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Great source of iPad PE Apps

DTester — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 17:14:44 +0000

Anyone wanting a great source of iPad Apps to use with their PE department should go and take a look at the fantastic work that Mr Robbo has done on his website http://thepegeek.com/apps/

He has created a fantastic resource for the PE teacher wanting to get the most out of iOS technologies in the PE curriculum with a fantastic digest of all the Apps out there which can support lessons and activities. Fab!

Google new Privacy Policy – how bothered should we be by it?

DTester — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 17:07:10 +0000

Despite unrest for a number of key players Google has now gone live with all its changes to their privacy policy, rolling all the policies from their services into one more easily digested and understood. But why the big deal? When it comes to online presence and data we all seem to get quite agitated about our data being stored. Sure, under the new policy it means that data from Google services gets bundled up and aggregated together, giving them a more refined view into our online habits of viewing, seeing and doing – thus giving them an edge on how they can more accurately deliver advertising that may appeal to us, right to our desktop. But how problematic is this? Personally I don’t think it is, having spent some time pondering through the new policy I think that Google has got it about right – taking it pretty much as far as you can reasonably go with regard to online data aggregation. As mass consumers we don’t think twice about how our data at Tesco’s and other big retailers gets used – if one of these large retailers bought out another company and started using the data from the other organisation in an aggregated form, would we, as a consumer make a thing of it? I think not. Google has been responsible and been quite public about the new terms – great to see! I find it very interesting how the online environment sensitises people, is this down to an overwhelming fear of what is not clearly understood or some other reason? Data aggregation in years to come is going to be big business, whether we like it or not.

Google Updates Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

DTester — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:15:26 +0000

For some time now Google’s privacy policies and T&C of service have been unwieldly and cumbersome, with over 60 policies in place to cover the wide range of services available in their portfolio. Their new policy “covers multiple products and features, reflecting our desire to create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience across Google.” You can view the new policy and term sof service at http://www.google.co.uk/policies

Incidentally, the updated terms of service come into effect on 1 March 2012. It is worth noting that by a user continuing to use the Google services after 1 March 2012, they are agreeing to the new Terms of Service. I have not had a chance to read them thoroughly myself yet, but I would strongly urge everyone to give them a good read.

: Google updates Policies

Embracing Mobile Technologies in Schools

DTester — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:10:59 +0000

This week I have had an article on the use of Mobile Technoloiges in schools published in SecED, the full article can be read here. From reading the article you can probably guess that I am passionate about securing high quality learning outcomes for students using whatever means are appropriate. Often this can be through the use of technology, not that owned and presented to the students by the school, but the very devices students know and use every day. I work with many schools and still get frustrated when I go into schools where students own devices are seen never to be seen or heard, worse still – banned from being on site altogether. There are still many senior leaders who do not understand the power and benefits of the technologies and a lack of confidence and understanding secures an easy decision being made, one of blocking the technologies and their use. We need to get a grip on reality as educators and realise that these devices are an embedded and intrinsic part of society for our younger generation.

So many schools use technology in a way that gives them the latest gimmick or fad, but does it really have a deep impact on learning outcomes for students? Use of these technologies needs to be led by the curriculum and meaningful learning outcomes. Visions and strategies need to be developed off the back of developing pedagogy and practice. All too often it is the technology that shapes the experience which in my mind is the wrong lead. Educators need to develop an understanding of the functionality of these technologies and what opportunities they can provide so that it is the curriculum and learning outcomes taking the lead, with the technologies playing an important role in enhancing the experience and final outcomes.

If you are reading this I would love you to take the time and read the full article, but more importantly, leave a comment on your own thoughts about where we should be going with mobile technologies in education.

Dom

Enhancing student feedback by using the reviewing functions in Word

DTester — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:56:39 +0000

A colleague at work has prompted me to quickly put this post together after asking about how the use of Word can be extended in giving written feedback to students. As a result of the discussion we had, this was the screencast I have put together. This simple use of Word can really have a positive impact on students, especially some of the more able students who we look to in getting higher grades.

