mikes web log

The project has linked with UCE. A fairly natural linkage as it is a university only a mile from the centre of the project. For the last seven weeks 60 English specialist on the third year of their Initial Teacher Training course have been working with our year 3 pupils in the three primary schools to produce an animated film on their favourite story.  It works out at about 4 pupils per student.

This afternoon we had our film premiere performance where about ten of the films were shown to the audience of 200 childen at UCE. It was a great event superbly managed by UCE and the children loved it. Hopefully I will soon be able to upload some of the examples of their work. Be prepared to be amazed.

One of the unique features of ‘The Computers in the Home’ project is the multidimensional nature of it. In one instant we have the problems of installation which are ongoing. We are now into the area of the law of diminishing returns where every computer placed in a home is linked to about 4 or 5 times the input of the initial installations. Yet another instance is the use of the environment and the different interpretations of this use from the teacher’s perspective. Teachers are beginning to use it to link into a unique reading scheme.

Then we have the parent’s perspective which seems to be developing unforeseen outcomes. Then there is the UCE involvement where year 3 Initial Teacher Training students have been working with the year 3 pupils to develop digital animations. More on that later. We then have the adult training element that involves adult education and FE. On the horizon there is further business involvement via more UCE partnership. The partner group keeps growing.

Aston Pride

Aston parents

UCE

Adult education

Aston businesses

Titan Partnership

Aston Science Park

Birmingham Botanical Gardens

IT suppliers

e-learning foundation

Birmingham City Council

Further Education Colleges

Parents of children in Aston

DfES

I have been her before and here I am again. Ambition has led me to try and produce my first vodcast. It’s a video cast so why is it called a vodcast and not a vidcast? This is something that needs a little bit of investigation. The vodcast is linked to the previous post where year4 visited the Birmingahm Botanical Gardens. They took photographs and then talked about them. The result was fantastic, the problem was how to vodcast them.

I suspect vodcasting with a Mac is a doddle (shall I buy one, shall I not,shall I buy one, shall I not,shall I buy one, shall I not…….). Try using video editing software on a PC! I say this because of the superb Downs FM vodcasts. maybe one day we will be able to equal them.

Where were we? Nowhere, the vodcast was created with Windows Moviemaker and then converted to a variety of different file formats which should have been encapsulated by the blogger  account but were not. The blogger account did encapsulate a .mov file however it couldn’t be played within Itunes. A .mpv4 file was not recognised by Itunes. It did recognise a small  mp4 file but this was only 20s  of a 4.22 minute file which was to big to be uploaded to my preferred location. It just goes on and on.

I have put brilliant people on the task of finding the solution…I really cannot afford a Mac. And one might have appeared. It might be with the original setup of Feedburner. Did I set it to ignore video feed? Maybeeeeeeeeeee a solution is near. If so thanks Keith.

I’m always a bit sceptical about transformational changes to what is happening in the teaching and learning situation. I don’t deny that it happens but I sometimes wonder whether it is necessarily a desirable outcome. There seems to be a lot of pressure  from organisations  like the DfES and other organisations for transformational change.

How do we define transformational change? I usually use the definition of Twining http://www.med8.info/cpf/twining/index.htm who says that for a transformational change the curriculum content and/or process are different, and these changes could not have taken place in a classroom context without a computer.

A surprise outcome of the Teacher Day was the revelation that setting ICT based homework where the children either accessed an activity online or interacted with software on the computer enhanced parental involvement in their children’s learning. The teachers talked enthusiastically about the recent parent evening  where they met numerous parents who previously had not directly involved themselves in their children’s learning but on this occasion felt able to talk about what was happening and to support or complain about the computer performance relating to the homework task. There was one incident where a pupil had said that for the first time ever the father had sat down with him and helped him with homework..I think this is truly transformational. I don’t like to admit it but it happened. This development in learning involvement could not have happened without the involvement of the computer. The school has, in the past, and still does, run a variety of exercises to involve the community in their children’s learning. The impact of these inputs has had no significant effect on their involvement.