Consolarium

November 16th, 2010

Happy Birthday Windows - COMPETITION!

Brian Clark

Comments: 4 Comments » Tags: Tags: Competitions, computing, Consolarium, Glow, infographic, LTS, operating systems
 : Categories Consolarium, Glow, Literacy, rich tasks, writing

On 20^th November 1985, Microsoft released Windows 1.0.

This year is the 25^th anniversary of Windows 1.0. In the 25 years that have followed, Operating Systems have evolved. A lot. Windows 7 mobile, Mac OS X, iOS, Android and Linux are all commonly used Operating Systems today. And there are many more!

To celebrate this event, we are running a competition for you to create an InfoGraphic about operating systems. The winning InfoGraphic will turned into a poster and sent to all schools who take part.

Competition Details

Can you create an Infographic to chart the development of Operating Systems over the last 25 years? Here are some ideas….

• You could look at the features that have evolved over this time for a particular operating system
  
• Look at the range of operating systems currently available
• Compare features of 3 common operating systems
• The difference between operating systems for desktop computers and portable devices
• Show how the user interface operating systems have evolved over time, from text based to touch
• Perhaps you are studying computing and want to illustrate your knowledge of Operating Systems
• Or something else that you feel is appropriate
• All entries should be done through the Glow Group

Hold on, what’s an InfoGraphic?

An InfoGraphic is representations of information, data or knowledge. These graphics are used where complex information needs to be explained quickly and clearly. Information is conveyed by graphic elements, including charts, graphs, text, dates and images.

Some examples of infographics are shown here …

Reasons To Get Involved

• Creative commons image searching
• Image file format
• Investigate graphics applications
• Presentation style - contrasting colours, use of font etc
• Curricular links to SG, Int 2 and Higher Computing in timely context
• Opportunity for collaboration

Important Information!

Closing Date has been extended to 17th January 2011

• Winners will be announced early in the new year
• Teachers must register their school on the Glow Page
• Pupils are responsible for uploading their finished InfoGraphic to the entries page in an appropriate format
• Glow Group Short Link - http://glo.li/oscomp

May 27th, 2010

EyePet as CfE

bmclaren

Comments: 2 Comments » Tags: Tags: andrea reid, cathkin, cfe, eyepet, hmie, liz mercer, nursery, South Lanarkshire
 : Categories Added Value, Consolarium, Consolarium visits, Games we have, Literacy, Multi-player games, Numeracy, Parents, South Lanarkshire, cross-curricular, game based learning, rich tasks

For a number of months I have been doing some work in and around South Lanarkshire authority, first of all with Aubrey Taylor from the Advisory Service running staff development and latterly with the support of Andrea Reid QIO in a number of primary and nursery schools. It’s really great seeing so many forward thinking folks in education in such close proximity to each other. A good number of schools are running their own GBL topics with and really staring to get great results from their work.

Cathkin Community Nursery

In particular I enjoyed visiting Cathkin Community Nursery which , with the support of Andrea Reid, has been undertaking a topic on pets which has included input from a special pet called “Eyepet” which comes as software on the PS3. Check the video below for a wee flavour of the kinds of things he can do..

The steps shown in the video are only a small part of how the nursery went about planning and implementing a project with Eyepet, but a case study exemplification will be produced and shared over the next couple of months.

I had never seen a GBL topic wholly undertaken in the nursery setting so I was intrigued to find out how they had gone about it. Liz Mercer the Head of Nursery was delighted with the way the project worked and how well it involved the children and their families.

“We are thoroughly enjoying our eyepets. They are part of our family now and the children have taken to them so well. Each group had adopted an eyepet, where they nurture and care for him/her. Some children have also created their own eyepet using a variety of materials. They are fab and on display in the room where eyepet lives and breathes.”

Open Doors Event

Cathkin Community Nursery then took the expertise they had gained from running Eyepet as part of their project and held an open doors event where the Early Years workers shared their experience of using Eyepet and how it tied to the curriculum with colleagues from South Lanarkshire. There were also a number of other brilliant presentations on involving parents and involving children in the planning process and digital learning books. The evaluations from this event were wholly positive and it was great to see CPD opportunities like this being provided by practitioners for practitioners. Liz and the team are real advocates of CfE, and you can see from the slideshow below how that looks in practice when undertaking the Eyepet project.

HMIE

You may also be interested in reading the thoughts of HMIE about this nursery. Their report was published today and all areas of their work were graded as Excellent and HMIE thought their work with Eyepet was wonderful.

“Staff provide a very well-balanced curriculum firmly based on play, active learning and enjoyment. High quality staff interaction, a stimulating environment and very well planned use of resources support children’s progress most effectively”

We currently have a number of Eyepets out on loan across Scotland at the moment, some as transition projects and some as literacy focus work and the pictures below are of some of the reactions of children watching their Eyepet hatch and some of the work that has come out of looking after their Eyepet.

Home School Partnership

As a follow on to that I attended a couple of parent workshops run by Colin Venters from South Lanarkshire’s Home School Partnership, encouraging parents to see the potential of their child’s use of gaming consoles as a positive chance for meaningful interaction between themselves and their child. Hear below what Colin and some of the parents who visited had to say about these sessions.

March 30th, 2009

Scottish teacher wins award for pioneering work using computer games

Anne Macleod

Comments: none Tags:  : Categories Added Value, East Lothian, Nintendo, rich tasks

Ollie Bray, depute headteacher of Musselbrough Grammar School, East Lothian, took first place in the Innovation in Community section for his presentation of ‘Thinking out of the XBOX’ at the Innovative Teachers Forum 2009 in Vienna. He is currently on secondment to Learning and Teaching Scotland as a National Adviser for Emerging Technologies in Learning.

