M Learning

M Learning

M Learning = mobile learning – meaning you can take it wherever you want as it’s mobile.

Examples : Phones / Ipods / xbox / laptops/ phone / ipad

The Ludic element - Learning through play

It’s important in all subjects including ICT that children learn through play, as some argue this is the best and most effective way of learning.

Here are some examples of programmes that children can use :

Scratch

Scratch is a programming language whereby you can create interactive stroies, games, music and art. There are many applications of how this can be used in the classroom, for example it can be used to make animated scenes in literacy. It’s important to encourage programming from an early age as it is in great demand in the UK.

There’s lots of examples available online at:

http://scratch.mit.edu/galleries/view/82932

Lessons and advice available here:

 www.redware.com/scratch/lessons.html

Here are some helpful tips on using scratch from a teacher in a primary school :

To encourage children to develop their skills and understanding of control technology through Scratch you may wish to encourage.

• Planning a project on paper first
• Showing changes made to the plan using coloured pens (annotating and explaining changes and reasons for the changes)
• Thinking about the audience and how appropriate the graphics used are
• If planning an interactive game, consider practical issues and ask questions like "What makes an engaging game?"
• Trying out what has been made on a real audience (perhaps a younger class) and making a questionnaire to take feed-back and make necessary changes.
• Sharing things they have learned in a plenary (making a folder on the public/shared drive available for the saving of projects)
• Encouraging exploration and self directed extensions for fun!

Wordle

Wordle is a programme whereby you insert a bunch of text and press go and then it presents the words in a picture. You can change the colour, font and position. This is a good way of maybe presenting key words in an exciting visual way. For example you could have key words for WW2 up on a board :

To do it yourself

This is a programme whereby the children can make their own games. There are many games available :

·         Mutli drag

·         Puzzles

·         Pairs

·         Sequencing

·         Grouping

·         Labelling

·         Snake

·         maze

 Here is a video showing how you can make the snake game :

Dance Mat

This is a fun dance game whereby the teacher can create a game and the children step on or dance on the correct answer. It’s fun and active and has a large scope for variable learning.

Some schools are using these mats as a way into healping and improving their healthy school ethos :

Gainsborough Primary Schools Dance To Their Hearts Content : Gainsborough Extended School Services are giving primary schools in the area dance mats to motivate pupils to get active. Gainsborough Extended School Services have introduced the dance mats to be used in after school clubs to engage with young children who may otherwise feel uncomfortable with physical exercise.

Dance mats can be very inclusive aswell, for example:  The Cobalt Flux 'Just for Schools' dance mats can be used with all major games consoles and PC's, including the Playstation 2 and Nintendo Wii, which makes them easy to set up and a more affordable alternative for schools compared to other expensive proprietary systems. A three-sided frame and a hand-controlled mat are available for pupils with special needs so the whole class can get involved.

Game Based Learning - My opinion

I think there is a lot of scope to use games in learning within the classroom so that children can learn through play. I think games are such a key and important part of children's lives, more so nowadays then ever, and as teachers we need to get on board and incorporate this into the classroom. Furthermore I feel that game based learning will reach out to a wider majority of children. For example during my school experience I've seen the children use interactive games on the IWB whereby they thoroughly enjoy learning about various subjects. It seemed to be far mroe engaging and successful that traditional teaching methods. Games on the BBC Bitesize website are particular good:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize/literacy/phonics/index.shtml 

These games are particularly good because you can diffrentiate by setting the levels at :

• Medium
• Hard
• Really Hard

Therefore, based on my experience, I hope to use games to teach as I think they are enjoyable, fun, diffrentiating and useful to learning.

Speaking and Listening

Speaking and Listening

ICT helps to develop many areas:

•          Communication
•          Collaborative working
•          Public speaking
•          Performance
•          Recording – important as in ordinary speaking situations the opportunity is lost to record every word back in memory.
•          Reflection + feedback

There are many different ways in which you can use speaking and listening in ICT. For example :

Talking Photo Albums

This innovative Talking Photo Album is an ideal tool for creating and maintaining activity schedules! There are many ways that a talking photo album can operate in school, you can use it for daily activity schedules, sequencing, functional reminders, and more. This is a wonderfully versatile tool that can be creatively customized to meet each child's individual needs.

