TraineeTeachMeet

I was reading some posts about TeachMeetBorders (specifically Stuart's and Andy's posts) and for some reason it connected in my head with my recent rant.

Week 08: Stuart looks puzzled
Originally uploaded by DavidDMuir

Essentially, I wondered if there was mileage in setting up a TeachMeet specifically for student teachers to help engender enthusiasm and practical ideas for the use of ICT in classrooms? I was sitting beside a student teacher and a recently qualified teacher at TeachEat and we talked about how beneficial something like TeachMeet would be to student teachers but somehow, at the time, it never occurred to me that a TeachMeet specifically for student teachers might be a good idea. An event like TeachMeet that got students excited about the possibilities before the staffroom cynics could exercise undue influence might be the very dab.

However, I wondered if there would be enough interest to make it work. If I set something up in Glasgow, it would be a bit of a stretch for Aberdeen and Dundee but should be reachable by students at Stirling and Ediniburgh. Certainly it should be close enough for Strathclyde, Glasgow and UWS students to attend. Also, at each institution there are a range of courses: BEd, Joint Honours, PGDE(S), PGDE(P)... so even if only one person from each year of each course signed up and committed to bringing a friend it should be possible to get viable numbers.

I also wondered if there would be enough students willing to present at a TeachMeet - perhaps they would be happier sitting back and watching. Then I thought of Stuart Meldrum who is barely out of his probationary nappies (no offence Stuart) but organised and ran a stunningly successful TeachMeet. To me, the strength of TeachMeet is the way it supports the sharing of enthusiasm and so the enthusiasm of student teachers could be the greatest asset of a TeachMeet for student teachers.

So, this is me flying a kite. It is definitely a idea that's good enough to criticise rather than a concrete proposal. What I really need is people who read this post to comment and help shape my thinking. I would be grateful therefore if you could help me answer the following questions:

1. Is this a daft idea? {Obviouly if the answer is "Yes", you can stop reading.}
2. Would there be enough interest from student teachers to make it viable? In particular, would there be student teachers willing to do presentations? {I would especially value comments from student teachers on this one.}
   
3. What could it be called. {I've suggested TraineeTeachMeet in the title of this post because I liked the aliteration but I think it may give the wrong message.}
4. Where would be the best location for a student TeachMeet? {The easiest thing for me would be to book somewhere at Jordanhill but that may make it too "official". Somewhere else on the Strathclyde campus might be better (the Computing Science Department or the library?) but somewhere completely neutral might be better still (albeit more expensive!).}
5. Who might be interested in funding such a venture?
6. Should it be open to student teachers only? Should probationers or newly qualified teachers be invited too?
7. What other questions should I have asked but have failed to think about?

Over to you. Help to me work out what I think.

iRiddles at TeachMeet

At TeachMeetBorders I did a presentation on iRiddles that didn't go exactly to plan! Here then are some links and some resources that will show what I was trying to do.



The first iRiddle I saw was on TeacherTube and was posted by Jennifer Gingerich. It is titled Landform Riddle and I thought it was a brilliant idea. They are simple to create but are a really powerful way of engaging learners. Ms. Gingerich even posted three videos showing you how to create your own iRiddles (part 1, part 2 and part 3). I created a handout and started using the idea with my classes but to be honest, the idea is so simple that after a demonstration, students are able to create their own - usually without having to refer to the handout or ask for help.

Despite evidence to the contrary at TeachMeet, I can show students how to create an iRiddle in less than ten minutes and after this brief demonstration, the students usually manage to create their own within half an hour. (See for example my Geography iRiddle and a BEd student's Animal iRiddle.)

I made a screencast of how I created the iRiddle using Jing. I am stunningly impressed with Jing but as a first time user, I have a few issues and would value advice/help from other Jing users. The first issue is that the video ends abruptly because I ran into the 5 minute limit on the free version. Not really Jing's fault. I just have to learn to talk faster or waffle less! The second issue you will have noticed if you watched the screencast - it's massive! Is there any way to make Jing reduce the size of the movie, either while recording or after it is saved? Thirdly, I saved it as an swf file but YouTube couldn't cope with that format. Any suggestions on a free video conversion program that will let me save it in a YouTube friendly format (and ideally change the size at the same time)?

