (AIZ- a Northern Metropolitan Region initiative) we are focusing on engagement in grade 5 boys. Data from our student surveys indicated that some grade 5 boys expressed a diminishing interest in learning and school. Introducing gaming and game making was seen as a strategy to help lift engagement with this cohort. Along with playing games like </span><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/reflections-of-the-first-days-play-with-civ-4"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Civilization IV</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> during our rich task unit, this group of boys will also start creating games using scratch. Looking for a platform where all the boys could meet, collaborate and communicate, </span><a href="http://kynanrobinson.globalteacher.org.au/"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Kynan Robinson</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and I decided that Google Wave would be the perfect platform. Google Wave became the place where the boys could share their ideas, thoughts, reflections and importantly create their own help desk. It also became a place for them to share their finished games by simply creating a link to their Scratch page. &nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="color: #ffffff;"> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Our Term 3 Extend Your Talents (EYT) group has has been a load of fun to work with. Kynan and I wanted to get a bunch of students together to test, review and use some Web 2.0 creative tools. Again we used Google Wave as the meeting place. </span><a href="https://wave.google.com/a/fitzroynthps.vic.edu.au/#minimized:nav,minimized:contact,minimized:search,restored:wave:fitzroynthps.vic.edu.au%252Fw%252BO3eV8mUqA"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Click here to view Wave</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. (this is a copy of the original Wave demonstrating the task) The project was based around 11 online web 2.0 creative tools. Kynan and I had tried a few but not all. We wanted the students to test drive each one and rate it. After they had reviewed each tool the students had to choose at least one to create a work of art to post on their blogs. Google Wave proved to be the perfect platform for such a project. Each tool that was listed was allocated a poll so that the students could rate each Web 2.0 tool as they went. The Wave was also used as a communication tool allowing students to instantly post their thoughts, ideas, successes and failures. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> The students have really enjoyed this project. The main factor for this was the self directed nature of the task. Kynan and I basically left the students to their own devices. We merely facilitated the project. The students had to attempt to trouble shoot any issues themselves before they came to us. The collaborative nature of the Wave, which was mainly used for communication, and Web 2.0 tools promoted student engagement. The students really enjoyed being able to chat and express themselves. Sometimes things got a little messy as some of the conversations were off topic. However, I found this not to be too much of a distraction as the students were totally engaged by the creative nature of their task. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> Below are some blog posts with student finished work. The online tools that the students used and reviewed can be seen in the &lsquo;Wave example&rsquo; mentioned above. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="color: #ffffff;"> <a href="http://fer0001.globalstudent.org.au/"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://fer0001.globalstudent.org.au/</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="color: #ffffff;"> <a href="http://cha0006.globalstudent.org.au/"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://cha0006.globalstudent.org.au/</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="color: #ffffff;"> <a href="http://har0057.globalstudent.org.au/"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://har0057.globalstudent.org.au/</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="color: #ffffff;"> <a href="http://col0006.globalstudent.org.au/"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://col0006.globalstudent.org.au/</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><p /> </div> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/why-i-will-miss-google-wave">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/why-i-will-miss-google-wave#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~4/rpWvdUFS0NA" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/494840/_1235197312_771.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4bmQUvSGGcQ9 Andrew Williamson andrewwilliamson Andrew Williamson http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/why-i-will-miss-google-wave Sat, 12 Jun 2010 05:36:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~3/jjoBzEBvFlE/the-potential-for-using-google-wave-during-sh http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/the-potential-for-using-google-wave-during-sh <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote> <div> <p style="font-size: 1.75em; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&amp;q=https%3A%2F%2Fwave.google.com%2Fwave%2F%23restored%3Awave%3Agooglewave.com!w%25252B7l3TSB_9A.2" target="_blank">Reading The Noisy Train</a></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">This is a copy of a wave that I have set up for my 18 month old son and his Grand parents who live interstate. He loves being read to especially from his grand parents. (Noisy Train is one of his favourite books) I set up this wave to enable this to happen. He is not old enough to operate the slide show controls but using the video chat extension below he can hear them whilst I change the slides. They are still able to ask questions about the book and he reacts just like the in the same room. </span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Being a teacher this got me thinking of the potential for Waving in the classroom. In the Early Years curriculum we often have parent helpers assisting students with their reading during the Literacy hour. Imagine the potential of using a wave to do the same thing. Your parent helpers wouldn't need to be in the classroom. Time poor parents would be able to login during the Literacy hour from the office and participate. There is potential for schools to link up with elderly residents of retirement homes. Student multi aged shared reading activities could take place as could collaborating with students from other schools. </span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Google wave has loads of potential in all areas of the curriculum. Its potential for collaboration is immense. Especially as more extensions and robots are developed to enhance the wave experience. </span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <table> <tr> <td style="height: 