In the past I’ve debated on here whether to buy an iPad or not, I didn’t in the end I bought a new mountain bike, but I’m still using the schools iPad.
I’ve always wondered if an iPad would be a a benefit to teaching or not. I couldn’t really imagine a class of pupils using iPads during a lesson just because of the restrictions of software but for the teacher I also wondered if it could be useful.
Just after the Easter break I got an Apple Digital AV Adapter which allowed me to display the iPad screen through the projector in my room. It was great and gave an idea of the possibilities. The downside was that it was only a few inches long which meant I was still stuck at the front of the classroom.
I wanted something more, I wanted to be able to walk around the classroom and share the iPad with the pupils without being restricted to being at my desk. I always knew it was possible to AirPlay some parts of the iPad through an Apple TV but didn’t really know if I could do the whole thing. Quick search on Google and Apple gave me the answer that it could.
I’ve had the Apple TV now for around two weeks and it’s great. Luckily my projector has a HDMI port so it was ridiculously simple to set up. Quick plug in, cycle through the set up options and there it was within minutes, the ability to AirPlay the iPad, and my iPhone, on the projector.
The more I use the iPad and the Apple TV together the more I’m really discovering what to do with it. Initially I was using it just to demonstrate work set using our VLE, such things as what the task was, course specifications; all good and I could do it from anywhere in the room, to be fair I could do it from anywhere within the school as long as I got a signal.
I’ve branched out a bit by taking screenshots of task or specifications and annotating them on the screen while talking to the pupils, which has allowed me to answer direct questions and leave advice on the board for all to see.
The next logical step was sharing of the pupils work; using the camera I could move around the classroom and demonstrate pupils work to the whole class. Suddenly it quickly allowed collaboration on a completely different scale. A good piece of work would give the class an indication of what direction they needed to progress in, or a innovative idea could lead to class discussions as to what could be done further.
Probably the best use at the moment for me has been the taking of snapshots of pupils work and annotating on them directly for others to see. This meant that it allowed me to direct the way in which work was progressing giving pointers to the class.
It’s a fascinating way of immediately giving feedback to a class for all of them to see. It’s really boosting collaboration and showcasing pupils work in a different light.
The next step now for me is to get the the senior leadership team on board, I want them to see how this simple idea of showing work and teaching from anywhere in the classroom can have a real positive impact on how pupils view there work.
The only downside has been the fact my finger is useless for annotating, I can’t write with it. It’s only minor but my handwriting is shocking normally but now it seems somewhat worse. Next investigation will be into a pen device I can use with the iPad.
I’ll write more as it goes.
So last week saw the sad news of the GAME group going into administration, for gamers it wasn’t really a shock as news break weeks/months ago that it was looking doubtful to survive.
As a gamer I’m sad to see the demise of the shop, and the poor people who have lost their jobs, but what worries me more is the fact that this now pushes gaming away from public light.
For years gaming was been viewed as something that a small few engaged in but with GAME shops appearing all over the country, games and gamers profiles were elevated to being in the public eye.
I’ve been playing games now for over 27 years and over that time I’ve bought games in a variety of shops. In the early days I remember buying games on tape from Boots, costing between £2.99 and £9.99. I think it was around four years later before the first shop to actually just sell just video games opened. This shop was quite small with the walls plastered with video games but in the basement were several arcade machines that resulted in gamers not only spending time discussing games but also spent time trying to out do each other on their latest arcade offerings.
I don’t really remember the shop lasting to long by the time it disappeared we’d all moved on to visiting the computer club at the YMCA. This club was great for teenagers with no money but shockingly bad for the games industry. We went to the club every Monday night with handfuls of floppy disks and en spent the evening persuading all the club attendees to copy games for us. All the latest games were there, immediately as soon as released and we got to play them all, and occasionally we even learnt how to hack our own games and copy them, using early versions of x-copy.
By the time this had run its course, and piracy of video games became big news, another small local shop had opened again with a basement with the latest arcades in there. I remember this shop only lasting a few months really, mainly because it was huge but only really had a handful of games, and because the owners themselves happily pirated games if you got chatting to them.
It was probably at this time that GAME made an appearance and suddenly I could buy games anywhere and even more importantly I could trade old games in for new ones. At this particular time I suppose I took it for granted, and to be fair I still did until the news of administration came out, new games were everywhere, cheap preowned games meant more accessibility to games I missed.
Thinking of my gaming future, I’m not quite sure where I’m going to be buying my games from, or where I’ll trade in my old games. Buying online seems the better options but I’ll miss the banter and the chatter from just walking into a GAME shop and talking to like minded individuals. I’m also going to miss just gaming being in the public eye and feel sorry for any younger gamers who rely on shops like GAME to advise their parents oasis to what to buy.
RIP GAME, you will be missed.
I’m sure I’ve rambled about this before; should I buy an iPad or not, well with the release of the new one I’m even more tempted than ever. The thing that’s putting me off mainly, apart from the cost, is what would I use it for over my phone.
