Free HTML5 game and Learning Object Authoring

I found it!!!!

Holy cow did it take a long time but I think I have finally found it!!

It helps to know what I was looking for so you can understand my happiness. for the last year or so I have been looking for a HTML5 development environment that suits my set of skills - i.e. coding (minimal) visual design and instructional design (that I can do).

I've used Authorware in the dark distant past, and tried Courselab as recently as last year producing a few learning objects but there were issues that made working with it very painfull. Lately I have been using Opus7 to create Flash based learning objects, but it seems everyone is moving to HTML5 so that their content can play nicely with the iPad / Android tablet.

I've looked at a range of Development environments and even looked at Adobe Captivate - but as a private citizen not attached to a school the price was to be frank - ridiculous.

So imagine my joy at finding Construct2 - natively building HTML5 apps, animations and interactive fun stuff - and there is a free version to use that does just about everything I need. Once I've finished evaluating it I will be stumping up for the $399 for the full pro version.

It's a completely visual IDE - so code is kept in the background if you don't want to deal with it - I do play with code every now and then but I try to avoid it if I can- I'm into rapid development.

It's designed around games but it is perfect for the learning objects I'm trying to create for IWB's

Universal Interactive Whiteboard Software - top 3 so far

Don't you wish there was a universal interactive whiteboard program - that could work on any IWB whether it was a home made WiiMote to a $10000 interactive LCD/LED screen. One that had all the functions you needed and could save to a couple of file formats that just about anyone could open content. Oh and cross platform too please.

Me too - still haven't found it yet either.

But here are 3 that come close...

eBeam ScrapBook. My pick for Primary to middle school, ebeam scapbook is a solid IWB program that does not require you to own an eBeam or have one connected for it to work. With things like video and stroke playback, the ability to bring in just about any image file plus flash animations and video its a well rounded package. Saves as either proprietary, HTML PDF, PPT, JPG, or PNG. Cross platform.

Microsoft OneNote. Seriously overlooked and most people don't even know they have it. This is my pick for middle and high schools plus tertiary and training centres. Great range of tools and drawing capability. The handwriting recognition is fantastic and the math symbol recognition is great if a little buggy. The sharing function is great if you are online and want to share your notebook.
Saves files as Onenote, PDF, DOC, HTML.

Open Sankore. I've just come across this and Wow! - Just wow! Free and fantastic - this is a little different but once you get used to it holy cow. This is one of the most feature-full IWB programs I have come across. It's a regular IWB in many respects with a smaller gallery than most but nothing that can't be expanded. But the widgets/apps that you can add are amazing.

Imagine being able to embed just about any file from the web
Imagine having a google map working within your whiteboard - wikipedia and wikictionary as well.
Imagine being able to have a page as big as you want (scrolling)
Imagine being able to embed working websites into the document
Imagine being able to create your own widgets with a just using HTML and CSS

I'd give this a go in a classroom - the interface is non standard but does make sense and auto saves your work until you want to export it. It has a nice extended desktop function for interactive pen displays.
Exports only as Sankore or PDF.

iPads, tablets and IWB's

iPads...

They are starting to pop up in primary and secondary schools all over Australia and from the blogs I read - all over the world. Mostly on a trial basis to see what teachers and students can do with them in the classroom.

One of the questions I have been asked at conferences recently is "How do I integrate my IWB with an iPad?"

There are a couple of ways to do it...

• AppleTV method - With the release of iOS5 the new AppleTV and a new projector with HDMI - you now have a great solution to getting content from the iPad to the projector wirelessly. 
• How does it work? Connect the AppleTV to your projector and link it in with the same wireless network as the iPad. The iPad will recognise that there is and AppleTV on the network and let you mirror what is on the ipad to the AppleTV and therefore the projector.
• The downside to this is that anyone with a iPad will be able to push their iPad screen to any AppleTV screen on the network. In some schools that would be too much temptation for some kids.
• Cloud Whiteboard solution - Use something like the eBeam connect cloud whiteboard. This lets you control who gets to participate and track participation. With the additional free app of eBeam Snapcam students/teachers can send photos to the whiteboard. It will also work with laptops and Android tablets as well.
• How does it work? You connect your laptop to the IWB as per normal - go to eBeam connect, login and start a new board. up in settings there will be a meeting number that you can show to students so they can also join the board after logging in on the iPad.
• The downside - Its a bit slow at the moment due to it being a beta program based in the US. 