120px;"> <div><img src="https://wave.googleusercontent.com/wave/thumbnail/1_thumb.jpg?id=GzEQ0IiN7&amp;key=AH0qf5wOh2Wte2rhQcUd3kleovkVrESP8Q" height="120" alt="" style="height: 120px;" width="80" /> <span>&nbsp;</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div>file</div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <table> <tr> <td style="height: 80px;"> <div><img src="https://wave.googleusercontent.com/wave/thumbnail/Page2_thumb.jpg?id=GzEQ0IiN8&amp;key=AH0qf5xv81_B8pGQeMjCYGMLLezosDhKEA" height="80" alt="" style="height: 80px;" width="120" /> <span>&nbsp;</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div>file</div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <table> <tr> <td style="height: 80px;"> <div><img src="https://wave.googleusercontent.com/wave/thumbnail/page3_thumb.jpg?id=GzEQ0IiN9&amp;key=AH0qf5w7XPBm0uEvN0bAsjTY1habk1Zu3g" height="80" alt="" style="height: 80px;" width="120" /> <span>&nbsp;</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div>file</div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <table> <tr> <td style="height: 80px;"> <div><img src="https://wave.googleusercontent.com/wave/thumbnail/page4_thumb.jpg?id=9cPHhsCb3&amp;key=AH0qf5zSlkkvCxv3Z4oeYJ5dBrK7BAhkpw" height="80" alt="" style="height: 80px;" width="120" /> <span>&nbsp;</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div>file</div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <table> <tr> <td style="height: 80px;"> <div><img src="https://wave.googleusercontent.com/wave/thumbnail/page5_thumb.jpg?id=9cPHhsCb4&amp;key=AH0qf5wgfFoLh2z9mb7WpbOgxqcQjzf8sQ" height="80" alt="" style="height: 80px;" width="120" /> <span>&nbsp;</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div>file</div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <table> <tr> <td style="height: 80px;"> <div><img src="https://wave.googleusercontent.com/wave/thumbnail/page6_thumb.jpg?id=9cPHhsCb5&amp;key=AH0qf5w5Nw7amzB-d4SdXpY7ZTcdaLVHiw" height="80" alt="" style="height: 80px;" width="120" /> <span>&nbsp;</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div>file</div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <table> <tr> <td style="height: 80px;"> <div><img src="https://wave.googleusercontent.com/wave/thumbnail/page7_thumb.jpg?id=9cPHhsCb6&amp;key=AH0qf5wCqm4IoLVpwceeA3XRTvjESWOc8Q" height="80" alt="" style="height: 80px;" width="120" /> <span>&nbsp;</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div>file</div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <table> <tr> <td style="height: 80px;"> <div><img src="https://wave.googleusercontent.com/wave/thumbnail/page8_thumb.jpg?id=9cPHhsCb7&amp;key=AH0qf5y2ufqKrpswc_-Pr3Vksakc34267A" height="80" alt="" style="height: 80px;" width="120" /> <span>&nbsp;</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div>file</div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <table> <tr> <td style="height: 80px;"> <div><img src="https://wave.googleusercontent.com/wave/thumbnail/page9_thumb.jpg?id=9cPHhsCb8&amp;key=AH0qf5yzOGCPgkB5nvRMPgSc0VzEONVfnQ" height="80" alt="" style="height: 80px;" width="120" /> <span>&nbsp;</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div>file</div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <table> <tr> <td style="height: 80px;"> <div><img src="https://wave.googleusercontent.com/wave/thumbnail/page10_thumb.jpg?id=9cPHhsCb9&amp;key=AH0qf5yPqmvV3EzC9Sf9crORga89D6noNA" height="80" alt="" style="height: 80px;" width="120" /> <span>&nbsp;</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div>file</div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <table> <tr> <td style="height: 80px;"> <div><img src="https://wave.googleusercontent.com/wave/thumbnail/page11_thumb.jpg?id=9cPHhsCb11&amp;key=AH0qf5zRMQ0Al55JcDe-i7LeEMljxS62bw" height="80" alt="" style="height: 80px;" width="120" /> <span>&nbsp;</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div>file</div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <br /> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div> <div>VideoChat test</div> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <br /> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> </blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="https://wave.google.com/wave/#restored:wave:googlewave.com!w%252B7l3TSB_9A.2">wave.google.com</a></div> <p>Read the wave;-)</p> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/the-potential-for-using-google-wave-during-sh">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/the-potential-for-using-google-wave-during-sh#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~4/jjoBzEBvFlE" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/494840/_1235197312_771.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4bmQUvSGGcQ9 Andrew Williamson andrewwilliamson Andrew Williamson http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/the-potential-for-using-google-wave-during-sh Thu, 20 May 2010 05:42:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~3/MFlNuW6oDUA/ultranet-down http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/ultranet-down <p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/andrewwilliamson/FOCeSmquz18bT2sBoEDuyZMlagJKWuwdu17fx50Muky5y1nS1AfWeizL4xI0/Screen_shot_2010-05-19_at_9.06.png.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Screen_shot_2010-05-19_at_9" height="246" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/andrewwilliamson/MK1TjCDtucBOSArsOBBYP7idt7HEzwk5xuF0eiq4vG7rYn7e2bvozSR1tRlU/Screen_shot_2010-05-19_at_9.06.png.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> <p> </p> <div> <div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;"> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;">I would like to preface that I am not a blocker. In fact over the past 5 years of teaching I have completely immersed myself in the awe and wonderment of computers and the positive effect that ICT can have on teaching and learning in the classroom. After taking on the role as ICT co-ordinator I saw it as one of my many roles to be an early adopter and to have a go. One of my main aims was to test and see if the technology was going to facilitate teaching and learning in a collaborative environment. I consistently engaged in conversations with my colleagues to gauge their professional opinions to make sure that the appropriate technology was in place to support their classroom practice and pedagogy. In regards to the students, over time I have developed a Personal Learning Network through twitter and blogging that spans the globe. I love talking to my colleagues about this and how it has improved my efficacy as a teacher and leader. So you would think that the <a href="http://www.education.vic.gov.au/management/ultranet/default.htm">Ultranet</a> would fit nicely into this description? Sadly not. