Sugar OS - Linux for EYFS and Key Stage 1 ICT

Sugar OS and OLPC

OLPC

The project that kicked off a long time back (I think 2001-2?) was heralded as a large and complex operation that would encompass many governments, organisations and operatives. Since the many newspaper, blog and newsfeed stories that have chronicled the progress of the project it seems as though the OLPC has taken a slightly different track in it’s approach and direction. This sidestep is part and parcel due to Walter Bender leading a team with the OS rather than the hardware.

Sugar, the name for the OS that OLPC uses is a flavour of the Fedora Linux family and is also available through Debian, Ubuntu and, as I’m about to chat about, the live USB version. Although, I’m cheating a little, as I’ve actually got it through VirtualBox as as a separate installer. The idea is that I would like to use it in class as a live USB for the smaller children in another computing environment that windows for various reasons that i’ll come to ina moment. The live USB version, I would assume, is very similar in use as the main with some elements missing – but for this post I’m sure this won’t matter as the crux of the issue is classroom use.

So far, this OS (the Strawberry Sugar on a stick but not on a stick!) is working very well for me. i really like the interface, the simplicity and the ready robustness of the feel I played around with it and tried to think like a 5 or 6 year old would when they are presented with something new. The whole wow factor followed by the frantic clicking and then followed by the stop and look. I did this without precautiuon and ened up opening the turtle application. Now, my students (age from 4 to 11) are pretty familiar with windows and they see a changing desktop appearance week in week out but not the operation. The circular dial would, I feel, entice them to click on the picture. I mean, after all I set up icon shortcuts for them to “click-click” on daily and this seems kid centric to me. The circle of apps surrounds them too which is what I like also. So far, so good.

We have been using the Windows version of Gcompris for a while now as it has games and quizzes that are colourful and easy to follow and differentiate for  the more computer savvy 5 year old. Also, Gcompris is open source (resticted for Windows users) but the full set up available for your school should you run EdUbuntu or similar (or if your site manager allows you to run VirtualBox) coupled with Sebran and you have quite a setup for the bebinner ICT class for children (or OAPs getting used to a computer and keyboard).

What is really good about Sugar though is the potential of the site and the community that runs it. The model of the Mozilla extensions that has made web browsing sans IE has been used here too. The Activities menu is growing all the time and there are some reasonable addons here too. As any self respecting ICT teacher will know music is a brilliant factor in the attention grabbing eyes-on-the-screen activity where and hour zips by without a word said (headphones permitting). Tamtam Jam activities provide this with an easy download.

I am sure that I will hit stumbling blocks along the way and the fact I have to try and persuade my Principal to give me money for 25 2Gb USB drives so that I can operate this for my classroom is one of them. What I would then like to do is test and post up the pitfalls and the successes – especially the neighbourhood tool and see the reaction.

QR codes for School Newsletters and Google Chrome Web App Store for Schools and Educators

Tis post is from the most recent newsletter sent out to teachers at my school, The Taipei European School.

You might be here from the QR code in the newsletter - if you are then great! If not then why not check out the links below to see how the QR code can help you out.

A QR code is a type of bar code without the bars. Instead they are squares and allow text and other data to be interpreted where a object needs to access digital data. Google Goggles (Android), Pic2shop, Red Laser (iPhone) or Shopsavvy (both) are good applications to use to access other QR codes and bar codes on packaging. The bar codes can then give a slew of information appearing on your phone's browser.

So, the Newsletter info that can't be linked directly is below.

Reception

The Reception children have been enjoying using  games to learn about control and logical thinking in a program we use at school. They have also been using paint to control shapes and tools that are the basis for transferrable skills.

Year 1

The children have been making books as part of their typing and word processing. To make this a fun way to type and with purpose we use ArtisanCam.co.uk to make books. This time we tied it in with their trips to the Temple and the Museum. To make a book go to: goo.gl/Np6Z

Year 2

The Children have been making comics as part of their word processing and transferable skills—copying and pasting. They too used Artisancam.co.uk to make an online comic. Want to make a comic too? Go here: goo.gl/g2TMf

What you can do at home

Install the Google Chrome Browser (that we are using in Primary instead of Internet Explorer) now has a Web App Store. What this means is it allows other web-based applications to be installed directly to the browser and run from inside it. How does this benefit students? There are lots of Educational applications, books and tools either free or to buy—a little bit like you do on your phones. Go to

chrome.google.com/webstore

Reception and Nursery Children

Sesame Street ‘Sounds Around Town’ application gets children to use the keyboard and control the mouse in any way they want. goo.gl/GE4Gq 