If you know of any other way to integrate the two technologies feel free to leave a comment so I can follow it up.

Time, clocks and calenders

A friend of mine wanted to set up a calendar to print out for a couple of months - she is old school. To help I had a look around and in the process found a couple of online calendar generators.

But this one was the best - Time and date -

Not only did it have a very useful calendar maker but also a range of tools that are really useful for teaching students about time. With timers, countdowns, world clocks and time zone maps there is enough there to cover some great concepts right from you IWB.

Free Marine Waters Resources

The WA government with the help of business has developed a fantastic marine resource for teachers.

From the front page:

Marine WATERs is an inter­ac­tive and fully inte­grated resource that con­nects edu­ca­tors and stu­dents with resources and tools devel­oped specif­i­cally to study West­ern Australia’s unique marine ecosys­tems and address chal­lenges fac­ing the sus­tain­abil­ity of our aquatic resources.

This ever-expanding suite of curriculum-based edu­ca­tion resources includes les­son plans, inter­ac­tive activ­i­ties, exten­sion activ­i­ties, stu­dent work­sheets, fact sheets, and infor­ma­tion on cur­rent and emerg­ing issues.

To get your hands on the resources you have to register but after that the resources are free to use.

http://marinewaters.fish.wa.gov.au/

Free School digital signage

Digital Signage - You may have seen it in a shopping centre or airport. It's the LCD screens theatre in public spaces, that show information and advertising. Many schools are also starting to use digital signage - from the front desk at administration for parents to see or in other areas like staff rooms and common rooms.

The issue is that the systems and software that run these screens is usually fairly expensive and are not easy to use.

Recently I cam across this company - MediaSignage.com - They have developed a cloud based solution so you can update your signage from anywhere and set up your screens anywhere there is an Internet connection and power.

So why am I blogging about this on an educational technology blog? We for starters it means that you can turn your interactive whiteboard over to live streaming news and information of your choosing - with tickers and RSS feeds coming in live. It is also free so you can do a school project setting a system up with your students - it's like making your own "hotel" style information channels. Grab some old computers and old TVs and screens and start creating a digital signage network for peanuts.

Ebeam demonstration Video

I find this a little funny but is seems that SmartBoard is getting to be a generic term...

This comes from www.smartboardsreviews.com

It's good once again to see customer using our products and being able to get going so quickly.

I like his closing comment.

Lowering the costs of your IWB investment.

Image by AV-1 via Flickr

As part of my job, I not only present at workshops and conferences but produce white papers and material that outlines our products to educate our customers and persuade them to consider our services. It is not an easy job. I write more now than I ever did in school.

I'm lucky that I support product that I believe in and use on a daily basis, but it is still hard not to come across as a "used car salesman".

So for your edification and review I present my latest offering currently in draft. I've cut out the marketing bit at the end, case studies and the call to action, as I know large percentage of the people who read this are from outside Australia. I still think this is a good explanation about the current IWB market and the choices that can be made.

Any comments and suggestions are gratefully accepted and encouraged.

How to Put an Interactive Whiteboard Solution in Your Classrooms for Half the Cost.

You know that an interactive whiteboard in the right hands can engage, enthuse and inspire classrooms of kids. Research shows that using this type of technology in the classroom effectively reduces behaviour problems and increases interest and engagement of students.

But

They are expensive to buy and install, you have other things to spend your meagre budget on and you know that without the right support they could easily become an expensive white elephant in your school.

This education white paper examines how schools across Western Australia have halved the cost of their IWB investment and now have more engaged students and teachers who are confident daily users of the technology. Schools in the southern corridor from Safety Bay to Dawesville, both public and private, have reduced their costs while still providing their teachers with world class equipment and training.

The Three Elements of any Interactive White Board (IWB)

With any IWB installation there are three key pieces of equipment that make the magic happen, the good news is that you probably already have one.

1. The computer – Either a school desktop or a teacher laptop. Make sure if you are using a desktop that it has two VGA outputs, one to the projector and one to a screen.

2. The projector – Don’t skimp on this, get the best projector for the job as it will be what determines what the students see (or not see) and whether the system will get used or not. Do your research about ANSI Lumens, contrast ratios and the merits of regular, short throw and ultra short throw. Don’t forget about lamp lifetimes and replacement costs. Try and get the longest warranty you can.

