Category Archives: Technology

adobe
Apple, Apps, Review, Technology

PS (Photoshop) Touch for iPhone: Review

Leave a comment

PS Touch

Firstly, I have got to say, I’m a massive fan of Adobe Photoshop and I love using it with my students. I was curious how a stripped down version would work on my iPhone 5, after all, the screen is pretty small. It has to be said, after using it, its clear that a lot of work has gone into this . I’m very impressed.

When I first opened the App I wasn’t sure what to expect or how it would compare to the iPad version. The interface is very similar, with changes only made to take into account of the screen size. From what I can see all the functionality is the same. The UI is simple and not too overwhelming, it looks clean and it is easy to navigate.

So what is it like to use…

In order to give it a proper test, I decided to try and replicate an album cover that I produced in Photoshop for school a couple of months ago. I wanted to see how it compared. You can see the original below:

Original Photoshop Version

Original Photoshop Version

As a Creative Cloud user, I was able to download the images the original cover was made from, onto my iPhone from the cloud. Easy. You can also import images from your camera, photo library or clipboard.

Cutting out the original image of Jay-Z was a bit awkward, but I was impressed with the various option available to do it.  You can use the lasso tool or use your finger to trace around the parts that you want. What really blew me away was the ‘Refine Edges’ tool. Very similar to ‘big’ Photoshop. But, again, a little bit awkward because of the screen size. If I was a bit more patient and with practice I am sure it would get easier.

Some of the editing tools

Some of the editing tools

Once I cut Jay-Z out I then added more layers which are images from the cloud. The laters can all be arranged as you would do in the desktop version of Photoshop. You can even change the blending options of each layer. Happy days.

The layers

The layers

You can add adjust each layer by changing things like Brightness/Contrast, Saturation, Levels, Curves and many more.

Adjustment Options

Adjustment Options

And of course, Photoshop would not be the same without some image effects. The effects available are pretty good, but I am sure we will see more added in the future.

Effects

Effects

Once I had added my layers, made some adjustments my album cover was ready. I was even able to add some lens flare. I love lens flare and there are several options, even a JJ (Abrams option).  There are several options for export, you can upload to creative cloud, save to Camera Roll, share in different ways or save to iTunes.

The final album cover looked pretty good, compared to the original. I found it quite difficult during the cutting out the image process and you can see it isn’t perfect. The screen size is not ideal for this sort of editing, the iPad is obviously far better for this sort of thing. I would also like to see more fonts available. However, for an iPhone App I am very impressed and really enjoyed using it. The available tools and options are amazing for a iPhone App. I would definitely recommend. It is especially good for anyone who wants to quickly mock up a design for a larger project. To be honest though, the results can be really professional.

Final Album cover made in PS Touch for iPhone

Final Album cover made in PS Touch for iPhone

As you can see the image created on my iPhone is impressive when you compare it to the one I created on my MacBook Pro on Photoshop CS6.

My verdict: 4 out 5

Effects
The layers
Adjustment Options
Refine Edges
Final Album cover made in PS Touch for iPhone
Original Photoshop Version
xbox
E-Safety, Parents, Technology

(Video Clip) E-Safety Presentation for Parents – Part 1: Online Gaming

3 Comments

This is a clip from a presentation that myself and a colleague gave to parents earlier this month. The purpose of the presentation, was to give parents an idea of what some children were doing online/how they were using technology. The presentation we used can can be found here.

The talk was 2h hours long and I will post a few clips over the next month or so.

This particular clip if from the short section on ‘Online Gaming’.

aurasma
Apps, Education, Library, Technology

Augmented Reality – Bring Displays to Life

Leave a comment

Over the past few months, myself and our Librarian, Helen Cleaves have been working on some augmented reality (AR) displays.

The idea was for students to create a movie trailer for their favourite books. They could use any device they wanted to. Most students used the school iPads and the movie trailer feature on iMovie.

Once the trailers were finished, a poster was made with images of the featured books. Using Aurasma Studio we then created a ‘Aura’ for each book.

Students and teachers can now download the Aurasma App and watch the movie trailer by pointing their smartphone/tablet camera at the book cover.

The AR even works on the actual book covers and not just the ones on the poster.

Our students have loved it. They can now interact with the display which they have found really fun. It also gives them a great idea about what each of the books are about in a engaging and visual way.

We are now working on displays for other departments.

The video is not fantastic, but it will give you an idea of what we have been doing.

ipadsm
Apple, Apps, Education, iPad, iPad Trial, Teaching, Technology

How to Evaluate iPad use in Education

1 Comment
iPad

iPad

We are currently running an iPad trial at school and investigating their effectiveness for teaching and learning.

In order to fully understand the impact of these devices it is important to evaluate their use.

I created two evaluations. One for students to fill out once and one for teachers to fill out. These were created in Google Forms and a short cut was added to the iPad to make it easier for students to access.

It was important to me that the evaluations were short to encourage staff and students to fill them out.

Once the evaluation period is over, I will use the evaluations to help formulate a report.

The PDF evaluations are below:

Teacher Evaluation

Students Evaluation 

The great thing about Google Forms is that it is free, plus it gives you a great summary of results  with a selection of graphs.

Raspberry Pi
Computer Science, Education, ICT Curriculum, Teaching, Technology

Students setting up their Raspberry Pi (Video)

Leave a comment

This is a quick video showing some of my students setting up the Raspberry Pi at our lunchtime club.

They have really enjoyed coming in and putting everything together. Once they are good to go, I have given them an iPad with Readdledocs (now called Documents) installed. In the App I have supplied them with PDFs of some Python resources, that they are using for programming. The students can then annotate the PDF and make notes.

