The BBC’s School Report News Day takes place on Thursday 11th March. Is your school taking part?

For those who are new to the project, it aims to turn classrooms into newsrooms, giving children a chance to make the news. Pupils are given opportunities to make news reports about things that are important to them, through the radio, TV and online. You can find out more in this video which explains more.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/school_report/

The BBC site has some useful links and resources for those planning to take part:

• Advice about getting ready for the day,
• Posters to decorate your newsroom,
• Reward certificates for those taking part.
• Suggestions for stories that the pupils could report on.
• A suggested timetable of activities.
• Lots of other resources for teachers.

The School Report site is an extremely useful resource for those taking part in the day, but lots of the content could also be used at other times of the year too.

This article was originally posted on my other blog at MrWarner.com. I thought that readers of Teaching News might find it interesting too.

A while ago, I was was offered the chance to receive a Dell Latitude 2100 netbook for review purposes. While I don’t normally write reviews for products on my blogs, I agreed to take a look at the machine for two reasons:

1. My blog post ‘Using Flip Video in the classroom‘ has become extremely popular, attracting lots of views and receiving the most comments of all of the posts here. So, I thought that readers of the blog might also be interested in hearing my experiences of using another gadget in the classroom.
2. I love computers (most of the time!), so it was a nice opportunity to play with a new ‘toy’ without having to spend any money.

Before writing the rest of this post, I want to make it clear that I’m not receiving any payment for this review… and I don’t get to keep the laptop (sadly!).

When I first received the Latitude 2100, I was instantly impressed at how small, compact and sturdy it is. It is covered with a rubber casing which makes it extremely eye-catching and easy to hold. The one that I received was ‘School Bus Gold’ (i.e. yellow)… it’s certainly bright and colourful, but the red and blue ones look smarter (although I’m just fussy!). You can see more images of the netbook on Dell’s site or on Flickr. The machine is supposedly ‘influenced by the needs of primary and secondary students’. Having used it in the classroom for a number of weeks, I can certainly see that it would make a valuable addition to primary and secondary classrooms if you don’t already have netbooks.

Booting and Connections

My review machine is quick to boot into Windows 7, which runs very well. As a Mac user, I’ve only used Windows XP at school over recent years (skipping Vista completely). However, it was very easy to get the machine up and running, connecting it to my home wireless network quickly and allowing me to browse the Internet and listen to BBC Radio via the desktop radio gadget.

It was also incredibly easy to use at school, again connecting to our wireless network and enabling us to use lots of web tools in the classroom (Superclubs Plus, Etherpad, Google Docs etc.). The machine doesn’t have a CD/DVD drive and I didn’t install any software on it (apart from Microsoft Security Essentials for virus protection), but most of our ICT work has been online, so this wasn’t an issue. I am sure that it could be connected to a school’s network so that software can be installed in that way if necessary.

Touchscreen

One cool feature of the netbook is the touchscreen. It’s really nice to be able to interact with the machine by tapping on the screen, but the novelty of this can wear off after a while if you’re more used to using a mouse / trackpad. For younger children who might not be as experienced with the trackpad, it is very easy to control the machine by simply touching the icons. Browsing around the web in this way is also easy … I found it very comfortable to hold the machine on my lap and navigate the web by tapping on the hyperlinks.

I did find using scroll bars to be a little awkward… as I had to drag the slider bars (which are much slimmer than my fingers). However, the children (with their much smaller fingers) were whizzing around the screen really quickly. As an iPhone user, I was also expecting to be able to touch and drag on any part of a web page to move around, but this wasn’t possible.

Design

I’ve shown the machine to lots of children at school, as well as friends and family. Everyone has been impressed with how it looks and performs. People couldn’t believe that it was a computer when I first showed it to them. One person mentioned that it looked more like a folder or an exercise book than a laptop.

I was also really pleased with the keyboard. I do have a netbook of my own and the keyboard on that seems a little cramped at times, making typing for long periods a little uncomfortable. However, the keys seem a little larger on the Latitude 2100, making it easy to type on for those with big or little hands!

