I am three weeks into a course being run by The Consultants-E called mLearning. In the UK I guess most of us would call it Handheld learning but in the current "down with ICT" message that I, at least , am getting from the Government I think it will be the only way for schools to go over the next ten years.
The course itself has been really interesting so far, we have been exploring what it is, our own contexts and experimenting with various techniques.
During the first week there was an exercise on sound and one of the delegates introduced the idea of a story in a sequence of sounds. It seems a very obvious way of using mobile phones, mp3 or 4 player in the primary classroom. I have taken the idea and created a few MP3s that could be downloaded and used on mobile devices to inspire writing.
How I would use them:
• Listen once
• Listen a second time and note down key words or phrases linked to the sounds
• If necessary listen a third time filling out their notes
• Pupils either work alone, in small groups to create a story
• If pupils are working in a foreign language I may ask them to prepare to tell their story
• If pupils were working in their own language I may get them to work in groups to make a “choose your own path through the story” in a wiki.
This exercise could be as easy or advanced as required, pupils could use only the main sounds and develop a story using them, or use every sound in sequence to make up a story, or in any other way a teacher can imagine!
Each sound files has a sound that does not really belong, e.g. the jungle has a cat’s meow and the shopping event has robotic sounds, some pupils may enjoy weaving them into a story if they hear them, others may choose to ignore the odd sounds, it really does not matter.
If you try them out please let me know if it worked, how it turned out, and if possible, share your pupil’s writing.
Jungle at Dusk
Cut Down a Tree
Whoops
Shopping Event
Friday, 28 January 2011
Saturday, 22 January 2011
A mad few weeks
Well for various reasons it has been a few weeks since I wrote anything here - the main reason being my desktop computer died about a fortnight before Christmas and I have been juggling an old machine and laptop to get by! The desktop I have been using was the one I had before the one that just died, it is a bit old now and I had cleared all of my software off for my son who only used it to talk to his fiance whilst she was studying in France and he was here. Since she came over the computer has been sat idle upstairs as they use her laptop in their flat, so out it came and I have just about finished installing and updating everything again as I am going to put it back upstairs in the box room office tomorrow! However so much has been happening I feel as if I should have written a book in the time never mind a single, strange, rather mixed up, multi-themed post.
I went out to buy a new computer the other day. I had decided I wanted a nice neat all-in-one type. I found a good one, a Sony with everything I needed, but decided to have a last look around before buying, a bad move, I ended up with a big Mac, and not the burger sort :-)
It will take me a while to get used to it I think! I have loaded Parallels, Windows 7 and a new version of MS Office that I purchased and downloaded the day my old computer died. I have put a few favourite essentials on that just so the virtual computer so that I can do all that I need to do on a daily basis but where possible I am using the Mac software to start to get used to it. I am really impressed with how the Mac does things, I just wish I was a month on and knew a bit better where everything is and what to expect, I feel a little insecure at the moment!
It has been about ten days since I was at Learning Without Frontiers conference at the Barbican in London. Lots has already been written about it, it was an amazing few days with lots to see, think about and learn. The thing that just blew me away was Tim Ryland's green screen filming with children. He used the iPad app Epic Citadel as the background and started a story about two pickpockets. It was totally believable set in an "Oliver" style of old London. The children acted out the story, filmed against green, then the action was set over the old London scene. See lots more on Tim's blog posts http://www.timrylands.com/blog/2011/01/10/learning-without-frontiers-london-2011/ and http://www.timrylands.com/blog/2011/01/11/learning-without-frontiers-london-2011-2-a-few-more-links/.
I bought the software virtual world software for little ones called "All about Me" I love it! I have to pass it onto to my grandson but only when I have finished playing with it :-)
The DSi Excel was impressive, it does not have apps so is used in a different way to the iPod Touch.
