Tag: 12days2023

December 18, 2023

Arctic Breakout App Prototype

For this Arctic Breakout app prototype, we have created a Keynote file and set it to links only. To remind yourself the steps involved have a look at this activity.

We then created tasks based on previous activity such as Pixel Art, Green Screen iMovie, and Podcasting. It is a good to have tasks like this that combine various digital literacy activities and contextualise them in such a way as to show their true ability to be used across a wide range of curricular areas.

Your task: Offer pupils the opportunity to create an app prototype like this that makes use of their various digital literacy skills.

We have the Keynote template file available for download. Use the button below to download it to your device. There is an alternative Scratch project for you to edit below.

Download Keynote Template

Download PowerPoint Template

Over to you

Try it for yourself and share your creations with us on social media

Alternative Build!

You can flex your coding skills by exploring our Arctic Escape Scratch Project. This project is a quiz that uses two lists to store the questions and answers.

A short demo is below, along with a link to the project for you.to edit. Let us know how you get on!

Things for you to try…

Explore the script of the bear sprite and try to add your own questions and answers
When one of the A B C or D sprites is clicked, can you get it to change costume so that the purple button changes colour for 1 second before returning to the original costume
Add a sound to each of the A B C and D button presses
Animate the GAME OVER and YOU WIN costumes – ensure they return to the same position at the start (clue… “When I receive Reset”)

Link to Scratch Project

 @digilearnscot  #12DaysofCreativity

December 15, 2023

Snowman Algorithm

Build a snowman algorithm

How do you build a snowman?
How many steps are there?
What are the important features of a snowman?
What steps come first, next, last etc.
What position should the parts be placed in?
What materials and parts will you require? (If there is no snow outside, what else can you build with or use to create an alternative 2D snowman?)

Create an algorithm (sequence of instructions) to show how to build a snowman. Capture your algorithm on paper/whiteboard/drawing app by drawing or writing it down. This Barefoot handwashing poster might help you to get started. Please also see the Collaborative Crazy Characters activity in Barefoot bytes resource.

You can create your snowman with snow, playdough, clay, plasticine etc or by drawing/painting a 2D snowman, similar to the Collaborative Crazy Character activity.

To make sure your algorithm is is working correctly, you will need someone else to help you test it. You might want to explore taking on the roles of programmers and testers from CS Unplugged.

Will your friends be able to follow your algorithm to correctly build the snowman or will you have to debug the algorithm, to find the bugs (errors) then tinker with a different sequence in your algorithm and try again? This is why it is helpful to capture you algorithm on paper. You may not need to change the whole algorithm if you can spot the bug(s).

You might want to try out the algorithm sequencer template to help you organise your sequence of instructions.

Supporting resources for creating your algorithm:

Try it for yourself and share your algorithm with us on social media @digilearnscot using #12DaysofCreativity

December 14, 2023

Festive Pixel Art

Combine knowledge of maths & numeracy, computational thinking (if this then that), and creativity. To create the image below we are required to have an understanding of numeracy concepts and digital literacy. By answering the questions correctly, each cell changes colour based on a predetermined set of rules. We will explore these rules later in the tutorial video. These activities can be made in any spreadsheet application such as Excel or Numbers

Pixel Art screenshot

We have made the file available to download, tap the app icons below to download a Numbers or Excel version of the file.

To try this activity for yourself download the files linked above. Watch this activity video to get an idea of how you can share your knowledge and understanding of a multitude of curricular areas

Try to replicate the activity for yourself and share your finished creation with us on social media @digilearnscot using #12DaysofCreativity

A special thanks to Miriam Walsh for the updated numbers document and you can see the original forum post on the  Education Community

December 13, 2023

Reindeer Games: Escape Room

Welcome to the Reindeer Games!

Can you solve all the challenges in our Christmas Computational Thinking Quiz?

Lets find out!

ENTER THE REINDEER GAMES (GOOGLE FORM)

ENTER THE REINDEER GAMES (MICROSOFT FORM)

*Duplicate form links are available below as well as slideshow versions of the quiz

EXTRA CHALLENGE!

Try to create your own festive quiz using Microsoft Forms or Google Forms and share it with us!
Or, why not use presentation software to make a quiz? Perhaps modify the advent calendar to reveal questions?

