I must admit presenting to some of the UK’s most innovative teachers was almost as scary as my old Year 11 class on a Friday afternoon (but with fewer piercings), however my fellow delegates were very gentle with me and we even managed to come up with our own Doodle for Google logo (however, I don’t think it will be featuring on the homepage anytime soon!).

I ended up racing through much of the content, so do feel free to have a look at the presentation and the associated resources on the GTA resource site (I have been looking at lots of the other resources over the past week and finding lots of v. cool stuff!). There are some great classroom examples generously given by fellow teachers. The great thing is that all the resources are available to anyone – a great learning reference!

The relentless pace of the day meant there was so much to take in (including the v. cool Google offices). Every session had directly applicable value and it is those with the most classroom application that have been popping back into my head over the past couple of weeks. So here’s a quick run-down of my highlights:

Tom Barratt’s literacy maps are simply amazing for any pupils, but especially reluctant writers – I know my son would love to take part in a map story! Creating .kmz files in Google Earth of our favourite places in the world (Formby beach for me!) in Doug Belshaw’s session was also, not only fun, but immediately and obviously applicable to numerous creative activities within the classroom.

Lisa Thurman’s ‘Search’ demonstration of the fantastic wonderwheel, google squared and customised searces have been talked about at length in various blog posts – very simple and incredibly effective tools which we simply did not know about before! I have had several meetings this week and have been showing anyone who will listen the Wonder Wheel – particularly helpful for students who are visual learners or those with dyslexia.

For my own studies, Mark Wagner’s session on Killer Reseach Tools was another eye-opener – having my own personal, searchable online reference library will be a real plus for my continued MA studies and this could be a fantastic facility for teachers to share recommended reading with students.

I have also set up my Google Calendar to send me SMS alerts, thanks, not only to Danny Silva’s ideas on the day, but to Jesstern Ray’s super simple guide in his blog . Indeed it is this continued input from both people who attended on the day and those who followed online which, I think, will be the legacy of GTAUK and there has already been much collaboration and ideas-spreading.

It may be that many of us who attended are unable to implement the full Google Apps suite in our schools, for a variety of reasons. However, we do all, of course, have the ability to influence classroom practice and spread the word about some of the excellent, and let’s not forget, free, tools available to teachers. In times of budget constaints and ICT bashing (see last week’s TES / any comment from Mr Gove), it is this combination of innovation and minimal cost that should be of great attraction to so many schools. Indeed, in the TES this week, a Headteacher writes; “many staff only know about Microsoft Products, so we need to learn about [free] alternatives”. Google’s tools are amongst the thankfully increasing number of tools available to schools that are free, innovative and very easy to use once you know how.

It’s reaching out beyond the twitterati and getting the message to the masses that will take some creativity and determination to do. So getting out there and sharing our knowledge is important. I know some of the tools will be being showcased at TeachMeets (including TMX!) over the next few months and I hope all of us will be sharing as much knowledge as we can with as many teachers, and students, as we can.

There may, at the moment, be few schools in the UK which are in the awe-inspiring position described by Kern Kelley in his presentation in which Google Apps and technology is so well integrated into his school –  giving students their own domain name as a leaving present which they can use to showcase their own portfolio of work is one such example and truly a 21stC idea reflective of the open and innovative culture. However, there are many of us, including those of us who went to GTAUK, who share that vision for education and students in the UK  - we just need to convince others to come along for the (free) ride!

Last night’s TeachMeetBlackpool was tremendous (& not just because of the TeachMeet rock!) It was really great to meet up with some of the people I’ve spoken to on twitter face to face and there were some really inspired and inspiring presentations from great practical examples, like using flip cameras, twitter and cover-it-live  in the classroom to improve literacy and to Nicola Staple’s interactive and highly enjoyable music terminology session.

I also really enjoyed the ‘global’ presentations, with Jan Webb, Jack Sloan and John Sutton all sharing how they have used web 2.0 applications to connect their students both to each other and on a global scale – really inspirational stuff!

Connecting students and teachers was a recurring theme of the evening and what particularly stood out for me as the large number of attendees from the local community – Tom and James did a great job of taking TeachMeet beyond the twitterati. The final presentation of the night from Chris and Nigel at Palatine secondary school where they discussed how they have used futurelab’s learning spaces (or as they call them learning bases) to revolutionise the transition experience for pupils in the area was very thought-provoking. Their warm and sincere invitation for attendees to go and visit their school was indicative of the positive local links that were most certainly built throughout the night.

Things are certainly looking bright for the teachers and pupils of Blackpool (& beyond)!

