Week 3

Once again we were doing digital movie making this week. We had to plan what topic we were going to discuss and whether the movie would be for pupils to watch, or for pupils to record (i.e. a piece of formative assessment). We decided to go from the point of view that the pupils would watch the movie, and use the information they are given to create their own seismometer, as our topic is Earthquakes. This is a very relevant topic due to the recent Haiti disaster and therefore would fit in well with pupils interests.

So whats better - An iPhone app or a make-your-own??

On Monday, we made our seismometer, and this was simple enough that a class would be able to do this. I would give this task as a co-operative learning task. We also discovered an App on the iPhone called seismometer. This is much more accurate than our own hand-made one, but perhaps, the pupils would learn more out of making the object. My reasons for thinking this, is that the app on the iphone clearly just measures vibrations that are then displayed on the screen, without any real understanding then pupils would not see the benefit in this. On the otherhand, if pupils made their own seismometer then they would actually see it moving and have the waves on the page as well.
In my opinion, on this occassion, actually getting to make their own seismometers would be more beneficial.

The New iPad

Yesterday the new iPad was released. My first opinion of this is that I don't fully understand how it is any better than an iPhone. It is obviously bigger, i.e. so better screen quality, but does that mean that its better? Thinking of using it within a classroom, I would argue that it is perhaps too big to use with a class. If a child is struggling, it is not as discreet as using the iPhone to message the teacher for help. I feel pupils would feel much more self-concious about using it in this way. However, thinking about the size of it, it would perhaps benefit children with additional support needs. Due to the size of it, and perhaps not having developed fine motor skills to use the iPhoen effectively, then the iPad would be better suited. It can play powerpoint, which is a huge bonus in educational terms. But the downside is that it cannot take videos or photos, which to me is vital in a classroom for recording work, learning from and showcasing pupils achievements. With regards to education, I am not sure whether this would work better in schools than the iPhone. I believe that the iPhone would be better in school due to its size, its ability to record videos and take pictures.
Perhaps my opinion will be changed with the more information released.

Lets all use Primary Pad in the classroom!

This tool was mentioned in the passing in our class today and what a fantastic thing it is. Primary Pad is an easy tool to set up, is easy to use and would work well within a class. It literally takes two seconds to set up and can be used by simply pasting the URL to other people. I have set up a primary pad for followers to add their comments about the new apple iPad. Using the following URL http://primarypad.com/pvosJ5LRPj add your post. This is a free tool.

As with all software, there are disadvantages. These include, not being able to delete posts in the chat. I do not believe this is a huge issue, however if being used in the classroom and something inappropriate is written, then there is no way of getting rid of it. Another disadvantage is that if too many people access the pad, some of them can be assigned the same highlight colour. This is not a major issue as names can be changed, but this may be an issue within a classroom, if pupils are purely looking at the colours rather than the names.

I love this piece of software and would use it within my class. I would use it in a collaborative way, either between groups or as a whole class. However thinking of the implications above, I would need to consider how to manage the learning effectively so that everyone has their say. I would also consider not getting pupils to put their names to posts, but perhaps only on certain occassions. My reasons for doing this would be that some pupils do not like to speak out in case they are wrong, so will hold back posting if their name is against it, but if it isn't, I do not thinking pupils would be so hesistant to add posts.