Alan McKinney from SoundScalpel has kindly contributed a large collection of sound effects to Teaching Ideas. You can download these sounds and use them in your classroom for:

• Adding atmosphere to lessons,
• Assemblies,
• School performances,
• Adding sound to children’s ICT / multimedia work,
• Addition to a school website / VLE.

www.teachingideas.co.uk/english/dramasoundeffects.htm

I’ve also recently discovered www.freesfx.co.uk which has lots of free sound effects which you can also use.

www.freesfx.co.uk

What are your favourite sound effect resources? How do you use them in the classroom?

Stuart Ridout has started a useful collection of tips for teachers with interactive whiteboards in their classroom. The tips are all contributed by teachers using Twitter. Simply search for #iwbtips on Twitter to see the latest tips. Here are a small collection of the contributions so far:

• Make sure iwb is accessible-installed at a proper height or w/adjust mount. Tennis ball helps students with challenges touch screen (from EdTechieGeek).
• PLAY with your whiteboard, do not be afraid to explore and experiment (from psycho65).
• Take 5 mins every day to learn how to use an iwb tool and use it with your class, use 5 in one lesson at the end of the week (from Kevin McLaughlin).
• Ensure groups use the IWB for independent working bits in lessons; brainstorm, designing, google earth, presentations, etc (from Mark Robinson).
• Tchrs must remember that iwbs r about the kids not the teachers. Gr8 for group work/indep tasks.Avoid stand and deliver lessons (from Ann McDonald).

Image – IMG_0724

Stuart is planning to compile all of these tips into an e-book and I’ll post another update when news about this has been revealed. Why not share your own #iwbtips and have then added to the e-book?

Here are some details about new free resources from Futurelab:

Education Eye
Education Eye is a free, engaging and easy-to-use online space that gives access to a wide range of useful and relevant innovations across educations’ varied communities. Connecting people with innovative uses of digital technology, new resources and new approaches to teaching and learning to help inspire further innovation in education.

Infocow
Infocow is a social search website made for and created by young people aged 14-19. It connects young people with sites, stories, information and inspiration to help take control of their lives. Infocow links to hundreds of different websites and sources of information that can help with making positive changes, whether that’s finding out what to do after GCSEs, or what the first steps are to leaving home. The following Youtube video explains more…

Digital literacy across the curriculum
This handbook aims to introduce educational practitioners to the concepts and contexts of digital literacy and to support them in developing their own practice aimed at fostering the components of digital literacy in classroom subject teaching and in real school settings.

The main Futurelab site has a large collection of resources and information for teachers. It’s well worth exploring.

EducationApps have been busy building lots of new iPhone and iPod Touch apps for use in education. Here are some of their latest additions:

• Ultimate Times Tables – A fun way for children of all ages to learn their times tables. This has four different types of tests and allows up to five users to save their results.

• French GCSE Revision – This is an interactive way to help students revise their French GCSE vocabulary, with tests, flash cards and a built in dictionary. Watch the app in action with the video below:

EducationApps have developed a number of other applications so look at their site to see their other developments.

I am really pleased to announce the availability of the second ‘Teaching Themes‘ section on my Teaching Ideas site. Last month’s World Cup theme was incredibly popular and the resources are all still online if you would like to use them. This month, the theme is Myst:

www.teachingideas.co.uk/themes/myst

The Myst series of computer games can be extremely valuable teaching tools and they are becoming incredibly popular in classrooms around the world, thanks to Tim Rylands. The characters, landscapes and storylines in the games can all be used to enhance learning in a wide range of curriculum areas. My new Teaching Theme area currently has more than 80 Myst-related teaching ideas, display resources, educational videos, online applications, photographs of classroom displays and links to other useful sites. I hope that the new theme will help you to use these wonderful games with your children.

We’ve already started working on next month’s theme, which is ‘Summer at the Seaside‘. If you have any ideas, resources or links which might be useful for the World Cup, Myst or Summer themes, please get in touch. Thank you!

Guardian.co.uk has recently announced a new section on their website. The new area, called ‘Classroom Innovation’ is dedicated to the use of technology in schools as a teaching and learning tool.

www.guardian.co.uk/classroom-innovation

Each fortnight, they are planning to put up new material bridging the gap between the rapid advance in technology and the practical realities of teaching in class. The site currently has a selection of education / technology news articles, advice for schools trying to make social networking sites safer for their pupils, a competition to win a portable PC and best practice advice.

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.