Today was excellent and there was some real collaberation, problem solving and fun going on.

nearpod1smal
Apple, Apps, Education, iPad, iPad Trial, Teaching, Technology

NearPod for iPad: Revolutionise presentations and AFL in the classroom

6 Comments
Students watching a video

Students watching a video

Today I tried out the NearPod App in a PSHE lesson.

I have pretty excited about this for a while and I have finally got around to testing it in the classroom.

For those who don’t know what NearPod is – check out this link.

So before the lesson I created my PowerPoint, converted it to PDF, uploaded it to NearPod and added the interactive elements (polls, quizzes and video). I had enough iPads for each student in class, which was perfect. However, this morning I was asked if I could have another class in my room with me. I only teach PSHE in half classes, but the added students meant I would have one iPad between two. It turns out, this wasn’t a massive problem, although less than ideal.

Once the students came in, I handed out the iPads and explained what would happen in the lesson. The topic I am working on at the moment is the death penalty. NearPod allows you to send a presentation directly to the students iPads.

NearPod was great and the ability to guide students through the presentation, while walking around the classroom was excellent. Of course the power comes from the interactive elements of the presentation. I was able to ask the students if they agreed with the death penalty by sending a poll to their iPads. The results came to my device and I was able to share the overall results with the students at the push of a button.

We then looked at why people do/don’t agree with the death penalty. Once we had done that and had a clash discussion, I then sent a quiz to their iPads. Again, I could share the overall results with each studemt. However, the students can see their own individual results on their iPads.

The ability to do this is great for AFL. You can also export the results and keep them on record.

Finally, I had embedded a video in the presentation.

I shared the video to their iPads. Every student was able to watch the video, on their iPads, at the same time. Excellent!

Apart from a few issues with WiFi on a couple of the iPads, NearPod worked perfectly. The students were engaged and really enjoyed using it. I can really see how great this is for teaching and learning.

The Biology department plan to use NearPod in lessons after half term. I’m looking forward to seeing how they get on.

I will post a video of a NearPod presentation soon, so those who have not seen it can see it in action.

Mattsml
Apps, Computer Science, ICT Curriculum, Teaching, Technology

UPDATE: Mr Britland’s KS3 ICT Curriculum V1.1 – (Free Booklet)

3 Comments

I have finally updated my ICT curriculum.

Here is the link: Mr Britland’s ICT Curriculum V1.1

The updates are:

  • The strands and aims
  • Copyright and version history added.
  • Amended the My App project (Year 7) – Students now create their own App
  • Amended the Computer Hardware/Computing History Project (Year 8)
  • Amended the Programming: Python project (Year 9). Now called Raspberry Pi and Python and now has new learning objectives

Aim

The aim of my curriculum is to develop confident digital citizens who understand the power of their digital world. It uses accessible, challenging and engaging projects that empower students and promotes the productive use of ICT.

I want students to feel able to ‘tinker’ with technology, to understand how it works and how to make it work for them; they should feel in control.

All students should have the opportunity to write their own programs, produce their own Apps or create professional quality digital products.

Students should feel safe when using technology and the web. They must learn what their rights and responsibilities are, as well as how legislation such as The Protection from Harassment Act and The Computer Misuse Act can affects them.

Finally, our young people must understand how to utilise the power of the cloud. Understand  what services are available and that the cloud can be a powerful collaborative tool.

I hope you find it useful.

rasppiclub
Computer Science, ICT Curriculum, Teaching, Technology

Our new Raspberry Pi and Python Club (Links to the resources I am using included)

1 Comment
Hello World

Hello World

Over the past two Wednesdays we have finally been able to start up our programming club.

We only have enough room for a few students at the moment, but we will review at Easter.

The Raspberry Pi’s have been fantastic, they have really made difference. Our students have really enjoyed setting them up and connecting everything together. It has a old school feel about it. Its exciting and really engaging.

We have been using projectors, but I finally have some monitors. In the club we will use a combination of the both.

This week was the first time we got down and did some programming. Hence the photo at the top of this post! We are going to be using Python (of course!) as the language of choice.

The resources I am using are:

Introduction to Python V2.1 – By Mark Clarkson

Invent with Python – By Al Sweigart

Raspberry Pi Quick Start Guide

Raspberry Pi Education Manual – By CAS in collaboration with BCS

I also plan to teach Python to Year 8 and 9 after Easter . 

Education, Teaching, Technology

Blogging using HTML in pen.io (Full Project)

2 Comments
pen.io

pen.io

By Mike Britland

Click here for the project

In the interest of pushing the ICT curriculum into the 21st Century, I have developed a SoW that aims to incorporate two facets of digital literacy and computer science; blogging & coding.

The unit of works asks students to produce a blog on a subject of their choice, they are required to research the topic and log all research in the correct manner. Logging and commenting on the validity of the information that is found is an essential area for assessment. This can be adapted so students need to comment at greater length on copyright issues.

Students present their blog using the free blogging site pen.io. This site is fairly unique, as students need an understanding of basic HTML and CSS in order to present work in an interesting manner. For instance, students will need a basic understanding on HTML in order to change the font size/type/colour/style. The site also tests students ability to organise work as they need to develop a navigation system for the their blogs.

The unit was originally taught in year 8 but the nature of the skills tested make the SoW scalable. Therefore, the more advanced use of HTML/CSS taught or used allows the unit to be taught to higher year groups.

This unit fits perfectly into the proposed draft programme of study for KS3 as it covers creative use of ICT and coding.

Follow Mike on Twitter:  @mikematthewsCDN