Supporting Movember

DTester — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:30:27 +0000

Hi everyone, I though tthat posting this here would probably be quitea good idea. It’s Movember, the month formerly known as November, now dedicated to growing moustaches and raising awareness and funds for men’s health; specifically prostate and testicular cancer. Now, I am donating my top lip to the cause for 30 days in an effort to help change the face of men’s health. My Mo will spark conversations, and no doubt generate some laughs; all in the name of raising vital awareness and funds for cancer’s affecting men.

Why am I so passionate about men’s health?
* 1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime
* This year 37,000 new cases of the disease will be diagnosed
* 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime
* 26% of men are less likely to go the doctor compared to women

I’m asking you to support my Movember campaign by making a donation online: http://mobro.co/dtester
If you’d like to find out more about the type of work you’d be helping to fund by supporting Movember, take a look at the Programmes We Fund section on the Movember website: http://uk.movember.com/about

Thank you in advance for supporting my efforts to change the face of men’s health.If you can donate I really would appreciate it.

Dom

Managing Social Media within a School – Scheduling Updates using HootSuite

DTester — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:03:04 +0000

Well, I thought it was about time to get back on to the blog with a few choice updates. The first of which relates to Social media in schools. Like all good things, the use of media in schools requires an investment of time to pay any sort of dividends. How can schools maximise exposure through social media in a way that does not impinge on organisational efficiency. Simple – use some of the fantastic tools that are out there to take care of post scheduling for you. My personal favourite has to be HootSuit. User accounts are free and paid subscriptions come in to play when you may have a team of personnel/tweeters managing a social presence between them. We’ve had brilliant results using just their free service.

: Scheduling School Info using Hootsuite

So, how do I use HootSuit at Costello Technology College? In a nutshell I’ve added 2 Social Media presence into the Hootsuit dashboard – our twitter account (@costellotech) and our official Facebook Page. From here I can go through and blitz the whole academic calendar and schedule tweets – I only schedule tweets as our twitter account is linked directly in to our Facebook page. All events that are of interest to students and parents are scheduled – quite often a day or two before the event to give things sufficient lead time.

As an aside it has some really interesting report generation tools so schools can evaluate the type of posts attracting the most traffic and subsequently shape their social media presence to their own demographic. It has a very intuitive interface and hasn’t let us down yet!

So, why should you use it?

Easy to set up and free
Takes the hassle out of scheduling social media updates
Flexible editing of scheduled updates
Multi-user capabilities
Interesting reporting to help you tailor your school presence
Web app – accessible from anywhere

10 Twitter neologisms

DTester — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:16:46 +0000

tweeple: users of Twitter, or a user’s followers (also “tweeps”)
tweetup: a real world gathering of Twitter users (pre-Twitter term “meatspace”)
twisticuffs: a verbal argument conducted via tweets
twitterrhoea: overuse of social media
tweet cred: social standing on Twitter
twelete: removing a previously-published tweet
twirting: philandering in 140 characters or fewer
tweme: a popular idea (meme) on Twitter
twittiquette: the social norms of micro-blogging
twebinar: a “web seminar” using Twitter

Source – BBC News

Best blogging approaches and apps using an Ipad

DTester — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 08:03:21 +0000

As the number of students and educators who are using iPads starts to gain a little more momentum a came across this blog article which has a nice summary of the blogging apps and approaches for the iPad – definitely worth a read.

Google can now search by image

DTester — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 17:36:17 +0000

Now you can explore the web in an entirely new way by beginning your Google search with an image. Learn more about images on the web and your own photos. It will take several days for Search by Image to be available to everyone. When you see the camera icon in the images.google.com search bar, that means that Search by Image is available to you.

I can see this having some interesting uses in education, so long as you are following all the normal precautions – having safe search on etc…

Looking at product design and ergonomics in Design Technology
Look for similar landforms within Physical Geography
Uploading a piece of work completed by a student to see visually similar images from the web

You will be able to search in 3 ways:

Dragging and dropping an image from the web or your computer onto the search box
uploading an image – although I am unclear as to what google does with your image once the search results are compiled
Copying and pasting the url of an image on the web