Remember to share with us @digilearnscot #12daysofcreativity

Alternative Resource – Quiz as slideshow

You might want to run this activity in class by presenting the questions as slides. You can download a powerpoint, google slides or keynote version of the questions here

Reindeer Games KEYNOTE slides

Reindeer Games POWERPOINT slides

Reindeer Games GOOGLE slides

Slides with answers at the end

Reindeer Games slides with answers at end KEYNOTE
Reindeer Games slides with answers at end POWERPOINT

Reindeer Games PDF answers

Duplicate Form Links

Microsoft: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ShareFormPage.aspx?id=oyzTzM4Wj0KVQTctawUZKQh_O0u0ejZClLLJJs2fKcZUOUdWRE9FQzc2NFM1RDROR05MQlFLSUVWOC4u&sharetoken=wLTO7LSS9X1O6pGZEYmN

Google: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dWGcGCnzdGKbEW8bYwoVXlh5z5VlnOY_?usp=sharing

December 12, 2023

Enhanced Storytelling at Christmas

Animation to enhance storytelling

We will explore how to enhance your storytelling/literacy skills by building a scene and adding some animation to bring it to life. We will aim to make something like this:

In order to make this style of video, there are a few things we should consider.

What story or poem do we want our pupils to recite?
Where will they find/download content? There are websites such as Noun Project and Pixabay
What apps will be useful? For this example we used Voice Memos to record our reciting of the poem, and Keynote to build the scene and animation.
Once the animation/scene is created – what can pupils do to enhance it further? To add in more of a creative flair? Creativity never stops – it evolves.

For more ideas on ways in which you can introduce creativity into your learning and teaching practice, check out the Everyone Can Create guides from Apple Education.

Have a go yourself.

Follow the steps in the video below:

You can download the referenced in this post from OneDrive here

Try the activity for yourself and share your finished podcast with us on social media @digilearnscot

December 11, 2023

Activity 7 – Website Building

Ho Ho Ho! It’s the time of year where everyone has a joke to tell!

Today, we are challenging you to modify our Random Christmas Joke Generator!

When you visit the site, simply click on the cracker to display a random joke.

It’s Your Turn!

Short Video Walkthrough

Instructions

Can you modify the page to make it your own? Click on the View Source Code button at the top of the page of the joke generator – it should look like this

FIRST – Lets change the jokes and / or add more

Double click on the JS section (this is the javascript code that generates the jokes)

You can make the coding window bigger by pulling the divider to the right.

Can you see where the jokes are?
Can you add another couple of jokes or replace the ones that are there?

SECOND – double click on the HTML section

Can you edit the text that appears so that your name appears on the site?

THIRD – double click on the CSS section

Can you see where the colours are listed in the code? Try and change the different colours of the different sections – try this one at a time
Can you see where the font-family is used? Try to change the name of one of the fonts to one you know – what happens? This is a list of fonts you might want to try

Helpful hints with colours…
You can use the names of the colours eg black, blue, pink etc, however to get more specific colours you can use the HEX code of the colour. To find the hex code ot a colour, visit the site HTML Color Codes 🎨 (html-color.codes). From there you can pick any colour and it will give you the hex code. Eg this shade of pink has the hex code of #f462f4.

Simply use this hex code in the CSS rules to use the colour eg

background:#f462f4;

December 8, 2023

Create a Festive Podcast

Create a Podcast

Createa podcast on your iPad using GarageBand. This is a great activity to build pupil confidence, develop their literacy skills, expand their research and communication skills as well as developing a key skill for the world of life, learning and work – collaboration.

Sharing a Podcast can be easier than you think. You don’t need to publish it to Apple Podcasts or Spotify in order to let people listen – you can share the file for download from your school blog, share using QR Codes during parents evening or even have it sent out along with the school weekly newsletter.

If you do decide to start a class podcast, then there is an excellent option available. The app Spotify for Podcasters is available for free on all platforms including the web. There are some things to consider.

It requires an account, so it is advised to have teachers create an account and publish. If you wish to explore this topic more, then this ePub is a good resource to use.

For this activity, we used the following apps:

Pages can be used to plan the script for the podcast. Think about a topic, plan the research, write an introduction, and structure the flow of the episode. Who will say what. Other apps such as word, docs, or notes can also be used but for this activity we used Pages as it has a built in teleprompter.

Garageband is the main app used for this activity. A powerful recording studio that comes built in on every iPad deployed in schools. It can be used as a voice recording app, music maker, beat smasher and more. Voice effects add a touch of creativity and for this task we recorded our voice using the chipmunk effect to give us an Elf sounding recording. Mixed with free music effects downloaded from Pixabay build a comprehensive podcast experience.

Keynote continues to play a pivotal part in iPad Creativity with its versatile approach to activities. Content is key and when learners use an app like keynote to design podcast artwork, they can blend colour, design, text, drawing, shapes and more to create an eye catching colour popping podcast show artwork. You might consider the Daydream Believers activity Branding before this task to give pupils as much of a headstart as possible.