Following a post about ‘My Favourite Mac Apps‘, here is a list of my favourite iPhone Apps…

Apps I use (almost) every day:

• Tweetie - A Twitter client. This is one of the apps that I use the most on my iPhone (along with Mail and Byline).
• Countdown - A simple application which counts down to particular dates and events, or counts up past them. This is really handy for finding out how long it is until Christmas or a relative’s birthday, or for seeing how long it has been since something has happened. I use it to count how long I’ve been married and surprise my wife with little gifts on special anniversaries!
• 1Password - This syncs with the Mac version of 1Password, giving me access to the passwords that I use for various online services.
• Byline - A client for accessing Google Reader. This also caches Starred Items so that they can be accessed offline. I use this multiple times per day.
• Instapaper - When I’m using my computers and I come across an interesting web page which I don’t have time to read, I hit the ‘Read Later’ bookmarklet in my browser. This then saves a copy of the page which I can access via the Instapaper app on my iPhone when I have more time.
• WeatherPro - An easy way to quickly access weather information for different areas.
• Memiary - Lets me view and update my Memiary account.
• WunderRadio - I use this to listen to different radio stations online. It’s very useful for listening to the radio while I’m out walking the dog!
• Evernote - My note taking application of choice. This syncs with the Mac, Windows and online versions of Evernote so that all of my notes are available anywhere I go.
• Radio Times - This is useful for checking what’s on TV… although I seem to be watching less and less TV nowadays.
• OmniFocus - OmniFocus syncs with the Mac version of the software to show me the different school / website / personal tasks that I have to complete. This is in regular use throughout my day.

Web / Work Apps:

• Teaching Ideas - This isn’t an app, but it’s a link to my Teaching Ideas website. To make icons for your own site, make a 57×57 PNG file, save it as ‘apple-touch-icon.png’ and then add the following code to the <head> of the pages on your site.

• TeachingUK - This is an application which gives information from my Teaching Websites. I made it using AppMakr but I’d love to be able to code my own one day!
• Analytics - A fantastic tool for accessing Google Analytics web statistics for my websites.
• Ego - A simple little app which shows you the number of Twitter followers you have, along with subscribers to any Feedburner RSS feeds, as well as some simple Google Analytics data.
• Voice Memos - I use this regularly to record notes to myself, particularly when it’s easier to record audibly than type on the iPhone’s keyboard.
• AppBox Pro - An app which contains lots of apps… including some very useful ones.
• Remote (Keynote) – Turns your iPhone into a remote when you’re giving Keynote presentations. This is useful for staff meetings or assemblies.
• Remote (iTunes) – A remote for iTunes… this is fantastic for controlling the AppleTV.
• RemoteTap - A tool to control my entire Mac over a network. This has screen sharing, so I can see what it happening on my Mac’s screen via my iPhone.

Games and Fun Stuff:

• Tap Tap Revenge 3 - My favourite game… you simply have to tap along to the tunes being played. If I ever get time to play a game, this is the one I usually choose.
• Riddim Ribbon - A relatively new game, from the makers of Tap Tap Revenge. Tilt your iPhone to keep the song playing at the right speed and try to hit the bonuses.
• Minigore - Another of my favourite games, this one involves running around a dark forest, shooting ‘furries’. Very addictive.
• Words with Friends - Play Scrabble online with friends. You can play up to 50 games at once, dipping in and out of the game, adding new words when you get time.
• Pocket God - A fun tool where you interact (aka torture) the cute islanders (who you can name after your friends and family!)
• Koi Pond - A relaxing app where you can splash the water and feed the fish. This is an old app now, but I still find myself using it now and again.
• Gudeballs - I used to play this on my Amiga (when the game was called Logical). Sort the coloured balls and use them to blow up the spinning discs. Great fun.
• ColorSplash - Edit digital photos (taken when the iPhone’s camera) by changing particular areas to colour / black and white. This lets you create some interesting images.
• Spawn - Another relaxing app where you control the coloured lines that fly around the screen. It’s a really pretty application which isn’t very useful, but this is another one that I find myself using now and again.
• Comic Touch - An iPhone version of Comic Life, which lets you add speech / thought bubbles to digital photos.
• Cube Runner - An relatively old game which involves guiding a craft through a field of cubes by tilting the iPhone. The graphics are very simple, but this can be quite addictive too.
• Trism - This is one of the first games that I bought for the iPhone, but I still use it regularly. Move the lines of coloured triangles and try to match up the colours.

Other Apps:

• Backgrounds - Lets you find iPhone-friendly images for the home screen background. When will Apple give us a more useful home screen, which shows events / tasks for the day?!
• Announcer - One of the many ‘sound board’ type of applications available which play different sounds on command. This is made by the X-Factor voiceover man and could be useful in the classroom.
• LOVEFiLM - I’ve been a subscriber of LoveFilm for many years and this new application lets you add items to your account. Very useful.
• vouchercloud - This lets you find discount vouchers for shops and online services. Great for when you’re out and about doing some shopping – get discounts just by using this app!
• Avatar Creator 2 - Lets you create a wide range of avatars.
• Shazam - An amazing app which finds the name of any song just by listening to it. It’s a shame that I always seem to want to use this app when I’m driving and listening to the radio.
• RedLaser - Scan a barcode and this application tells you the item’s price at a selection of retailers. It’s great for comparing prices when you’re shopping.
• Ambiance - This application lets you find and play different background sounds… from dogs barking to seaside sounds to helicopters. This can be useful for finding relaxing audio, or for use as background audio when you’re doing drama / role play work in the classroom.
• Amazon UK - I often find myself using this application to check prices of things on Amazon. It’s far too easy to buy things directly from the app though – far too tempting!
• eBay - Useful for when you’re buying / selling things with the online auction site.
• aNote - A wonderful note-taking application. I don’t use this much now that I’m using Evernote more, but I can’t quite face deleting it yet.
• Boxcar - This sends push notifications for Twitter and is invaluable.