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /> <p style="margin-left: 4pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">More than 1600 Victorian schools are about to get the Ultranet - an online portal and ''virtual classroom'' Education Minister Bronwyn Pike championed and promised that it will transform the way students learn (</span><a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/online-schools-portal-goes-live-20100315-q9nd.html"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">The Age 16 March 2010).</span></a></span></p> <span style="color: #ffffff;"> <a href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theage.com.au%2Fnational%2Feducation%2Fonline-schools-portal-goes-live-20100315-q9nd.html&amp;sa=D&amp;sntz=1&amp;usg=AFQjCNGFrk-YDjMnOTSZv7JBbiUFSmWBaQ"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></a></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> I have just finished the first two days of training as an Ultranet Lead User along with 4 of my colleagues (my Principal being one of them). Here is my reflection and initial thoughts and why there is no way the Ultranet will 'transform the way students learn'.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> As soon as I had seen the first Power Point presentation delivered to Ultranet Coaches and Principals by Dianne Peck (Business Owner, Ultranet), I was wondering how the Ultranet was going to work. I couldn't believe that the main premise for its construction was around safety and that this would be provided via a closed environment. How is this possible? We had just adopted <a href="http://globalstudent.org.au/">Globalstudent</a> across the school as our main blogging tool - an online live digital portfolio and a portal into the classroom of every grade in the school. Every student from grades 3-6 has their own personal blog. This wasn't a closed environment but open for the world to see. Why would we want to use the Ultranet? One of the main benefits of using Globalstudent is the authenticity of having a live real audience view your successes. It is possible for Gllobalstudent users to set their permissions to private and/or save their work as drafts?  This can be easily done with three clicks. Ultranet users will be confronted with a confusing array of permission choices as difficult as Facebook's (see image below). At our school we take Digital Citzenship and safety seriously. We teach students strategies for staying safe on the internet and we guide teachers and parents on how to best deal with internet safety issues. I believe it is best to teach children how to operate safely in a real life cyber environment rather than restricting their experience in the name of keeping them safe. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> I have often been asked the question- is this technology 5 years too late? My reply is yes. My school was part of the original Ultranet trial. Yes, it was a resounding failure. We invested a lot of time and thought trying to apply it to the primary school context. The technology was clunky and it didn't work. The technology just wasn't there. However, we all could see its potential and really enjoyed engaging in conversations about teachers collaborating and sharing ideas and students accessing learning tools and also sharing ideas. That's why we spent the next 4 years looking for alternatives. In fact our Ultranet coaches encouraged us to do so. Hence, the Globalstudent blogging tools and our use of the Google education applications. The teachers and students at our school have taken to these applications like ducks to water. Teachers use the Google docs folders and applications to plan and share, and the Principal is invited to collaborate. The Principal has access and can contribute to the team/teacher folders and can view all the term planning. Students take notes whilst watching documentaries and share them in our class folder for all to view. They can upload their Powerpoint presentations to Google Docs and grab the code and embed it into their blog. Google has just released a major update for all their Document tools which includes Google Drawings where students will be able to create mind maps and/or flowcharts, to just name a few. Will this technology exist in the Ultranet? Will the Ultranet continue to have regular updates to keep up with emerging technologies? (as I am writing this into Google Docs a colleague is reading and editing). One would hope that Victorian teachers and students weren’t short changed. At this stage, I have only seen wikis, blogs, slideshows, the potential to embed video (tried, didn’t work) and the ability to upload documents which cannot be viewed inside the Ultranet. Unfortunately, the Ultranet is 5 years too late. Why should we be burdened with this? </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="color: #ffffff;"> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Creativity is essential for both teachers and students. Teachers need to be given the time to think creatively about their planning and how they can deliver their lessons. Students need to engage in their learning through their inventiveness. Whilst we were waiting to get onto the Ultranet, there were many discussions about how it was going to help with teaching and learning. I was trying to ascertain where the creativity would happen? What is the purpose of uploading photos (one at a time) to create a slide show? Surely having the students capture the images in context of the task, is the most important element of creating the slideshow? Especially if no one can see it. Do we need to rely on the Ultranet, the ‘network’ to be able to create something? To quote <a href="http://www.stager.org/">Gary Stager</a> at <a href="http://acec2010.info/">ACEC 2010</a>: “</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If we don’t have an effective network or access to fast broadband or a creative learning program underpinning the network then we should ‘cut the cord’. Computers are still extremely useful without the network. Maybe the “network” ie the internet is getting in the way of constructive learning.” </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(Thanks to Steve Collis you can see and listen to the complete Keynote at <a href="http://www.happysteve.com/2010/04/gary-stager-speaks.html">Happy Steve's blog</a>)</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> Access may be a real problem for schools that haven’t yet engaged in a 1 to 1 program. I am a strong believer in the power of 1 to 1 in the classroom. However, schools may feel that to take full advantage of the Ultranet that they need to fast track a the 1 to 1 developments and purchase substandard machines. The jury is still out on whether netbooks, for example, are the appropriate machines for creative learning environments. There has been some questions asked as to whether there will be a ‘hand held’ device interface developed for the Ultranet. With so many schools using these where will the Ultranet fit in to their profile? </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ffffff;"> My first experience of the Ultranet wasn’t a pleasant one. After being bitten once before during the first Ultranet trial, I was hoping it would be more positive. I am acutely aware that I am part of cycle one of the first release and glitches are to be expected. However, one would expect that we would at least have access for more than a few hours during the first two days of training. One hour in the morning before it went down on the second day is not good enough. For the complete array of applications to be not ready and not fully functional is not good enough. I cannot believe that for the past 4 years I have acted as an agent for change (still am) and now I find myself in a position of reaction. It is unfair that DEECD and the State Government has foisted an unfinished product upon us. Especially when many schools have worked tirelessly getting themselves Web 2.0 ready only to be given the bare bones. This is purely a political decision and a bad one.