The Importance of I.C.T within the Primary Curriculum Information and communication technology (ICT) prepares pupils to participate in a rapidly changing world in which we work' (The National Curriculum, 1999). 'The modern world requires new skills. Understanding I.C.T and, more importantly being able to apply it to the problem we face is one of the most important' (Lord Dennis Stevenson,1999). As the statements above emphasise I.C.T plays a pivotal role in the primary national curriculum today. The Every Child Matters Agenda (2004) states that each child has a right to 5 entitlements: be healthy; stay safe; enjoy and achieve; make a positive contribution and to achieve economic well being. If children do not develop good I.C.T skills and an awareness of how I.C.T can be best used in this ever changing world they will be unable to fully achieve each of the 5 entitlements. In order to fully enjoy and achieve children must feel confident when using I.C.T in a range of different situations. The teacher therefore, has a responsibility to ensure that their pedagogy and subject knowledge is suifficient to ensure that all of the children in their class can develop basic I.C.T skills. Whilst it is essential that children develop skills and confidence when using I.C.T their safety must also be considered in accordance with the Every Child Matters Agenda (to be safe). This is of particular importance when using the internet, all children must be aware of their schools internet safety rules and the importance of keeping them. The teacher is also responsible for ensuring that the children are only using appropriate websites when completing work on the internet. The DfES publicaton 'Harnessing Tecnology' (2005) further demonstrates the large part technlogy plays in education today. Although this publication has been produced with secondary schools in mind, many of its aims can also be applied to the primary curriculum. The publication outlines a new strategic approach to I.C.T teaching that should make lessons more exciting, allow pupils more choice about how they learn and proivde a greater range of online resources for both pupils and their parents and carers. It is also important to ensure that I.C.T is used across all curriculum subjects, ' teachers should provide pupils with opportunities to apply and develop their I.C.T capabilities in all subjects' (National Curriculum, 1999). This will ensure that pupils are aware of the wide variety of ways in which I.C.T can be used.

Session 1 - Digital Literacy - using the web as a resource In todays session we were given an introduction to the I.C.T module, what it would encompass and how it would be assessed. We then spent some time self evaluating our own I.C.T. knowledge and skills so that an appropriate action plan could be put in place and any potential weaknesses identified. I found this very useful and was able to identify that I need to improve my skills and confidence when using Microsoft Excel and Access. I have been working on this area since the first session and now feel much more confident using both pieces of software. This has been achieved by seeking advice from the I.C.T subject leader in my placement school, discussions with family members that work in I.C.T, help from peers on the course and self study using the internet and experiementing more wth the software. Carrying out this work was very beneficial and my improved skills were evident when I passed my QTS skills test. During this session we also spent time discussing I.CT terminology and finding definitions for each of the terms. This was again very valuable and I have continued to add to my glossary throughout the course (see link below). I found working in small groups very valuable as it meant that we were all able to help each other as certain members of the group had more knowledge in certain areas. In addition we discussed why schools have websites, how they are used and if there are any advantages or disadvantages to them. Whilst doin this we reviewed several school websites, by doing this it it becae apparent that schools use their websites for many different reasons. Mainly to inform parents, provide details about the school for prospective parents and provide a safe environment for pupils to complete interactive activities and games. I have included links below to several school websites that I am familair with although they are not necessarily the best. Finally we spent time discussing the importance of children's safety on the internet. This was extremely important as it is vitally important that children are taught how to use the internet in a safe manner and the the Every Child Matters Agenda is adherred to. In this part of the session we discussed which rules are needed, reviewed certain websites that show internet rules, visited websites that provide support for teachers and visited safe children's websitessuch as ask for kids and yahoo for kids (see links below). Internet safety rules for children should be written in a language that is easy for children to understand, should be constantly referred to by teachers and be displayed prominantly around I.C.T suites/ classrooms. The most important of the safety rules being that children never give out their personal details to others over the internet and do not use internet chat rooms, I have included a link below to a good set of children's internet safety rules. We were also taught about the requirement each school has to have an up to date I.C.T policy, what it should include and how often it should be reviewed (once a year). We touched briefly on child protection issues surrounding the internet (apart from those already mentioned), this included having parental permission to take photographs of children and to display photographs in protected areas if they are displayed on the internet. A link to a detailed example of a school I.C.T policy is included below. http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/yp/smart/default.aspx A good set of clear, simple internet safety rules for children. Our Lady of Ransom My old primary schools website. St Swithun's The website for my first placement school. St. Joseph's The website for the school where I will be working in September. An example of a schools I.C.T Policy Here is a good example of a detailed school I.C.T policy. Becta Guidance for producing an I.C.T policy Template for an acceptable use policy A good template for an acceptable use policy Yahoo kids Another good search engine for children. I.C.T Glossary of terms An excellent glossary of I.C.T terms