At our school, we all use standard sized laptops. We don’t have an ICT suite, so large (and heavy) trolleys of laptops move around the classrooms for use in all curriculum areas. Our laptops take over most of the children’s desk space when they’re using them in the classroom, leaving little room for other equipment that might be needed (paper / books etc.). I can really see the benefits of the netbook form factor and would love to have a set of these in my classroom which the children can grab as and when they are needed. The Dell site shows a ‘mobile computing solution’ which can hold and charge 24 of the little machines… I wonder if I can convince my headteacher to buy one?!

Durability, Performance and Reliability

The netbook is extremely tough. I’ve been carrying it back and forwards to school for the past few weeks. I’m normally very careful with my laptops, making sure that they are packed away carefully in my bags. However, I haven’t needed to be as ‘precious’ with this netbook. The tough rubber casing meant that I could just pop it in my bag without worry.

It also performed well in all of the tasks that we used it for… as I mentioned, most of our use of the machine was online. It worked extremely quickly in everything we asked it to do and we didn’t experience any crashes or technical problems.

Battery life hasn’t been an issue either and the battery is removable, so it would be possible to swap batteries in the middle of a lesson if required.

Potential Issues

The screen size can be a problem at times, especially when you are browsing websites with lots of content. However, this is the nature of using a netbook I suppose.

Dell’s site also mentions an optional carry handle which would also provide a little more peace of mind for all if children were allowed to carry them around the classroom. A number of other design features are mentioned on the site which help teachers and pupils to use the machines at school, including:

• a keyboard with antimicrobial protection (which it is claimed, ‘helps inhibit and reduce bacterial growth’),
• network activity lights (to help teachers monitor children’s use of the machines),
• personalisation windows (to help teachers, children and technicians to identify each machine).

Summary

Overall, I’m really pleased with the Latitude 2100. It’s a tough and reliable little machine which looks good and would be great for a teacher to use, carrying back and forth to school… or for a pupil to use as an additional tool in the classroom. The children who used my loan machine were certainly impressed with it, and others who saw it were desperately keen to try it out as well!

Sadly, I have now returned the Latitude 2100, but I would love one for personal use. I can definitely see the benefits of having a set of netbooks like these to help embed technology in the classroom even further.

Lancashire Wildlife Trust are a conservation charity protecting wildlife in town and countryside and in rivers and seas throughout Lancashire, Manchester and Merseyside. They offer a range of services for schools in their areas.

Eco-Factor is Lancashire Wildlife Trust’s outreach education department. The project visits primary and secondary schools and provides workshops covering an array of environmental topics including waste and recycling, climate change and the natural world. The project will visit any schools in the highlighted region for a small fee. For further information or to book a visit from the team please called Sue Buck on 01772 751110 and quote Eco-Factor as your enquiry.

Schools also have the opportunity to record their experiences through the use of film and photography. Schools can chose from two new workshops, with an additional workshop being launched in early 2010. The new workshops available to schools are as follows:

• A Photo Storyboard Workshop: This workshop is designed to encourage discussion of environmental issues affecting our planet, allowing pupils to express their opinions in a new and exciting way that can be easily shared with others in the community.
• A Basic Filming Session: This workshop is a simple yet effective way of obtaining and presenting evidence for environmental initiatives such as Eco-Schools. All of the school’s plans and ideas for change will be logged as part of the filming, showing clear evidence of the environmental action plan and how the school will be more sustainable in future.
• A Complex Filming Session, coming in 2010.

Even if you’re not based at a school in these areas, their website has some useful resources for schools including ideas for helping wildlife at home, facts and information about a range of animals and links to lots of wildlife sites.

Here is some information about an exciting competition from Dell’s Edu4U blog…

“Today, learning is no longer limited to the four walls of a classroom. Students around the globe, no matter how young or old are developing 21st Century Skills and are increasingly comfortable with technology. You can look up the definition of a word, learn about current events happening hundreds of miles away and connect with people on other continents with one touch of a button. In this digital age, we are learning continuously.

Starting from October 15, we are bringing you the Where Do You Like to Learn photography competition. We are kicking-off the month-long contest, where we want you to show us where you like to learn!

Whether it’s in your favorite bookstore or on your living room floor; in your neighbourhood park or your best friend’s backyard, we can all be a little more creative with where we choose to study. Learning can take place anywhere!