</span> </div> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/ultranet-down">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/ultranet-down#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~4/MFlNuW6oDUA" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/494840/_1235197312_771.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4bmQUvSGGcQ9 Andrew Williamson andrewwilliamson Andrew Williamson http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/ultranet-down Tue, 11 May 2010 22:34:03 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~3/jyJeJxo9QlE/gaming-in-the-classroom-civilization-iv-pt-2 http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/gaming-in-the-classroom-civilization-iv-pt-2 <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <object data="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="281" width="500"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value="clip_id=11675798&server=vimeo.com&fullscreen=1&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00ADEF" /></object> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://vimeo.com/11675798">vimeo.com</a></div> <p>The students and I have been champing at the bit for the past couple of weeks because we have missed a few of our Civilization IV sessions due to public holidays. We have however, been able to concentrate on some of the accompanying learning activities the form the rest of the rich task. </p><p>Apart from actually playing the game, we were hoping to get the students to develop hypothesis that would then help them to think about various strategies that they would employ to win the game. These would then need to be supported with real life historical examples of civilisations that 'have stood the test of time'. </p><p>So the students are now beginning the research component of the rich task. They will need to find out </p><p>What do you think has made civilisations great throughout history? Do you know examples of some great historical civilisations? Your task is to undertake a research assignment. There are two options from which you can choose: </p><p>Option 1: <br />Research two or more great historical civilisations and identify features of them that made them successful </p><p>Option 2: <br />Research two or more features that made various civilisations great throughout history. </p><p>Accompanying each option is a range of sub questions to help guide the students in their research. The enthusiasm for beginning the research was awesome. Clearly, playing Civilization IV had influenced the level of engagement with this assignment. The students knew that any information they could gather was going to assist their game play. </p><p>I wanted to mix up the sources of information for this assignment. Obviously the Internet was going to be their major source as well as various reference materials from the school library. Showing a documentary on the beginnings of civilisation would be a welcomed alternative for the audio/visual learners in my class. Guns, Gems, and Steel was the right choice. Jared Diamonds hypothesis as to why the Papua New Guinean Tribes didn't modernise at the same time as the European/Middle Eastern countries was a compelling one based around geography and animal husbandry. The students could see the correlation to real life historical theories and what was happening in Civilization IV. </p><p>I had seven capable students taking notes straight into Google docs that are going to be shared with the rest of the class. We discussed the notes that they had taken. You could see the penny drop for most when the students began to discuss strategies such as building more farms or how do I acquire sheep and or other domesticated animals, crops and fresh water. Where they settled their first city became a hot topic. Suddenly, they were discussing the importance of geography and other resources that would assist in the growth of their Civilisation.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/gaming-in-the-classroom-civilization-iv-pt-2">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/gaming-in-the-classroom-civilization-iv-pt-2#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~4/jyJeJxo9QlE" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/494840/_1235197312_771.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4bmQUvSGGcQ9 Andrew Williamson andrewwilliamson Andrew Williamson http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/gaming-in-the-classroom-civilization-iv-pt-2 Wed, 05 May 2010 19:55:20 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~3/-hQ-Qt74ZOg/students-favourite-video-games-and-why-0 http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/students-favourite-video-games-and-why-0 <p> <div class='p_embed p_audio_embed'> <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/students-favourite-video-games-and-why-0"><img alt="" src="http://posterous.com/images/filetypes/unknown.png" /></a> <div class='p_embed_description'> <span class='p_id3'>Memo.m4a</span> <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/students-favourite-video-games-and-why-0">Listen on Posterous</a> </div> </div> <p>Trying to put the finishing touches to the school ICT newsletter I need to find out what games students liked and why? I was trying think of a way to collect this information when I had a brain wave. Lets just use the ipod touch and record their thoughts whilst they were at recess. </p> </p> <p><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/students-favourite-video-games-and-why-0">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/students-favourite-video-games-and-why-0#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~4/-hQ-Qt74ZOg" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/494840/_1235197312_771.