Session 2 - Word Processing Familarity and confidence when using word processing programmes is essential in todays modern world, for teachers and pupils alike. Word processing skills are mentioned throughout the national curriculum I.C.T programme for study, emphasising is importance. Without good word processing skills it is hard for children to access and use other computer software properly. It is essential for children to have good word processing skills and be able to use their skills across all curriculum subjects so that they are fully aware of the many ways in which I.C.T is used in our daily lives. Word Processing skills allow you to : develop literacy skills greatly by producing nespaper reports, letters, stories and poems etc... communicate with others by composing emails format work readily, changing font style, colour and size edit work easily evauate their work communicate using a different medium At key stage 1 children are expected to use word processing skills to meet the following objectives: 1.b. to enter and store information in a variety of forms. 2.a to use text, tables, images and sound to develop their ideas. 2.d to try things out and explore what happens in real and imaginary situations 3.a how to share their ideas by presnting information in a variety of forms 3.b to present their completed work effectively. At key stage 2 children are expected to use word processing skills to meet the following objectives: 1.b how to prepare information for development using I.C.T 2.a how to develop and refine ideas by bringing together, organising an reorganising text, tables, images and sound as appropriate. 3.a how to are and exchange information in a variety of forms, including e-mail. These objectives can be achieved through the following QCA units: 2A - Writing stories: communicating information using text 3A - Combining text and graphics 3E - E-mail 4A - Writing for different audiences 5C Evaluating information, checking accuracy and questioning plausability During this session we discussed the importance of distinguishing between I.C.T as an individual subject, its use across the curriculum and its personal and professional use of I.C.T. We discussed the importance of developing good word processing skills and how word processing can be used acoss the curriculum. We were introduced to alternative word processing programmes that are more child friendly than Microsoft Word. These programmes included Textease, Tizzy's First Tools, clicker and Kudlian Soft Free Text. Of the programmes above I found Textease the best as it was easy to use and the toolbar icons were very simple. I used Textease frequently whilst on placement to create worksheets for my class (see links below) because I could move images and tables freely around the page with ease. It was also excellent to use due to the wide range of images and resources avaliable in the resource gallery. These resources were well organised and easy to insert into worksheets. This saved me lots of time as I did not have to spend additional time searching for images to use for my worksheets. Free text was also easy to use and was similiar in layout to Microsoft Word so would be a good programme to use when getting children prepared for a transition from Tizzy's tools or Textease to Microsoft Word. One disadvantage of Kudlian Soft Free Text was that it has less library/gallery resources to use compared with Textease. I.C.T as an individual subject Unfortunately my placement school did not have any of the above word processing software, so I had to teach word processing skills using Microsoft Word which was not ideal as the children were only in year 1. To help the children with their word processing skills I gave the class lots of input in the classroom about how to use Microsoft Word and modelled what they needed to do before taking them to the computer suite. I also provided the children with a template within which to work during most lessons and provided sentence openers for lower abillity children. Although Microsoft Word is not a child friendly programme I was very pleased with the efforts made by all of the class during their I.C.T lessons and with the skills that some children had already developed (several children were very able and could change text style, size and colour independently as well as saving their work correctly). I attempted to make my I.C.T lessons as cross curricular as possible for the children, though this was largely done by incorporating literacy and R.E. The first lessson of I.C.T I taught was immediatley after the Christmas holidays, so I asked the children to simply write about their favourite Christmas presents using Microsoft Word and then use clip art to insert a picture at the bottom. This lesson built on the skills that the children had been learning prior to the Christmas holidays. I wanted the children to tell me what their favourite present was and why, who they got if from and what it did. At the same time I made it clear that I still expected the children to remember the normal rules that apply when they are writing; to write in full sentences and to remember capital letters, full stops and finger spaces. I again provided the children with lots of input in the classroom and modelled an example before taking them into the computer suite. The children thoroughly enjoyed this lesson and did very well. Some children were able to complete the task fully and print out their work, whilst others were only able to type one or two sentences. I linked one of my taught I.C.T lessons with the Revelation unit that was being studied from the God Matters R.E curriculum. The I.C.T lesson I taught built on what had previously been taught during the R.E lesson on the Good Samaritan. I provided the children with a postcard temlate and asked them to use Microsoft Word to type a postcard from the innkeeper informing the Good Samaritan of the injured mans progress. A majority of children were able to make a very good start on their postcards, however I underestimted how long it woul take them to complete the task and had to extend it over two I.C.T lessons in order for them to complete their postcards. The children were then able to save their work and print out their finished postcards to stick in their R.E. books. Another I.C.T lesson I taught again incorporated word processing skills, this time using the Dazzle programme. This lesson linked with what was being covered in literacy that week, Cinderella. I explained to the children that I wanted them to use Dazzle to create the invitation from the Prince to Cinderella, her Stepmother and the Stepsisters inviting them to the ball at the castle. As a class we discussed what information needed to be included in the invitation,who it is for, who it is from, the time, date and place. I then wrote this up on the board for the children to refer back to during the lesson. After typing out their invitations the children were able to use Dazzle to decorate their invitations, which they thoroughly enjoyed doing. The children produced some excellent work which I then used as part of a literacy display in the classroom. I would have liked to have provided the children with opportunities to utilise their word processing skills whilst using other computer programmes such as Microsoft Power Point, however due to the childrens young age and limited I.C.T skills this was not possible. I will however hope to do this during my second school experience. I.C.T use in other curriculum subjects As detailed above I made many of my I.C.T lessons cross curricular however, I used I.C.T and word processings skills throughout my placement in all subjects taught. This was mainly achieved through using the interactive whiteboard either to complete interactive activities/games or using the Activprimary software and flip charts during the lesson. I used both Activprimary and PowerPoint (somtimes both together) to display lesson objectives and success criteria for the children. In addition these two programmes were