See more about the LWF conference from colleague Nick at http://buzzinged.org.uk/ he has been much more productive than me ;-)
There are a lot of video clips at http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=learning+without+frontiers&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=learning+without+frontiers&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=4z6&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=ivns&source=univ&tbs=vid:1&tbo=u&ei=t1M7TcicJMyXhQfilcXACg&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=6&ved=0CFYQqwQwBQ&fp=18c83b03fcd69cdc and all of Leon's clips are being made available at http://www.l4l.co.uk/
From there we went on to BETT and sadly between meeting people, presentations and doing things for work I did not see as much as usual but the one piece of software that stood out above everything to me was the I Can Animate app by Kudlian. The software itself has been around for a while but the app - for the new ipod touch 2s with cameras - amazing!! It has green screen capability and I was thrilled with the small sized green board that the demos were being filmed on at their stand. I bought the app on the train on the way home :-) and my husband covered a small board with green felt that we just happened to have in the loft - green screen miniature studio set up and ready! When my grandson came last Sunday we created a story, he recorded the narration and we made the props. Sadly my spring loaded iPhone tripod has not yet arrived so we can't record the stop motion animation tomorrow :-( However it will be done very soon and then I will be experimenting with more ideas.
I have to just mention that after the Wednesday preso in BETT, about Second Life, a Second Life colleague whom I have only met once was at the end of a queue of people who wanted to talk after the event. I was so shocked I could not believe it was her and had to check her name badge - what a lovely surprise!! It made the whole weekend for me!
Our team and centre is due to become an Apple Regional Training Centre over the next few weeks, it has taken a while to set up and now the time is just about here I am quite excited ;-) Whilst at BETT we talked to the Apple people that we are working with and they are going to put some of the new iPod Touch 2s into our kit so hopefully at least in this one aspect - miniature green screen video creation we will be able to do something wonderful!
Our e-safety course has started again in Second Life, join us Tuesday evening for week 2!
The EVO VILLAGE 2011 is running and with so much going on at work at the moment I really am not doing nearly enough to help the team, but we did have a lot of fun outfitting everyone with new clothes last weekend! For video of that see http://lancelot.emea.acrobat.com/p27122770/.
There is more to come for the last fortnight - but tomorrow :-)
I went out to buy a new computer the other day. I had decided I wanted a nice neat all-in-one type. I found a good one, a Sony with everything I needed, but decided to have a last look around before buying, a bad move, I ended up with a big Mac, and not the burger sort :-)
It will take me a while to get used to it I think! I have loaded Parallels, Windows 7 and a new version of MS Office that I purchased and downloaded the day my old computer died. I have put a few favourite essentials on that just so the virtual computer so that I can do all that I need to do on a daily basis but where possible I am using the Mac software to start to get used to it. I am really impressed with how the Mac does things, I just wish I was a month on and knew a bit better where everything is and what to expect, I feel a little insecure at the moment!
It has been about ten days since I was at Learning Without Frontiers conference at the Barbican in London. Lots has already been written about it, it was an amazing few days with lots to see, think about and learn. The thing that just blew me away was Tim Ryland's green screen filming with children. He used the iPad app Epic Citadel as the background and started a story about two pickpockets. It was totally believable set in an "Oliver" style of old London. The children acted out the story, filmed against green, then the action was set over the old London scene. See lots more on Tim's blog posts http://www.timrylands.com/blog/2011/01/10/learning-without-frontiers-london-2011/ and http://www.timrylands.com/blog/2011/01/11/learning-without-frontiers-london-2011-2-a-few-more-links/.
I bought the software virtual world software for little ones called "All about Me" I love it! I have to pass it onto to my grandson but only when I have finished playing with it :-)
The DSi Excel was impressive, it does not have apps so is used in a different way to the iPod Touch.
See more about the LWF conference from colleague Nick at http://buzzinged.org.uk/ he has been much more productive than me ;-)
There are a lot of video clips at http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=learning+without+frontiers&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=learning+without+frontiers&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=4z6&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=ivns&source=univ&tbs=vid:1&tbo=u&ei=t1M7TcicJMyXhQfilcXACg&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=6&ved=0CFYQqwQwBQ&fp=18c83b03fcd69cdc and all of Leon's clips are being made available at http://www.l4l.co.uk/
From there we went on to BETT and sadly between meeting people, presentations and doing things for work I did not see as much as usual but the one piece of software that stood out above everything to me was the I Can Animate app by Kudlian. The software itself has been around for a while but the app - for the new ipod touch 2s with cameras - amazing!! It has green screen capability and I was thrilled with the small sized green board that the demos were being filmed on at their stand. I bought the app on the train on the way home :-) and my husband covered a small board with green felt that we just happened to have in the loft - green screen miniature studio set up and ready! When my grandson came last Sunday we created a story, he recorded the narration and we made the props. Sadly my spring loaded iPhone tripod has not yet arrived so we can't record the stop motion animation tomorrow :-( However it will be done very soon and then I will be experimenting with more ideas.