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4bmQUvSGGcQ9 Andrew Williamson andrewwilliamson Andrew Williamson - http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/students-favourite-video-games-and-why-0 Mon, 19 Apr 2010 05:26:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~3/OOQgngSXKAE/reflections-of-the-first-days-play-with-civ-4 http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/reflections-of-the-first-days-play-with-civ-4 <p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Today was the first day of our Rich Task unit where the students are going to play Civilization IV and use it to stimulate further learning. </span><a href="http://kynanrobinson.globalteacher.org.au/" target="_blank">Kynan Robinson</a><span> and I have been looking for a way to introduce games based learning into our classrooms and when I brought this up with my <a href="http://www.fitzroynthps.vic.edu.au/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=30&amp;Itemid=41">Level 4</a> team mate and colleague <a href="http://peterolm.globalteacher.org.au/reading/civiii/" target="_blank">Peter Olm</a> he suggested <a href="http://www.2kgames.com/civ4/">Civilization IV</a>. Peter's knowledge and enthusiasm for the game was infectious and as a team it was quickly decided that this was going to be the bases of our unit. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_IV">Civilization IV</a> is a turn based game where the player/students will take charge of a beginning civilisation at the beginning date of 4000BC the aim is to build a civilisation that will 'stand the test of time'. The game requires deep level thinking skills and strategising as well as building a knowledge of historical events that enable the students to create a civilisation that will ultimately be successful. The students will also need to develop an understanding of </span><span style="border-collapse: collapse;">government, economy, foreign relations, managing of resources, development of cities, scientific research and technological advancement, improvement of infrastructure and so on. </span></span></p> <p /> <div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As part of this process, students will develop hypotheses</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> about how </span><span style="font-family: arial;">to best meet the any of the six victory conditions as set out in the game with the ultimate goal of creating a successful civilisation to </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>“stand the test of time”</em></span><span style="font-family: arial;">. In doing so, students will act as historians in researching and evaluating historical information about real-life examples of civilisations. Using the information that they have gathered, they will consider key factors, advances, prominent people, crucial decisions, problems and events the development, progress, successes and failures of historical civilisations. They will use this information to assist them in developing their hypotheses and strategies and when making important decisions and taking action in aiming meet the victory conditions of the game. </span></span></span></div> <p /> <div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium;">I want to draw their attention to the Focus questions and Key Concepts. Concerned with information overload. I really only wanted to discuss the first two but displayed the rest for tomorrows reflection. </span></div> <p /> <div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium;">They are: </span></div> <div> <span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></span><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 15.9pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>What is a civilisation? What are the characteristics and traits of civilisations?</strong></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 15.9pt;"><span style="font-family: symbol;"><strong>·</strong></span><strong>      </strong><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>What are the different eras and prominent periods in the development and existence of major civilisations? (Ancient, Classical, Medieval, Renaissance, Industrial and Modern)</strong></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 15.9pt;"><span style="font-family: symbol;">·</span>      <span style="font-family: arial;">What discoveries have been crucial in the advancements of civilisations?</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 15.9pt;"><span style="font-family: symbol;">·</span>      <span style="font-family: arial;">What factors influence the progress of civilisations over time?</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 15.9pt;"><span style="font-family: symbol;">·</span>      <span style="font-family: arial;">What factors might make civilisations successful or unsuccessful?</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 15.9pt;"><span style="font-family: symbol;">·</span>      <span style="font-family: arial;">What are some of the benefits or negative side effects of civilisations?</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 15.9pt;"><span style="font-family: symbol;">·</span>      <span style="font-family: arial;">How do our understandings of civilisations influence the decisions we make and the way that we live our lives today?</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 15.9pt;"><span style="font-family: symbol;">·</span>      <span style="font-family: arial;">What does it mean to be a historian? (Using historical reasoning to interpret accounts of past events and make judgements about how to act in the present day)</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 15.9pt;"><span style="font-family: symbol;">·</span>      </p> <span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></span><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 15.9pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">What are some of the problems with accounts of history?</span></p> <span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></span> </div> <p /> <div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium;"> The Tutorial alone can be quite complicated and it takes nearly 45 mins to complete. Instead I wanted them to experience the awe and wonderment of the opening sequence of the game. Lights out and the cinematic display of the IWB, with the sound up did the trick. The students couldn't wait to start playing. I did start with the first 5 minutes of the Tutorial because the Second Life like tutor explained the basic moves and initial plays in a succinct manor. However, in hindsight I should have just modeled the beginning game myself. </span></div> <p /> <div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium;">As expected the students took to the game like ducks to water. Questions of 'how to move this' and 'how to do that' flew around the room. It was great that the students didn't just ask me questions but sort council from their peers. This became more apparent as they advanced further into the game. Of course we had the usual suspects who went straight into war and had their Civilisations wiped out because they hadn't developed enough resources. Others were more thoughtful and gradually built their Civilisations complete with mines, roads, farms and military defences. </span></div> <p /> <div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium;">We are only at the beginning of the unit and already I am starting to see the benefits with engagement and learning. At the end of the day we had an hour of refection. I wanted them to answer questions which they collectively devised. </span></div> <p /> <div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium;">What is Civilization 4 and how do you start a game?