Lots of schools in the UK have had ‘Snow Days’ and have been closed this week because of the snowy weather. Luckily, our school hasn’t closed so far although we had quite a lot of snow last night. This meant that my journey to school was a little treacherous this morning. It also meant that teachers who live further away from school weren’t able to get to school… and quite a few of the children couldn’t make it either!

So today, we had a different kind of day. School was still open but I only had 16 children in my class. We therefore decided that we would take a temporary break from our regular plans and try some snow themed activities with the children who had been able to get to school.

The first activity used 2DIY to make computer games. I have successfully used 2DIY in the past with Year 6 children as part of an ICT club. However, I hadn’t tried it with younger pupils. My current class are Year 3s and I was interested to see how well they would cope with the software (which despite the simple interface, has some incredibly complex options if you delve into it more deeply).

First, we made a ‘snowman’ game as a class so that I could explain the options… creating the ‘hero’, making and duplicating ‘baddies’, setting their options and building the game environment for the characters to move around in. The children were incredibly excited to get started and they loved using the software for themselves, making their own games.

They coped extremely well with the software, working in twos to plan and design their snowy game. I was so impressed with their games that I posted them on our school website during my break. The save feature of 2Simple‘s software automatically generates a SWF version of the game which can be posted online. This is such a wonderful feature, making the games incredibly easy to share.

I then posted a quick message on Twitter asking if anyone would be willing to try out the games and post a comment. After a few minutes, we had lots of replies on Twitter and comments posted on the school site:

The children were incredibly impressed that:

1. other people had been playing their games within such a short space of time,
2. some of those people were living in other parts of the world,
3. they had taken the time to write such nice comments.

One of the boys in my class shouted out ‘WOW’ when he heard that someone in Australia had played his game… and he had a big smile on his face.

Later on, I asked some of our Year 4 children to take some digital photos of the school grounds to share on the school site.

When I had posted them online, I asked on Twitter again if anyone would be able to look at the pictures and add some comments. Again, we were all extremely pleased with the response… at the end of the day, the group of Year 4s looked at their photos online and read through the lovely comments that had been left for them.

I am extremely grateful to everyone who looked at our work today and who took the time to leave a comment. The children were all very proud of what they had achieved and of the feedback that they received.

Lots of people reading this are probably already active ‘Twitter-ers’. But if you’re not, sign yourself up and follow other educators because they are an incredibly nice bunch of people who really made our day today. Thank you all.

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.