A Beta version of Twurdy is available to use for searching.
A really great search engine to use in schools to help children quickly see which of their results are written in such a way that they will be able to manage the text. It gives an approximate reading age for the text.
In the example on the left you will see the first result needs the viewer to be able to read at a higher level: about 18 years. The second result the text is written at a 10 to 15 year level and the last result shows the text is written at an 8 to 10 year level. In the classroom this enables the teacher to help the children go to sites they are able to read to gather the relevant information.
In the global world we need people who are able to access, evaluate and use information.
Something I find many people are not good at is using search strategies. On Google docs is a document, Getting good with Google, to help people become efficient at using the web.
I have always felt that these strategies should be introduced in the primary/elementary school and then reinforced and built on each year. In this way they will become adults who are able to access the information they want quickly and effortlessly.
The first thing they suggest is that the settings are changed to 'safe search' - this is something we need to ensure our children are doing.
A lot of the ideas are from the Google Help page but I find that many people don't even know it is there!
At the bottom of the document is an online quiz for the children to complete to see how good they are at doing efficient searches. Great ideas here for teachers in their classrooms.
Scott McLeod (video - Shift Happens fame) is currently visiting from Iwoa University. He has been saying that classrooms need to change and that the days of pupils sitting at desks listening to the teacher have gone. This is something I have been saying for over ten years and yet as I go round in schools I still see the traditional style of teaching in the classrooms.
Scott advocates that we must transform our classrooms into collaborative, technology driven, interactive teaching spaces. He argues that today's learners should be working with others from around the world on real inquiry or problem based issues, pursue topics they are interested in and be content creators rather than regurgitators. He says:
In a really robust, collaborative classroom where kids have good technology you often can't tell where the front of the room is, as teachers roam around helping small groups and the kids help each other. There is a lot of learning power that comes with these new technologies and we need to help teachers understand that power and how they can take advantage of it.
Christchurch Press Saturday Feb 21
He acknowledges that the transformation will be expensive but asks the question: What happens if you don't do it? He suggests that the schools who don't will be left behind in the global economy.
Mission Heights, a school in Auckland is teaching in this way. This is a new school which was set up to take advantage of the technologies.
Our New Zealand web site, TKI, has Literacy Online which has many resources for all to use.
The Teacher Resource Exchange is a facility for teachers to contribute classroom resources, teaching notes, worksheets and assessments. In contributing a resource it will help your colleagues if you fill in all the information fields.
These materials are offered in a spirit of generosity by the contributors. They have not been through the normal English/Literacy/ESOL Online quality assurance process and we advise professional discretion in their use.
Teachers are also able to add resources for others to use by clicking on Contribute a resource. This is a very valuable collection of resources which I know teachers will find very useful in their classroom practice.
We have finally got water back on and power – a week and a half without!! Let me tell you you get over the ‘fun camping’ idea very quickly. I have put the hot water back on and am looking forward to having a bath (a good soak).
Having a flushing toilet – let me tell you they are a wonderful invention. We coped OK with cooking on gas but the water was another thing.
The bad news is that they are no longer looking for survivors and the expected death toll stands at 240
We have felt very isolated not really knowing just what was going on even though we had radio which was good for the first couple of days but went back to regular programmes after that. We haven’t really had any interest in what is going on anywhere else in other parts of the world which is a funny feeling.
Although I generally cope with things pretty well I have found myself in tears a lot in the last few days, I think that is because you worry about making things as ‘normal’ as possible for everyone else and then suddenly it all starts to fall in on you. I am still piling rubbish up ready to get rid of it all.
The dust is now a major problem making breathing difficult. This has been caused through the liquefaction which was very bad throughout the city. I saw this at first hand when I went to get water last week and saw vans down holes in the road and submerged in the liquefaction. They have now been dragged out. Students have been helping to shovel up the liquefaction in the streets and there are huge mounds up and down the streets. The students have been fantastic. With the dry and dusty conditions the winds are now creating the breathing problems.
We are continuing to get a lot of after shocks which make everyone very jumpy.
I must admit this sort of experience makes you realise what is important and it is not the material things!!
One week ago we had another earthquake. I have been unable to blog as we have not had electricity, water or sewage. We now have generator power but still no water or sewage. Today is the first day we have seen any news (only had battery radio) and in some ways I am pleased not have seen it before. I just feel shell shocked.
Our house is badly damaged. Things are a real mess.
It is not nice not being able to have a shower for so long. Yesterday we went to visit some people some distance away (they had power and water). I used a proper toilet for the first time in a week and also had my first shower, LUXURY!! We have portaloos along the street and are also being asked to dig long drops. We have been using gas BBQs for cooking and boiling water. We have to go out to fill bottles etc with water (all need to boiled before drinking). It is really not pleasant but with so many dead it seems not so bad.
People have been coming together looking after each other which is fantastic although many have fleed the city.
Although it was only 6. something the devastation is far greater. There have been many deaths and the toll is expected to be a lot greater.
I am praying for Christchurch and all the people who are staying here and helping each other.
Critical thinking is an important part of today's classroom. With the amount of information now available to us it is important that children learn to access, evaluate and apply the information appropriately.
