Category Archives: Cool stuff

Cool stuff, English/ Literacy, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Images, Languages, learning/teaching resources, Mathematics/numeracy, news/updates, Religious and Moral Education, Sciences, Social studies, Study skills, Technologies, Video

Our Cloud Share-Pinboards for video and image sharing

May 17, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

Our Cloud Share

A mini Pinterest?

This is probably best described as basically a mini-Pinterest, if anyone is familiar with that site. Pinterest is used to gather images and videos from all over the web and they are displayed on Pinboards.

This site is an Education version for Cfe but works in the same way, with users able to add a wee bookmarklet (button type thing) to their internet bookmarks bar and then browse the web and click the button to pin stuff to topic boards on our site.

It makes it so easy to share videos and images and pave the way for ‘flipped’ learning. It is fully responsive, meaning that it is designed for iPad/tablet and smartphone display and it enables revision and study anywhere at any time because of that.

What is there so far?

We have added almost 300 pins so far and that included videos on just about every aspect of Higher English courses as well as loads of Maths videos that basically talk users through worked solutions to Maths questions from SQA past papers.

We have also done a few literature boards on school favourites like Of Mice and Men and Edwin Morgan poetry and it is already shaping up into an amazing collection of content.

How can you use the site?

You can use the site just to look at what others have added by browsing the homepage to view the most popular items or by clicking on a CfE category to view what has been curated under subject areas

Why not sign up and add your own stuff?

Anyone can join the site and add some boards and pins of their own choosing. Just find video (you tube and vimeo) and images around the web and then click the bookmarklet that you drag to your bookmarks bar and the rest is magic. You will all be familiar with different areas of the curriculum and could find videos specific to your courses and then pin them to boards you create.

We will end up with a smashing resource

This would really help the site as a whole, as we would end up covering loads of topics and have a massive collection of web content that has been gathered and curated by teachers who know what they want for learning in Scottish classrooms.

It is really quite easy!

We promise you it is easy to do and, though we are hoping to knock a video together to demo it as well, we are confident you will manage. You can sign-up with Facebook and Twitter or email and then you will be able to add boards, drag that wee share button to your bookmarks bar and start pinning to your boards.

What sort of things should we pin?

We need Primary and early years stuff, especially, mainly because we have added a lot of secondary content so far, but basically any video (You Tube and Vimeo) or image from a website can be added. Though it is only images from websites, the images then take you to the website when you click on them so it is a handy way to save websites for later use and organise them under topics.

How might teachers use the site?

Well, we imagine a primary teacher planning to teach the second world war as a topic. She would be able to gather images from all over the web and pin them to a board she creates called WW2 or something.

There are bound to be videos and images galore for that and the end result would be a smashing collection that displays beautifully and is there for the next time she teaches it. Pupils can use the board for homework and they can sign up to add stuff they collect on the topic.

A great way to share pupils’ creativity

Pupils could also create their own images and videos to demonstrate their learning and then pin them to the very same topic board afterwards. How awesome would that be? There’s even a built in comment and rating system for collaboration and feedback.

The boards are also public, so they can be viewed by everyone else as well, even users who just want to look at the site content and not actually create boards of their own or add any pins. Space? Vikings? Victorians? Any topic/area of the curriculum can be a board. You just choose a grouping for your content and then add pins to it from all over the web.

FAQs?

Why not just use Pinterest?

Well because it is too busy with other content in broad categories and doesn’t focus on the curriculum. Learning would get lost and browsing Pinterest would have everyone distracted by all its mass of other content.

Why not just use Glow?

Have you ever tried to add a video to Glow? It is far from easy. This is not replacing Glow either. This is a resource. Glow provides tools.

Why do we need this site?

Because the future is visual. Videos and images have to be the future of learning content because of the move towards mobile devices. Most people now browse the web from mobile devices, rather than desktops. Text does not work so well on mobile devices so information has become visual.