I have to just mention that after the Wednesday preso in BETT, about Second Life, a Second Life colleague whom I have only met once was at the end of a queue of people who wanted to talk after the event. I was so shocked I could not believe it was her and had to check her name badge - what a lovely surprise!! It made the whole weekend for me!
Our team and centre is due to become an Apple Regional Training Centre over the next few weeks, it has taken a while to set up and now the time is just about here I am quite excited ;-) Whilst at BETT we talked to the Apple people that we are working with and they are going to put some of the new iPod Touch 2s into our kit so hopefully at least in this one aspect - miniature green screen video creation we will be able to do something wonderful!
Our e-safety course has started again in Second Life, join us Tuesday evening for week 2!
The EVO VILLAGE 2011 is running and with so much going on at work at the moment I really am not doing nearly enough to help the team, but we did have a lot of fun outfitting everyone with new clothes last weekend! For video of that see http://lancelot.emea.acrobat.com/p27122770/.
There is more to come for the last fortnight - but tomorrow :-)
Saturday, 8 January 2011
QR Code Investigations
I have been experimenting for a few weeks with using QR codes to make class puzzles or quizzes. They are ideal for out of school use where you can read one on the side of a building to find out information or open a web link explaining more about the building but I feel that children would enjoy getting used to using them. As we have a set of iPod touches that go out to schools I am hoping to write a curricular puzzle for the next school that has them but how to do it, how to plan and run a quiz or create a classroom puzzle has been a bit of a trial in itself!
I have just pulled a set of QR code investigations together into a document and wonder if there is anyone out there who would like to try them! I tried to make a quiz before Christmas, based on the story of The Night Before Christmas, but I felt it was boring so not good, I will try to refine it for next Christmas, I may know what I am doing by then!
There are issues to consider when trying to make a classroom QR code quiz, investigation or whatever, one of the hardest to deal with is that sites which use plugins, Flash and Shockwave etc. can’t be used in the work as the plugins are not available on the Apple products. ANother is reading the codes. When I had printed off my first set of QR codes to try out the quiz several did not read and I thought they had failed – but no – the way I was holding them or propping them up to try them out was what failed, the paper was floppy so bent slightly meaning the camera could not read them accurately enough.
This document The Ancient Greeks QR Code Investigation is a set of open ended investigations for older primary children who are studying the Ancient Egyptians. The differentiation in this case would have to be by outcome, I have not set differentaiated tasks, I may in the future if this sort of activity would work. It could be an extension activity for more able once they have finished the core work, I guess there are many ways in which it could be used according to the facilities available in a classroom. The pupils need internet access through a phone or iPod Touch with a QR reader such as the free one at http://itunes.apple.com/app/id368494609?mt=8 to access it.
The investigations are written as QR codes, so are the websites that pupils may use for the study! Pupils may just find the investigation title with the QR reader then go and look up information on the computer to formulate their answer, which would give some better sites for this age pupil, sadly the lack of flash on the Apple products means that many interactive children’s sites are not available on the mobile devices.
Teachers should print out the sheets and cut out the images which need to be laminated to make them rigid enough to be read by a phone or iPod Touch with a QR reader such as. The laminated code images need to be put around the classroom so that pupils can look around with the QR reader, find an investigation that they like and then find the website to help them with their answer.
The instructions code says when pupils have done 6 of the 10 investigations to go to the teacher for their prize. The answers may be as short as a sentence or could be a much bigger investigation depending on the age and ability of the pupils involved. The prize may be house points, a star or something more substantial but if that is not how you want to use the puzzle don’t put the instruction code image out. You could use a website such as http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ web site to create your own instruction!
If you use it please let me know how you use it and how it goes! If you have ideas to improve it and you have time to feed back please do that too!! If you use it I hope your children enjoy it. If it fails - I am sorry it is only and experiment but I am lacking children to try it out on these days :-(
QR Code Links
http://qrcode.kaywa.com/
http://hamsterclass.posterous.com/using-our-class-ipod-touch-to-get-help-with-t
http://www.dontwasteyourtime.co.uk/qr-codes/qr-codes-the-nuts-and-bolts/
http://mrbroadfield.blogspot.com/2011/01/using-qr-codes.html
http://www.qrstuff.com/
Things to try to make use of QR codes
Treasure hunts, maths trails, nature trails, history trails – text posters around the school.