I use my phone for virtually everything;
Checking personal emails and work emails
Writing blog posts on here and replying to pupils
Reading my RSS feeds
Watch TV
Twitter, Facebook, ReadItLater etc
Evernote for tracking progress of pupils work and failure to hand in homework
And that’s just a few of the main things I usually use it for. For me breaking this habit and stepping away from my phone seems to be harder than I thought.
I’m currently writing this on a borrowed iPad 2 from work, it goes back in a few weeks, and consciously picking the thing up to use rather than my iPhone is proving a problem.
I like the iPad and I like what it can do, but whether I’d use it enough to warrant buying one really has got me thinking. I know having it I’d continue to use it for all of the above but I also know I’d still keep going for my iPhone. And if I had an iPad would I still need the iPhone and all the apps or would that just become an expensive iPod that I’d use for texting and phoning.
Decisions, decisions; guess I’ll need to see how these next few weeks go with the works iPad and have a serious look at the new one before deciding whether to go for it or not.
I am very tempted though.
So after three weeks of waiting I finally received feedback for the job I went for a few weeks ago, bit strange I know as you usually hear back the next day or at a push a couple of days later, but no this particular school has made me wait for three weeks. Was it worth the wait, well let’s just say I’m still no closer to finding out the reason why I didn’t get the job.
Before anything I’ll have to say that the feedback was delivered by what seemed like the longest phone call I have ever taken, by the end I’m sure a new month had started, just seemed to go on for ever while the guy giving it had to keep going off the phone so that he could collect paper work
So on to the feedback and I’ll just list it rather than word for word;
From my personality test they found;
I need to practice public speaking
I’m not radical or conservative in my thinking
I’m relaxed and calm and not easily angered
I take people on face value but should become more sceptical of people
From the IQ tests i did;
I was near the top of them compared to similar educated people (to degree standard) but showed that I was willing to work to become the top.
From the student council;
They liked me, thought I looked very business like and thought me ideas were good and were quite keen on me.
From the role play exercise;
I was seen to be assertive and not afraid to deal with a problem head on and would challenge staff over problems however my use of language may anger some staff but it was clear I could deal with a problem quickly and effectively.
From the presentation I gave;
It was clear I had good interpersonal skills but I needed to involve the others more in creating the presentation as I took a lead on it.
Lesson
Was viewed as being good I’d managed to have positive and effective construction with the class but needed to allow more independent learning.
Interview
Was again good, needed to use ‘I’ more than ‘We’ but they did feel I needed to talk more about data (which is quite amazing as I gave a presentation about data to them – obviously a hit).
So that’s it, still not sure why but at least I got feedback, its interesting that on the day I got this I also found out that they had appointed.
All the best to them and onto the next one now.
At times it feels as if blogging is taking over my life, although you wouldn’t guess from the number of times my own personal blog is updated.
In 12 months I’ve gone from writing the very occasional blog post on my basic mumbles and grumbles to writing daily on the ICT school blog, replying to every child who posts on their own blog, encouraging the school to take part in the Feb29th project and now i’m writing on another blog (thankfully weekly) about the use of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in school, Frog, for the company FrogTrade.
It really does feel like all i think about at the moment is writing on various topics for various audiences. I’d like to think it was exhausting but i’m actually buzzing with excitement and ideas about what to write about for all these blogs; however my own thoughts and mumbles and grumbles i’ll still think i’ll keep a lid on and just do it occasionally.
And so on to general grumbling…ah, forget that i’m off to write something new for someone else.
I’ll be back to my normal grumpiness soon.
So been a bit busy of late applying for jobs as usual but this week it actually went one step closer to getting a new job by actually having an interview, however things didn’t quite work out as expected. The job in question was just a sideways move and was more about new challenges rather than needing to leave my current place.
Anyway, the usual was expected from a teacher going to interview, planning and teaching a lesson but this job was asking for more; a test to start the day, a role play exercise, a meeting with the student council, a group presentation with the other candidates and and then finally the interview.
The test at the start was new, a verbal, numerical and abstract test lasting around an hour, not too bad I thought, not really a test of skills as an ICT teacher.
Next was the lesson, I thought it went well, not a thrilling topic (Spreadsheets in a Business Environment) but managed to included blogging and vlogging and the kids really got into it.
The role play I wasn’t looking forward to but I actually enjoyed, the drama teacher pretending to be a difficult member of my department that I needed to deal with. Different but in a good way.
The student council meeting went well and the kids seemed to be interested in the ideas I was coming up with.
The presentation seemed different, a scenario was given to us and we had to plan and give the presentation, it was different to work with the other candidates but not too bad.
Thankfully I made it through to the interview but then, despite it being present for the first part of the day, common courtesy suddenly disappeared and I was left in a room for almost two hours while the other candidate was interviewed.
When it finally came to my turn I went in and performed as best I could at the end I was told that they were planning to phone us later with the results.
However they didn’t and actually heard nothing until over 24 hours later when I heard that they had appointed no one.
