Music Trax

Dear Colleagues,

 

LGfL have just launched Music Trax an complete scheme for teaching singing. It looks really good and children could easily access it from home to practice: http://musictrax.lgfl.org.uk/index.html

 

Dan

Issues for a primary school in Camden and the World Cup

Dear Colleagues,

 

Stunning video uploaded to Video Central by a school in Camden about issues in their neighbourhood. http://videocentral.lgfl.org.uk/Watch.aspx?v=IKnwtWCw5xdjVr Schools can annotate the London plan directly using a USO/MLE login.

 

You might also be interested in these hand picked World Cup learning resources from the excellent Larry Ferlazzo: http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2010/04/27/the-best-sites-for-learning-about-the-world-cup/ Ideal for adding to an MLE room.

 

Dan

 

From: Bob Usher [mailto:bob.usher@lgfl.org.uk]
Sent: 11 June 2010 09:34
To: editor@lists.lgfl.org.uk; debra joyce; Dan Warner
Subject: The London Plan: a case study

 

Dear Editorial Board

 

I was thrilled to receive an example of ‘a schools use of the ‘The London Plan’ this week.

 

Their video uploaded into the interactive map and Video central really is quite extraordinary – and rather shocking in relation to the issues that he children face outside of school in their day to day lives.

 

I have collated the teachers explanation into a ‘case study’ of sorts  (attached) – and although the video is long (12mins) – you may find it a rather compelling watch – particularly when you see some of the footage filmed by the children ?(eg 5 mins in!)

 

The direct video link is at:

 

http://videocentral.lgfl.org.uk/Watch.aspx?v=IKnwtWCw5xdjVr

 

 

Best wishes

 

From

Bob

 

 

Bob Usher
Content Manager
London Grid for Learning Trust,
CI Tower, St Georges Square, New Malden, KT3 4TE
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Money Saving

Dear All,

 

Interesting Teachers TV programme on how much money a school can save through investing in electronic  systems for a range of office tasks.

http://www.teachers.tv/videos/e-office-systems

 

Dan

Digitalbrain Email Addresses

Dear Colleagues,

 

Are staff at your school still using Digitalbrain email addresses? These are email addresses that end in lgfl.net (not to be confused with the new addresses that end in lgflmail.net).

 

I have been advised by LGfL that as of 31^st July it will no longer be possible to receive mail from these addresses and there will be no mechanism for forwarding mail to an alternative inbox. The new email system (staffmail) is in place in most schools and provides a standardised professional email system for staff to use. If you need to talk through options then I am happy to help.

 

Dan Warner

 

 

J2E

Dear Colleagues,

 

Find attached instructions on adding J2E to your MLE page. It is a fantastic online tool for creating documents and webpages that can contain text, drawings, images, videos and sound.

 

Dan

ICT News

Dear Colleagues,

 

Following the theft of my laptop (in April!) I’ve finally managed to get my ICT subject leaders mailing list up and running again. If you would rather not receive any emails please let me know and I’ll remove your name from the list. A few things to round up news since then.

 

Goodbye to Becta!

Becta, the government’s ICT agency is to be closed down in November. Essentially BECTA played a critical back of house in developing standards for learning platforms, raising the safety agenda, pushing for universal access and of course establishing the ICT mark and self review framework. Right now we don’t know what will become of the content of the BECTA website, whether the targets for parental reporting that they set still apply. It is possible that the ICT Mark and self review  framework will be taken over by an alternative not for profit organisation but we will have to wait and see.

 

Goodbye to digital brain!!

At the end of July the Digitalbrain system will be switched off for good. It has been around since 2002 and could have been good if only it had been reliable and fast. If you have content stored on the system then now is the time to download it and save it before it goes to the data store in the sky!

 

Fronter

Exit DB and enter London MLE. We now have 46 primary schools up and running and many of the rest are due to start in the autumn term. The system is a huge leap forward from DB in speed, reliability and ease of use and it has been amazing to see its use rocket as more and more children and staff start accessing the system to extend learning beyond the classroom. Perhaps the days of the Factory school really are over?? Have a look at this clip by Ken Robinson http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html 

 

LGfL

Look out for the arrival of Busy Things on the LGfL (www.lgfl.net ). This fantastic collection of online creative activities aimed at N and R will be available in the next month and is likely to be a big hit with FS teachers. I’ve already road tested it with my 3yo daughter and she loved it too. Also don’t forget about the amazing collection of other stuff that’s up there Iboard is growing and growing and have you seen Magic School? Also coming soon are a set of creative tools for KS1 that look a little similar to the 2Simple Infant video toolkit. Ofcourse because they are online children can access them from home with an MLE login.

 

CLC loans

The new loan library for ICT equipment is up and running. It sits in a little room at the PDC and contains laptops, digital cameras, video cameras, Lego control equipment and Easispeak sound recorders and 2 Magic Planets! There is also support available in the shape of three leading ICT teachers that are able to come to your school and help get your children making films, computer games, radio programmes. To benefit from it contact Paul Easterbrook.

                                                                                          

ActivExpression

LEB (a supplier of Promethean products) are running a pilot project that will provide schools with access to Activexpression handset to use in school for a fixed period at no cost. Activexpression is the world’s first learner response system with advanced sentence and character texting options. Students can express themselves through text, numbers, like scales and more—allowing them to respond to questions in the dynamic way that they think.  It also, supports the self-paced learning, whereby, pupils can respond to answers at their own pace, allowing the teacher to intervene  immediately during the lesson to each child’s needs. If you are interested in trialing a set of Activexpression tablets for a couple of months, together with training on using them, at no cost to your school let me know. For more information on ActivExpression visit the Promethean website.

 

ICT Subject Leaders’ Meeting

We are holding an ICT subject leaders meeting on 15^th June (either 1.30-3.30 or 4.00-5.15) Please do come along. If you haven’t been before you’ll find it a great opportunity to meet other subject leaders, find out about stuff that’s going on around ICT and ask us questions.

 

I think that’s it for now.

 

Dan Warner