Messages for the local community posted outside school for schools to read.
As a stimulus from writing - take the maps of the school, plant a virtual world on top, set a quest around the school.
I have just pulled a set of QR code investigations together into a document and wonder if there is anyone out there who would like to try them! I tried to make a quiz before Christmas, based on the story of The Night Before Christmas, but I felt it was boring so not good, I will try to refine it for next Christmas, I may know what I am doing by then!
There are issues to consider when trying to make a classroom QR code quiz, investigation or whatever, one of the hardest to deal with is that sites which use plugins, Flash and Shockwave etc. can’t be used in the work as the plugins are not available on the Apple products. ANother is reading the codes. When I had printed off my first set of QR codes to try out the quiz several did not read and I thought they had failed – but no – the way I was holding them or propping them up to try them out was what failed, the paper was floppy so bent slightly meaning the camera could not read them accurately enough.
This document The Ancient Greeks QR Code Investigation is a set of open ended investigations for older primary children who are studying the Ancient Egyptians. The differentiation in this case would have to be by outcome, I have not set differentaiated tasks, I may in the future if this sort of activity would work. It could be an extension activity for more able once they have finished the core work, I guess there are many ways in which it could be used according to the facilities available in a classroom. The pupils need internet access through a phone or iPod Touch with a QR reader such as the free one at http://itunes.apple.com/app/id368494609?mt=8 to access it.
The investigations are written as QR codes, so are the websites that pupils may use for the study! Pupils may just find the investigation title with the QR reader then go and look up information on the computer to formulate their answer, which would give some better sites for this age pupil, sadly the lack of flash on the Apple products means that many interactive children’s sites are not available on the mobile devices.
Teachers should print out the sheets and cut out the images which need to be laminated to make them rigid enough to be read by a phone or iPod Touch with a QR reader such as. The laminated code images need to be put around the classroom so that pupils can look around with the QR reader, find an investigation that they like and then find the website to help them with their answer.
The instructions code says when pupils have done 6 of the 10 investigations to go to the teacher for their prize. The answers may be as short as a sentence or could be a much bigger investigation depending on the age and ability of the pupils involved. The prize may be house points, a star or something more substantial but if that is not how you want to use the puzzle don’t put the instruction code image out. You could use a website such as http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ web site to create your own instruction!
If you use it please let me know how you use it and how it goes! If you have ideas to improve it and you have time to feed back please do that too!! If you use it I hope your children enjoy it. If it fails - I am sorry it is only and experiment but I am lacking children to try it out on these days :-(
QR Code Links
http://qrcode.kaywa.com/
http://hamsterclass.posterous.com/using-our-class-ipod-touch-to-get-help-with-t
http://www.dontwasteyourtime.co.uk/qr-codes/qr-codes-the-nuts-and-bolts/
http://mrbroadfield.blogspot.com/2011/01/using-qr-codes.html
http://www.qrstuff.com/
Things to try to make use of QR codes
Treasure hunts, maths trails, nature trails, history trails – text posters around the school.
Messages for the local community posted outside school for schools to read.
As a stimulus from writing - take the maps of the school, plant a virtual world on top, set a quest around the school.
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
Sunday, 5 December 2010
Who am I really and am I an on-line friend?
I may tell you that I am mid 50s, married, a teacher, mother of a houseful of grown up children, most of whom have children – so – a grandmother too, but am I who I claim to be?
You may tell me you are mid 30s, living with your partner, a teacher, interested in technology and I believe you!
Why?
Can on-line/ virtual friendships be taken seriously?
Can you possibly know who I am from what I choose to reveal about myself?
Can I possibly know you from our on-line conversations?
How can we know who is a friend?
I talk to you in an on-line situation, plan events, work alongside you, trust you as a friend – an on-line friend. I am happy to see you. I chat to you freely, sharing incidents, maybe some friendly local gossip, maybe family details. I have no fear.
I am comfortable and happy with that relationship.
Is it real?
You work in the same school as me. I see you every day.
I gather from conversations your wife’s name, your children’s names, the school they go to, the minutiae of daily life with young children. The birthdays, the presents, the illnesses, days off, struggling to cope with child care...
I see your eyes during conversation. I see how you cope and deal with small children, colleagues and parents...