</span></div> <div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium;">What are your feelings about the game?</span></div> <div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium;">What mistakes did you make when playing the game? </span></div> <div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium;">How could you improve your game strategies? </span></div> <div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium;">Tips for someone new to the game. </span></div> <p /> <div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium;">I have several reluctant writers in my class who wrote for the most of the hour. One of these is an ESL student who wrote an entire page of tips and strategies. He normally struggles to write a paragraph let alone a page in the last hour of the day. Some of our high achievers wrote about meetings with other civilisations and strategies on how to maintain peace and harmony and reasons for doing so. Others discussed how they thought that developing more workers was a great strategy because it meant that they could build more infrastructure which lead to faster growth. Every student in the class wrote that they enjoyed the game. </span></div> <p /> <div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium;">Our foray into games based learning has been a clear winner in with my grade 5 class. I can't wait to continue and see where the students take it next. </span></div> <p /> <p /> <p><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/andrewwilliamson/UMVVOUVrI06orKRE9QctugDQKzqXY5P5XKq4fAVPUh8KDKMPKpstGVWlX45a/19042010106.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="19042010106" height="375" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/andrewwilliamson/HPYlIDbNl1dZNHiogiU7UYscOl9xxwl1oKtceUfErHV2usCv6V3BMzXfYxs3/19042010106.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/andrewwilliamson/cUWZ0ma2jmBWedQPwgCy00SRaHScE7xrTD5x2iMcmv30aY4pYaYqanfCqDgB/19042010107.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="19042010107" height="375" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/andrewwilliamson/DvQBoCG2e86XqcHCxIbRMFw1kwfCi2nYFoauWVtVcKfFwkBGGEWw6WVLIKOU/19042010107.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <div class='p_see_full_gallery'><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/reflections-of-the-first-days-play-with-civ-4">See the full gallery on Posterous</a></div> </div> </span></p> </p> <p><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/reflections-of-the-first-days-play-with-civ-4">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/reflections-of-the-first-days-play-with-civ-4#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~4/OOQgngSXKAE" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/494840/_1235197312_771.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4bmQUvSGGcQ9 Andrew Williamson andrewwilliamson Andrew Williamson http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/reflections-of-the-first-days-play-with-civ-4 Tue, 13 Apr 2010 05:52:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~3/DyyrpQ15y1g/official-google-docs-blog-a-new-google-docs-0 http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/official-google-docs-blog-a-new-google-docs-0 <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <object height="295" width="480"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6_hJ3R8jEZM&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6_hJ3R8jEZM&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="295" width="480"></embed> </object> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-google-docs.html">googledocs.blogspot.com</a></div> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Carmela Guglielmino (the excellent teacher that I share my grade 5 class with) and I like our students to create a set of personal goals each term. They can range from academic to sporting goals and don't have to relate to their classroom learning.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">We have decided that the should publish their goals on their personal blogs encouraging the students to share them with their parents. They will also be reflecting on their goals at the end of the term. These reflections will be attached to their semester report and will be used to generate discussions with students and parents during end of semester interviews.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">The students can present their goals in anyway they want but most have chosen to present them as mind maps or concept maps. Originally I suggested that they use buble.us which is an excellent online collaborative mind mapping tool. However, Google have recently updated their suite of Documets tools (Google Docs) to include Drawings. Having just watched the above video and had a little play I am now going to suggest that they use Google Drawings. We subscribe to Google Education Apps as part of our email system and this is a welcome addition.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">I am also looking forward to using the new Google Docs layout tools when planning with the team tomorrow. The live document editing viewer is going to be very useful. So too will the inbuilt chat function.</span></p> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/official-google-docs-blog-a-new-google-docs-0">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/official-google-docs-blog-a-new-google-docs-0#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~4/DyyrpQ15y1g" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/494840/_1235197312_771.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4bmQUvSGGcQ9 Andrew Williamson andrewwilliamson Andrew Williamson http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/official-google-docs-blog-a-new-google-docs-0 Sun, 04 Apr 2010 05:06:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~3/U8M57dLRh1s/google-quiz http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/google-quiz <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote> <div style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 10px;"> <p><strong><a href="http://www.plentysmart.com/comp/google/google.php#" target="_blank">Welcome to plentysmart's Google quiz</a>.</strong></p> <p>Google. The possibilities are nearly infinite. Do you know it as well as you'd like? If not, try out our quiz. Google's help pages can be found <a href="http://www.google.com/support">here</a>.