Previous Page
P30: Teachnology
Ann Logan shows how you can develop your professional skills with free online ICT training.
Wise up for free!
In these days of cutbacks and challenges, it’s a comfort to know there’s a place you can go to develop your professional skills free of charge. Naace is a professional association for educators who are interested in ICT. It offers free online courses on topics such as e-safety, exploring digital media (images, video and audio) and using social media in the classroom.
For instance, the course on e-safety, Embedding e-safety in the curriculum, will help build your confidence so you can develop a school-wide approach to staying safe online.
The course on exploring digital media will help you use internet tools (for instance, MovieMaker and iMovie) in combination with more elaborate desktop software. You and your students will create and share all sorts of digital media from graphics to music videos.
The social media (sometimes known as Web 2.0) course will help you develop your own strategies for using wikis and blogs as part of the curriculum.
There are some 15 online courses currently available.
Naace courses
By completing any of Naace’s free online courses, you can gain the first stage of the Naace ICT CPD Award. Four certificates (participatory, extended, enhanced and advanced) give you the chance to develop your understanding and practice.
Each certificate lets you select a point of entry according to your professional needs and gives you a route to becoming a certified Naace professional. This will be evidence of your professional development and a huge advantage when applying for jobs. The award is only open to Naace members, so you will need to join.
Better blogging
Find out how to use blogs as a teaching tool by following the case studies on the Education Blog Awards site.
What are the benefits of blogging? Teachers report that having a global audience improves the quality of students’ work. The peer marking that often happens with blogs can strengthen the thinking and writing process.
Students may also become more engaged with their writing, especially boys. Although the 2011 awards are over, there is plenty of good practice to see on this site, together with tips on getting started.
http://educationblogawards.org
My ICT favourites
Alison Brunyee is a year 5 teacher and subject coordinator for ICT at St Marie’s Catholic Primary School and Nursery in Rugby, Warwickshire.
Favourite software
Warwickshire learning platform
A safe place for children to collaborate, learn and try new things. Year 5 created a wiki about the ancient Greeks. Year 3s made a Joining the Juniors space for pupils in year 2. They answered the Y2 children’s questions to help them settle in. There’s also information, advice and games for teachers to try too!
Favourite gadget
There is nothing better than letting kids loose with a digital camera! My favourite was creating a comic strip based on the film The Piano. The children took pictures and added text via speech and thought bubbles on the computer.
Favourite websites
www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com Jenny Eather has created a bright and child- friendly maths dictionary. It has animations to demonstrate concepts and interactive sections for the children to explore.
www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/2007-08/ saintdavid/ds_english/index.html This website was a real find for St David’s Day (1 March). You can read the story or sequence through pictures. There’s a quiz and word search.
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids A delightful website children love to dip into, with weird and wonderful facts! There are links to a wide variety of countries (ideal for projects) and fun things children can make and do.
Which websites, software and gadgets help you most in your professional life? Email your favourites to teacher@nut.org.uk by 15 October and you could see them published in the Nov/Dec edition of The Teacher. You’ll also win a £15 Virgin events voucher courtesy of Countdown – see page 45.