What are your favourite iPhone applications?

Following in the footsteps of Doug Belshaw and Kevin McLaughlin, I have decided to record the applications that I use on my Mac computers most often:

Daily Essentials:

• Launchbar - An amazing timesaver which lets you open applications, copy and paste, perform operations, search online, find contact information and much more… all using the keyboard. Also has a multiple clipboard feature, so it will remember the last 20 things you have copied and let you repaste them over and over again. I’ve been using this for years and would struggle without it!
• Path Finder - I’m currently in my 30 day trial with this software. It makes file management much easier and is just how the standard Mac Finder should be.
• OmniFocus - As well as teaching, I also run a number of different websites. This productivity software helps me to keep track of all of the different tasks that I need to complete in different aspects of my life. It also syncs with the iPhone version so I can manage my ‘to-dos’ on the move.
• Skitch - A wonderful piece of free software for taking and editing screenshots. Also uploads images to an online server with a single click.
• 1Password - This stores the different passwords that I use for online services (shopping sites / social networking etc.). It integrates with your web browser and also has an iPhone version so you can check passwords when you’re not at your main computer.
• Tweetie - My Twitter application of choice, always running in the background.
• iCal - Unlike every other teacher at my school, my diary is kept digitally. iCal isn’t the best calendar tool out there I’m sure, but the iPhone syncing via MobileMe makes life much easier.
• Dropbox - Allows the storage of files which can be shared between Windows / Mac machines and the iPhone. As essential tool which every teacher should use.
• Evernote - My second brain which is used on a daily basis. I use Evernote to save anything that I want to remember (e.g. examples of web coding), notes for school (stored as photographs on which Evernote can identify the text) and more.
• Reader Notifier - A simple menubar application which shows the number of unread items in my Google Reader account.

Web / Creative Tools:

• Dreamweaver - This is an old version but I regularly use this to make / edit web pages.
• Fireworks - A REALLY old version of the image editing software. I really ought to upgrade, but this seems to do everything I need at the moment.
• Coda - Coda is great for editing HTML / CSS really quickly.
• Feeder - Used for updating RSS feeds for various sites that I have. Publishes the feeds online too.
• Transmit - FTP software which lets me upload files to various servers. Great for updating my websites and downloading files.
• Art Text - This generates WordArt-style text but with a much wider range of options and at a much higher quality. Very useful.
• Comic Life - Every teacher should be familiar with Comic Life… it lets students make comics with their digital photos. I mostly use it to create fancy text and logos using the wonderful fonts and styles available.
• Shape Collage - Creates beautiful photo collages using your digital photos.
• BackupSites - This is an app that I made using Automator (free with every Mac). Automator is a really useful (and incredibly powerful) tool which can carry out repetitive tasks quickly. Once you’ve set up your procedures (using the drag and drop options), Automator then creates a program for you. This program runs backup scripts on my various websites, saving me having to load different scripts / websites individually. A huge timesaver.

Other Useful Apps:

• AppZapper - Deletes applications if you no longer want / need them. Also gets rid of any stray files that might otherwise be left behind.
• I Can Animate - We use this at school to make stop-motion animations. Great fun.
• Moneydance - I use Moneydance to record my bank statements. It lets you download statements from online banks, categorise transations and generate reports.
• Garagesale - Garagesale lets you list items on eBay really easily and using eye-catching themes.
• Handbrake - For backing up / storing the contents of DVDs on your Mac. Great for transferring films on to my AppleTV and iPhone.
• Cocktail - A Mac utility which runs lots of maintenance scripts. Macs don’t seem to need the regular updates and cleaning programs that Windows machines use, but I do use this occasionally to keep things running smoothly.
• Superduper - Generates a bootable backup of my computers onto an external hard drive.
• Email Backup Pro - Backs up my rather large collection email (in Apple’s Mail software) automatically.
• JungleDisk - Backs up my important documents to an online service (Amazon S3), so that I always have an off-site backup of my files. Can you tell that I like keeping backups
• Pages, Numbers and Keynote - Apple’s word processing / publishing, spreadsheet and presentation software. Just as useful as Microsoft Office but much prettier and easier to use!
• Notebook - Smart Notebook, which I use regularly with our Smartboards at school.
• TypeIt4Me - This isn’t an application, but a System Preference pane. It is a fantastic timesaver, as it stores huge amounts of text which you type by entering a particular keystroke. For example, if I type ‘bw’ (in any application), TypeIt4Me replaces that text with my email signature (Best wishes, Mark… followed by links to my websites). I use it to quickly update RSS feeds and enter large amounts of HTML code with short keystrokes. Very useful.

I discovered lots of these applications via Maczot or MacUpdate promotions, at ScreencastsOnline or via Twitter.

What are your favourite Mac applications?

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.