Finally - credit where credit's due. I got the corrie picture from a Creative Commons search on Flickr. I mentioned Freeplay as a fantastic source of legally downloadable music. It is perfect for iRiddles because it offers music, in a variety of styles, that is exactly 30 seconds long. The only problem, as someone mentioned on the FlashMeeting is the Freeplay licence does not allow you to use the music on projects that you post on the Internet. For this reason, the example I've embedded above has fairly duff soundtrack that I created myself in Garageband. However, they have a form where you can detail what you intend to do and can ask how much it woud cost to buy a licence... one day I might get around to asking how much it would cost to post class projects to YouTube and/or put them on CD ROMs to send home with students.

So what do you think? An idea with potential? If you have a go yourself, or with a class, let me know how you get on.

TeachMeet Borders: Part II

Stuart Meldrum talked about a pupil who broke a collar bone and couldn't write or do the normal work in the technology classroom. SO he planned on the computer and then presented his results on Animoto.

Theo talked about Flickr Commons. Showed some of the Library of congress photos that was added to Flickr. Showed how people added important information to the library photos. National Gallery of Scotland also have added stuff and showed how you can take teh images into Picnik and overlaid old photo of Edinburgh with new image from same place. Used transparency control to fade between the two images. Gave an impassioned plea for more things to be made available through Creative Commons Licences. Also talked about the collaborative work and gave the TeachMeet Borders Spotify list as an example.

Andy McSwan - The Cool Wall
Originally uploaded by troutcolor

David Gilmour then talked about the East Lothian experiment with NetBooks. His argument was the hardware is now less important than the network. Some information on One Net Book Per Child blog. They wanted somewhere to store things online and so used Google Apps but used an education bit of it. Makes it easy for schools/university to create collaborative areas for people to share documents.

Andy McSwan did an excellent nano presentation on the Cool Wall in his Computing class. This is a stunningly simple idea but a brilliant way to help classes consider aspcts of your subject. Just set up a Cool Wall and the pupils will start scanning the press and the web for examples - enjoying the hunt but learning about the topic in the process.

TeachMeet Borders: Here at last

This may not be fun for you... but attending TeachMeet Borders is fun for me. :-)

Arrived late to TeachMeet Borders to discover that my name was first out the hat... and then as we arrived, it was my name came out again as I walked in the door. I grabbed a sandwich instead and let Ian King show Scratch instead. Some really good stuff from his pupils. He noted that girls, who normally don't react well to programming, seem to take Scratch. He also demoed the Scratch Board - costs about a tenner and allows basic interfacing projects to be programmed. Ian also noted that a sixth year pupil came back from an university open day and said that the two languages used in the Computer Games course were C++ and Scratch.

David Noble was up next and talked about some of the things the pupils in his school were doing with iPhones. Missed most of it while failing to get connected to my blog. Finished by talking about the importance of being trusted with wi-fi access.

Jim Black talked about open source software he uses. Free - so usable by pupils, powerful - so pupils are not disadvantaged, many available as portable apps - so pupils can take what they need to any machine and many multi-platform - so machines at home and school and wherever. He was asked what the IT Services people made of them using Open Source. He replied that he hadn't told them. The point was also made that organisations that restrict themselves to only a few standard applications were losing out.

We then went into a sandwich break where I should have been catching up with some folk... but fiddled to much with technology.

Dougal Hawkshaw talked about his use of Wikis in school. For example, better readers post summaries of the chapters of books the class ws reading. Allowed other children to catch up who were struggling. He has never had any problem with vandalism or bullying. One of the things he added was Voki... but it was blocked by the school!

Lorna and Nicki talked about a project called Girls of Ambition. For example, they set up CC4G - Computet Club For Girls. By focusing on the girs they raised attainment and confidence. One of the highlights is school trips, for example to the Shetlands. The program has had a huge impact on the school and the girls in the programme.