AbilityNet is a great website who offer advice and information on how to setup and make best use of computers and digital technology. AbilityNet’s Factsheets are free to download and provide advice and information about how computers and other digital technologies can help people with a range of conditions and impairments.

These help guides are written by a specialist team of assessors and accessibility consultants and give detailed information on a wide range of assistive technology, services and related organisations. Many give a step by step guide to help you set up your computer and software (assistive technology) to meet your individual requirements.

Check out their site:
https://www.abilitynet.org.uk/factsheets

Hello.

So far this term I’ve been very busy working with the boys and girls from our Nursery, p1a, p2, p2/3, p4/5 and our Software Development Skills Academy. The knowledge and skills that so many pupils have for starting is absolutely great. I will be working with pupils and staff to develop and harness tis knowledge and skills.

Here is some of the topics we are covering in ICT for term 1:

• Nursery are learning to use the mouse and basic computer functions, such as internet and games

• p1a  are learning to access the PCs in the ICT suite with greater independence and knowing what software to use for each task

• p2 are learning about the different features and functions of computers and mobile devices

• p2/3 are learning about the ‘home row’ of keys and how to type faster and with greater accuracy

• p4/5 are using Microsoft Paint to create a picture of our school, making full use of the drawing tools

I am looking forward to updating this blog with great examples of our learning as we go.

I hope everyone has enjoyed their summer holiday and glad to be back to learning! This session I am hoping to involve more pupils in writing class blogs than ever before and use this blog to share some of our favourite ICT lessons and ideas for using ICT in and out of class.

We have been working on the Young Scottish Engineers ‘TWEETY PI’ project since January. We designed our own high-tech birdhouse – complete with motion-detecting sensors and Wifi communications.

Our STEM club have used the Tweety Pi kit to build and code this project into life. Pupils had to wire the electrical components to a RASPBERRY PI computer unit and then write the necessary code to operate the camera and sensor using PYTHON code.

We will be updating this post with our thoughts and comments on the project so far as it nears completion. We’d love to hear your thoughts!