used to display word banks, develop whole class mind maps and texts used for whole class reading (see links below). I.C.T for professional and personal use Professional Throughout the PGCE course and especially whilst on school experience I have used word processing skills constantly for professional use in many ways: writing lesson plans writing weekly evaluations of my teaching writing assignments completing job application forms and personal statements constructing presentations carrying out research composing emails to stay in contact with peers, the base and my link tutor creating worksheets and othe resources for lessons taught. Personal I have also continued to use word processsing skills for personal use whilst completing the course by: staying in contact with friends via e-mails and on facebook writing shopping lists creating birthday invitations completing entries for sports events and others QCA I.C.T Scheme of work National Curriculum website Science sound lesson worksheet Postcard template for R.E based lesson lesson plan - favourite Christmas presents Lesson plan - Cinderella invitations lesson plan - Good Samaritan postcards sample of children's work - Cinderella invitation Flip charts used during science sound topic

Sessions 3 and 4 - Interactivity and Interactive Whiteboard Training Today's session introduced us all to interactive white boards and how they can be best used to enhance lessons and progress children's learning as well as making lessons more interactive for the children. The session took place at Winchester University as there were more whiteboards avaliable for us to use. An interactive whiteboard is, ' a surface onto which a computer screen can be displayed, via a projector. It is touch-sensitive and lets you use a pen on it (or sometimes finger) to act like a mouse, controlling the computer from the board itself' (http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/ictis/infrastructure/iwb). In order for an interactive whiteboard to work you need the following: a computer a projector a whiteboard (usually SMART or Promethean although there ar others) The computer is connected to the projector and the projector is connected to the whiteboard therefore, allowing the image on the computer screen to be projected onto the whiteboard. There are many benefits to using interactive whiteboards when teaching, these include the following: making lessons more interactive being able to save lessons and show them to absent children at a later date excellent for modelling to the class they help to promote e-learning they make it easier for teachers to improve the presentation of their lessons as they are easily able to incorporate graphics, sound and links to web pages teachers and pupils can easily annotate anything bening displayed and save these annotations for further use provide excellent stimulation for visual and kinesthetic learners they encourage creative use of resources including web pages and video clips can be used easily with other additional external software such as digital cameras and scanners interactive texts and e-books can be used easily with small groups or the whole class There are also some disadvantages to using interactive whiteboars however, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Disadvantages include: the initial expense for the whiteboard the surface of the board can be damaged leading to expensive repairs or replacement positioning of the board - they are often positioned to high for children to use or to low for all children to see positioning of the person using the board - can obscure view to children if not positioned correctly if remote access is allowed confidential information may be unintentionally displayed to the class health and safety risks to children and teachers associated with the projector There have been concerns raised about the potential damage that the projectors can cause to teachers and childrens eyes. The NUT have produced some helath and safety guidelines for using interactive whiteboards (see link). The guidelines state that teachers and puipls should never stare directly into the projector beam, you should keep your back to the beam as much as possible, avoid standing facing hte beam for more than a few seconds (the use of a pointing stick or laser pointer is encouraged), teachers should step outside the projector beam when turning to face the class and children must always be supervised whilst the projector is on. There are many different types of interactive whiteboards but the most common found in classrooms are Promethean boards and SMARTboards. Promethean boards use Activprimary software and can only be used interactively using the stylus. SMARTboards use SMART notepad software and can be used interactively using any one of 3 pens or your finger. Whilst at the university we were taught how to use both types of whiteboards and given the opportunity to experiment with both types of board. We were also shown how to callibrate both types of board. As I had a Promethean board in my first placement school I spent longer familiarising myself with the Promethean board and learning how to use all of the icons in Activprimary. In particular I focused on exploring the resources library, using the teachers tools (shade, dice, ruler, stopwatch and others). I was also shown how to save flipcharts, open saved flipcharts and how to use Activprimary alongside other computer programmes (in desktop mode). As I have spent more time using Promethean boards whilst on placement I feel more confident using them however, during the session I did find the SMART board more user friendly and easy to use. I also liked the way in which SMARTboards allow you to use your finger to navigate around the board and feel that this is probably much easier for the children than the stylus used with Promethean boards. My second placement school has SMARTboards so I am sure that I will soon feel just as confident using SMARTboards as I currently do using Promethean. My Use of the Interactive Whiteboard whilst on School Placement As demonstrated in other parts of this portfolio I used the interactive whiteboard in many dfferent ways whilst on placement and incorporated it into almost every lesson I taught. I used the board in the following ways: to model work for the children to display learning objectives and success criteria to play interactive games/quizes during plenarys to display pictures (particularly during R.E.) to display word banks for use during lessons to set up a shop using Activprimary (for a maths lesson) to display and use e-books with the children to create our own class fairy tale to model handwriting to play music and other sounds I found that the children responded very well to activities using the interactive whiteboard and stayed motivated for longer than in the few lessons when it was not used. The projector did break prior to me begnning my placement and it took several weeks before it wa replaced. This demonstrated to me the importance of always having an alternative or back up lesson planned in case the whiteboard did not work for any reason. In my opinion interactive whiteboards are an invaluable resource that have had huge positive effects on teaching and childrens learning and will continue to do so. Promethean World A great website for Promethean resources and advice on how to use the whiteboard and Activprimary. Addition and Subtraction - who wants to be a millionaire Phonics lesson flip chart Flipchart for a lesson about St Andrew NUT health and safety guidelines for using interactive whiteboards Interactive whiteboards A very informative document about interactive whiteboards detailing how they work, advantages, disadvantages and how best to use them. Promethean learning Online training for using Promethean boards. SMART training videos A range of informative videos explaining how to use SMART boards. SMART Tech SMART Tech website- providing resources and advice about how to use SMART boards. R.E lesson - Epiphany