I feel that I know you, I share the daily hassles to cope with work, a family etc.. I consider you a friend.
One night you up-sticks move out of the family home and into the home of a lover.
Did I really know you?
I worked alongside you in real life, called upon you when I had problems with technology and you solved them. I was happy to see you arrive. I chatted to you happily, maybe gossiped about friends, mostly just friendly stuff but more likely current events, maybe family events. I had no fear. I considered you a friend.
Years later I heard you were in gaol – your crime was really not nice. I may have been the person on the receiving end...
What is it to know a person? How can I know a person in physical life or in virtual life?
What an dilemma. I do and always have chosen to believe people are inherently good, friendly and for the most part trustworthy. I know for many money is an issue and they may not have paid for every last video they watch, song they listen to, or picture they use and that is not the sort of trustworthiness or honesty that I am talking about. It is the trust when someone is not under pressure, people in a natural, relaxed frame of mind such as most that we meet in an on-line or local social situation when I feel they should have no reason to fabricate their life.
Am I wrong?
I don’t think so.
Recently I have read with horror the plight of a friend – dare I say that? An on-line friend – can that really be though?
He has suffered dreadfully at the hands of someone whom he thought of as one of his on-line friends - one party deliberately wanting to hurt another – that is strange, abhorrent even to me who dreads accidentally hurting anyone let alone someone I consider a friend... How can anyone do that? It really upset me I was saddened, shocked, experienced pain, but can I really empathise with someone who is a virtual friend?
How can we know who we are talking to when we are on-line?
Part of every one of my e-safety courses is trying to answer the question “How can we know who we are talking to when we are on-line?” During the session delegates try to make a poster of three questions that we can give to pupils so that they can say yes – this is someone I can trust, it is a safe on-line friend, but we have never yet managed it. We make a question – think it is good, then comes the “Ah but...” moment. So the question fails. This happens over and over again with every group of people working on the exercise.
The question seems to be unanswerable.
Thinking about cyber bullying
I have happily set off on several journeys to meet my on-line friends and absolutely love them – more from having physically met them, than knowing them purely in the on-line world where they are still rather abstract.
Have they been genuine people?
Has what they have told me been true?
Probably! I have no reason to doubt it.
I don’t want to know private details of friends’ lives if they are on-line friends any more than if they are working in the same building as me all day every day, or I grew up with them and have known them all my life. We are all entitled to as much privacy in our lives as we require. We all choose what to share with others and what to keep hidden. So if I feel that all my friends – on-line or off, are friends, they are not deliberately lying to me, they are not pretending to be someone they are not, and that they are all simply delightful people is there an issue?
Clearly there is as the plight of one particular friend shows.
Is it anything to do with the on-line world? That is where the problem occurred.
What is it in the on-line world that makes such a difference?
Tone of voice – in the on-line world it is often not there as a hint of how seriously messages of being made – is that an issue?
Eye contact – in the on-line world it is missing – is that an issue?
Body language - in the real world distances, personal space, touch or lack of, these things may more easily help people to understand the social requirements of a situation - is the lack of that a contributor?
When physically with someone I can see easily if words are upsetting someone – so I stop talking, back track, apologise, try to resolve the issue? Is not being able to see someone an issue?
Did someone set out deliberately to destroy someone else?
So maybe I should try going on-line and deliberately set out to mislead another person, pretend I am 25, make up elaborate stories to hide my real family, age etc... nooo – could not keep that up and no interest in trying to deny who I am or my lovely family...
If I even say something innocently that gets misinterpreted – oh dear, full of apologies and explanations ... followed by a quiet embarrassed withdrawal...
So if someone did deliberately set out to deceive or destroy someone else is that a sign of illness? Is a cyberbully an ill person? If so how can we recognise the illness, deal with it? Support that ill person?
I have to go on trusting people are who they say they are, enjoying their company and all the rest. However – I know how hard it was to completely avoid one on-line “friend” who decided I needed to be someone else and do things that I am not prepared to do to meet his demands, who told me I was a useless teacher because I did not jump through his hoops when evaluating my own work, he had access to me on MSN, Twitter, e-mail, in Second Life, through various Nings etc., it took ages to stop the contact and was an experience I really did not enjoy. Earlier this year I was at an on-line event and he was present – I was able to ignore him and enjoy the event without contact and without worry, but it did take a while! I am very lucky of course – I am strong and have a family who support me! I read another story yesterday about a teacher who had been bullied in school and it had destroyed her confidence so much so that she is locked away at home unable to work at the moment.
