The seven-year-old bloggers

This article is about children as young as seven creating their own blogs in England. I have a class blog at the moment, but think it is exciting to see students in primary school creating their own.

Video Games in Education - Update

A website in Scotland, ICT in Education, has a whole section dedicated to games-based learning.

Scratch Update

This video from Ideas For Life TV is a documentary about how Scratch is being used in a school in England. It also has Mitch Resnick talking about the use of this application. Very interesting!

Mitchel Resnick and Scratch

When I was at the ACEC2008 National Conference in Canberra last year, one of the keynote speakers was Mitchel Resnick.


"Mitchel Resnick is LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research, Director of the Okawa Center, and Director of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab. Resnick's research group has developed a variety of educational tools that engage people in new types of design activities and learning experiences, including the "programmable bricks" that were the basis for the award-winning LEGO Mindstorms and StarLogo software. He co-founded the Computer Clubhouse, an award-winning network of learning centers for youth from under-served communities.

Resnick's group has developed a new programming language, called Scratch, that makes it easier for kids to create their own animated stories, video games, and interactive art. Resnick is also involved in the next generation of Programmable Bricks and in the $100 laptop project."

Courtesy Wikipedia article "Mitchel Resnick"

I hope to use Scratch with my class this year - will let you know how it goes!

Click here to view a video of Mitchel Resnick speaking about creativity

Video Games in Education

Grading with Games: An Interview with James Paul Gee

An Arizona State University professor sees a bright future for video games in the learning process -- in and out of school.

Bringing us together (interesting blog)

This blog is worth a look...here is an excerpt

"From September to December, 2008, Sue Waters and Sue Wyatt ran an international student blogging competition. About 500 students and their teachers took part by writing posts on class blogs, student blogs or as commenters. The competition was so successful that by the end many of the students and teachers expressed a desire to continue.

So this blog has been created to:

• build on the friendships begun in 2008
• encourage more students and classrooms from throughout the World to connect with each other"

ICT in Finland

This video I found on teachers tv (an English based video sharing site) is very interesting (although bird watching is not my thing!). This teacher has nine computers in her room and talks about ICT integration rather than a stand alone subject.

Animation

I have a fascination with animation and really enjoy working with children in this area. The following video is from a brilliant site, Aniboom. At our national conference in 2010 (ACEC2010), Adam Elliot will be one of our keynote speakers.

CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO

Class Blog

I started a classroom blog about three weeks ago and has been well received by both children and their parents. Not only am I using it to showcase children's work, but also to promote ICT out of the classroom and as a communication tool. I try to put on variety of posts, including messages and reminders, fun activities and videos. I had never done a blog before and have found the more I experiment the more I find out to enhance it. If you have a moment it would be great if you could visit it and leave a comment.

Wii Remote as a cheap option to IWBs

If you have ever considered buying an Interactive Whiteboard but feel they are too expensive, then this video will explain how you can create your own...click on link below

CLICK HERE

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog, ICT Tim's Blog. I am a teacher at Princes Hill Primary School in Carlton North, Melbourne. I am also on the state council for ICTEV (ICT Education Victoria), a teaching association. I have designed this blog as a follow on from my bi-annual articles for our journal "ICT in Education". I will be providing a range of interesting posts and useful teaching ideas and resources.