Session 5 - Databases and Progression Todays session was based on databases and how they are incorporated into the primary curriculum. We found out about the main types of databases and then spent time exploring the various database computer programmes that are avaliable to use with children. At key stage 1 children are expected to use databases to meet the following objectives : 1.b enter and store information in a variety of forms (for example storing information in a prepared database). 2.b to select from and add to infromation they have retrieved for prticular purposes 5.b explore a variety of I.C.T tools At key stage2 children are expected to: 1.b how to prepare informatio for development using I.C.T, including suitable sources, finding information, classifying it and checking it for accuracy. 1.c to interpret information, to check it is relevant and reasonable and to think about what might happen if there were any errors or omissions. 5.b working with others to explore a variety of information sources and I.C.T tools. These objectives can be met through the study of the following QCA units: 1d -Labelling and classifying 2c - Finding Infrmation 2b- Questions and answers 3c- Introduction to databases 4c- Branching databases 4d- Collecting and Presenting information: quetionnaires and pie charts 5b- Analysing data nad asking questions: using complex searches 5c- Evaluating information, checking accuracy and questioning plausbility 5d- Introductio to spreadsheets 6b- Spreadsheet Modelling 6d- Usng the internet to search large databases and interpret information Data handling is the process of sorting and classifying information and storing the information in a way that makes it easily retrievable. The skills of sorting and classifying is one that begins in the Early Years Foundation Stage without the use of computers as children sort items according to size, shape or colour, these skills are then built on and develop in complexity throughout primary school, with upper key stage 2 children creating their own databases and using them to identify objects such as insects and flowers. Essentially a database is a collection of information records that are stored on a computer, information may include people's names, age, birthdays etc... Data handling and Processing encompasses many different skills including: questioning skills and creating questionnaires collecting and finding data classifying data inputing data analysing results displaying data in different graphical formats (pictograms, pie charts, tally charts, bar graphs etc...) There are also many different data handling computer programms that can be used, some that are relatively easy to use and some that are extremely complex: Textease Studio Data Sweet Plus Information Magic Microsoft Excel Microsoft Access A flat file database is a simple database where all data is entered and stored in a single table as a plain text file e.g. an Excel spreadsheet. A relational database is a database where information is stored in seperate tables and relationships are established between the data. The data can also be combined with data from other tables for querying and reporting. A branching database or binary tree allows you to classify objects using a series of yes or no questions (as shown in the screen shot above), with eventually only one choice remaining to identify your object. During the session today I spent time using Textease Studio to create a branching database that classified the Oxford Reading Tree characters. The Textease Studio software was very straight forward to use and I preferred it from the Data Sweet Plus programme which I also experiemented with. However the Data Sweet Plus programme allowed you to quickly and easily create various graphs to display your data. Advantages of using branching databases are that children must refine their questioning and problem solving skills. I also spent time playing an online game called Whodunit that was itself a relational database. The game was similar to the board game Cluedo and involved using clues given to you to search a databse and identify the person that committed the crime. When learning about databases children should be provided with opportunities to search databases for information and may be introduced to Boolean searches. A Boolean search enables you to search a database by combining words and phrases using the words AND, OR, NOT and NEAR (the Boolean operators). Using the Boolean operators will limit, widen or refine your search, making it quicker and easier to locate the information you are looking for. Whilst on school placement I spent some time with my year one class developing the basic skills they will need to use and create databases, without the use if computers. This was achieved by grouping and classifying muscial instruments according to how they are played (science), grouping and classifying shapes (numeracy) and when playing games with the class verbally such as 'guess which shape I am.' The children also developed these classifying skills during free choice activities when playing games such as 'Guess Who,' where they were able to develop their questioning skills utilising information, until only 1 person is left (similar to a branching database). Kent Grid for Learning - data handling Whodunnit Whodunniit print screen A printscreen of the whodunnit game and a brief description of how to play it.

Virtual Pet by FooPets.com

Widgits and Wiki's Honey the puppy above and the weathe information for Southampton below are both examples of widgits. A widgit is, ' anything that can be embedded within a page of HTML or web page and is not static' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_widget). Widgets can take many different forms but are usually tools such as a clock, weater forecast or stopwatch etc... A wiki is a collection of web pages that allows anyone to contribute or modify the content. This can include editing wiki pages that have already been added or by creating a new wiki page, using a normal web browser page. Modifications made to wiki pages are not normally reviewed and most wikis do not require users to register or log in, though some private wikis do. For these reasons it is important that adults and children alike are mde aware that informaton found on a wiki is not necessarily correct or reliable as anybody is able to contribute to the pages. One of the most well known ones being Wikipedia. The first wiki (Wikiwiki web) was developed by Ward Cunningham in 1994, he described it as, ' the simplest online database that could possibly work.'