Can I honestly carry on teaching about e-safety and cyber bullying when all I have are questions? I have to! We all have to pull together to stop cyberbullying – any sort of bullying – it destroys lives and what possible satisfaction can come from that? We must try to recognise spark points, reasons, illness involved and create more and better support for all involved.
You may tell me you are mid 30s, living with your partner, a teacher, interested in technology and I believe you!
Why?
Can on-line/ virtual friendships be taken seriously?
Can you possibly know who I am from what I choose to reveal about myself?
Can I possibly know you from our on-line conversations?
How can we know who is a friend?
I talk to you in an on-line situation, plan events, work alongside you, trust you as a friend – an on-line friend. I am happy to see you. I chat to you freely, sharing incidents, maybe some friendly local gossip, maybe family details. I have no fear.
I am comfortable and happy with that relationship.
Is it real?
You work in the same school as me. I see you every day.
I gather from conversations your wife’s name, your children’s names, the school they go to, the minutiae of daily life with young children. The birthdays, the presents, the illnesses, days off, struggling to cope with child care...
I see your eyes during conversation. I see how you cope and deal with small children, colleagues and parents...
I feel that I know you, I share the daily hassles to cope with work, a family etc.. I consider you a friend.
One night you up-sticks move out of the family home and into the home of a lover.
Did I really know you?
I worked alongside you in real life, called upon you when I had problems with technology and you solved them. I was happy to see you arrive. I chatted to you happily, maybe gossiped about friends, mostly just friendly stuff but more likely current events, maybe family events. I had no fear. I considered you a friend.
Years later I heard you were in gaol – your crime was really not nice. I may have been the person on the receiving end...
What is it to know a person? How can I know a person in physical life or in virtual life?
What an dilemma. I do and always have chosen to believe people are inherently good, friendly and for the most part trustworthy. I know for many money is an issue and they may not have paid for every last video they watch, song they listen to, or picture they use and that is not the sort of trustworthiness or honesty that I am talking about. It is the trust when someone is not under pressure, people in a natural, relaxed frame of mind such as most that we meet in an on-line or local social situation when I feel they should have no reason to fabricate their life.
Am I wrong?
I don’t think so.
Recently I have read with horror the plight of a friend – dare I say that? An on-line friend – can that really be though?
He has suffered dreadfully at the hands of someone whom he thought of as one of his on-line friends - one party deliberately wanting to hurt another – that is strange, abhorrent even to me who dreads accidentally hurting anyone let alone someone I consider a friend... How can anyone do that? It really upset me I was saddened, shocked, experienced pain, but can I really empathise with someone who is a virtual friend?
How can we know who we are talking to when we are on-line?
Part of every one of my e-safety courses is trying to answer the question “How can we know who we are talking to when we are on-line?” During the session delegates try to make a poster of three questions that we can give to pupils so that they can say yes – this is someone I can trust, it is a safe on-line friend, but we have never yet managed it. We make a question – think it is good, then comes the “Ah but...” moment. So the question fails. This happens over and over again with every group of people working on the exercise.
The question seems to be unanswerable.
Thinking about cyber bullying
I have happily set off on several journeys to meet my on-line friends and absolutely love them – more from having physically met them, than knowing them purely in the on-line world where they are still rather abstract.
Have they been genuine people?
Has what they have told me been true?
Probably! I have no reason to doubt it.
I don’t want to know private details of friends’ lives if they are on-line friends any more than if they are working in the same building as me all day every day, or I grew up with them and have known them all my life. We are all entitled to as much privacy in our lives as we require. We all choose what to share with others and what to keep hidden. So if I feel that all my friends – on-line or off, are friends, they are not deliberately lying to me, they are not pretending to be someone they are not, and that they are all simply delightful people is there an issue?
Clearly there is as the plight of one particular friend shows.
Is it anything to do with the on-line world? That is where the problem occurred.
What is it in the on-line world that makes such a difference?
Tone of voice – in the on-line world it is often not there as a hint of how seriously messages of being made – is that an issue?
Eye contact – in the on-line world it is missing – is that an issue?