Microsoft and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) have developed an ebook for teachers to use 'Critical thinking in the classroom'.
In this ebook teachers will find information about literacy and critical thinking in the digital age and what this means for our children.
In addition teachers will find lesson plans - for example for students who are starting to learn the research process develop beginning skills for conducting an effective and efficient search of web-based information. To support the lesson plans are student worksheets and handouts as well as the class demonstration guides.
4 Free Online Learning Tools for Language Teachers and Learners
While the Web 2.0 has completely revolutionized the way that we teach and learn, nowhere is this more true than in the realm of language learning. Before, learning foreign languages was confined to rote memorization and conversation in class among learners and teachers. Now, the powerful interactivity that the Internet enables empowers students of foreign languages to connect with native speakers, in the process becoming acquainted with accurate pronunciation of the language in question. What’s more, online language learning tools motivates students who are often frustrated by the fact that they aren’t getting any substantive practice. Here are a few sites online that will be sure to make language learning fun, and can serve to supplement any curriculum.
1. Live Mocha Live Mocha is very much like Facebook in that it’s a complete social networking site with added language learning modules. Live Mocha functions on a collaborative level. That is to say, when a student completes writing and speaking exercises, a native speaker of that language will make corrections, suggesting ways to improve. In exchange, you are expected to serve as a teacher yourself, correcting others who want to learn your native language. The more you participate in these exchanges, the more points you get, enabling you to unlock additional free language modules and tutorials. It’s a great way to make friends around the world, too!
Skype is one of the best ways to brush up on your conversation skills with native speakers. Using both instant messaging or full video chat, you can interact with native speakers of your target language who are eager to learn your language, too. Very much like Live Mocha, social is the name of the game. The best thing about Skype is that you probably already have the tool downloaded. To see how you can use Skype to learn languages, check out this resource.
Babbel is a wonderful site for language learners, utilizing more traditional methods with some chat features. The trial period for Babbel is free, as are some additional features, but for full access, a minimal fee is required. Still, it may be worth it considering how many structured lessons, designed to track your progress and push your limits, are offered. Babbel also has voice recognition software that works to improve pronunciation. Another feature unique to Babbel is that it has iPhone and iPod touch applications as well.
4. Digital Dialects Digital Dialects is one of my personal favorite online language learning tools, because the whole website is just games. For those students who are kinetic learners, this may be the best option, as it combines doing with learning. Younger language learners will be delighted by this site in particular. It also offers a very wide variety of language from Spanish to Russian to Swahili and more.
By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Katheryn Rivas. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: katherynrivas87@gmail.com.
Rogo Puzzle is a new Maths web site – free – that has a great puzzle for children.This puzzle is easy to learn how to play and will keep the children on task, motivated and learning. Rogo puzzle for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch was launched in December 2010. I am really excited as it is a New Zealand site so very applicable to our students.
Press release:
Rogo is the new kid on the increasingly popular puzzle block. Though designed originally for pencil and paper, Rogo has made the touch world of iPhone its own. Rogo will soon be played on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch in subways, in waiting rooms, and even in classrooms in the US, Japan and China as well as in its home town of Christchurch, New Zealand. Rogo is completely new and original, a mixture of a maze, word-search and sudoku, with an innovative and intuitive interface. Appealing and easy to learn, Rogo is solved by drawing a loop of a designated length, avoiding obstacles and adding up numbers to collect points.
Each Rogo puzzle has a unique solution, which has been generated and tested using a special computer algorithm designed by Creative Heuristics Ltd. The idea for Rogo comes from the outdoor sport, rogaining, which involves using a map and compass to design and travel around a large area in a given amount of time. The mathematics behind it comes from the field of Operations Research. Doctors Shane Dye and Nicola Ward Petty, senior lecturers at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, are the directors of Creative Heuristics, and inventors of Rogo. They have developed Rogo for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch in just over a year.
Trials of Rogo have shown it to be popular among school children of all ages, and right through to senior citizens wanting to keep their brains active. A test group of 12 year old pupils enjoyed the challenge of the paper-based version, saying, “It makes me focus hard on them, but in a relaxed way and you laugh when you are frustrated!”, “they are challenging but fun and make you think”. Maths teachers use paper Rogos to help students develop numeracy and problem-solving skills.
From Rogo web site
Rogo develops a variety of skills such as number recognition, adding, counting, problem solving and geometry. The puzzles can be adapted to teach specific number facts.
Currently you can download a new printable Rogo puzzle to play; a new one is available each day. You will also find instructions on how to solve Rogo on the web site.
D & W Publications have simple, easy to use tutorials available for teachers and students - Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, PhotoStory3 for Windows, and FrontPage. These are available for $NZ25 plus postage and handling from diane.brooks@inet.net.nz. They are also available in pdf form for $150 for a school - unlimited copies may be made for use within the school OR $25 for a single copy for use.
Web site: http://ictineducation.webege.com/
I have a primary teaching background before joining the University of Canterbury to lecture in ICT in Education and Professional Studies. I am now working as a facilitator in schools.
Web site: http://ictineducation.webege.com/