Talking Tins

 Talking Tins are proving to help children of all ages to develop their speaking and listening skills. Talking Tins allow you to record and playback your own voice messages, music or sound effects. you could use one on each tabel to give out instructions, or they could be used on display boards. Another good idea is to use them to work out the sequence of  a story.

Talking Postcards

These innovative cards are just great for all children, especially those with special needs; they're interactive, hands-on and suitable for all ages.

One teacher stated :” In Foundation Stage we used them to put on the tables to explain the LO for enhanced provision. We found the children pressed the button and then traced their finger under the sentence.  Great for dyslexic pupils who forget instructions between the teacher telling them and going to their table - just record it!”

And here are some extra ones I found whilst doing my research:

Sonic Phonics

Sonic Phonics is a set of 51 electronic Sound Buttons that play individual letter and digraph sounds. Sonic Phonics is all about making phonics fun! Children can use the Sound Buttons to reinforce grapheme-phoneme correspondences, learn to enunciate sounds correctly, and even build and read simple words.

Barnaby Bear

Soft, washable, friendly brown bear that children will love to photograph in any number of settings both at home and in school. Develop aspects of CLL and home/school liaison by letting the photographs prompt the children to talk about their home at school, and their school at home. Let Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Foundation Stage children in your setting teach you about their communities through the bear, the camera, the photos and the Talking photo albums.

Recorder Pen

This is a revolutionary technology which brings multiple languages, sounds, songs and  interactivity to the printed page!  This is a fantastic new way to enhance literacy skills. When the pen touches a poster or a book that is pen-enabled, it speaks. The pen detects soundspots on any page in a book or on any graphics on the poster and plays back narrations, questions, answers, quizzes, music or sound effects - whatever audio has been pre-programmed into the paper. The RecorderPEN lets you make, save and playback recordings at the touch of a page.

By touching 'sound spots' on books and charts with RecorderPEN, children and teachers can access pre-recorded narrations in languages of their choice (over 20 languages, including Polish, Somali, Sylheti etc). One pen can be used again and again on books, charts and cards, simply by downloading new language files from our website.

RecorderPEN supports a whole range of learning styles, as the kinaesthetic aspect of physical exploration of the page complements strong aural and visual elements. The pen can store hours and hours of audio content, and the gaming function allows for quizes, puzzles and activities to extend the enjoyment of reading. The RecorderPEN also allows children to record their own voices and save them onto every page of our newest books, improving their speaking and storytelling skills. Parents and teachers can use the new pen to make recordings for children.

Digital Imagery

• Children can use digital cameras in school to:
• Record class activities + school events
• Digital images used to stimulate class discussion
• Promote language development

Positives

digital encourages faster learning, more fun and greater creativity with photography - immediate feedback (confirmation of photo, access to image - no time waiting for processing) - images enhance communication (adding photos helps to share experiences - especially for visual learners, it is also much faster than trying to explain everything in words) - the ease of sharing photos with others (via printouts, networks, email, websites, storage, etc.) - students new to photography appreciate a learning environment where there is no 'penalty' for mistakes - digital cameras promote visual literacy  - photos can be quickly enhanced or manipulated with software (e.g. Photoshop, Paintshop Pro)

Negatives

-can run out of storage space on computer (hard drive may fill up as photos archived to CDs or DVDs are more difficult to access) - some digital cameras have very slow response times - press the release but a photo is taken after subject has gone! - greater risk of losing your precious images (e.g. hard drive failure, Operating System corruption, viruses) - ease of taking photos may reduce students recognition of others sensitivity to being photographed (e.g. for cultural or personal reasons)

AN article by BBC News on ‘Using digital video to enhance learning’ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/2482341.stm