What’s new on Teaching Technologies

Lot’s added to the site this week, so here’s an quick update of what’s new:

In Business Education you’ll find some information about the Micro-Tyco business challenge.  It’s a little like the Fiver Challenge, but they provide each child with a pound to grow through enterprising activities.  The profits then go back to WildHearts to support their work in tackling world poverty.  There’s a monthly challenge and local school Cargenbridge came second in the November 2016 challenge – well done!

Another useful resource I’ve added to Business Education at  First level, are the Clever Tykes story books which introduce positive role models to help children to be more resourceful and enterprising.

In Cyber Resilience & Safety I’ve added some useful links about creating (and remembering) secure passwords.  Definitely try out How Secure Is My Password – the results might give you a shock!

The draft Technologies benchmarks now included reference to pupils understanding the concept of copyright from Early level.  You also leave yourself open to legal action if you download and use media that infringes copyright laws.  To help you source high quality images and audio, we’ve added links within Image Editing and Audio to websites which allow you to download media which is free to use.

Recently I’ve been exploring some of the features and applications available within Outlook 365 and have discovered Sway.  It looks like a great way to make really powerful presentations and I can’t wait to learn more about it myself.  If you want to give it a go you’ll find some useful links in Presenting.

I’ve also been working on video demonstrations which can be used either as your own CPD or as a classroom resource.  To share them I’ve created a video channel within Glow where I am now posting a series of ‘How to …’ video demonstrations.    You can find them here; or, click on the Video app within Office 365, then click on Channels at the top of the page and search through the list for the Teaching Technologies channel, or use the search function.  So far I have demos on how to set up a Glow site, as well as how to manage the app tiles in your launch pad.

Yesterday I had an interesting conversation with a parent helper in school.  She was saying how much her son had enjoyed a lesson on coding I had done with his class, and mentioned that he loved using an animation studio package, called HUE Animation, at home.  I checked it out and discovered it’s an award winning camera and software package which is very reasonably priced (currently the HD camera is £29.99 and a single licence is £11.99 with discounts if you buy more than one [prices ex VAT]).  You’ll find links to their site on the Animation page.

 

New Internet Safety links added

 

We hope you’re considering taking part in Safer Internet Day on the 7th February this year.  To support your classroom  activities we’ve shared some new links to organisations such as Childnet, The UK Safer Internet Centre, and the NSPCC.

It’s important to share the work we do on internet safety in school with parents.  While we closely monitor and control online access in school, children can frequently have greater access with fewer controls at home.  The NSPCC have a campaign called Share Aware which aims to support parents.  They have also produce a very useful leaflet for parents; schools can order up to 150 copies here.

Another useful site to share with parents is Parent Zone.  They produce a very good magazine for parents called Digital Parenting which you can order free of charge here.

If you’ve got a great resource for teaching internet safety to your pupils (or parents!) then please share it with everyone.

Safer Internet Day 2017

Safer Internet Day 2017 will take place on Tuesday 7th February with the theme ‘Be the change: Unite for a better internet’.

Celebrated globally and coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre the campaign sees hundreds of schools and organisations join together to raise awareness of online safety issues and run events and activities right across the UK.

As a result of this collective action Safer Internet Day 2016 reached 2.8 million UK children and 2.5 million UK parents.

Join the campaign to make Safer Internet Day 2017 the biggest one yet!

Schools, companies, police services, charities and other organisations across the UK are invited to get involved in the campaign to inspire the safe and positive use of technology.

Last year over a thousand organisations supported the day, and you can now register as a Safer Internet Day 2017 supporter to share what you are doing to support the day.

The UK Safer Internet Centre has provided ideas for getting involved and over the coming months will be sharing a range of resources to help you get involved, including educational resources, films and campaign materials.

Right now you can get involved by helping to spread the word to any schools and organisations who could get involved on the day.

Plans for 7th February

On the day, the campaign will create a huge buzz right across the UK and globally!

There will be national youth events, activities in schools across the UK, media coverage, a day of trending on social media, companies will spread the word to customers and employees, as we all aim to reach as many children and families across the UK as possible.

As a result of hearing about Safer Internet Day 2016, an evaluation found that the majority of children spoke to their families about staying safe online while 87% felt more confident about what to do about any worries online.

Together we can make #SID2017 the biggest campaign yet and make a real difference to the digital lives of children right across the UK.

Find out more and get involved! www.saferinternetday.org.uk #SID2017

Over to you

We have now got all our pages up and running with content on almost all of them.  We have also updated the look of the site, which we hope will make it more inviting and easier to use.

Now it’s over to you.  Let us know how useful you find it?  Is there a missing topic or theme that you would like help with?  Have you got great resources that you find work for you?  Have you found a problem with the site or links that don’t work?

Use the contact form to share your thoughts.  The more you do the better the site will become for everyone.

New content added to Safety & Communication

We’ve just added some links to the Safety & Communication page within the Digital Literacy section.

You’ll find information on e-mail, websites, blogs, vlogs, and podcasts, as well as links to help you teach your pupils about staying safe online, and cyber values.

Online communication and collaboration tools are great for sharing the learning, so why not try setting up your own class blog or vlog?

New Content in Multimedia & Graphics

We’ve just added a range of links to the Mulitmedia & Graphics page of the Digital Literacy section.

Here you’ll find support with creating and editing drawings (2D and 3D), photographs, videos, audio and music files.  There are even links to mixing desk simulators for the budding DJs amongst you.

As always, if you have a favourite resource please share in the comments below.

New content in Writing & Presenting

We have just added new content to the Writing & Presenting page within the Digital Literacy section.  This includes useful links for accessing support and inspiration when using word processing, desktop publishing and presentation software.

We’ve also included links to sites which allow pupils to create comic strips to present their stories or share their learning in a slightly different and fun way.

Finally, you’ll find a link to Dance Mat Typing from BBC Bitesize to help your pupils improve their keyboarding skills.  It’s a great way to learn to touch type.

Hope you find these useful, and do please share your favourite resources by leaving a comment below.

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