The National Schools Partnership are looking for primary and secondary
school ICT teachers/co-ordinators to help them put together teaching resources
and lesson plans as part of various initiatives for the next academic year.
They are responsible for sending out teaching resources to schools across the
country free of charge, in partnership with various leading companies.
All the work teachers do for them is fully paid and can be done out of school
hours, either at the weekend/evenings.
To be involved, all you have to do is complete the registration form on their
web site, and they will then contact teachers when there is an appropriate
initiative.
Try this fun activity as an example of an Expert System
Posted By Marc Hawes
USB Lock Down 18 July 2006
Although I think USB ports should not be locked down and students should have access to them, if you want to do it there is a simple registry tweak.
Back up your registry first. Open the regedit program and find your way to this key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsbStor
Look at the value 'Start'. If you switch this value to 4, USB storage devices are disabled. Switch this value to 3, and USB storage devices will be recognised again.
Posted By Marc Hawes
ICT TV Listings 15 March 2006
A useful relevant list here to set your video/DVD/Hard disk recorders for at here There are also some good pages for students at the new BCS Student web site
NESTA Futurelab has produced posters which demonstrate in a visually stimulating way 1) Interactive TV and 2) Third Generation Phones (3G)
These posters are freely available to the ICT/technology education communities. Contact innovations.workshops@nestafuturelab.org
Posted By Marc Hawes
A level lesson methods for teaching 07 January 2006
'Mindmap' - Mindmap a topic from the text book a great way of establishing vocabulary, reinforcing content and helping with revision. Freemind is a great free mindmapping tool.
Get it here (by following the links)
http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
'Catch' - Create a PowerPoint presentation with a question on each slide from the previous lesson. I use this as a recap at the beginning of the lesson. Put a question up on the board then get your students to throw a soft ball between each other. Whoever drops the ball has to answer the question on the PowerPoint slide. When it has been answered you may wish to add a bit more detail to the answer, then move on to the next question and repeat! They love it!!
- 'Post its' - for a recap at the end of the lesson give each student a post-it note. Get them to write a question based on material that has been covered during the lesson. All students stick their post-its on a wall, then they all go up to the wall together and pick a question to answer. Give them a couple of minutes to compose a good answer, then go around the round reviewing them.
- 'Bingo' - Make some 3 x 3 bingo grids and hand one to each student. List 12 ICT terms on the board and get them to choose 9 of them and write them on their grids. Create a powerpoint which randomly has a definition for each of the 12 terms (1 on each slide), once they think a definition matches one of their words, they cross it off the board. First one to cross all words off wins a small prize.
- 'Hesitation' - split up the class into teams, display a question on a slide in PowerPoint, the team whose turn it is to answer has to nominate someone to answer the question, if the nominated person hesitates, another team can challenge them and take over the answer, if an answer is correct, the team wins a point. Keep a tally on the board!
Posted By Marc Hawes
What happens to your computer at night? 04 January 2006
I've often been asked if you should leave your computer turned on during the
night.
I now have the answer as to what happens to your computer while it is
unattended during the night while you sleep. Click here to see
Click here:
http://www.justracin.net/is.swf
Posted By Marc Hawes
Do you have enough ICT Support? 03 January 2006
The recommendations from ISC / DfES are 1 technician per 100 computers
(compare to a recommendation of 1:50 in industry). Presumably significant
additional responsibilities such as audio-visual / printing / databases,
etc. ought to require additional staffing too? I wonder how many schools
come close to the recommendations? I'm working on getting close to that
ratio, but we're currently running at about 1:200. Obviously, level of
service is affected.
Posted By Marc Hawes
The Future of Google 28 October 2005
Click here for a short 8 min film that ponders the impact of Google on society and media of a decade's time.
Posted By Marc Hawes
Voice Recognition 27 September 2005
Find your way from Land's End to John O'Groats with this voice recognition railway timetabler on 08712004950
Posted By Marc Hawes
Free Anagram Maker 07 July 2005
Click this link for a free Anagram Maker and Solver. Ideal for creating end of term ICT quizzes.
Posted By Marc Hawes
See Your Name in Binary 24 May 2005
Click here to see what your name or any text file looks like in binary. This might be useful for students.
Posted By Marc Hawes
School laptops on home networks 04 May 2005
If you have teachers that use that want to use their school laptop at home on a home network then you might want them to have a look at these two freeware utilities for Proxy and SMTP switching - Proxy switcher and
Autoroute SMTP
http://www.proxyswitcher.com/
http://www.mailutilities.com/ars/
Posted By Marc Hawes
Microsoft Photo Story 3 08 April 2005
Breathe more life into school photos/projects with Photo Story 3 for Windows® by adding motion, effects, music, and more to your digital photos.
Get pictures onto your PC in a snap with Windows XP: Easily transfer your photos to your PC from a wide array of digital cameras and scanners.