Here’s the much talked about Colin with his guide to chroma key with Movie Maker!

Creative Chip by Mr. Beaver cc attribution, non-commercial, share-alike licence

I try to use free software when I can and if it supports the learning objectives. For example, using Google Sketchup to introduce CAD and 3D modelling was an idea I stole from the marvellous Mr Clarkson and my Year 9 students have been making eco-houses this term in an adaptation of Mark’s Grand Design’s project.

I have discussed Scratch and Alice at length before and, together with Gamemaker they engage students like no other software I have taught, as they create animations and games, totally oblivious to the fact that they are learning programming skills along the way. Students are currently playing with Kodu in the computer club, having ordered a few X-Box controllers and one student has requested that Python be downloaded so he can experiment with that – great independent learning!

The advantages of using free tools of course is that students can download them at home and play around with them there. I have been both delighted and surprised when some students have brought the work they have completed at home in (and had to give them serious extension work as they have finished their entire project in one week!)  I was particularly thrilled this week when a Year 7 boy was completing his History homework on Sketchup (a roman fort) because he’d seen his brother in Year 9 completing his ICT project on it at home.

And of course, the fact that these tools can be used in other subjects is the great appeal – in ICT I try whenever I can to use tools that students can and will be using in other areas. For example, using Google Earth in our movie about the Year 7 trip and creating scientific graphs in Excel, rather than the usual explosion of colour will hopefully be of great help further up the school in Science and Maths. Using Audacity to record podcasts means they can use the software in other subjects, and of course the logical thinking required in any kind of programming is good for Maths and life in general!

In this respect, creative subjects such as Art and, in particular Graphics, are natural companions of ICT and, as web design and animation are both passions of mine, inevitably I manage to sneak a good bit of both of these into the curriculum. Ideally, students build on their existing skills and learn new ones with each project. For example, my Year 9s started off the year creating stop-frame animation, we then moved on to Flash and then Alice, so by Christmas, they had tried animating in 3 different ways. It was really great when they arrived for their assessment lesson complete with props and original ideas and began working confidently and totally independently on their animations using the most appropriate software for their idea – a real success in itself, notwithstanding the fact that some of their completed animations were excellent.

So, while I know I have been lucky to have such flexibility with the curriculum, I do believe that with a little imagination and a good look round on the web to see what others are doing, you can enliven the KS3 curriculum and make it engaging, relevant, challenging and exciting for students, encouraging them to have the confidence in their own creativity and learn independently.

Creating a dynamic scheme of work at KS3 is the aim of the DADSOW3 conference in June – updates will appear at ictcurric.org.uk and on twitter #ictcurric

He discusses his belief that the brain is a social organ and that we should be ensuring we teach students resilience, relationships and reflection, to which the brain is highly receptive, in addition the the more common 3 ‘R’s. In reality, I think many of us do incorporate this into our teaching, although there is certainly scope for it to be higher up the agenda in some schools.

He concurs with Sir Ken Robinson’s beliefs surrounding creativity and allowing students to expore ideas for themselves and find their passion, although Siegel goes further to say that relationships, building a community and sharing information should be at the heart of any school and educational policy – something which I have yet to hear discussed in the current round of wrangling before the general election. Siegal believes that by putting such elements at the heart of schools, students become attuned to themselves and committed and responsive to others.

Throughout the talk, in my usual impatient way, I wanted Siegel to tell us how rather than why and thankfully he does so near the end. The yes and no exercise (at @ 21 mins) is excellent in its simplicity and serves as a reminder of how we, as teachers, can encourage receptivity rather than reactivity and that teaching compassion is perhaps best served by showing compassion ourselves – not an educational revolution but a step in the right direction.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu7wEr8AnHw

Today I finally got round to using PrimaryPad successfully in my classroom. I’ve tried it a couple of times before, however the connection kept dropping, so with the installation of a new server I thought I’d give it another go with a smaller group of students.

It worked really well – we were looking at how ICT could be used in schools and the advantages & disadvantages of this. After watching a video of the great ways in which Robin Hood primary integrate technology into their school, I shared the PrimaryPad link with the students who went on to answer some questions I had set.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvl-jRec8lg

PrimaryPad worked really well and as a simple, collaborative tool it is really excellent – the students needed very little introduction, just the link and were able to get going with their answers. A few were a little distracted by the chat, but far less than I envisaged, which was great (they had a short deadline which may have helped). The Time Slider playback is also really useful to see who’s being doing what.