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> </blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.plentysmart.com/comp/google/google.php">plentysmart.com</a></div> <p>I just challenged myself to this test via plentysmart.com. It asks the question Do you know it (Google) as well as you'd like? At first I thought that it was going to be a general knowledge test on Google but it turned out to be more interesting than that. The questions were based around your knowledge of using the correct terms when using Googles search engine. I hadn't really thought about this before and when completing the quiz was amazed that I didn't know a lot of the answers. Ok I did get 6 out of 15 (which according to the quizmaster is above average) but that was sheer luck and selecting what might be the obvious answer. I wasn't surprised by the actual average of around 1.6!</p> <p>I wonder what my students would score? I am definitely going to challenge my students to this quiz. A subsequent discussion might be useful in emphasising some of these search terms and learning some efficiencies when searching on Google.</p> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/google-quiz">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/google-quiz#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~4/U8M57dLRh1s" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/494840/_1235197312_771.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4bmQUvSGGcQ9 Andrew Williamson andrewwilliamson Andrew Williamson http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/google-quiz Tue, 30 Mar 2010 04:12:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~3/76vc82BOmuk/homework-5acs-class-blog http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/homework-5acs-class-blog <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote> <div> <h3><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 13px;">Student blogging has continued to grow at North Fitzroy Primary School. It has been a pleasure to watch our students engage in ICT through their student blogs. It's wonderful to see their individuality and personalities shine through. I especially like some of their thematic ideas. Read more below...</span></h3> <h3></h3> <h3>Homework</h3> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4><strong>Welcome to your homework page. All you need to do is click on the homework link to download. If this doesn&rsquo;t work please let me know.</strong></h4> <h3><strong>Homework Week 7</strong></h3> <p><strong><a href="http://5acs.globalstudent.org.au/files/2010/02/Shapes-around-the-home.doc">Shapes around the home</a></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com.au/willie42/CoachApproachClinic?feat=directlink#" title="Coach Approach Clinic Photos" target="_blank">Coach Approach Clinic Photos:</a></strong><strong><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com.au/willie42/CoachApproachClinic?feat=directlink#" title="Coach Approach Clinic Photos" target="_blank"> </a></strong><strong>Alternative English Homework. Download some images. Upload them to your blog. Write a description (minimum 2 Paragraphs) about the mornings activities.</strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://5acs.globalstudent.org.au/files/2010/02/img-316100003.pdf">English Homework 1</a></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://5acs.globalstudent.org.au/files/2010/02/img-316100017.pdf">English Homework 2</a></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ARx3Adt2v3xXZGNjczltdjdfMzM3Z3ZiZjhmZGI&amp;hl=en_GB" target="_blank">Weekly Spelling</a> week 7</strong></p> <h3>Homework Week 6</h3> <p><a href="http://5acs.globalstudent.org.au/files/2010/02/LH_3dshapes_properties.doc">LH_3dshapes_properties</a></p> <p><a href="http://5acs.globalstudent.org.au/files/2010/02/properties_of_3D_shapes.doc">properties_of_3D_shapes</a></p> <p><a href="http://docs.google.com/View?id=dddf3f4k_20f4qndpdk" title="Week 6 Spelling" target="_blank">Weekly Spelling</a></p> <p><a href="http://5acs.globalstudent.org.au/files/2010/02/img-311082744.pdf">English 1</a></p> <p><a href="http://5acs.globalstudent.org.au/files/2010/02/img-311082754.pdf">English 2</a></p> <h3><strong>Homework Week 5 </strong></h3> <p><a href="http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ARx3Adt2v3xXZGNjczltdjdfMjk0Z3g3NDRqZno&amp;hl=en_GB" target="_blank"><strong>English/Blogging &nbsp;Challenge. </strong></a></p> <p><strong>Maths</strong></p> <p><a href="http://5acs.globalstudent.org.au/files/2010/02/Data-and-Subtraction-Homework.doc">Data and Subtraction Homework</a></p> <p><a href="http://5acs.globalstudent.org.au/files/2010/02/Data-Home-Work.doc">Data Home Work</a></p> <p><strong>Below is the Homework for Week 4 Term 1 and Weekly Spelling Words. </strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://5acs.globalstudent.org.au/files/2010/02/numberproblems.doc">Maths 1 Number problems</a></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://5acs.globalstudent.org.au/files/2010/02/stwordproblems.doc">Maths 2 Word Problems</a></strong></p> <p><a href="http://5acs.globalstudent.org.au/files/2010/02/img-222104159.pdf"><strong>English Homework 1</strong></a></p> <p><strong><a href="http://5acs.globalstudent.org.au/files/2010/02/img-222104214.pdf">English Homework 2</a></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://5acs.globalstudent.org.au/homework/spelling/" title="Weekly Spelling Words" target="_blank">Weekly Spelling Words</a></strong></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> </div> <div><span><a href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=120&amp;winname=addthis&amp;pub=&amp;source=men-120&amp;lng=en&amp;s=&amp;url=http%253A%252F%252F5acs.globalstudent.org.au%252Fhomework%252F&amp;title=Homework&amp;logo=&amp;logobg=&amp;logocolor=&amp;ate=AT-unknown/-/-/4bb1d2e3365413d0/1&amp;sms_ss=1&amp;CXNID=2000001.5215456080540439074NXC&amp;pre=http%3A%2F%2F5acs.globalstudent.org.au%2Fhomework%2F&amp;tt=0"><img src="http://5acs.globalstudent.org.au//s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-bookmark-en.gif" height="16" alt="AddThis" width="125" style="border: none; padding: 0px;" /></a></span></div> <div><span><a href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=120&amp;winname=addthis&amp;pub=&amp;source=men-120&amp;lng=en&amp;s=&amp;url=http%253A%252F%252F5acs.globalstudent.org.au%252Fhomework%252F&amp;title=Homework&amp;logo=&amp;logobg=&amp;logocolor=&amp;ate=AT-unknown/-/-/4bb1d2e3365413d0/1&amp;sms_ss=1&amp;CXNID=2000001.5215456080540439074NXC&amp;pre=http%3A%2F%2F5acs.globalstudent.org.au%2Fhomework%2F&amp;tt=0"></a><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold;">Leave a Comment</span></span></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> </blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://5acs.globalstudent.org.au/homework/">5acs.globalstudent.org.au</a></div> <p>Student blogging has continued to grow at North Fitzroy Primary School. It has been a pleasure to watch our students engage in ICT through their student blogs. It's wonderful to see their individuality and personalities shine through. I especially like some of their thematic ideas.