3. The IWB system – This is what turns pen or finger movements into essential mouse movements and clicks. The interesting thing is that there are four different types of systems to choose from in Australia.

• Resistive — Resistive touchscreens are composed of two flexible membranes coated with a resistive material and separated by a thin gap. When contact is made to the surface of the screen, the two sheets are connected together, registering the precise location of the touch. This technology allows one to use a finger or a stylus on the board.
 

• Electromagnetic — These interactive whiteboards feature an array of wires embedded behind the board surface interacts with the stylus tip to determine the (X,Y) coordinate of the stylus. Styli are either active (requiring a battery) or passive (no batteries or other power source). In other words, the sensors in the board react and send a signal to the computer when there is contact with a magnetic pen.

• Capacitive — similar to the electromagnetic boards, the capacitive type works with an grid of wires embedded into the board. In this case the wires interact with fingers or a stylus touching the screen. The interaction between the different wires and the tip of the finger or stylus is measured and calculated to a coordinate.

• Ultrasonic and Infrared — When pressed to the whiteboard surface, the marker or stylus sends out both an ultrasonic sound and an infrared light. Two ultrasonic microphones receive the sound and measure the difference in the sound's arrival time, and triangulate the location of the marker or stylus. This technology allows whiteboards to be made of any material, but requires a suitably adapted active dry-erase marker or stylus. These systems can be retrofitted to existing whiteboards.

Installation
Installation is one of the ‘Hidden costs’ of interactive whiteboards, something that is only thought about after the decision has been made. Sometimes this can mean the price you were expecting and what ends up coming out of the budget can be two very different things.
There are two things to pay for when installing an IWB system.
- The electrician / installer, sometimes you will need two because of the physical size of the board (essentially doubles the cost)
- The cables and hardware required to make all the connections between all three elements.
- Don’t forget shipping. Sometimes delicate boards need specialised delivery arrangements.

Training
Just ask any principal from any school. If you don’t provide the right support when rolling out new technology that has the potential to change pedagogy then you might as well be burning your money. Staff training is crucial to making the most out of your investment, and again there are two types of training you should invest in.

- Technical training – this need to be done as soon as possible- even before the installation. This helps teachers feel confident that they can use the system to do basic tasks, and to experiment.

- Pedagogy training – Once you have the technical training done you can move on to the real reason you went out and bought the things. Changing the way teachers teach. Best done in workshops with moderated peer teaching with some key motivating ideas that can form part of some action research for your teachers to reflect on how they can use the technology to improve the outcomes for their students.

Once all this is done
You are finished; you have fund raised, procured, installed and trained. How much has that cost you per classroom? For most schools this figure hovers around the $10 000 mark; a big investment especially if you are in a big school and want to set up lots of rooms. Obviously some people are going to miss out. Some will be happy about that, as they only have a couple of years until they retire, but others will be very disappointed. How do you choose who gets this in their classroom and who does not?

Reducing the cost
So how do you bring the cost down to something more manageable? Let’s look at the three components.
Computer? – You already have that
Projector? – As discussed this is something you don’t want to skimp on. Make sure it is a 3LCD.
IWB system? – This is where you can make your savings, and your choices here you can also reduce your installation costs.

A regular fixed Interactive whiteboard (Resistive, Electromagnetic, or Capacitive) by its nature be contained within a specially made board. This means they are limited to the size that they are manufactured to and are expensive to produce, ship and install. Minimum price off the government contact for a small interactive board is $1720.

The Ultrasonic and Infrared system is different, and is the system used by Luidia’s eBeam product to uses the existing whiteboard as the surface and be accurate to 1.1mm on a board up to 3 meters across. The unit is about as big as an adult hand and attaches to the whiteboard surface through magnets, suction cups or permanently attached via bolts or screws. This means that the production, shipping and installation costs are drastically reduced. Permanently attaching the unit to a board with the required cables and end points usually costs $120, and the price of each unit is less than $900 ex GST. This device can give you a working area of up to 90" diagonally, more than most fixed boards.


A Note about installation
Some schools have further reduced or eliminated their costs for installation by using either expert parent or staff help. Capel Primary School has put in a large amount of eBeam installations through a couple of weekend busy bees coordinated and led by their principal. We can supply full instructions and specifications if you feel you have the expertise within your school community.