Body language - in the real world distances, personal space, touch or lack of, these things may more easily help people to understand the social requirements of a situation - is the lack of that a contributor?
When physically with someone I can see easily if words are upsetting someone – so I stop talking, back track, apologise, try to resolve the issue? Is not being able to see someone an issue?
Did someone set out deliberately to destroy someone else?
So maybe I should try going on-line and deliberately set out to mislead another person, pretend I am 25, make up elaborate stories to hide my real family, age etc... nooo – could not keep that up and no interest in trying to deny who I am or my lovely family...
If I even say something innocently that gets misinterpreted – oh dear, full of apologies and explanations ... followed by a quiet embarrassed withdrawal...
So if someone did deliberately set out to deceive or destroy someone else is that a sign of illness? Is a cyberbully an ill person? If so how can we recognise the illness, deal with it? Support that ill person?
I have to go on trusting people are who they say they are, enjoying their company and all the rest. However – I know how hard it was to completely avoid one on-line “friend” who decided I needed to be someone else and do things that I am not prepared to do to meet his demands, who told me I was a useless teacher because I did not jump through his hoops when evaluating my own work, he had access to me on MSN, Twitter, e-mail, in Second Life, through various Nings etc., it took ages to stop the contact and was an experience I really did not enjoy. Earlier this year I was at an on-line event and he was present – I was able to ignore him and enjoy the event without contact and without worry, but it did take a while! I am very lucky of course – I am strong and have a family who support me! I read another story yesterday about a teacher who had been bullied in school and it had destroyed her confidence so much so that she is locked away at home unable to work at the moment.
Can I honestly carry on teaching about e-safety and cyber bullying when all I have are questions? I have to! We all have to pull together to stop cyberbullying – any sort of bullying – it destroys lives and what possible satisfaction can come from that? We must try to recognise spark points, reasons, illness involved and create more and better support for all involved.
Friday, 3 December 2010
EduBlog Awards Nominations 2010
Well - here we are at the last second, I am with a friend, sat in Second Life, trying to think of all the wonderful blogs I read regularly and can't think of them.... ooohhh should have started earlier!
I am sure there should be more - but this is it for me - if I have left you out - I am sorry please don't take it personally!
Best individual blog E-moderation Station http://www.emoderationskills.com/ An enjoyable introduction to many technological terms, explained really clearly – good for use with teachers new to ICT!
Best New Blog http://emmaherrod.com/category/blog/ A great new blog full of interesting teaching ideas.
Best individual tweeter @eyebeams – keeps me up to date with educational and technological events in the UK!
Best group blog http://digitalplay.info/blog/ - Kyle and Graham give lots of ideas for using games to learn! I frequently share their ideas with Oxfordshire schools.
Best resource sharing blog - http://www.freetech4teachers.com/ Loads of wonderful tools for teachers are reviewed and shared on this blog, again I often share the ideas with Oxfordshire teachers.
Most influential blog post - http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=665 - Bullied, Blackmailed, Defamed, Threatened…The shock of the year! A salutary warning to all of us how vulnerable we are in cyberspace. We really do not know who we are talking to all of the time. That this can happen to such a lovely person is beyond belief.
Most influential tweet / series of tweets / tweet based discussion #UKedchat a weekly discussion on various aspects of education. http://ukedchat.wikispaces.com/
Best teacher blog Dawn Halleybone http://hallyd.edublogs.org/tag/wii/ Dawn shared her games based learning ideas – a gift to all educators:-)
Best educational tech support blog http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/ loads of lovely web 2.0 ideas offered here ;-)
Best educational use of video / visual http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/ This is a great resource for all teachers whenever they are trying to work out how Web 2. tools work!
Best educational use of a virtual world #SLanguages 2010 http://www.slanguages.net/archive2010.php
Best use of a PLN Shelly Terrell - #EdTech http://edchat.pbworks.com/w/page/219908/FrontPage
EduBlog Awards Nominations 2010
I am sure there should be more - but this is it for me - if I have left you out - I am sorry please don't take it personally!
Best individual blog E-moderation Station http://www.emoderationskills.com/ An enjoyable introduction to many technological terms, explained really clearly – good for use with teachers new to ICT!
Best New Blog http://emmaherrod.com/category/blog/ A great new blog full of interesting teaching ideas.
Best individual tweeter @eyebeams – keeps me up to date with educational and technological events in the UK!