Forecast for Southampton

I.C.T at School - Education City Education City is an example of an excellent e- learning resource that my placement school had subscriped to. It is a safe (password protected) online environment that provides children aged 3- 12 with interactive games and activities to complete that are all linked to the national curriculum. A majority of the activities are either science, maths or literacy based and are divided into sections according to the PNF strands, making it easy for teachers to identify appropriate activities. Activities are further divided according to year group (reception - year 6) further ensuring that all activities are age appropriate, activities are levelled according to difficulty allowing easy differentiation for different ability children. Teachers can also use Education City to help plan lessons, use activities in lesson introductions and plenarys and to monitor and assess children's progress. Whilst on placement I identified activities that linked into either the maths or literacy being studied that week and instructed children to complete these activities as an extension if they completed the main tasks during the I.C.T lesson. These activites included the following: Mrs Cow's Milk, Bumper Cars, Jack in the Box (activities involved completing number sequences), as well as other activities involving shopping, spelling and sentence construction. I found Education City very easy to use and found that children thoroughly enjoyed using it, so much so that they were always motivated to try and finish their work so they could complete the extension activities. http://www.educationcity.com/home/en/

Interactive Games Used in School Whilst on placement I used a lot of interactive games on the whiteboard with the children. I particularly used them in lesson plenarys as they are a great way of assessing how the children have got on and if the lesson was suitable for the children's ability. They also provided the children with an opportunity to improve their I.C.T skills by using the whiteboard and improve their team working and communication skills as on many occassions they worked in small teams. Above all the children found playing the interactive games very enjoyable and interacted more than they did in other lesson plenaries Using interactive games and activities during my lessons also ensured that I made the best use of the I.C.T resources avaliable to me and ensured that I.C.T was used in a positive way across the curriculum subject whenever possible. I did however realise that because there are so many different interactive activities and games on the internet I had to be very selective as some were not great. In addition I had to ensure that any game I chose to use was suitable for the age and ability of my year one class (as some games started off easily but became much too complex as the progressed). I also found tht certain activities were very difficult for me to use as a teacher so they were clearly not suitable for children as they were extremley difficult to navigate. Below are some links to some interactive activities I used on placement which worked well and I will use again: This was a really good game to play with my class. I used it during the plenary of one of my maths lessons and the children loved it. It was easy for them to use and I could also differentiate easily (asking lower ability children the easier questions and higher ability children the more difficult questions). Spooky Sequences game I used these 2 activities on placement when teaching a science unit on sound. The identifying sound activity was used at the end of the unit, whilst the second activity was used during a lesson where children were grouping instruments according to how they are played. Identifying sounds Sorting Instruments River rhyming This was an excellent game to use when teaching the children about rhyming words. We played this as a class and they did so well that they all agreed they wanted to attempt the really hard level. I would definitley use this again. Addition and Subtraction game This addition and subtraction game was very good and the children all enjoyed playing it. I was again able to differentiate between different ability groups easily. It was a great consolidation activity.

Useful Websites I have used to Aid Planning Whilst on placement I was introduced to many websites that I found very useful (in addition to the Standards Site and the National Curriculum site). I found Sparklebox, Primary Resources, BBC schools and Teachers TV extremley useful and used them a lot to infulence my planning. I used Sparklebox throughout my placement for all of the wall displays I did and also when creating reward charts for the children. Primary Resources is a fantastic website and I used it a lot for planning and resources. This website was particularly good for visual timetabl signs, WALT and WILF signs and other resources. I particularly like this website as it is very easy to use and all resources are clearly labelled showing which year group they are appropriate for. Teachers TV was useful as it provided me with some great videos that provided advice on some areas where I was struggling, particularly asssessment for learning and differentiation. I will be continuing to use the above websites throughout my teaching career. I also found many excellent resources on various Local Authority girds for learning (noteably Cumbria, Kent and Northumbria). In addition to these excellent online resources I also found some excellent websites through trial and error. Again I did begin to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of resources that were readily avaliable and spent huge amounts of time looking through various resources in order to select the most appropriate ones for my class. I do think however, that now I have found several websites which I am happy and confident to use I will continue to use them again and agan. Below I have included links to several websites I found very useful and will continue to use: Crickweb A good website with some good interactive activities and lesson ideas. Coxhoe Primary School Similar to Woodlands Junior - another fantastic website with great activities and ideas. Woodlands Junior School A fantastic website full of helpful lesson ideas and interactive games for all subjects as well as links to other good sites. Kent Grid for Learning Northumbria Grid for Learning Cumbria grid for Learning BBC Primary Bitesize Another great resource I used several times in the classroom with lots of interactive activities across all curriculum subjects Teachers TV Provides brilliant resources in video format that address lots of different areas including behaviour management, NQT year and interview preparation. Primary Resources The website I found most useful, it is very user friendly and all resources are labelled with the age the they are suitable for. Teachernet Provides lots of valuable information on a wide range of topics. Top Marks Similar to Primary Resources this website provides lots of great resources for all curriculum subjects as well as links to other useful sites. Sparklebox

