As Gabcast now charge for calls in advance I'm trying Gcast. same dfference really. This is an unedited podcast made via a telephone call. Cost was 10p per minute on T-Mobile PAYG. Will cost more from other suppliers.


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QR codes

QR stands for "Quick Response". It is a two-dimensional bar code created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994. QR Codes are common in Japan, and most current Japanese mobile phones can read this code with their camera.

Activity - Point your camera phone at this QR code and see what is says.


If your camera phone can't read the QR code try going to http://api.qrcode.kaywa.com/ and installing the reader.

You can also make your own QR codes on this site. How about using it in the following ways:

1. Make QR codes, linked to your Scheme of work, with notes for students to "capture" - They might look at it if it's on their phones!


2. Make a treasure trail for induction - Put QR codes outside certain rooms or ask certain people to carry them with them during the day. When the student finds the next QR code it can tell them some information about the room or person and them give them a clue for the next one to find.

If you have any more ideas for using them in teaching.. Please comment here.

Gabcast

Gabcast allows to to record a message directly from your mobile phone and publish it on a Gabcast channel. From here you can embed it into your blog. Here is an example I did earlier today.

Gabcast! ILT training #1 - My test

Call from mobile phone

CPD record keeping & REfLECT

When creating your CPD records, please be aware that the records need to be more than a list containing the date, title of activity, description and length of time accounted for.

To help you improve your CPD record keeping, to meet ifl requirements, I have listed below the main features that REfLECT asks you to record within its CPD record assets.

The subheadings below (in bold) are the type of asset you might record. The bullet points are the headings that you should be keeping records of.

Activity

• Reasons for undertaking the activity
• Knowledge / skills gained
• What was the impact of the activity?
• Reflection on activity

Meeting

• Attendees
• Outcomes – You are asked to describe what was decided and what outcomes resulted or what actions were set. Or you can add links to meeting notes.
• Supporting resources - to help you achieve the outcomes set: books, journals, web links, people, training courses, electronic resources.
• Reflection

Ability or Achievement

• Evidence
• Reflection

Experience

• Activities – List the activities which formed part of the role.
• Evidence
• Reflection
  

Here’s a link to the full IFL CPD guidelines

The ILT trainers will be running sessions on REfLECT throughout the year. The next one is on Thursday 27th November

What else are we doing to help?
-The ILT Trainers are listing the Learning Outcomes for each session they deliver (on the information page when you book a session - Training Area of Intranet). You can copy and paste these into your CPD record (and edit them if you need to) to save you time.

Please comment below if you have found this useful.......

Creating screen tips in PowerPoint or Word - Accessibility

Have you ever heard the saying "A picture is worth a thousand words"? It's very true most learners will really benefit from visual resources, but there are some learners who have visual problems; these problems will vary and include; colour blindness, macular degeneration, cataracts and full loss of sight. These learners may have issues with getting information from visual media and the use of text will play an important part for them.


In any image there will be a wealth of information, and teachers will be expecting students to look at key parts of it. Usually this is done by using a key with letters or labels on the image which link to headings or notes on a different part of the diagram, or by using arrows and marginal comments. These methods disadvantage some learners. People who find it hard to track print get lost moving between the image and the explanation. Learners with motor difficulties cannot easily scroll from one part of the document to another, and those using a screen magnifier can get completely lost.
Learners may therefore benefit from screen tips over hotspots. As the learner’s mouse point hovers over a hot spot, the information appears in a pop-up window. As learners move on, the information disappears, so they are not confused by masses of print.


So what is a Screen Tip I hear you asking - It is a part of a picture that you have selected and labelled which displays the text when you roll the mouse over it.

Activity 1 - See what a screen tip is
1. Download the PowerPoint presentation Creating screen tips.
2. Now open the document and use F5 to view it as a slide show.
3. Roll your cursor over the shed door. Did you see the screen tip appear?

