Wiki Evaluation

During our last ICT session we investigated the different blogs that are available for children to use in schools. The wiki we explored was www.wikispaces.com

I am new to using wikis therefore I can't compare the wiki to any others! But I did find it quite easy to work out. One person in our group signed up and made themselves the creator of the page. Then we needed to add some more members to that particular page. This was relatively easy to do. 7 The creator/ organizer sends individual e-mails to the new members to invite them into the group. (This is a good idea when working in the classroom!) The pupils could create their own e-mail addresses and they could be invited by the teacher to accept their membership. The organizer also has the power to delete members.

On the side of the homepage there are tips for teachers when using the wiki with pupils. There are also several useful websites that teachers could use with the children.

As we experimented with the wiki we found that managing it was very easy. We added links to various websites, photographs and videos to our pages. There were three of us working in the group and we could all use the wiki at the same time. There were no complications with adding things to our one page.
Changing the colour and theme was also very easy. I experimented with the background colour as the other two wondered how it had changed on their computer! I also added photographs of the olympics (could be relevant to current term medium term planning in school).

Before using this wiki I was slightly concerned about using wiki's in primary schools until today's sessions. As the week's go on in university I realising that so many more programmes and softwear can be embedded into the classroom. The wiki's are a great way to get the children communicating on the computer with each other and other schools (perhaps through their e-mail accounts?)

The wiki was safe, reliable and great fun to explore.

Useful Websites To Use in Schools

Here is a great website that I've found to use within the primary schools. It gives ICT coordinators some great advice on creating and ajusting the school website. The school website is a great way to communicate and show parents/ local people in the community what the school's really about.

Have a look! 

http://www.schoolwebsite.co.uk/index.htm

What's it like to be an ICT co-ordinator?

I have recently finished my first assessed placement at a Primary school in South Wales. On my first morning of teaching I was asked to take the register. As I looked for the paper register the pupils pointed at the computer screen. They then explained that the register is taken electronically. This was a completely new experience for me. I have never witnessed any primary school take the register electronically. They also keep other day to day notes on their electronic system such as assessment notes so that other members of staff could access the pupils notes. As soon as I got the chance to speak to thenICT coordinator I asked him what was the programme they used all about. He said that it was a programme called sims and most of the schools in the Swansea area use this programme. I also asked him what it was like to be an ICT coordinator. He said that it was interesting and exciting. With technology changing on a regular basis, technology is becoming more and more exciting within schools. The school have a wide range of technology and use these resources effectively to progress pupils learning. Below I have included a link of Leighton Andrews speech. He discusses the benefits of the use of ICT in the classroom. It's worth a read!