A chance discussion with a few folk at the end of the SICTDG event made me realise that it would be useful to share how to keep up to date with blogs and search terms?

Using a feed reader, you don’t need to keep going back to a site to see if it has been updated - there are loads to choose from, the vast majority of them being web-based and free. Easiest and most widely used is ‘Google Reader‘, but this wee tutorial I made some time ago will show you how using ‘Netvibes‘ -

http://www.whereisab.co.uk/trackblogs.php

The question was also raised concerning how you find things at all in blogs - this wee movie will show you how to find out who is mentioning terms that might be of interest to you using Technorati -

http://www.whereisab.co.uk/technorati.php

Comments, observations, advice most welcome!

The games that were available for you to ‘play’ with today were:

1. Phoenix Wright
2. My Word Coach
3. My Spanish Coach
4. My French Coach
5. Endless Ocean
6. Guitar Hero III
7. Viva Pinata
8. Inquizitor
9. Primary Phonics

What were colleagues impressions of the games that they had a go with and how do you think they might be able to be used in classrooms?

The possibility of making learning environments fully 3D and immersive for learners and educators was the focus of Dr. Daniel Livingstone’s (University of West of Scotland) presentation this morning. Daniel has been working with Sloodle, a blend of the virtual 3D world Second Life and the open source VLE Moodle. As you will have seen, Sloodle offers allows learners to walk and fly through the learning environment using an avatar within a virtual world.

What do colleagues feel this type of technology/interface may mean for future iterations of Glow? Do they feel that this type of interface would enhance the learner experience, would it impact positively in relation to learning styles?

Gordon McKinlay is currently “acting up” as a senior adviser within Renfrewshire. He takes us through the world of Geo Tagging.

What is Geotagging?
This is the process of adding geographical identification metadata to media This data usually consists of latitude and longitude coordinates, though it can also include altitude, bearing, and place names.

For more information visit Gordon’s blog at http://gordonsramblings.blogspot.com/

Ian Stuart, PT of Technology in Islay High School takes us through the amazing work being done in Islay High School - every teacher has a tablet computer, and every pupil has a UMPC. Today he tells us how this has been achieved in the school, and the impact it has made on teaching and learning. His headings are as follows:

The School………..

The Place ………..

Where we came from …….

Schools of Ambition ………

Where we are……..

Where we are going………..

Sustainability

Questions

Summing up.

You can find out more about the project here, or view the slideshare here.

How do folks feel about this as a tool for conducting this event? Are we comfortable with the fact that not only are our thoughts immediately available for the world to see, but that anyone in the world, even though they are not connected with our work, can comment?

Is this liberating, inhibiting or does anyone care…..

A VoiceThread is an online media album that can hold essentially any type of media (images, documents and videos) and allows people to make comments in 5 different ways - using voice (with a microphone or telephone), text, audio file, or video (with a webcam) - and share them with anyone they wish. A VoiceThread allows group conversations to be collected and shared in one place, from anywhere in the world.

A samle voice thread can be seen at: http://voicethread.com/share/409/

Scottish games based learning company called TPLD, have worked in schools in the past and are currently doing so with an application called Eduteams. Jim Pigott from TPLD will tell us about a game that they were working in partnership on with the Scottish Institute for Sport Foundation and a man called Yehuda Shinar. The design of the game is such that it can help create a ‘winning’ attitude where the player/learner can continually self-reflect in order to move forward? This is quite a serious application of a game and one that has the potential to complement and reinforce the Aifl agenda in Scottish schools. Further details on the consolarium blog.

…..computer games as learning tools in the classroom? What may have seemed like a bizarre idea some time ago is now maybe not seen in such a light today due to some of the work that has been happening in Scottish schools over the past year. LTS efforts to explore this field via its Consolarium project was introduced to SICTDG members in December 06. Since this meeting partnerships with a number of local authorities has resulted in some very interesting work taking place. The Consolarium also had the pleasure of welcoming Professor Stephen Heppell who proclaimed that ‘every school should have a Consolarium’. Today’s presentation offers an update of what has happened so far, where we are heading and how we would like to continue the growth of games based learning initiatives throughout as many parts of Scotland as we can.

Any comments on our work so far, our ideas for future projects or any comments in general about games based learning are most welcome.

Please feel free to access the weblinks that I did not show you in my presentation. You can get them from this file: Games presentation

Andrew and Avatars - Yahooooo!!!

Alan S