Inspired by a project initiated by Learning and Teaching Scotland’s Consolarium initiative he organised an extension of this innovative idea and organised a transition project for the associate Primary schools of Musselburgh GS using Guitar Hero. This approach proved to be a great success and the Guitar Hero transition project will now be rolled out across East Lothian schools within weeks. Schools all over Scotland are already using this resource. Schools in England and even as far afield as Hong Kong and Australia, are interested in the project. Mr Bray devised a three-step process of ‘learning, social interaction and reflection and moving on’ as children change.

The Scotsman article: Teacher who inspires pupils with rock ‘n’ roll wins top award

Merlin John’s blog: Ollie Bray takes gaming to international stage

Ollie Bray’s blog: Microsoft 2009 European Innovative Teachers Forum

February 8th, 2008

Nintendogs project under way

Derek Robertson

Comments: 2 Comments » Tags: Tags: DS, games based learning, Nintendo, Nintendogs
 : Categories Aberdeenshire, Nintendo, rich tasks

Some time ago I received a very interesting proposal from the team in Aberdeenshire for a games-based-learning project that we could undertake in a couple of P.2 classrooms. The idea was to use the popular Nintendogs game for the Nintendo DS as a the context through which a cross-curricular project could be developed. What is Nintendogs I hear you ask? It’s a virtual pet that grows from being a puppy to a well-trained dog that you can take to virtual dog shows. I can assure they are great fun and disarmingly therapeutic when you scratch them behind the ear or tickle them under the belly! Have a look:

I was really interested in this and when I saw how the teachers had planned to use the resource I immediatley bought in to the idea.

The Consolarium has loaned some DSs and games to the schools and the local authority have also purchased resources to support the project. The children are working in pairs to support the nurturing and dvelopment of their virtual pets and the teachers are using the context created by the game to dive in to a range of rich tasks that open up the curriculum in a connected and meaningful fashion.

Lots of ideas for writing and number, design and technology is being looked at as the children have ben given a design brief to create a kennel that will keep a real dog dry and warm. There has also been evidence of entreupeneurship as some of the children have decided to open a dog-walking service that ocurs on a Friday afternoon (safety concerns taken acount of and parents heavily involved). The children have also established a system called Top Dogs in the class. To be a top dog you will probably have Nintendogs at home and will most likely be a more experienced player. These chiuldren are then acting as mentors to help and advise peers as they look after their dogs!

The project has a class blog, called Top Dogs, that hopes to detail the progress of the Nintendog puppies and the teaching and learning that is ongoing.

Looking forward to reporting more about this in the near future.

September 20th, 2007

Rich Tasks with Guitar Hero in Aberdeenshire

Derek Robertson

Comments: 8 Comments » Tags:  : Categories Scotlearnfest07, Sony PS2, cross-curricular, rich tasks

Forget the Rolling Stones, who needs Radiohead and as for Metallica…get out of here, because you’ve got to get ready for the new rock gods of the 21st Century: Full Moon. They are just about to release their new CD called Pure Black Magic and a European Tour is about to begin! Get your tickets as soon as you can because this outfit are the real deal…

…well really they’re not. Full Moon are a virtual band created by the children of P.7 in Oldmeldrum PS in Aberdeenshire. The band members are Tasha Hooch, Charlie Andrews, Lavender Dorset, Scrambled Egg Sam and Carmen Jackal. These characters came to life through a fantastic project that happened in a P.7 class in Oldmeldrum PS.

This project arose as a result of Aberdeenshire Council’s engagement with the Consolarium. It involved the use of a game for the Sony PS2 (and Xbox 360) called Guitar Hero II. This game allows you to engage with the world of rock and roll by using a plastic guitar that lets you pretend to be a rock star performing on stage! You’ve got to see, and play, this in order to appreciate what a tremendous game it is.

However, the fact that this is a great game is neither here nor there if it can’t be applied in teaching and learning contexts. Well, Kim Applin (the P.7 teacher), saw potential in this as a cross-curricular tool and she came up with an array of rich tasks that really exemplify how a Curriculum for Excellence can occur in the classroom. A detailed case study of the project can be found via this link so have a look to find out more about what happened.

The reason for this post is to commend the presentation about this project at the Scottish Learning Festival ’07. Anna Rossvoll (or should that be Anna ‘Rocks’voll by the look of this picture) delivered an inspiring and innovative presentation that beautifully captured the essence of what the teacher called an unbelievably high quality learning experience for the children. This is a presentation that needs to be shared with a wider and larger audience.

She actually brought the PS2 and the Guitar Hero game so that two willing players could have a go in the session. Now, I love this game and have become quite good at rattling up the combos and hitting the high scores but I have an understudy who is fast becoming my main rival for the crown of best guitar hero player in Scottish Education…Margaret Cassidy from Stirling Council.

We had a go at the game and lo and behold, when we paused it , in order not to take up too much of Anna’s time, it just so happened that I was in the lead. better luck next time Margaret! The delegates were on their feet as they were so enthralled in the musical masterclass that they were witnessing but sadly, we had to call it a day. However, we are available for birthdays, retirements and bar mitzvahs.;-)

To finish, what a session this was! Bursting with life, energy, innovation and fun. It goes to show what can be done when teachers are given the opportunity to develop and lead learning contexts that they believe will work with their class. Very well done to pupils, teachers and ICT staff involved in making this happen.