What if a teacher wants to add a Powerpoint?

We would like to add this functionality but, for the moment, the site only supports videos and images. However, you could change it into a video and add it to You Tube or add the separate slides as images.

What if someone includes something rubbish?

We have added a ratings system to the site so that users will be able to rate every pin and add comments to correct misinformation or respond to the resource. Popular content will then display first.

Give it a go

Cool stuff

Google Science Fair 2013

January 31, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

<click the image to visit the site

This looks like a superb opportunity…

Google’s Science Fair project looks like an incredible opportunity for schools. The examples of famous inventors’ young ages when they started working on such creations as the lightbulb and the telephone is truly inspirational.

Why should our young people not be capable of such innovative thinking at a young age?

Here’s what their site says about it:

The Google Science Fair is an online science competition open to students ages 13-18 from around the globe. We’re looking for ideas that will change the world. To get started, all you’ll need is a Google account.

If web filters mean schools are unable to access Google accounts in school, you will need to make a request via school HTs to have this unblocked. Please mention this specific project if you are submitting a request to have filters unblocked for Google accounts.

Coding/ programming, Cool stuff, English/ Literacy, Expressive Arts, featured tiles, Health and wellbeing, Languages, learning/teaching resources, Mathematics/numeracy, Religious and Moral Education, Sciences, Social studies, Study skills, Technologies

Khan Academy

January 7, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

A free world-class education for anyone anywhere.

The Khan Academy is an organization on a mission. It’s a not-for-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education for anyone anywhere.

All of the site’s resources are available to anyone. It doesn’t matter if you are a student, teacher, home-schooler, principal, adult returning to the classroom after 20 years, or a friendly alien just trying to get a leg up in earthly biology. The Khan Academy’s materials and resources are available to you completely free of charge.

Here’s a video introduction to the site and how it came about:

And here’s a video on basic addition that shows you the kind of content the site has:

And here’s a topical video on ‘Les Miserables’ which explains the context for the film:

Cool stuff, English/ Literacy, Expressive Arts, featured tiles, Health and wellbeing, Languages, learning/teaching resources, Mathematics/numeracy, Religious and Moral Education, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies

Ted Ed

January 7, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

Inspirational Videos for schools

About TED-Ed

TED-Ed, TED’s education initiative, is an online library of short, captivating videos that engage inquisitive learners all over the world.

TED-Ed’s commitment to creating lessons worth sharing is an extension of TED’s mission of spreading great ideas. Within the growing TED-Ed video library, you will find carefully curated educational videos, many of which represent collaborations between talented educators and animators nominated through the TED-Ed platform.

This platform also allows users to take any useful educational video, not just TED’s, and easily create a customized lesson around the video. Users can distribute the lessons, publicly or privately, and track their impact on the world, a class, or an individual student.

Here’s an example of a video from TED Ed on spelling:

And another one on the periodic table:

There are many, many more available through Ted ed and the main Ted site

Collaborative tools, Cool stuff, Creative tools, Digital storytelling, Images, news/updates

Pinterest for learning and teaching

November 15, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

‘Curate’ the best bits of the web

Content curation is big news. There is simply too much information on the web and we need tools to break it down into manageable and useful chunks. Like a museum curator would collect the best pieces to show off in a collection, we are starting to want to do that with the information available on the web and Pinterest has certainly proved popular.

Pinterest has created a bit of a storm since it launched and has millions of enthusiastic users who like its simplicity in gathering nice images from all over the web and arranging them onto virtual boards.

In the Classroom?

We see great potential in using Pinterest in the classroom: to arrange images into topic boards, it has the potential to replace the topic box and gather together image links to content from all over the web into nicely-organised topics.

Getting started

Check out this video introduction to Pinterest for teachers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRPNEA3WhKA

BYOD, Cool stuff, Employability, news/updates, Working with others

Digital Ninjas

October 2, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

What are these Ninjas all about then?