The PBS app for kids. Find this at goo.gl/9CQau 

Year 1 and Year 2 Children

Meegenius is a great place to listen and interact with books. Use it at the Chrome store too go here to enjoy them with your child. chrome.meegenius.com/

ICT in the Juniors has been as busy as ever with lots of projects taking place. Most notably the introduction of two laptop trolleys each with 25 laptops. The second has just arrived 

Year 3

In Year 3 the children have been loading, editing and creating sound using the laptops and the portable microphones. They have been making melodies on thing called a ’Tone Matrix’ then recording them through the headphones, editing them in Audacity. Tone matrix online here: goo.gl/meHr or the iPhone/ iPodTouch app here using this QR Code:

Year 4

More great work in Year 4 this coming month in the style of Julian Opie; a famous artist in the UK. He draws in a cartoon style. So we’re using Artisancam.co.uk, print screen on the keyboard and editing in Paint.Net.

Year 5

Year 5 have begun their Word Processing topic combined with a DTP project. They are writing stories in the style of Paul Jennings at www.storybird.com and using the new DTP (creately) web apps on Google Chrome. To make their book covers. Eventually they’ll read them aloud and we’ll post them to the Vimeo.com/taipeieuropeanschool channel.

Year 6

Year 6 are working on Scratch from MIT. It’s a free programming program for kids. Instead on controlling stuff we’re using it slightly differently this time. We’re making animations of explorers and adventurers past and present. 

What you can do at home

You’ll need Google Chrome for these applications. Very good and fun! Parents read this: 20thingsilearned.com/

Year 3: To help your children further understand that they can make music online: goo.gl/L63oW

Year 4: go to www.psykopaint.com to turn photos into art

Year 5: Online Museum only in Google Chrome: chrome.fraboom.com/

Year 6: Kodu from Microsoft. Possibly the greatest game maker ever made. goo.gl/L85b (need xbox controller)

Music, ICT and 30 great applications for teaching music through technology

It's been a while since the blog was updated and there's plenty of reason for this - new job, summer holiday and been home without a care in the world. A tiny break in seeking out great resources and ideas for ICT.

Over here on the this page is a brand new set of applications replacing the outdated set that was there with all the broken links etc. This is, I believe one of the best list that includes Synths, players, media apps, CD Rippers, converters and notation editors that not only give a wide and varied scope to teaching music but many of them are Linux and Windows compatible.

Enjoy!

Horizon Report, moshi monsters, Tutpup and Fantastic Contraption game

Beginning today I will create a series of posts relating to several topics covered at the Taipei European School's Primary ICT conference. The first covering these topics: Horizon Report, moshi monsters, Tutpup and the Fantastic Contraption game. Then, in subsequent weeks we'll look into the areas in the table below a little more closely:

To begin we'll look at the Horizon Report. What is it? It's a document put together by the New Media Consortium and what they do is look at emerging technologies across the the schooling age ranges. The report does have a strong focus on Higher Ed. but what is quite relevent for the primary school is how these ideas can integrate quite readily into mainstream classes: mobile devices as an example.The full document is below from Scribd.com with this snippet

In each edition of the Horizon Report, six emerging technologies or practices are described that are likely to enter mainstream use on campuses within three adoption horizons spread over the next one to five years. Each report also presents critical trends and challenges that will affect teaching and learning over the same time frame. In the seven years that the Horizon Project has been underway, more than 400 leaders in the fields of business, industry, technology, and education have contributed to this long-running primary research effort.

And...

The six technologies featured in each Horizon Report are placed along three adoption horizons that indicate likely time frames for their entrance into mainstream use for teaching, learning, or creative inquiry. The near-term horizon assumes the likelihood of entry into the mainstream for institutions within the next twelve months; the mid-term horizon, within two to three years; and the far-term, within four to five years

The key area I and many other primary school ICT teachers are interested in are the e-book/ readers and the hand-held devices such as the Nintendo DS, iPod touch, PSP, kindle/Sony et al e-Readers, GPS devices, cell phones and, now, to some degree tablets. The Tablets are more of an interest into the social side of ICT.