Session 6 - E -Learning Todays session was centered on e-learning and its importance throughout the curriculum. E- learning is a term, 'covering a wide set of applications and processes, such as web-based learning, computer - based learning, virtual classrooms and digital collaboration.' (http://www.uen.org/core/edtech/glossary.shtml#E). Allison Rosselt (2001) defins e-learning as, 'training that resides on a server or host computer that is connected to the World Wide Web' (http://www.skagitwatershed.org/~donclark/hrd/elearning/define.html). E-learning is education 'via the internet, network or standalone computer and is essentially the network enabled transfer of skils and knowledge and can be delivered via the internet, intranet/extranet, audio or video tape, satellite TV and CD-ROM' (http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/E/e_learning.html). E- learning is also sometimes referred to as internet based training or web based training. One popular method of undertaking e-learning effectively is through the creation and maintaining of an e-portfolio similar to this one or Blue Sky for example. E- portfolios are part of an online personal space that has many functions including: a place to store work and record achievements access personal information such as timetables or calendars provide access to personalised study allow communication between peers/colleagues, facilitating collabrative working, feedback and evaluation. The DfES publication 'Harnessing Technology' (2005) sets out a clear target of providing, 'a personalised online learning space for every learner that can encompass a personal portfolio' and should be avaliable in every school by 2008. All of the above can be achived through a virtual learning environment (VLE). A VLE is, 'a set of teaching and learning tools designed t enhance a student's learning experience by including computers and the internet in the learning process' (http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci866691,00.html). A successful VLE is composed of many parts; curriculum mapping (breaking down the curriculum into smaller sections so that work can be properly set and assessed), pupil tracking (by the teacher), online support for both teachers and pupils, communication (via e-mail, chat or threaded discussions) and hyperlinks to other useful curriculum resources. It is of course still vital that children remain safe when using a VLE (Every Child Matters, 2004), this is usually achieved by restricting access to the environment. Teachers and pupils are commonly given an ID number and password that they are required to enter everytime they want to gain access to the VLE. In most cases the teacher is able to see exactly what the pupil sees but also has additional access so that the curriculum can be adapted, to update content and to track pupils progress. The ability to do this also ensures that the teacher can ensure that the VLE is not abused in anyway and that there is no incidences of internet/cyber bullying occurring. Examples of popular VLE's include WebCT and Blackboard, though many schools may create their own. Advantages of e- learning and learning platforms for pupils it promotes and encourages personalised and independent learning it can increase children's motivation and interest all learning styles can be catered for children can access the curriculum on any computer with internet access (may encourage more children to work at home) improves I.C.T skills can be used as a method of sharing with parents/carers what the children are learning can improve self confidence may be more accessible to some children with special educational needs Advantages of e-learning and learning platforms for teachers they provide an effective method of communication content on the platform can be easily developed and managed childrens progress can be quickly and easily monitored/ assessed teachers can access documents at any time anywhere can be monitored to prevent cyber bullying can aid collaboration between other local schools can help with the transition of pupils across key stages Disadvantages of e- learning and learning platforms children with low motivation may not do enough work and fall behind not every child will have internet access at home internet connection may be lost or disrupted for long periods of time teachers may not always be avaliable when pupils require help there is a lack of hands on practical tasks that may impact learners who are very kinesthetic some students may feel isolated and unsupported due to lack of teacher contact children need to be relatively confident and have good basic I.C.T skills in the following areas, word processing, internet browsing and e-mail - some children may not have these skills and therefore a barrier to learning is created E- Learning at School E- learning whilst on school placement was limited due to the young age of my class (year one) and their limited I.C.T skills. In addition the schools learning platform was still in the process of being developed so was not accessible to either me or the children. I did however use the online resource Education City with the class several times over the duration of my placement (see separate box). My use of e-learning during the course Throughout the course I have been using e-learning constantly, most notably by creating this portfolio and using and updating Blue Sky. Using Blue Sky I was able to monitor my progress throughout the course, identify areas of weakness, create relvant action plans and create a bank of resources for the future as well as enabling me to communicate with others. By doing this I have been able to create a valuable resource that is easily accessible from any computer that contains information and limks that I can use throughout my teaching career. Using both of the above learning platforms has given me a good awareness of just how useful e-learning can be and how best to incorporate it into my teaching. Traditional learning v e-learning E- portfolios Harnessing Technology Blue Sky Education Another example of an e- portfolio. I can track my progress against the QTS standards, set myself targets, communicate with others on the course and upload any of my work.

