Thunder

Atomic Learning are giving BETT attendees free access to Atomic Learning and the workshops within the site.  Some of the many workshops highlight blogger and itunes on both Mac and PC:

1.      Go to www.atomiclearning.co.uk
2.      Enter the following user name and password:
Username: BETT07
Password:  atomic

Blogging &  Podcasting/Vodcasting

The username and password is valid until 12/2/07

The blogging workshops covers mainly the use of ‘Blogger’ so is somewhat limited, in the earlier workshops they do mention other sites that could be used for blogging, from paid for sites to host your own solutions.

The podcasting workshops cover Garageband for the Mac and Audacity for Windows.

If you are off to BETT and fancy getting your hands on a free bottle of wine then visit Roar Educate and take the flier that can be downloaded from their website with you.

Well, that’s a convenient initiative allowing you to get the best commercial software titles - for free. Every day we offer licensed software you’d have to buy otherwise, for free! Yes, we are giving away software, and you can download it from our site, right now and right here and our goal is to give away every good piece of software, sooner or later. Want to learn more about our project?

For game giveaways check out Game Giveaway of the Day.

For the latest freeware check out our freeware library.

QCA will be recommending that the on-screen test for ICT at the end of KS3 will NOT be compulsary, deciding it will be an uneccesary burden for schools.

Mr Gee recommended to the QCA that the test should be used “as an integral and standardised tool for informing teacher assessment”.

We now have to wait for the DfES to make a decision on whether or not the test will be compulsary.

Personally I hope that the DfES take QCA’s advice and do not make the test compulsary. Over the last year or two when I have been working with schools in Shropshire preparing for the test the most obvious effect of the test was to reduce creativity in the classroom. Schools have been adapting their schemes of work for year 9, spending a great deal of time preparing students for the test and removing the opportunities for the students to use cool ICT tools, as the test only really covered office applications (that looked nothing like the office environment that the pupils were used to).

It will be interesting to see the future of the test, I think there is a place for it but we shouldn’t be using it to drive the curriculum we are teaching in the classroom. Maybe it will be used for the functional skills test, to give a rough benchmark on transfer or to guage a teachers basic ICT/office skills. I can’t see the test just disappearing as the DfES have invested so much money in it, I guess we just have to wait and see.

So what do you think? Is this a positive step, or has the idea of a compulsary test at the end of KS3 led to more support for the ICT department from the Headteacher and SMT, had the thought of the test on the horizon lead to more curriculum time and specialist teachers, if so will it be a negative step?

The BBC news article can be found here.

I have just been tagged by Theo in the blog tag game, so here are 5 things that you may not know about me:

1. While at Aberystwyth University I played American Football for the university and for Great Britain in 1993 and 1995. I was predominantly a running back, but also played reciever and kick returner, I hold the records for most yeards rushed in a game, season and career, most touchdowns in a game, season and career for Tarannau. The university team was called Tarannau Aberystwyth (hence the name for my blog). I was named ’sports personality’ of the university in 1995. Since leaving the university I was admitted to the teams Hall of Fame.
2. I never wanted to be a teacher, while at Aber I was looking for a course to do so that I could play American Football for a further year and was offered a place on a PGCE. A year later I was offered a job at Llanfyllin High School in Mid Wales.
3. I am married to Steph and have a 2 year old son called Jack and a 4 week old daughter called Jessica.
4. I play rugby on the wing for Whitchurch Rugby Club 2nd XV. We are currently in first position in the league and are yet to be knocked out of the cup.
5. To balance out this healthy lifestyle I spend far too much time playing on my xbox 360, my xbox even has its own blog.  At present I am wasting too much of my life on Gears of War, Lego Star Wars II, Rainbow 6 Las Vegas and will soon be trying out Call of Duty 3.

I will now tag:

Tim
Dale
Derek
Nova
David

Happy New Year - all the best for 2007.