This game looks amazing and the developers have an incredible way of creating a sandbox sci-fi exploration space game. Everything in the game is created procedurally using maths and algorithms. Confused? Watch the video below for more explanation.
The video is part of IGN’s ‘IGN First’ video games previews.
This is a copy of a presentation I gave to Year 10 students on Cyber Safety. It covers social media, cyberbullying and sexting. Although this is heavy going I think it is still important when talking about this subject matter that you also talk about how positive social media can be, when used appropriately.
“Thank you for an excellent, well focused inset on the integration of iPADs into ICT teaching in particular and the curriculum more generally. The presentation and demonstrations inspired confidence in the classroom use of iPADs and helped reassure staff as we go 1:1 in September. It was good to get an insight into cutting edge use of Apps and to swap ideas with a consultant who has current day to day experience as a Head of Department.”
Nick Williams, Head of Business, Computing and ICT: Millfield School
This is the presentation I gave at the Research in Practice annual meeting about Professionalising the use of social media. It was a great morning and I met some amazing people who are really interested in using social media.
At school I am running an app design project for my year 7 students. Unlike many lessons they have experienced in their previous school life, there is very little teaching from the teacher, I am mostly there as a facilitator. I am of course there to help when necessary but my aim is to get students learning more independently. They must teach themselves using videos I have produced for them.
Using social media is a scary prospect for many schools and teachers. There are a lot of schools who don’t fully understand social media and what a powerful tool it can be for teaching and learning as well as for marketing. It’s hard to relate to social media if you don’t use it yourself which is why it’s so important to have an expert in your school. This expert can help train members of staff, write an expectable use policy as well as mange and lead you social media strategy.
There are a number of options when considering social media, which include Facebook, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest, but my personal favourite would be Twitter. It’s easy to understand and manage; it’s uncomplicated and gives short bursts of teaching and learning as well as marketing.
Using social media enables schools to broadcast information including achievements, open days, school trips, sporting results and anything else that promotes the school in a positive way. This is fantastic not only for current students and parents but for prospective parents too.
Teaching and learning can also benefit greatly from the use of social media. Having used Twitter and Facebook for these purposes I’ve really been able to see the value of it. Not only is this great for students and teachers but it shows current and prospective parents the impressive things that departments are doing.
When using social media, schools need to be aware of some of the pitfalls. Common mistakes are tweeting from a work account instead of a personal account by mistake, posting images of students whose parent have requested not to be photographed, spelling mistakes, sharing links to articles that have not been checked and sharing incorrect information.
Matt Britland is director of ICT at The Lady Eleanor Holles School. He’s also an ed tech consultant, an avid tweeter and blogs for the Guardian. If you want to learn more about social media, don’t miss Matt’s seminar at EdExec LIVE 2014.
Back at the end of November 2013, I took part in a series of talks organised and sponsored by Zurich called ‘Future History Now’.
My talk was entitled the ‘Classroom of 2018’. The talk has now been published and you can watch it below.
In my talk I mention the need for decisions about technology that affect teaching and learning being made by a teacher, the Director of ICT for instance and not just by an IT manager. Although I didn’t say it in this talk, I want to make it clear how important IT managers / network managers are in schools. They have the technical knowledge to make things happen. I realise I may cause offence to some but that was not my intention.
I also did an interview entitled ‘What will the classroom of 2018 look like’. You can read my interview by clicking on the link below and going to page 43.