Start your story: Choose pictures from your PC or online collection and organize them in an easy-to-understand storybook.
Improve the look of your photos: Automatically remove red-eye, correct lighting, and color imperfections with Smart Re-touch. Customize your images with ease – rotate, crop and more.
Bring photos to life and
add excitement with motion: Let Photo Story animate your photos automatically or create your own effects with pan and zoom options. And transitions, captions, and titles give your story a professional look.
Voice your own story: Personalize your creations by enhancing the story with commentary captured in your own voice.
Arrange your own score: Create a soundtrack using your music library, or compose original tunes with only a few clicks using create music feature.
All this for free. Think of the possibilities for use in school! Download here
Posted By Marc Hawes
Virtual Desktops 27 March 2005
Download the free XP Virtual Desktop here and create up to 4 different desktops. This is ideal for switching desktops for home and school.
Posted By Marc Hawes
Recording Audio from web sites 23 March 2005
There are lots of web site with useful educational audio content. But how do you save them? Use a short lead to connect headphones
out to Mic in, then play the program and record it, for which I use the free Audacity.
Posted By Marc Hawes
2004 ICT Use in Schools 07 March 2005
This week the TagTeacherNet survey looks at the findings of the 2004
survey of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Schools in England
This survey looks at the
findings of the 2004 survey of Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
in Schools in England. This survey covers provision and usage of ICT in
maintained primary, secondary and special schools in England.
Computers in
School
Mean
number of computers in schools used for teaching & learning: 31.6
(primary), 218.2 (Secondary)
Ratio
of computers:pupils - 1:7.5 primary, 1:4.9 secondary, 1:3.0 special
The
above means that the government's published targets for computers in school
by 2004 was met
Number
of admin computers is also up: 6 per school primary, 45.6 secondary, 10.6
special
School
with ICT suites: 77% primary, 98% secondary, 69% special
Other ICT
Equipment
Interactive
whiteboard use grew:
Primary:
48%
2003 > 63% 2004 (av 2 per school)
Secondary:
82%
2003 > 92% 2004 (av 7.5 per school)
Special:
53%
2003 > 71% 2004 (av 2.6 per school)
36% of
secondary school have video conferencing facilities
Internet and
Email
99% of
all school connected to Internet
Proportion
of schools with broadband connections:
Primary:
11%
2002 > 30% 2004
Secondary:
68%
2002 > 99% 2004
Special:
11%
2003 > 40% 2004
% of
school with 8Mbps connections or better: 8% primary, 28% secondary, 12%
special
% of
school leaders with personal email accounts: 90% secondary, 84% special,
77% primary
% of
school teachers with personal email accounts: 84% secondary, 64% special,
70% primary
% of
students provided with personal email accounts: 60% secondary, 38%
primary, 33% special
Staff Confidence
Schools
relying on LEA for technical help: 60% primary, 47% secondary
Schools
relying using own technical staff: 38% primary, 94% secondary
Use of ICT in
school
% of
staff regularly using ICT in teaching and learning: 92% primary, 70%
secondary, 91% special
Perceived impact
of ICT
Schools
using ICT to support pupils unable to attend school: 31% secondary, 3%
primary
Teachers
who think ICT has reduced workload: 69% primary, 66% secondary, 65%
special
Management and
funding
Schools
with senior manager in charge of ICT: 85% secondary, 76% primary, 71%
special
Total
spending per school on ICT:
Secondary:
£65,200
2003 > £88,200 2004
Primary:
£11,200
2003 > £14,700 2004
Special:
£13,600
2003 > £18,500 2004
Mean
expenditure per pupil: £69 primary, £91 secondary, £297 special
How do
schools dispose of old machines / equipment: 56% refuse, 43% sold or given
away
I have a spell chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye cannot sea
When eye strike a quay, right a word
I weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar rite
It shows me strait away
Ass soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two late
And eye can put the error rite
It's rarely, rarely grate!
I've run this poem threw it
I'm shore your pleased to no
It's letter perfect in its weigh
My chequer tolled me sew!
Posted By Marc Hawes
Star Wars 04 March 2005
I could not resist posting this link ...
telnet://towel.blinkenlights.nl
Copy and paste it into your browser, wait and watch.
Computer animation and its rawest and best!
Posted By Marc Hawes
Laptop Power 01 March 2005
I often find that students or staff forget/want to buy a laptop power lead. This univeral one costs £31.67 and might be a good investment for your department.
Posted By Marc Hawes
Free web storage 01 March 2005
Streamload is offering 10GB of online storage for free. Visitors to its web site Streamload can sign up for the service which permits 100MB downloads and uploads per month. This is ideal for storing large video projects that you might be have.
Posted By Marc Hawes
What's that song? 20 February 2005
Your students will love this one ....