Now, it’s your turn.

The YouTube video below is broken into several chapters which can each be used as a separate lesson.

Write your script
Record your content
Add some music
Create your artwork.

You can download the referenced in this post from OneDrive here

Try the activity for yourself and share your finished podcast with us on social media @digilearnscot

December 7, 2023

Explore Winter Sounds inside and out (early level)

The sound of Christmas

What does Christmas sound like?

What does it sound like outside?

What does it sound like indoors?

Use your senses to see, touch, smell and HEAR everything that means CHRISTMAS to you!

Once you have identified the sound of Christmas, capture this in an audio recording and then invite your friends to listen to the recording and try to identify the sound you have captured.

Will they identify the sound correctly, or will they need a clue?

Different ways to capture audio:

Talking button/postcard, recordable microphone, karaoke machine, Dictaphone, talking/recordable toys.
Recording audio on an iPad with built in apps Voice Memo or GarageBand
Recording audio on a Chromebook with Vocaroo | Online voice recorder (website will work on any browser/device with Microphone access permission)
Recording audio on a Windows device with built in Voice recorder
Recording an audio clip in Microsoft Sway with record audio
Recording an audio clip in Scratch Jr app with sound blocks (play video at 38 seconds)

You may be required to adjust privacy settings to enable your microphone to work.

Try it for yourself and share your audio creations with us on social media @digilearnscot

December 6, 2023

Green Screen Scanner

One of the most powerful features of having a device in your class, is the ability to use the camera to capture content. On iPad this can open a world of possibilities when you combine it with an app like iMovie. This is a free app that comes on most deployments in Local Authorities. There are options such as WeVideo and others on Chromebook/Windows laptops and we advise you to speak to your LA digital lead about options.

The tutorial video below is broken into 3 parts. Recording, editing and a Keynote option for additional Creativity.

We have the Keynote template file available for download. Use the button below to download it to your device.

Download Keynote Template

Download PowerPoint Template

Over to you

Follow the tutorial above to try it for yourself and share your creations with us on social media

 @digilearnscot

December 5, 2023

Build an interactive advent calendar

It’s Your Turn!

You can learn how to do this and add some customisation by watching the tutorials on this page!

There are few options for you and your learners which can all be found in the different sections below. A brief overview of what’s available…

1. QUICK VERSION (Good for beginners)
Download a copy of the advent calendar template and ask your learners to work together, or individually, to complete it (Powerpoint, Google Slides and Keynote template included).

2. BUILD IT YOURSELF… (Good for those who have used presentation software before)
Learners can create their own advent calendar using Google Slides, Powerpoint (desktop version) or Keynote

3. POWERPOINT ONLY – EXTRA FEATURE!… (Good for users who have used powerpoint desktop version – this one is a bit different! – Worth watching anyway :))

If you are using PowerPoint desktop version then you may want to have look at the extended version that makes use of the Section and Zoom features available in the software

We’d love to hear and see how you get on – please tweet/X us @digilearnscot

QUICK VERSION – Good for beginners (or short on time!)

Editing our template (powerpoint example)

Here are copies of the template you can use with learners

Simple PowerPoint Advent Calendar Template

Simple Google Slides Advent Calendar Template

Simple Keynote Advent Calendar Template

BUILD IT YOURSELF – Good for those who have used presentation software before

Build With Powerpoint

You can also check out the advent calendar build using the zoom and section features! Check out the video at the bottom of the page!

Useful information if you are using PowerPoint desktop….

If you click on PowerPoint slides and not the home button, you will notice that the slide moves on to the net day! In order to fix this, you can set your presentation to Kiosk mode. To do this, go to: Slide Show > Set Up Slide Show > select Browsed at kiosk (full screen)

Build With Google Slides

Useful information if you are using Google Slides….

Google Slides does not have a kiosk mode function like Powerpoint. In order to stop the presentation moving forward to the next day when you click on the slide, you need to add a large transparent rectangle over each slide and link it back to itself. This video demonstrates the technique

Build with Keynote

Useful information if you are using Keynote

If you click on Keynote slides and not the home button, you will notice that the slide moves on to the next day! In order to fix this, you can set your presentation to links only mode. To do this, go to the three dot menu > Settings > Presentation Type > Links Only

POWERPOINT ONLY – An alternative build using Sections and Zoom (It’s pretty cool!)

PowerPoint Zoom and Sections

If you are using PowerPoint on a laptop or desktop computer and feel comfortable with using it, this might be worth exploring! In this version we look as the Section and Zoom features in PowerPoint to create a slightly different advent calendar!