Best group blog http://digitalplay.info/blog/ - Kyle and Graham give lots of ideas for using games to learn! I frequently share their ideas with Oxfordshire schools.
Best resource sharing blog - http://www.freetech4teachers.com/ Loads of wonderful tools for teachers are reviewed and shared on this blog, again I often share the ideas with Oxfordshire teachers.
Most influential blog post - http://slife.dudeney.com/?p=665 - Bullied, Blackmailed, Defamed, Threatened…The shock of the year! A salutary warning to all of us how vulnerable we are in cyberspace. We really do not know who we are talking to all of the time. That this can happen to such a lovely person is beyond belief.
Most influential tweet / series of tweets / tweet based discussion #UKedchat a weekly discussion on various aspects of education. http://ukedchat.wikispaces.com/
Best teacher blog Dawn Halleybone http://hallyd.edublogs.org/tag/wii/ Dawn shared her games based learning ideas – a gift to all educators:-)
Best educational tech support blog http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/ loads of lovely web 2.0 ideas offered here ;-)
Best educational use of video / visual http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/ This is a great resource for all teachers whenever they are trying to work out how Web 2. tools work!
Best educational use of a virtual world #SLanguages 2010 http://www.slanguages.net/archive2010.php
Best use of a PLN Shelly Terrell - #EdTech http://edchat.pbworks.com/w/page/219908/FrontPage
Saturday, 30 October 2010
Tom
Well we have Tom living with us now. He is another rescue dog, an adolescent male, very puppyish still but rather large! He has a huge head and feet but is still quite skinny having suffered a lot from stress in the kennel.
He loves running and runs like the wind, he has chased the turkey and hens, not to hurt them, just because it is fun. He loves chasing a ball. He loves people, dogs and children and will make a lovely pet as we get him a little better mannered, at the moment he is rather too boisterous and would love to be a lapdog taking advantage of cuddling up to and trying to get onto people’s laps when they are seated. He thinks all day is playtime and that everyone is going to play with him! He loves men and as soon as my husband or sons come in the house it is instant play!
I have got through so many clothes this week (working at home as it is half term) as he rushes in from the garden and throws himself at me – when standing on his back legs his paws reach my shoulders so he leaves muddy paw prints all down me :-)
At the moment he is totally bemused when I talk to people on Skype or in Second Life, he thinks that I can only be talking to him as no-one else is around, then tries to get on my lap!
We have one smallish problem – he is afraid of small spaces! I can’t get him to use the dog flaps in the back door and conservatory to get in and out of the garden! As he wants to run all day I have had the doors open all week and it is getting cold here. I have tried all sorts so far – even as far as putting a pork pie on one side to encourage him through – after half an hour of trying to coax, persuade etc., I went and started work leaving him outside hoping he may pluck up courage but Dexy dog went and ate the pork pie - #fail!
So every time he goes in and out and I am with him I open the flaps and get him to go through but for how long I have to do this is anyone’s guess ;-) It could be a long cold winter in this house!
He loves running and runs like the wind, he has chased the turkey and hens, not to hurt them, just because it is fun. He loves chasing a ball. He loves people, dogs and children and will make a lovely pet as we get him a little better mannered, at the moment he is rather too boisterous and would love to be a lapdog taking advantage of cuddling up to and trying to get onto people’s laps when they are seated. He thinks all day is playtime and that everyone is going to play with him! He loves men and as soon as my husband or sons come in the house it is instant play!
I have got through so many clothes this week (working at home as it is half term) as he rushes in from the garden and throws himself at me – when standing on his back legs his paws reach my shoulders so he leaves muddy paw prints all down me :-)
At the moment he is totally bemused when I talk to people on Skype or in Second Life, he thinks that I can only be talking to him as no-one else is around, then tries to get on my lap!
We have one smallish problem – he is afraid of small spaces! I can’t get him to use the dog flaps in the back door and conservatory to get in and out of the garden! As he wants to run all day I have had the doors open all week and it is getting cold here. I have tried all sorts so far – even as far as putting a pork pie on one side to encourage him through – after half an hour of trying to coax, persuade etc., I went and started work leaving him outside hoping he may pluck up courage but Dexy dog went and ate the pork pie - #fail!
So every time he goes in and out and I am with him I open the flaps and get him to go through but for how long I have to do this is anyone’s guess ;-) It could be a long cold winter in this house!
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