The Horizon Report Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary 
2. Key Trends  
3. Critical Challenges 
4. Technologies to Watch
5. The Horizon Project 
6. One Year or Less: Mobile Computin
7. One Year or Less: Open Content 
8. Two to Three Years: Electronic Books 
9. Two to Three Years: Simple Augmented Reality 
10. Four to Five Years: Gesture-Based Computing 
11. Four to Five Years: Visual Data Analysis 
12. Methodology 
13. 2010 Horizon Project dvisory Board 

2010 Horizon Report 2010 Horizon Report

The Fantastic Contraption

This is a logic style game that can be played either as a whole class (Year 4/5 up) or individually as a problem solving activity. The aim of the game is make machines in ever increasing difficulty by using the tools provided. It's similar to the magic pen game (link opens directly to full screen game) that provides lots of discussion points for Science and D+T. A worthy IWB whole-class plenary/ introduction/ D+T storyboard method of construction. 

Fantastic Contraption game

TutPup

TutPup is a website that provides a perpetual challenge to

players who have signed up for this. The great thing about this site is that teachers have the option to make class sets and codes for the students. This means that they only play against their friends and not random people from around the world. 

Alternatively, this could be a year group idea and play across the maths sets.

If you have lessons that go on longer than an hour it could provide the much needed 'brain break' to divert and channel attention to another strand of maths while maintaining the challenges of the lesson.

Moshi Monsters

Moshi Monsters is a game for Children, it’s sort of like those virtual pets that you used to have, only on the internet and they can actually do things. Moshi Monsters live in a virtual world that exists on your computer, there are lots of different monsters and children can choose one that they want to adopt. This monster then becomes their pet. All of the monsters live in Monstro city; here children can build a home for their pet. Users can also play games with one another, meet other people and show their pet to people. It’s like a tamogotchi only with social networking and doesn’t just beep at you all the time. Moshi Monsters has been created with the intention of being a fun and safe environment for children to play in. Not only that but it’s also an educational game that’s great fun for any age child. A child who visits the site can adopt a monster; they can give it a cute name and even design the colors of the monster. Every monster is different and has a different personality, the more you play with the monster, the more the personality will develop. Competing and solving puzzles means that you win money, the currency of the game is Rox. You can then use Rox to buy things from the virtual shop. There are various social networking features including blogs, and pin boards.

Things to do:

Adopt your very own monster

Name your monster and take care of it

Social networking functions including blogs and pin boards

Play games and earn Rox (virtual money)

Next Week:

Future Lab Quarterly. Articles to look out for. Wireless in Schools. Mathletics http://www.mathletics.co.uk/ Maths moves you: www.mathmovesu.com/  - a game like situation for maths 2diyarchive www.2diyarchive.co.uk/ excellent resources for 2DIY a package we will buy for August.

Which mobile devices do you use or would like to use in School? Voice Thread: www.voicethread.com - very good voice and image collaboration site. Primary Pad - http://primarypad.com/ realtime collaborative writing Pirate Pad - http://piratepad.net/ Etherpad - http://etherpad.com/ realtime collaborative writing

Ever thought of using Guitar Hero for Literacy? Myst for Story telling? Prezi - http://prezi.com/ replaces powerpoint, timelines Edu Glogster http://edu.glogster.com/ -Interactive posters, kids in the class can comment on friend's poster (you need a good internet connection) An example of using Edu.glogster !  http://bertjacha.edu.glogster.com/school-council/ Dipity - www.dipity.com – interactive timelines for Literacy and IPC,

What applications could you use on your class machines? Pretty things and Busy things for EYFS Cool Tools For School - http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/ Free Tools http://web2educationuk.wetpaint.com/ - reviewed by the author

Future Lab and their Vision Magazine

Futurelab (opens in new window)Over the past 2 years or so Futurelab.org.uk has grown into a phenomenal place to find out about latest trends, topics, resources and upcoming applications for leaning in ICT. From nursery to Higher Ed. they cater for all walks of ICT in and around school. 

One of the best aspects that I like is some of the smallest touches and evidence that they are educators themselves is the use of a Glossary. They understand that teachers generally don't have time to know the finer points of IT. So, when confronted with new words and acronyms it not only puts people on edge it can turn potentially great users of ICT away from using great resources. This is how Futurelab excels: it doesn't patronise yet inspires with great ideas.

Below is their magazine which includes an interview with Tim Rylands a leader in game based learning; someting I'm quite passionate about at the moment.

Turn to the last page and you'll find a directory of upcoming seminars and conferences in and around Europe.

A direct donwload can be gotten from here: VISION MAGAZINE

Vision 10 from FutureLab UK

FOBISSEA Ed Tech Conference @ Taipei European School

This weekend saw the 3rd FOBISSEA ICT conference for Primary ICT leaders being held at TES, Taipei. The city was a great surprise to me and held vast appeal for a techie and for somebody who loves Asia but would require the polite orderly-ness of mainland Europe. 

