Talkman is a microphone and software application for the PSP, it allows you to speak into your PSP and translate simple phrases into 6 different languages.
It would be interesting to see if/how this could be used in the MFL classroom, Ewan & Joe??
Russell is on a roll, his latest demonstration was ‘KIT - Kinesthetic Interactive Teaching System‘ was really inspiring - he had 30 members of the audience playing a mulitplayer game with him. The system costs £3000 but has a great amount of flexibility, you can use the games that come with the system or create, better still get your pupils to create, games for it. The system can also play music - so no need to hire a dj for the school disco again, it also can be used as a karaoke system 
I would really like to get hold of one of these systems.
Did you know that there is a band from the West Midlands in the national Rock Idol 2006 final?
Go Quagmire! from Bournville School won through the regional heat last month and are now going forward to the national finals. They will be performing on the 30th November. You can view the competition by clicking on www.wmnet.org.uk/go/watch_rockidol  (you need to enter guest as the username and leave the password blank)
You can also vote for Go Quagmire and comment on their performance.
On the 29th November there is the final for new bands.
The following is taken from the wikispaces website:
Back in January, we decided to offer our Plus Plan to K-12 teachers for free. We didn’t set out with a grand strategy, just an interest in helping teachers with our easy to use wiki technology.
Over 10,000 educational wikis later, we’ve heard countless stories of excited students and empowered teachers. They’ve told us about their collaborative essays, group study guides, online lesson plans, and classroom notice boards coming alive on Wikispaces.
Now we’re taking the next step - we want to give away 100,000 free K-12 Plus wikis. That includes all the features and benefits that normally cost $50/year - for free. No fine print, no usage limits, no advertising, no catches.
We hope that you’ll read on, try a wiki at your school, and help us spread the word.
Last year I was chatting to Karl Royle from Wolverhampton University about gaming and he mentioned a project he was involved in ‘e-games league‘. After chatting to a couple of local headteachers they agreed to pilot the scheme this year with students in year 10.
Last week I was able to get in to Thomas Adams school to have a look at an e-games lesson, the students were motivated and engaged in their ICT activities. At the end of the lesson they played Fantastic Four on the xbox against each other. More information can be found on the e-games blog on the ‘what is it?‘ page.
After chatting to the teacher after the lesson we decided to get the students to set up their own blogs to record their work as they progress through the course. If you have a spare couple of minutes could you visit on the the clan blogs and leave a comment on their logo:
Futurelab have published their findings from their one year project. This report outlines the context, objectives, methods, findings and key messages arising from the Teaching with Games project.
The report:
ELSPA (the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association), in association with the Department for Education and Skills’ personalised content team, today launched a new report which examines the role computer and video games can play in education.
I haven’t had time to read the report yet, but you can download it from here.
I have just spent the last 30mins playing on some maths games produced by 2Simple software.
A suite of six fast paced games designed to make learning mathematics fun, effective and meaningful. In traditional arcade style, these games are set to engage children from their first click whilst the high pace of learning will keep them striving to improve.
- Factoroids - break down the factors into equal parts.
- Dividers - target each number with the correct divider.
- FracWall - arrange the fractions to create a whole.
- BondBubbles - join the bubbles to recall number facts.
- SeqSnake - work out the sequence to grow the snake.
- FunkyPlatform - use the calculation platforms to reach the target number.
The software is aimed at Key Stage 2, but I could have used it with KS3 classes. The software tracks your progress so you don’t have to start from scratch each time. I found the games enjoyable, so why not give it a go yourselves, you can download a 30 day trial from their website.
Apple have produced a DVD about podcasting in education, you can apply for it from here. I have just filled in the form myself so I can’t comment on the usefulness of it, but it’s free so I thought I would let you know about it and you can decide for yourself.
If anyone has already got a copy of it and would like to comment on its worth feel free to do so.
Explore new frontiers in learning.
Educators are discovering the teaching power of podcasts - audio and visual content delivered directly to a Mac, PC, or iPod/mp3 player. Teachers can create content that engages students in the learning process. Administrators are using podcasting to connect with parents, teachers, and the community. MP3 extends learning beyond the classroom, allowing students to access the content anywhere.Free video series: “Podcasting in Education.”
Discover our three-part series and learn the basics of podcasting, how to use podcasting to help meet national standards, and how real administrators are using podcasting.
It looks like Sony are going to launch a camera and GPS receiver unit for the PSP at the Tokyo Game Show starting on September 22nd. It will be interesting to see the cost of these units and then to try and have a go at using them for geotagging.
Recent Comments