Digital Ninjas is a good idea. Well, we think so, anyway. Our ‘digital natives’ pupils have grown up with computers in a way that their teachers and parents did not. We all know of toddlers who can swipe a touch screen and select a smartphone/tablet picture, video or app. This techie stuff is so natural to our children and young people that it is not unusual to see a two year old swiping the TV screen in an attempt to reach additional content.

Teachers are busy

There aren’t many jobs where you have to meet with 30 clients at a time for a full day. Most jobs have some desk time and a chance to grab a coffee or a chat with a colleague. Teachers are busy. All of us at Our Cloud are, or have been teachers in the recent past. We know what it’s like to get new initiatives arriving at our CPD sessions week after week and feel unable to imagine having the time to begin most of them. CfE has brought its challenges and you are finally beginning to get your head round that and now you are expected to become a tech-geek IT whizz and transform all your Powerpoints into You Tube videos and screencasts…really?

Not just another initiative

The thing with digital and mobile technologies is that they aren’t just another shiny new concept that will disappear in a few months to be replaced by something even shinier. These devices are now so universally embedded in our daily lives that we cannot afford to ignore the benefits they can bring to school life. Think of the shopping you order and track online and the old friends you Skype and Facebook with. What about the homes you don’t have to trawl estate agent windows for because you can see them on S1 homes or Right Move and then look them up on Google maps? Or the dwindling bank balance that you can monitor via the bank’s mobile app? We could go on and on, couldn’t we?

So here’s the good idea

If we think of secondaries for now, we have 4th, 5th and 6th year pupils with a no fear attitude to, well, pretty much everything, but especially gadgets and computers. You will all know young people who run their own websites and can sort out most technical issues that happen with audio, video and computers with an ease that you marvel at. These young people are in all of our schools and they can help.

Scenario

Michael is in fifth year and studying Chemistry. He has a great relationship with his teacher, Mr McDonald and decides to become a Digital Ninja for Higher Chemistry working alongside Mr McDonald. Mr McDonald shares all his present course resources with Michael and gives guidance to and monitoring of all Michael does with the resources. Michael is studying the course anyway and works throughout the term to transform the paper resources, presentations and homework tasks into digital resources and courses fit for display on the very shiniest of tablets.

Mr McDonald gets so enthused by the way things are going that he allows Michael to use his smartphone in class to film experiments and upload them to the Our Cloud You Tube channel. Heck, Mr McDonald even finds himself recording audio podcasts onto his own smartphone instead of creating revision notes in Word for the upcoming exams.

The result?

If this comes off two things will happen. Firstly, Mr McDonald will have a fully-digital Chemistry course for next year’s classes (they might be doing different exams, right enough but the core stuff will be the same!) Secondly, and perhaps most exciting, Michael will have spent a lot of time focusing on his Chemistry course content and turning it into lessons for his peers’ revision and next year’s students. Imagine the deep learning that Michael will benefit from? We might just see an impact on attainment as well and Mr McDonald is bound to be convinced of the benefits. Next year, he will ‘flip’ his classroom and give core information as homework via You Tube video, allowing his class time to talk to students and guide and shape their learning.

Sounds like a good plan?

We will be in touch with schools soon to launch this project.
If you would like your PKC school to take part in our pilot, please get in touch via the comments filed here
We will start with secondaries and are looking into offering SQA qualifications in digital media to those who sign up.
We will need support from schools in monitoring progress but we will do our bit with that too.
We will try to get some useful devices in place for those who become Ninjas.
We aren’t promising iPads but we will see what we can do!
We will provide support and training to all Ninjas at the start of the project and will meet regularly via web conference
All Ninjas will receive recommendations via reference to add to their e-portfolio/ Linked-in profile and, ultimately, employability credentials

We want to make life easier and not more difficult. We are passionate in our belief that digital technologies will make a teacher’s professional life easier and can imagine a not too distant school day that might just involve chats with colleagues.