Attend a 30min Fronter Webinar

Fronter are putting on some free webinars over the next few weeks.

08/09/2010 - How to...create a test

14/09/2010 - How to ...create hand-ins

15/09/2010 - How to ...use the new ILP

22/09/2010 - How to...use the new Goal Tool
29/09/2010 - How to....use Fronter and Elluminate for learning games and competitions

06/10/2010 - How to....use Creaza for shared multimedia projects

13/10/2010 - How to....run effective Fronter forums

20/10/2010 - How to....use Fronter and Elluminate for creative writing projects

They take a bite-sized 30 minutes of your time for a Fronter trainer to take you through some of the Fronter tools online and after school. For more information click here.

Alex Rees
alex.rees@redbridge.gov.uk

The app-store for Fronter?

Following the recent presentation at the Primary ICT Subject leaders event, the Resource Gateway, from Pearson, is now available for our Fronter schools.

The Resource Gateway provides a straightforward new tool to access and use digital resources within our Fronter platform. There is the opportunity to work with free resources and a useful preview of hundreds of other assets to support teaching and learning across the curriculum. Think of it as the app-store of the Fronter world - your school can add professionally made resources and share them with staff and students to access from home and school. If you already have licences for some of the resources in CD-ROM format, Pearson will give you access to the online versions for no extra cost.

To find out more, please open the Fronter e-newsletter: http://www.fronter.info/uk/news/UK_Resource_Gateway2.html

Engaging girls - a quick how-to...

A nice 15 minute TeachersTV video of ideas from the secondary ICT environment to get the thinking going at the beginning of a new term. Some key messages that come out of it are:

1. Context: make it relevant - not exclusively gender-biased
2. Collaboration: enabling team and pair work
3. Creativity: set tasks that allow students to show flair and difference

The programme also extols the virtues of setting up a CC4G club (with resources prepared for KS2 and KS3) and points out that when girls do opt to engage in ICT - most obviously at KS4 and KS5 - they often outperform boys with regard to the grades achieved. Also when you take ICT out of the ICT classroom, girls claim to be enjoy using it more.

Alex Rees
alex.rees@redbridge.gov.uk

ICT CPD for free

Naace, the professional association for those interested in advancing education through ICT, has made available FREE on-line continuing professional development opportunities for ICT practitioners. Online courses have been developed and fully evaluated and can be accessed by anyone, simply by registering on the site http://www.ictcpd4free.co.uk/.

Current courses:

• Monitoring Using ICT –BRAND NEW!!
• Web 2.0 Visual Learning Collaboration Tools (Primary) –NEW!
• Web 2.0 Visual Learning Collaboration Tools (Secondary) –NEW!
• Assessment of ICT in the Primary Phase
• Assessment of ICT in the Secondary Phase
• Developing Higher Order Thinking Skills Utilising ICT
• Embedding e-safety in the Curriculum (short course)
• Embedding e-safety in the Curriculum (long course)
• Introduction to finding Digital Resources
• Exploring Digital Media
• Finding Digital Resources
• High Interaction, Reflection and Peer Assessment Through Online Forums
• ICT Subject Knowledge in QCA Primary Framework
• Modelling and Models for Learning
• Monitoring Using ICT
• Using ICT in Innovative Ways

I have checked some of these out and they are brilliant! If you have a spare hour and you are pondering how to enhance your career - this is a brilliant place to start.

Alex Rees
alex.rees@redbridge.gov.uk

Home Access Grant - final update

If you thought it was all over read this from the Home Access team, written on 5th August 2010.

"Limited funding is still available for around 10,000 grants mainly due to some families choosing not to return their application forms. The telephone lines are reopening to send out additional application packs; as before, grants will be awarded on a first come, first served basis. Families that have already received application forms, or have been asked to provide further evidence, should return their completed documents as soon as possible or run the risk of missing out. To request an Application Pack families should contact the Home Access helpline on 0333 200 1004."

Could you still make use of this grant?

Alex Rees
alex.rees@redbridge.gov.uk