If you miss the name of a song on the radio, dial 2580 on your mobile, let it listen in, then wait to be texted back with the track and artist.
Posted By Marc Hawes
Free ICT Control Software 16 November 2004
Crocodile Clips have produced a powerful new tool for teaching control and programming. Use a simple flowchart interface to write programs, and use them to control interactive pictorial systems and best of all for a limited period it is FREE! Get it here
Posted By Marc Hawes
Free Windows Security CD 27 May 2004
The Windows Security Update CD will be shipped to you free of charge. This CD includes Microsoft critical updates released through October 2003 and information to help you protect your PC. Click here for the order form.
Posted By Marc Hawes
Spam 23 April 2004
On August 4th 2003 there were 158 million Hotmail accounts. These each received 2.6 billion emails. 24000 emails per second were Spam.
Posted By Marc Hawes
Your own free school radio station 23 April 2004
With Shoutcast you can create your own free school radio station for budding student DJs to manage.
Posted By Marc Hawes
Embedding ICT at Key Stage 3 and 14-19 19 April 2004
Get hold of a copy of the DfES CD-ROM, Embedding ICT @ Secondary. It focuses on embedding ICT at Key Stage 3 and 14-19 through a series of subject-specific case studies which showcase the effective use of ICT across the curriculum. This CD is free, and can be obtained by calling Prolog on 0845 6022260 or by sending an email to dfes@prolog.uk.com [mailto:dfes@prolog.uk.com] and quoting reference DfES/0152/2004.
Posted By Marc Hawes
Turn an ordinary projector into wireless 17 March 2004
RM produce a gadget that you can plug into a normal projector and turn it into a wireless one. Together with a wireless laptop, you have your own interactive whiteboard. Further information here.
Posted By Marc Hawes
Buying a Tablet PC? 10 March 2004
At the DIGITAL-thINK Home Page you will find information for teachers about the Tablet PC's. The site has been created by East Manchester Education Action Zone in order to build an online community that can share best practice, tips hints and ideas all related to Tablet PC use.
Posted By Marc Hawes
Tesco Scam? 27 February 2004
I would be very grateful if anyone could
explain why, at Tesco, the larger the can of product you buy on some
products, the more expensive the product can be. Take a look at the following
example:
Price
Price per kg
Pedigree Tinned
Dog Food
800g tin
89p
£1.12 per kg
400g tin
44p
£1.10 per kg
Tesco Baked
Beans in tomato sauce
850g tin
51p
60p per kg
420g tin
21p
50p per kg
220g tin
17p
77.3p per kg
Surely, if there is less packaging, products
should be cheaper? Make your comments to me at marc.hawes@sheepwalk.co.uk
Posted By Marc Hawes
Windows XP Home on a school network 22 February 2004
Normally, Windows XP Home Edition cannot join network domains, simply peer-to-peer workgroups. However, there is a fix which can solve the problem and allow WinXP Home Edition to join a domain. Microsoft wanted to cripple 'Home' so that it could not be used on domains, which would force many to upgrade to the more expensive Windows XP Professional simply to join a network domain. However, it is possible to get on a domain using the Home Edition. This can be accomplished with the free and widely-available Xteq X-Setup 6.1 by navigating to the 'Network \ Auto Login \ Windows NT/2K/XP \ Settings' option. Simply enter the appropriate information and click the 'Apply Changes' button. On next reboot, you can then join domains with Windows XP Home Edition. Problem solved." It was noted that the latest version of TweakUI could also do the trick, but seeing as Microsoft has temporarily suspended the download (to "fix" the oversight), X-Setup is a more viable, short and long- term option.
Posted By Marc Hawes
QCA Scheme integrated task examples 07 February 2004
If you want something for free and have Textease in your school, you can
download QCA Scheme integrated task examples, including ready-made
resources from here
Posted By Marc Hawes
Recovering students' currupt floppy discs 04 February 2004
For anyone who has ever had a student with a corrupt floppy disk with important data on it, then this tip from Charles McClory is for you. Charles says, "Users come to me with their damaged floppies and I recover the good data from their corrupt floppies 90% of the time without the Norton Disk Recovery program. All I do is insert the bad floppy into the floppy drive, right-click on the floppy icon in My Computer and choose the 'Copy Disk' option. The trick is to keep hitting "Retry" every time it fails; eventually, it WILL work! I have clicked "Retry" 50-100 times to eventually read the entire disk. Then just put in a new, blank, formatted floppy, and Windows will create a duplicate of the original. This even works on floppies for which a directory listing fails. Also, another neat trick I do is 'copy *.* nul' from the command prompt (make sure to type "a:" and press Enter to switch to the floppy drive). This will copy all the files into the 'bit bucket.' The advantage is that it will read all the files and stop on the corrupt ones." Thanks for the tip, Charles! Another trick that I do is run a Scandisk on the corrupted floppy disk. Many a times this has gotten the disk to a readable state so that I can copy the disks to a hard drive and then to a new disk. From there, it is up to you what you do with the corrupted floppy. I have found that most of these disks are OK after a full format.