Session 7 - Control Technologies In todays session we spent time discussing how control technologies are used throughout the I.C.T curriculum and how it can be incorporrated into other curriculum subjects. We also had the opportunity to famailarise ourselves with roamers, beebots and Terry the turtle. The development of control technologies and there usage in primary schools has greatly improved cross curricular I.C.T teaching. Devices such as roamers and beebots can be used to some degree in almost any curriculum subject, including science, numeracy and P.E. At key stage 1 the national curriculm programme of study states that control technologies should be utilised to meet the following objectives: 2.c To plan and give intructions to make things happen 5.b Exploring avariety of I.C.T tools. 5.c Talking about the uses of I.C.T inside and outside school. At key stage 2 the national curriculum programme of study states that control technologies should be used to meet the following objectives: 2.b to create, test, improve and refine sequences of instructions to make things happen and monitor events and respond to them. 5.b to wok with others to explore a variety of informtion sources and I.C.T tools These objectives can be met whilst studying the following units from the QCA scheme of work: 1F - Understanding instructions and making things happen 2D - Routes: Controlling a floor turtle 4B - Developing images using repeated patterns 4E - Modelling Effects on screen 5E - Controlling Devices 6C - Controlling devices - What happens when ...? Control Technologies Control technology can be incorporated into many curriculum subjects with relative ease (maths, science, geography to name but a few), however, there are many differnet devices that are used in school to teach control technologies. If you are lucky enough to have a choice of devices it is important to know which one is best to use with each age group/key stage. Control technologies also encompass text turtles, where commands are given by children and are executed on screen, there are again many different text turtle programmes so chosing the most appropriate is essential. Devices include: Roamers Bee-bots Pixie Pip Text turtles - Terry the Turtle, Textease Studio turtle, Terrapin logo etc... A bee-bot is a programmable floor turtle similar to a roamer, but it is easier to use so is ideal for use with foundation stage and key stage 1 children. They are brightly coloured and have large buttons for ease of use. The bee-bot also uses sound and flashes its eyes to show the children that their instructions have been entered correctly. Children can input instructions into the bee-bot so that it will move fowards or backwards in 15cm steps. The bee-bot can also turn 90 degress right or left and up to 40 instructions can be remembered at any one time. In addition you can also put various different jackets/ costumes onto a bee-bot so that it can be used more realistically in lessons e.g, an aeroplane, leaf, shell, car etc... The print screen at the top of this box is from a programme called Focus on Bee-bot. I used this within the session as you can use it without having a Bee-bot. The programme allowed me to familiarise myself with the controls and provided some excellent resources to use with children. As evident from the screen shot you can choose a variety of settings in which to instruct and use you Bee-bot, including a treasure map background and a high stree/ shopping background. A roamer is another example of a programmable floor turtle, though it is more advanced than a bee-bot and has a greater number of functions. Again the roamer can move forwards and backwards in steps that are 30cm, its own diameter (though this can be altered) and turn right or left in increments of degrees (e.g. 90 or 180 degrees). You can also programme to wait by pressing the W button and a number between 1-99 and the roamer will pause for that number of seconds. In addition you can use roamers to flash lights, turn a motor or play music by using a control box. To play a note using the roamer children need to press the pink note button and then enter the duration of the note (by entering a number between 1-8) and the pitch of the note (enter a number between 1-13), a silent note can be played by entering the pitch as 14. As with the bee-bot you can add jackets/costumes over the top of the roamer e.g. ladybird, car, ambulance etc... Using the R button allows a set of instructios to be repeated if they are entered inside brackets. A procedure or list of instructions can also be entered into a roamer by pressing the P button and entering a list of instructions witihn brackets. Due to the extra functions avaliable when using the roamer it isbetter suited for use with key stage 2 children. Text turtles- there are several similar text turtle software packages avaliable including Terry the turtle and Textease Studio Turtle and Terrapin. Of all these programmes I found Terry the turtle the most straight forward to use. These software programmes mirror the functions of the roamer and bee-bot on screen. Again you can programme the turtle to repeat a set of instructions to create a shape or pattern or to create a repetitive pattern. Advantages and uses control technologies have many advantages and can be used in the following ways (not an exhaustative list): to improve and aid language acquisition (foundation stage) through vocalising and giving instructions to develop social skills through group working to introduce children to language associated with direction to promote independent learning and problem solving to introduce them to cross curricular I.C.T work to develop instruction writing (literacy) to introduce and develop the ideas of rotation, turn and angles (numeracy) to recognise the many ways in which repeated patterns/instructions can be used to develop and test predictions (geography and science) We also had a session on data loggers where we were shown how to use them and how best to incorporate them into lessons we teach (especially science and geography). A data logger is an electronical device that enables you to record data such as temperature, amount of light and sound. This data is recorded either by built in sensors or intruments or external instruments and sensors. Data loggers are normally portable and battery powered and data can be easily uploaded onto a computer for analysis. It is then easy to produce detailed graphs of the data gathered. These data logers were relatively easy to set up and use and would obviously be extremley beneficial to use with children in key stage 2 when gathering data and testing predictions. Kent grid for learning - roamer An excellent website that gives detailed guidance on how to use roamers and bee-bots, as well as providing excellent lesson ideas. Lighthouse for Education Another excellent website for ideas using roamers, text turtles and bee-bots how to control a roamer