</p> <p>Each teacher or class has their own class blog. The class blog has become an important modelling tool as well as opening up the classroom to the wider community. I have also found my class blog to be a valuable teaching tool as well. All the students have bookmarked the class blog or committed the url to memory. So it is easy to host lesson links for students to reference. Creating links to my Picassa web albums for students to download and add to their own blogs have been very useful.</p> <p>Having students access their homework has proven to be a great way of getting parents to view our classblog. However, many of them are yet to comment on it. I think that some pro active letter writing or parent activity is needed. Maybe I should invite them to become contributors as well? Generally our homework has been worksheet based but the alternative homework ideas that involve blogging have become very popular.</p> <p>Even though I have administrator rights to all my student blogs, I have chosen to take a minimal intervention approach. Hoping to foster their individuality and creativity. I do subscribe to all their blogs through my news reader and check them weekly. This allows me to monitor but also facilitates my ability to comment on them. I will also have non cyber discussion with my students about their individual blogs. It's a really great way to keep up with their interests.</p> <p>There has been some issues arise however. The students have become very interested in glitter graphics to decorate their blog. We have had numerous discussions on the pros and cons of a cluttered blog. I have noticed that some student have taken down some of these. The usual spelling and gramar issues are evident. However I hope that as the students develop an awareness of the audience and that others are reading their posts that this will motivate them to improve in these areas. The student have also taken to hosting vimeo videos on their blogs. I don't mind this but I am encouraging them to do this purpose and context of some description. Ie Basketball playing obsessed student including Michael Jordan's top Ten Slam Dunks is encouraged to include a written description of why he has put this on his blog.</p> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/homework-5acs-class-blog">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/homework-5acs-class-blog#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~4/76vc82BOmuk" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/494840/_1235197312_771.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4bmQUvSGGcQ9 Andrew Williamson andrewwilliamson Andrew Williamson http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/homework-5acs-class-blog Mon, 29 Mar 2010 05:15:02 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~3/GwjAy9AFmVA/apple-learning-interchange-ipod-touch-touchin-1 http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/apple-learning-interchange-ipod-touch-touchin-1 <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Media_httpedcommunity_xdebe" height="215" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/andrewwilliamson/FmwinruEIDuseakmfcthsljGczlwwuuoqdqhBrFyDbwqahxoCbwxfDcavzvI/media_httpedcommunity_xdEBE.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="427" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=16472&amp;version=7723&amp;pageID=19381">edcommunity.apple.com</a></div> <p>Another reason/s for using ipod touches in the classroom. We have just introduced them in some of our grade 1 and 2 classes. From all reports the students and teachers are loving it. I had the pleasure of observing both numeracy and literacy hours where the ipod touches were seamlessly integrated into their rotation activities.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/apple-learning-interchange-ipod-touch-touchin-1">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/apple-learning-interchange-ipod-touch-touchin-1#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~4/GwjAy9AFmVA" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/494840/_1235197312_771.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4bmQUvSGGcQ9 Andrew Williamson andrewwilliamson Andrew Williamson http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/apple-learning-interchange-ipod-touch-touchin-1 Mon, 29 Mar 2010 04:55:25 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~3/XGxRwA3_J54/balance-the-equation http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/balance-the-equation <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <embed name="plugin" src="http://www.learningtoday.com/corporate/files/games/Algebra_Equations_and_Inequalities_L4_V1_T4a.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="400" width="500" /><div style=""><iframe name="POSTEROUS___bookmarklet_iframe" style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; height: 100%;"></iframe></div><form method="POST" action="http://posterous.com/bookmarklet/iframe_contents" target="POSTEROUS___bookmarklet_iframe" accept-charset="utf-8"><input name="title" type="hidden" value="" /><input name="linkto" type="hidden" value="http://www.learningtoday.com/corporate/files/games/Algebra_Equations_and_Inequalities_L4_V1_T4a.swf" /><input name="selection" type="hidden" value="" /><input name="doc_contents" type="hidden" /><input name="bookmarklet_version" type="hidden" value="1" /></form> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.learningtoday.com/corporate/files/games/Algebra_Equations_and_Inequalities_L4_V1_T4a.swf">learningtoday.com</a></div> <p>Great student interactive introducing simple algebra</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/balance-the-equation">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/balance-the-equation#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~4/XGxRwA3_J54" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/494840/_1235197312_771.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4bmQUvSGGcQ9 Andrew Williamson andrewwilliamson Andrew Williamson http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/balance-the-equation Mon, 29 Mar 2010 04:10:36 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~3/VqtxI844V3E/great-maths-site-for-lower-primary http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/great-maths-site-for-lower-primary <p> <div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse;">Great maths site for lower primary.<div><a href="http://www.learningtoday.com/corporate/files/games/Algebra_Functions_L3_V1_T4a.swf" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(6, 88, 181);">http://www.learningtoday.com/corporate/files/games/Algebra_Functions_L3_V1_T4a.swf</a></div> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/great-maths-site-for-lower-primary">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/great-maths-site-for-lower-primary#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BiteSizeTechForBusyTeachers/~4/VqtxI844V3E" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/494840/_1235197312_771.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4bmQUvSGGcQ9 Andrew Williamson andrewwilliamson Andrew Williamson http://andrewwilliamson.posterous.com/great-maths-site-for-lower-primary