Posted By Marc Hawes
Webquests 26 January 2004
The use of Webquests provides a focused method of using the internet effectively in lessons and provides the tutor with a framework for exploring and developing subject topics. Click here to learn more and create your own with this site's online toolkit.
Posted By Marc Hawes
Online Comic Strip Maker 20 January 2004
This image was created in 5
minutes with the free online Comic
Strip Creator and doing a screen capture. I can think of many possibilities
for its use, especially in languages.
Posted By Marc Hawes
Interactive Whiteboard alternatives 20 January 2004
Have you considered using a wireless keyboard and mouse with a projector and computer or a classpad instead of the expense of an interactive whiteboard?
Posted By Marc Hawes
Tracing web pages 19 January 2004
Trace where your request travels when you want to access a web page by typing
tracert www.bbc.co.uk at the Command Prompt, replacing www.bbc.co.uk with the web page you want to trace.
This is useful when teaching about how the Internet works.
Posted By Marc Hawes
Free Whiteboard software 05 January 2004
A free 'Single Whiteboard' LessonPlaniT licence worth £175.00 + VAT is offered completely free of charge to all schools and colleges in the UK (features here ) - to request your free copy complete the registration form and one will be sent to you on CD. LessonPlaniT can only offer one free single whiteboard licence per school or college.
Posted By Marc Hawes
Free Calendar Maker 28 December 2003
Happy New Year!
Create your own customised calendar for your department with this program link here and
Posted By Marc Hawes
GCSE Quiz 04 December 2003
ICTGCSE has been going now for a little over 2 years, under various guises. During this time it has become a significant resource for both students and ICT teachers alike with over 300,000 visits during this period. Just recently a new version of their quiz has been launched that enables students to go in direct competition with each other from around the globe. With a database of over 300 questions and a test of 10 questions being randomly selected each time, this becomes a truly useful revision resource for students of all abilities. There are plans to increase the number of questions and a revision of the scoring system so that the more times the quiz is played then the higher the average score will become. However, fine adjustments aside this is a key resource that the majority of GCSE ICT students will enjoy.
NOTE : the database will become 300 questions by the end of next week.
Posted By David Phillips
Word Secret 03 December 2003
Here's something that you might not have come across before. Open a new Word document and type:
=rand(200,99)
and wait a few seconds. What appears on the screen is rather surprising.
Enter this phrase:
"Unable to follow directions"
and then highlight it. Then press [Shift] + [F7] to open the Thesaurus, and take a look at the first suggesiton of an alternative word. Then do the same for "Love her and leave her".
Posted By Marc Hawes
Get rid of Junk Mail 02 December 2003
The Mailing Preference Service can remove your name from up to 95% of Direct Mail lists. Click here to be removed.
Posted By Marc Hawes
ICT Timeline 02 December 2003
I found this great little ICT Timeline which you could easily integrate into a web page like this:
Posted By Marc Hawes
Sending an email on the move 25 November 2003
You are on the road, no access to a computer, but you want to send a quick email. How do you do it?
On your mobile phone send a text message with the content:
name@provider.co.uk message
to 07747782320
and Heh
Presto!
Posted By Marc Hawes
Classified Ads 23 October 2003
Want to sell a computer item? Why not try our free classifieds?
Search
Newsletter
Members Online
Poll Booth
Sponsors
The National Schools Partnership 19 July 2007
For anyone who has ever had a student with a corrupt floppy disk with important data on it, then this tip from Charles McClory is for you. Charles says, "Users come to me with their damaged floppies and I recover the good data from their corrupt floppies 90% of the time without the Norton Disk Recovery program. All I do is insert the bad floppy into the floppy drive, right-click on the floppy icon in My Computer and choose the 'Copy Disk' option. The trick is to keep hitting "Retry" every time it fails; eventually, it WILL work! I have clicked "Retry" 50-100 times to eventually read the entire disk. Then just put in a new, blank, formatted floppy, and Windows will create a duplicate of the original. This even works on floppies for which a directory listing fails. Also, another neat trick I do is 'copy *.* nul' from the command prompt (make sure to type "a:" and press Enter to switch to the floppy drive). This will copy all the files into the 'bit bucket.' The advantage is that it will read all the files and stop on the corrupt ones." Thanks for the tip, Charles! Another trick that I do is run a Scandisk on the corrupted floppy disk. Many a times this has gotten the disk to a readable state so that I can copy the disks to a hard drive and then to a new disk. From there, it is up to you what you do with the corrupted floppy. I have found that most of these disks are OK after a full format.