Maths presentation movie  Session 8 - Multimedia Multimedia is another part of I.C.T that is referred to throughtout the national curriculum programme of study and can be easily used across all curriculum subjects by both teachers and pupils alike. During todays session we explored the many ways in which multimedia can be used in the classroom and the different programmes and software that can be used by teachers and pupils. Children can use multimedia technology to personalise their work and communicate it with others. For teachers multimedia technology can be used to motivate children during lessons, allow interactivity in lessons and consolidate childrens learning. The term multimedia encompasses a wide range of programmes, software and skills. Programmes include: Microsoft PowerPoint Microsoft Movie Maker Microsoft Media Player Dazzle, Splosh, Paint etc... Textease Studio cllip art Animation programmes such as - 2Animate, Monkey Jam, SAM animation etc... Photo Story Story Creator Software includes: digital cameras e.g. digital blue cameras, scanners video camcorders voice recorders Examples of using and applying multimedia skills are: inserting graphics using clip art creating podcasts creating Powerpoints that incorporate sound and graphics using painting/drawing programmes to create posters, patterns and pictures playing music or video clips creating movies or animations using scanners and dgital cameras At key stage 1 the national curriculum objectives that encompass multimedia are: 2.a to use text, tables, images and sounds to develop their ideas d,. to try tings out and explore what happens on real and imaginary situations 3.a how to share their ideas by presenting information in a variety of forms. 5.a work with a range of information to investigate ways it can be presented. 5.b explore a variety of I.C.T tools 5.c talk about the use of I.C.T inside and outside of school At key stage 2 the national curriculum objectives that encompass multimedia are: 2.a to develop and refin ideas by bringing together, organising and reorganising text, tables, images and sound as appropriate. 3.a how to share and exchange information in a variety of forms, including e-mail. 3.b. to be sensitive to the needs of the audience and think carefully about the content and quality when communicating information. 5.b work with othrs to explore a variety of information sources and I.C.T tools 5.c to investigate and compare the use of I.C.T inside and outside school These objectives can be met through the following units from the QCA scheme of work: 2b- Creating Pictures 3a- Combining text and Graphics 3b- Manipulating sound 4a - Writing for different audiences 5a - Graphical modelling 6a - Multimedia presentation In todays session I spent time familarising myself with some of the software and programmes (listed above) that I am unfamiliar with. In particular I spent time learning how to use the bases digital cameras (digiblues), how to upload the images onto my computer and how to use Microsoft Movie Maker as I had not used it before. I created a movie using pictures taken whilst on a boat in Hamble planning a group maths assignment. I thoroughly enjoyed making a movie and can see that it would appeal to children greatly. It was relatively easy to do and I could incorporate sound, graphics and text with ease to produce a short movie. I also spent time experimenting with various multimedia tools on the internet, including Myths and Legends story maker and Monkey Jam (an animation tool). In School Whilst on placement I used multimedia many times with the children, particularly at the start of lessons to motivate them. I used multimedia equipment most during my science lessons as they were studying the sound topic, so it was extremely relevant. This involved creating Powerpoint presentations that incorporated graphics and sound, creating flip charts using Activprimary to play sound clips and to create a sound quiz. In addition I provided the children with backing music to use when acting out a news report about the Feeding of the Five Thousand during an R.E lesson, that was played using Windows Media Player. The children were really excited about incorporating the music ( a popular news programmes introductory music) and it provided them with a better context in which to act out their news reports. As a result they acted with enthusaism and thoroughly enjoyed the lesson. I also used multimedia when planning and carrying out an act of collective worship with my class. I used Microsoft Powerpoint to create a slideshow of images for the children to look at that related to the Epiphany, with some gentle music for them to listen to whilst reflecting on the reading I had just read them. During I.C.T lessons I used the Dazzle programme with the children several times as they were familiar with how to use it and were able to combine text and graphics effectively when using it. Dazzel is an art and design programme that allows users to draw and paint with a variety of tools, create stamps, insert text, and create their own pictures. Dazzle was used by the children when they created invitations from the Prince to Cinderella and her step sisters (linked to literacy) and to create a series of illustrations for our whole class fairy tale (The Prince and the Three Magical Unicorns). The children also produced pieces of work about their favourite Christmas presents and were again able to use basic skills to insert clip art images into their work. Whilst on placement it snowed for several days and I was asked to take some photographs of the children out playing by another teacher, I would have liked to have used these to create a movie with my class using Movie Maker but time did not allow as we had an Ofsted inspection. Using Multimedia whilst completing the course Throughout the PGCE course I have used multimedia methods in many ways. I have had to work in small groups with peers on my course to produce various presentations. This included a science presentation about healthy eating, an act of collective worship about advent that incorporated graphics and music and a maths presentation about the distributative law. Recently we have had to plan and teach a history lesson as a group at Portswood school. Again we incorporated multimedia into the lesson by showing the children a clip of Oliver Twist on the interactive whiteboard to demonstrate the differences between rich and poor children in Victorian times. This worked really well to hook the children into the lesson and demonstrate the differences between the classes and is something I will definitley use again to grab the children's interest at the beginning of a topic. My movie A movie I made using Microsoft Movie Maker about our trip to a boat in Hamble to plan our maths presentation. Maths presentation Saint Andrew Powerpoint Illustrations for class fairy tale example of children's invitation for Cinderella

References and Bibiliography DfEE and QCA (1999) The National Curriculum Handbook for primary teachers in England. London: DfEE, QCA DfES (2003) Fulfilling the Potential Transforming teaching and learning through I.C.T in schools. Nottingham: DfES DfES (2004) Every Child Matters: Change for Children. Nottingham: DfES DfES (2005) Harnessing Technology Transforming Learning and Children's Services Nottingham: DfEs Potter, F., Darbyshire, C. (2005) Understanding and Teaching the I.CT National Curriculum London:David Fulton Publishers Sharp, J., Potter, J., Allen, J., Loveless, A. (2007) Primary I.C.T: Knowledge, Understanding and Practice (Achieving QTS) Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd QCA I.C.T Scheme of work National Curriculum I.C.T programme of study Kent Grid for Learning