A couple of students did have an issue with getting on to the pad and being disconnected, however they were able to team up with a friend and get on with the work and some of them complained of slow saving, however, this could well be down to the systems. Once the time was up, we were able to download and print the pad for their folders and they will be using this as a basis for their response to an exam question I have sent them for homework.

Overall, an excellent tool!

Had a very tiring yet enjoyable day at BETT yesterday, certainly far more entertaining & worthwhile than in previous years, and it was really lovely to catch up with so many people.

I was lucky to be involved in TeachMeetTakeover and, despite being very nervous & having an embarrassing timing mess-up, enjoyed giving my presentation at the very professional-looking Scholastic stand. So thanks to @chrisrat, @stuartridout and @tombarrett in particular, but to all who came to watch and were very supportive. Here is the prezi I used.

I was also lucky enough to be able to contribute to the discussion on the Open Source Schools stand and had a very interesting converstation with Miles Berry and Dai Barnes regarding the use of Alice and Scratch in the classroom.

I wasn’t that inspired by the stands at BETT, although I thoroughly enjoyed the demonstration from 2simple of their 2Create a Superstory. Although I can’t use it to teach myself as a secondary teacher, I think it bodes well in terms of the skills and concepts pupils will develop at an early age. My son tells me we’re going to be creating a story about the journey of the pilgrim fathers with our trial copy!

Although I wasn’t able to go to TMBETT2010 in the evening, it’s been great catching up with it today via @eyebeam’s stream and the flash meeting. I look forward to some more inspiration!

Having submitted my latest Masters’ assignment this morning, I’m allowing myself to start thinking about BETT2010 now and finding myself rather more excited than in previous years.

I hope BETT itself will hopefully be interesting and informative; I’m certainly looking forward to visiting some of the stands and workshops (I’ll be making a bee-line for the playful learning and the Open Source Schools areas), and I would really have liked to have seen some of the seminars, not least Ollie Bray’s Computer Games Based learning seminar on Thursday.

However, for me it’s the ‘extra’ events that are actually the main attractions this year. I’m really quite excited about what’s going to happen at Tedx Orenda, Amplified and TeachMeet BETT in the next three days and it will probably take me a year to work my way though all the excellent ideas that come out of these meetings. Although I won’t be able to be there in person, I look forward to catching up on online.

One event I’m thrilled to be a part of is the TeachMeet-Takeover and despite being rather nervous about my slot on Friday, I’m looking forward to listening to the other talks and catching up with lots of people – do make sure you say hello!

Prior to the lesson I set up a presentation, set it so it could be shared with everyone & anyone who had the link could edit it and then shared the link with them.

We had a ‘play’ for 5 minutes to allow for the necessary ‘messing’ (deleting other people’s work / posting daft messages). However, they soon settled down and were able to get on with researching their topic and completing their slides.

There were a few teething issues, such as too many people trying to format the background / work on the same slides and it was a little slow at times, but they worked very well and create a collaborative presentation which they were able to download to their own areas. It could do with a little refinement, however it does the job of collating all their research and knowledge in one place ready to share.

They worked incredibly well throughout the lesson and I gathered their feedback at the end on a wallwisher wall.

At the end of the session, a few pupils emailed longer comments to me:

“I think this builds a better relationship within the class and also builds our confidence when we can review each other ideas, through our wikispace and on google docs.”

“I would like to use more web based programs because i can access them everywhere”

“I think theory lessons are more interesting because of the things we use. Google docs was my favourite!:)”

So, it seems that google docs are a hit with the students, in fact one teacher came to tell me that one of the students had proudly introduced it to his group in another lesson when they were working on a project.

The students have also commented that they have been telling their parents about google docs too and one boy’s mum has started using it for her business.

I have just set up a Google form for them to complete after their exam to do a little self-assessment. It took me 5 minutes to set up and puts the completed data into a spreadsheet for me. Pretty nifty.

So, is this about the technology? I would argue that it is about the technology fulfilling a need – as a teacher I want students to be, at times, able to work together, collaboratively on project and tasks and google docs facilitates this incredibly well. They can also access their documents from any computer – so there is no longer a need for them all to be huddled round one computer in the IT suite at break.

Forms allow me to quickly collect their feedback and collate it in one place, allowing for a little self-reflection for them and some invaluable data for me. They are also really quick for students to complete.

I am not a Google zealot and will be interested in seeing Microsoft’s Office 2010 version when it released some time this year. However, I am most interested in tools and technologies that engage my students and allow them further opportunities to learn and both broaden their horizons and deepen their learning – at the moment, Google docs is doing just that.