Category: Learner Digital Literacy

the skills and knowledge taught to learners

Microsoft Immersive Reader

Microsoft Immersive Reader

Microsoft Immersive Reader is a free tool, built into Word, OneNote, Outlook, Office Lens, Microsoft Teams, Forms and the Edge browser, that implement techniques to improve reading and writing skills.

Immersive Reader can:

  • Customise text size, spacing and background colour

  • Isolate content to improve readability

  • Display pictures for common words

  • Highlight nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs

  • Real text aloud

  • Translate content in real time

  • Split words into syllables

Explore Microsoft Immersive Reader

Click on the hotspots to find out more about each of the areas within the application

Microsoft Immersive Reader Bitesize Videos

Microsoft Immersive Reader – Text Preferences

Microsoft Immersive Reader – Grammar Preferences

Microsoft Immersive Reader – Reading Preferences

Microsoft Educator Centre Courses

Microsoft Educator Centre Course

Dyslexia Awareness Part 1, in partnership with Made By Dyslexia 

Duration: 1 hour 

Description 

This course will provide essential insights into dyslexia, which we believe all educators and parents should have. Microsoft and Made By Dyslexia have a shared mission to empower every person with dyslexia to reach their potential, and we have partnered to create tools to help make this happen. 

Microsoft Educator Centre Course

Accessibility tools: Meeting the needs of diverse learners 

Duration: 1 hour 

Description 

Microsoft’s mission is to empower all people and all organizations to achieve more. The classroom is no different. Microsoft Windows and Windows-based applications like Office, together with other assistive technologies, offer features that make computers easier to use for everyone – giving teachers the opportunity to provide personalized learning, and students an improved experience and equal opportunity in the classroom.  

Microsoft Educator Centre Course

Dyslexia Awareness Part 2, in partnership with Made By Dyslexia 

Duration: 1 hour 

Description 

This course will provide an overview of ways teachers can elevate their practice to scaffold support for students in any content area. Microsoft and Made By Dyslexia have a shared mission to empower every person with dyslexia to reach their potential. 

Microsoft Educator Centre Course

Empower every student with an inclusive classroom 

Duration: 1 hour 

Description 

This course is designed for educators of all subject areas who want to empower students to utilize tools to unlock their full potential by addressing a diversity of needs. 

Practice creating an accessible and personalized experience in Windows 10 and Office 365 

Learn the tools and apps available to create accessible content 

Understand the importance of personalizing the learning device 

 

Upcoming O365 webinars

Digital Literacy Skills – preparing to make digital content on a mobile device

Having access to a mobile device that can capture and create media is amazing but there can be a tendency to pick it up and start creating before planning what you will create. Think about a really good piece of writing – did it start with a pencil or talk and planning? This page has links to ideas that could be used to help plan for film, and other media, creation in your lessons.

Digital Literacy Skills – creating drawings on a mobile device

Our digital devices provide us with the opportunity to draw the world around us. Being able to express their ideas with drawings can make learning more accessible, engaging and meaningful for learners. These are links to sites and resources to support you and your learners with creating digital drawings.

Digital Literacy Skills – creating music and audio on a mobile device

Our digital devices provide us with the opportunity to capture sounds from the world around us. Being able to express their ideas with audio can make learning more accessible, engaging and meaningful for learners. These are links to sites and resources to support you and your learners with creating audio content.

Digital Literacy Skills – creating videos on a mobile device

Our digital devices provide us with the opportunity to capture video from the world around us. Being able to express their ideas with film can make learning more accessible, engaging and meaningful for learners. These are links to sites and resources to support you and your learners with creating video content.

Digital Literacy Skills – taking photos on a mobile device

Our digital devices provide us with the opportunity to capture images from the world around us. Being able to express their ideas with photos can make learning more accessible, engaging and meaningful for learners. These are links to sites and resources to support you and your learners with creating photo content.

Quick Wins for Maths: Barefoot Computing

BT and Barefoot Computing provide free resources for teaching computational thinking. You can register for free at Barefoot Computing and use these great resources to add exciting new contexts to your numeracy and maths.

Code Cracking

This resource focuses on the role Alan Turing and the Enigma machine played in deciphering coded messages during World War II. Why not use this as a context for maths during your WWII topic?

Code Cracking lesson

 

Want to see more about code cracking?

Check out our Cryptography wakelet

Quick Wins for Maths: Barefoot Computing

BT and Barefoot Computing provide free resources for teaching computational thinking. You can register for free at Barefoot Computing and use these great resources to add exciting new contexts to your numeracy and maths.

Code Cracking

This resource focuses on the role Alan Turing and the Enigma machine played in deciphering coded messages during World War II. Why not use this as a context for maths during your WWII topic?

Code Cracking lesson

 

Want to see more about code cracking?

Check out our Cryptography wakelet

Quick Wins for Maths: code.org

There is so much maths in computing and that presents excellent opportunities for interdisciplinary learning. Why not plan to introduce directional language through these engaging challenges form code.org? Learners simply drag blocks of ‘code’ together like jigsaw pieces to solve mathematical puzzles. There’s help videos and hints for each challenge and even an educator section to support you teaching it.

Here are some great places to start your maths/coding adventure:

Pre-reader challenges – Ice Age

The Ice Age-themed ‘pre-reader’ challenges only ask learners to use one or two blocks of code at a time and the directions are represented by arrows, so they can start to code without needing to read.

Play it

Introducing directional words – Star Wars

This Star Wars-themed challenge introduces the use of directional words on screen. So as your learners develop confidence with directional language, they can try more challenging code too.

Play it

 

Exploring degrees – Frozen

This Frozen-themed challenge introduces the use of degrees and angles to control the characters on screen.

Play it

Quick Wins for Maths: code.org

There is so much maths in computing and that presents excellent opportunities for interdisciplinary learning. Why not plan to introduce directional language through these engaging challenges form code.org? Learners simply drag blocks of ‘code’ together like jigsaw pieces to solve mathematical puzzles. There’s help videos and hints for each challenge and even an educator section to support you teaching it.

Here are some great places to start your maths/coding adventure:

Pre-reader challenges – Ice Age

The Ice Age-themed ‘pre-reader’ challenges only ask learners to use one or two blocks of code at a time and the directions are represented by arrows, so they can start to code without needing to read.

Play it

Introducing directional words – Star Wars

This Star Wars-themed challenge introduces the use of directional words on screen. So as your learners develop confidence with directional language, they can try more challenging code too.

Play it

 

Exploring degrees – Frozen

This Frozen-themed challenge introduces the use of degrees and angles to control the characters on screen.

Play it