Activity 2 - Create your own screen tips
1. Open the PowerPoint presentation in Normal View.
2. Open word document Screen tips tutorial and use it to create the following hotspots:

• "There are three steps to the lower garden"
• "Keep children away from hot barbecues"
• "Ponds should have grills over them to prevent children falling in"
• "The sprinkler hose is a trip hazard"

Adapted from the NIACE E-Guides Training Materials 2008

Blogs for supported experiments

Wow there has been such a big request for training in using blogs for the supported experiments. I've started to help groups of staff in 7 teams to create individual blogs. This isn't compulsory, staff can opt out of doing this but hopefully once staff engage in using this form of technology they will also start to get some ideas one how they can also use in in their teaching too.

Want to try to set up a blog yourself? Have a go - Please read the tips below to help get it set up quickly. And please don't forget - SEND ME THE LINK so that I can add it to your divisional page.


Setting up a blog
Here's a link to a short video that will explain it what a blog is.


To create a blog go to http://www.blogger.com/ and click on the orange arrow - Create an account now.

TIPS for setting it up:
Password must be 8 or more characters
Display name - should be full name OR first name and division (Please don't use a Pseudonym as we won't know who "Pinnochio" or "bad boy" is)
Email address - use your college email address
Blog name - Wendy's Supported Experiment EHWLC
Blog address - Something short like wendyse (no spaces or capital letters) or wendysupportedexperiment

Ideal settings for your blog
Go to Settings Tab and choose Basics.
Change these two settings: Add your blog to our listings [choose NO]. Let search engines find your blog [choose NO].
SAVE

Go to Settings Tab and choose Formatting.
Change the time zone to Greenwich mean time LONDON
SAVE

Go to Settings Tab and choose Comments.
Change who can comment to [Anyone]
SAVE

The next setting is optional for you. Now we have set your blog so that anyone can comment decide whether you want the comments to do on automatically or if you want to moderate them (read them and decide if they are published). If you want to moderate them scroll down in this same tab and choose Enable comment moderation [YES].

Email me your blog address once you have done it and I can link it to your divisional page. Tell me in the email what team you work in.

Here are some nice examples of other ways staff are using their blogs. Once you set up this accoutn you can have as many different blogs as you want in the account.
When using images of students we need to get a permission slip completed and filed away safely
ESOL media - Southall - Nadira Burki
Hair and Beauty - Hammersmith - Laura Birchmore
Sports Science - Hammersmith - Deniece Themistocli (will link this soon) Great example of peer review.

Blogs as a teacher's reflective diary

Are you

• a new teacher?


• on a teacher training course?


• an experienced teacher starting a new project?

If so why not consider keeping your own reflective diary in blog form. Not sure what a blog is? Well you are looking at one now. Watch this 3 minute video to find out more in plain English.

Why use a blog?
Well, it is an easy space to organise your thoughts. You don't need to let anyone have the link if you don't want to, but it might be a useful thing to share between a group of peers or for mentors or the teacher trainers to check regularly. It could be a way, of others offering support within the college, to tap in easily to help you with issues you are facing in teaching.

Building a community
Once a few teachers start to use this as a way of reflecting it could be a powerful tool to share how they are feeling about or coping with the pressures of teaching in the first year, how new teaching strategies they tried in the class actually worked (or didn't) or how they are finding studying on teacher training courses alongside work. Teachers often feel they are the only ones facing certain issues. The use of blogs may help them to see that others are also having similar problems, concerns and eureka moments. The blog will offer a way of sharing your experiences with others.

Creating a blog
Watch a video tutorial here on setting up a Blogger account.



Follow this link to create your first blog or contact an ILT trainer via email or by leaving a comment here, to organise an introduction to blogging session.

Blogging in the classroom
If you don't want to use it for your own refelctive practice then consider your students using it. Here are some video clips to get you started.

This video clip explains one teacher's view on blogs from University of Padua 2 minutes.

Blogging in the classroom 5 minutes

CNN World report Blogging in the classroom 2 minutes

Please comment (just below this article) if you have anything to add or discuss about it and / or use the poll at the top of the page to let me know if it was useful to you. It will help to improve future tips. There will be more on building student communities in a future post.