Now fair enough for their decision, but why not ring earlier to just say they hadn’t decided yet. With all their fancy IQ tests, presentations, personality tests (which I had to do prior to attending the interview) actually results in nothing if they embarrass themselves with a lack of common courtesy and professionalism.
Disappointed not getting the job, yes, but more disappointed in the performance by the school. Such a shame.
It’s been a month since i last posted, what with Christmas and my Birthday (37 now sounds so old) not really had chance to sit down and think of what to write, but thanks to Gove i’d thought i’d get back to grumbling online.
Michael Gove is currently the Education Secretary and with each coming week seems to be belittling the profession of teaching, on a personal level this week Gove has really stick the knife in with his comments about ICT and the abolishment of Programmes of Study from the National Curriculum.
I’ve been in teaching now for around 12 years and although i consider myself fairly new(ish) to the profession i noticed a major change in the publics views of teachers, teaching and schools, most of which seems to have come about since Gove came on the scene.
For me teaching always seemed like high profile career, a career that was thought of with esteem. Teachers always seemed to have that presence about themselves, that if you suddenly found yourself in the company of one of them you would suddenly make sure you were on your best behaviour as you wanted to be noticed and praised.
When i got into teaching there was still some of these attitudes, but now they seem to have almost disappeared. Rarely is a week going by at the moment without some criticism of teaching and teachers being bounded around in the news; it also seems that Gove himself cannot avoid unwanted attention when it comes to teaching;
Recently with the talk of changes to Ofsted inspections (no notice inspections and parents invited to join in) longer school days and shorter holidays (another of Goves ideas which he believes that if we love our jobs we will do happily) and the obvious proposed changes to pensions, and don’t get me started on the pay freeze, I start to think that my profession, vocation whatever, is being treated with some disrespect.
I wonder what the future holds not only for education but for ICT as a subject, will it remain, will it be replaced with Computer Science and if so how far will that go to develop pupils skills. Times are changing fast, technology is changing fast, children want to be educated in a manner that best suits them rather than a method that may or may not have been successful in the past with previous generations. With my lad going to school in the next few years i wonder what he will be taught, shaped and how he will be prepared for his future.
It is a worrying time for most teachers thankfully i think there is a higher power out there who feels the same as me and is able to mock Gove in cruel ways for all to see;
And so what seems like years of my life wasted, the culmination of the X-Factor competition ends tonight, will it be Marcus or will it be Little Mix.
To be honest, i’m not that fussed.
Despite the show having been on in the background it’s given me a great opportunity to get some reading done, mess around on Twitter, write the occasional blog post or phase out completely and pretend i’m not watching.
I don’t really mind the X-Factor, it doesn’t offend me too much, i’ve no real interest in the majority of the acts or what they go on to be it just seems to be this thing that takes over my TV for 3 hours every Saturday night and then again for an hour on a Sunday.
And i thats one thing that does bug me; while the X-Factor is on, out of the window goes any chance of watching other TV shows or any of the many films we seem to have collected from Love Film that are sitting on the back.
But now that it’s all coming to an end it means i can reclaim my weekends, i can rise like a phoenix from the flames and take the remote and put whatever i want on the TV.
OR at least i could, but Christmas is just around the corner, so that will mean next weekend (the only X-Factor free weekend before a visit from the big man with the beard) will result in the consumption of several glasses of Baileys, mince pies and as many Christmas films i can squeeze into two short days.
Maybe I’ll get my TV at the weekends back in January/February/March; some time after i’ve finished watching all the shows i’ve recorded over the Christmas period and worked my way through the DVD’s/Blu Rays/Computer Games i receive, or happen to buy in the January sale.
By my reckoning, i should get one weekend free in April; just before X-Factor 2012 starts.
Bugger.
Not blogged for a while due to work and stupid man-flu but this has been bugging me for a few days now.
It’s an advert currently running on kids channels, seems to be on every time we go to watch Peppa Pig (I have a 2 year old, not an addiction to childrens channels), advertising the Leap Frog Tag system. Now, i’m a fan of technology, i like it, couldn’t get buy with out it, and would normally try to get as many gadgets and gizmos as i can but this think just bugs me.
It’s not the whole concept as such, it’s more the one line in the advert at about 2 seconds in;
Its the phrase ‘Nothing turns books into fun, like Tag.‘, every single time I see that advert my blood boils because books are FUN, i don’t need a fancy whatchamacallit to make them so and I hate the fact it implies that without their product then books are dull, boring and lifeless.
I’m not a massive reader, i read a bit but would like to read more, but i’ve always enjoyed reading even from a young age whether it by comics, graphic novels, magazines, webpages, blogs or books i’ve always enjoyed it. Thankfully my son seems to have a similar passion and he has boxes full of books that he happily looks through (obviously being 2 he can’t read all that good yet) and with some he remembers the stories and reads them out he remembers them. Thats great, i don’t want him thinking that he can’t enjoy a book or have fun with a book until he has a Leap Frog Tag.
Maybe it’s just me and my short-fuse-due-to-man-flu but i’d prefer to see an advert advertising how much fun either buying or loaning a book is and actually reading it, either alone or with other people.