Entering is easy. And, the reward even bigger! Simply email your photograph(s) to edu4u@dell.com for the chance to win the competition. The winner nominates a school and student under the age of 18 to receive the grand prizes – a tablet PC for the classroom and Dell’s new Latitude 2100 netbook for the student.

You can also follow us on Twitter @edu4u and send us a link to your photo sharing site. Each contestant is allowed up to four photographs. You have until November 15, 2009 to enter. A group of judges will determine the top 5 finalists. And, starting November 20, 2009, you’ll have a chance to pick your favorite photo! The photo with the most votes at the end of the voting period will be our winner. The grand prize is a Latitude 2100 for the student and a tablet PC and projector for his or her classroom. Parents or teachers must enter for children under 18 years of age. Full contest rules, judging criteria and answers to frequently asked questions about the competition can be found here.

Let the photo sessions begin! Be sure to join the Edu4U community and check back to vote.”

See Dell’s blog post for more information.

I recently received an email with a link to this useful blog post. It features a list of 100 open source applications for educators to use. Open source applications are free, and often have specific uses which can be extremely useful for schools.

Take a look at the list and discover some exciting new software to use in your classrooms!

How do you keep yourself organised in the classroom?

I’ve been using the site Toodledo for a number of years now. It allows you to keep lists of your ‘to do’s online which can then be accessed anywhere with an Internet connection (or via their iPhone application). The site is extremely flexible and you can organise your lists into different categories / folders and add start / due dates etc.

A similar online tool is Remember the Milk which I know many teachers also use. I’ve recently been testing some software called Omnifocus which does a similar job… but I still end up making paper lists occasionally (although I usually lose the paper at some point!).

How do you remember all of the things that need to be done? Do you keep lists on paper or do you use technology to stay organised? Share your tips in the comments…

Image – January First

Eduset provides an easy way for teachers to share assignments, news, files, and more with their classes, without requiring them to code their own class websites.

The site is free for teachers to use with a single class. If you wish to use it with all of your classes, there is a charge of $4.99 per month. If you are interested in finding out more, watch this video tour of Eduset.

I would be interested in hearing your experiences with the site… so feel free to post a comment if you try it out.

Many people use the ‘Bookmarks’ or ‘Favorites’ feature of their web browser to save links to their favourite sites. Did you know that you can also save your bookmarks online, using sites like Delicious?

This has a number of benefits:

• You can access your bookmarks online, from any computer that has an internet connection. So, you can save bookmarks from a home computer and access them at school, and vice versa.
• You can save huge numbers of bookmarks… adding lots of bookmarks to your browser’s collection can mean that things get cluttered and disorganised. Online bookmarking sites usually use ‘tags’ to help you sort and search through your bookmarks, meaning that you can save hundreds / thousands of them without things getting jumbled.
• Online bookmarking allows you to share new and useful sites. For me, this is the biggest benefit. By connecting with other teachers, I can see the sites that they are bookmarking, and they can see my bookmarks too. I often browse through the bookmarks of people in my ‘network’ and discover lots of interesting web sites.

If you’re not using it already, sign up with Delicious and follow my bookmarks… you can find them at www.delicious.com/markjwarner. We also have a delicious account for our school’s bookmarks, which allow us to share useful sites with staff, children and parents. Have you tried online bookmarking yet?

Twitter always seems to be in the news lately. If you’ve not tried it out, why not? It allows you to post 140 character messages to others… sometimes people use it to share what they’re doing at different points in time. However, it’s also a great way of connecting with others and there is a large community of teachers who use it to:

• share ideas and experiences,
• ask questions and get support,
• recommend sites and resources,
• collaborate on joint projects.

Here is a fantastic guide to help teachers get started with Twitter:

If you’re looking for people to follow on Twitter, don’t forget that you can follow my accounts @TeachingIdeas / @markw29. Then browse around at the lists of people who I follow / who follow me – there are some wonderful educators out there, and Twitter enables you to get in touch with them.

This summer, children aged 6-14 will get the chance to work with film-makers and actors to create their own films in a day. To sign your children up for the free events, check out bbc.co.uk/cbbc/meandmymovie, the closing date is 5th July.