The Conference was again a relaxed affair with conversation flowing from one topic to the next. Below are a few snippets from the site we all contributed to and some of the links from last year's conference too. Lots of links and resources for teachers and pupils alike.

Flat Classrooms: What are they?

The Flat Classroom Project is a global Hands-on working together project for middle and senior high school students. It was founded by Vicki Davis (Westwood Schools, USA) and Julie Lindsay (Qatar Academy, Qatar) in 2006.

The Project uses Web 2.0 tools to make communication and interaction between students and teachers from all participating classrooms easier. The topics studied and discussed are real-world scenarios based on 'The World is Flat' by Thomas Friedman.

Below from Julie's site is a slide show detailing the Flat Classroom. The Flat Classroom Project will take you there.

 

 Links, Resources and Goodies

The great thing about these conferences is the wealth of resources that come bundles with them. This year didn't dissappoint. Below are the list of web resources and applications that will undoubtedly go into this year's requisition.

Applications: A review of lots of sites and progrms for learning - www.educationalfreeware.com 48 Free Microsoft Apps www.techradar.com  Education City - online learning platform in modules for the Primary age range. Busy Things - http://www.busythings.co.uk/ Aggregators Make Use Of http://www.makeuseof.com/ Games TutPup  http://www.tutpup.com/ Moshi Monsters http://www.moshimonsters.com/ Fantastic Contraption - http://fantasticcontraption.com/ Similar to Armadillo Run (try embedding to avoid adverts) Armadillo Run - http://www.armadillorun.com/ Simulations Maths Mathletics http://www.mathletics.co.uk/ Maths moves you: www.mathmovesu.com/  - a game like situation for maths   2diyarchive www.2diyarchive.co.uk/ excellent resources for 2DIY Birchfield http://www.birchfield.co.uk/ - VLE content pack apparantly compatable with the majority of SCORN based VLE's. Timelines Capzles - http://www.capzles.com/ Dipity - www.dipity.com -timelines, goes back to about 100AD, dates, maps (great for explorers/adventures), children can comment, use flip books, youtube videos, give kids the same login so that they can do collaborative work from home Presentation Vuvox  www.vuvox.com/ more ambitious than animoto, timelines, storyboard, glossary, hotspot Prezi - http://prezi.com/ replaces powerpoint, timelines Edu Glogster http://edu.glogster.com/ -Interactive posters, kids in the class can comment on friend's poster (you need a good internet connection) An example of using Edu.glogster - not a particularly good one!  http://bertjacha.edu.glogster.com/school-council/ SSUU - http://issuu.com/ make it in word and upload, magazines, newspapers, scan as pdf and make a book, or make a flipbook and embed Video and sound Editors (online first) Creaza - http://www.creaza.com/ -all in one package for movie making (integrates with Fronter) Jamendo http://www.jamendo.com/en/ - Need an account, but also an alternative to Garage Band Myna http://aviary.com/tools/myna - Online version of Garage Band Collaboration: Voice Thread: www.voicethread.com - very good voice and image collaboration site. Primary Pad - http://primarypad.com/ realtime collaborative writing Pirate Pad - http://piratepad.net/ Etherpad - http://etherpad.com/ realtime collaborative writing Wall Wisher - http://www.wallwisher.com/ online post it note, great for homework. Mind42 - http://www.mind42.com/ Free online mind mapping Shelfari - http://www.shelfari.com/ online book club for librarians EAL/ ESL - Languages BYKI - http://www.byki.com/ creates online flash cards (great for MFL teachers) Frengly - http://www.frengly.com/ Online translation Tools for Primary School - www.primaryschooltools.com - This is my colleague's collection of links from BISV Cool Tools For School - http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/ Free Tools http://web2educationuk.wetpaint.com/ - reviewed by the author NCH Software - www.nch.com.au Sound conversion software  Animation: Monkey Jam - http://www.giantscreamingrobotmonkeys.com/monkeyjam/ Kahootz - http://www.kahootz.com/kz/ 3D Modelling CB Model Pro- http://www.cbmodelpro.com/ Scibble Maps - http://scribblemaps.com/ Crazy Talk - http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk/ Dino Mixer - http://www.dinomixer.com/ itouch app, great for KS1 Imaging - Web based Word it Out http://worditout.com/ Similar to wordle Tagul http://tagul.com/ Similar to wordle Image Chef http://www.imagechef.com/ Posterazor http://posterazor.sourceforge.net/ -Makes huge posters Big Huge Labs http://bighugelabs.com/  Picasa - http://picasa.google.co.uk/ Print huge pictures Clevr - http://www.clevr.com/Will make panoramic pictures