Training
As noted above training is the follow through that needs to happen if a successful roll out of new technology is going to happen. Unfortunately many of the fixed board salesmen are from an audio visual technology background – not an education background. So their technical training could be great, but the application of that training into an educational environment can be lacking.

Make sure that the vendor you get your solution from, has staff onboard who have experience at the chalkface. People who can successfully meld good teaching practise with good technology. This is where you will get the greatest effect from your investment in interactive whiteboard technology.

Training also needs to be available in a variety of formats to suit the needs of your staff. A quick one hour workshop or even half day is not going to be for everyone. Just like your students your staff have different needs and learning requirements, so will require different delivery.

Face to face – This is usually what you get as part of your purchase a 1 – 3 hour presentation where staff don’t get much time with the board and it is all just a bit of show and tell.

Off site workshops – The opportunity of sending your staff to neutral ground helps them to see the bigger picture and have extended time to discuss test and play with the technology and how they can use it. These are great time to network with other teachers and see how they are using the technology in their classrooms.

Online – Online recorded video delivery is not to be discounted. Here the learner has total control, they can stop and pause, jump to relevant points or get training at point of need at their our place and pace. One of You Tubes’ fastest growing genres is the tutorial, instructional videos that are accessed by thousands of people.

Guides and Manuals – believe it or not some people do actually read these. Make sure your vendor can make them available to all your staff.

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Ten Disruptive Uses of Your IWB

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I was asked to write an article last year for teachers who were just starting to use their IWB's and needed a bit of inspiration - The article has just been published in "The Ultimate Guide to Interactive Whiteboards 2010" which is distributed nationally to all schools. I'm just a little bit stoked by this as I thought it was only going to go in a trade magazine / catalogue.

Free subscriptions for the magazine are available here.
www.engagelearning.com.au

a PDF of the article is here

www.keepad.com/pdf/100223-HallJackson.pdf

One of the conditions that I agreed to the article was that I could then publish it on my blog when it got published and distributed.

So here it is minus all the nice graphics that were put in by their talented graphics team.

Ten things to do with your interactive whiteboard

Disruptive uses of the IWB

Many teachers get stuck on using their IWB as a direct replacement for their regular whiteboard or blackboard – a way of writing up notes, key words and diagrams. Sometimes they might bring in a piece of clip art as a magnet. Don’t get me wrong the use of an IWB is great as a digital replacement for the whiteboard and the overhead projector. My handwriting lessons are that much better because of an IWB (and I’m left handed)

Teachers need to be able to go beyond that analogy of an “interactive whiteboard” and see the technology for what it really is – an interface for your computer that allows direct interaction with programs, images and video – visual data. The following is some ways to extend your use of your new interface.

Use it as your TV via a USB tuner or internet TV

For less than $100 you can get a digital tuner for your laptop. Depending on where you are, the portable aerial is sometimes all you need to pull down current terrestrial digital TV (if not see if there in an aerial port in your classroom – you might be surprised) . The best thing is that these tuners usually come with software which lets you time shift - perfect for pausing a broadcast to comment or deal with an interruption.

This is a great tool for dealing with a current issue as you can compare and contrast different news outlets and their response to current events. There is also something to be said for a time table – a deadline to be ready for – in this case a particular broadcast.

Once you have worked with and analysed the media it would be a natural extension to make your own TV news or show. There are a number of ways that you can do this from the low tech basic webcam and a sheet, to the set up of a mini TV studio in you classroom.

“Newsmaker” software is great for organising and creating a news report in an easy to use way. With a simple autocue and basic effects your students can create a professional looking broadcast with a very small learning curve.

Of course there are an enormous number of video on demand sites out there. www.teacherstv.com.au , its UK counterpart www.teachers.tv, www.TED.com for inspirational speakers and of course youtube. Make use of these resources, especially when they are free.

Be a commentator

You have probably seen it most in sports broadcasts - the use of the pause and annotate effect. In Australia it is often used for cricket matches to visually highlight areas of interest or direction of travel. You can use the same feature with your interactive whiteboard.

Imagine a movie or a recording of a play put on by your students. By pausing and annotating you can highlight areas of interest to you students. More importantly students can participate, drawing in their ideas and designs to make the next live performance better.

Hook it up to a Wii, xBox or PS3

Seriously the computing power behind these game consoles is phenomenal and it is all about the “experience” – harness that power. Kids love to show what they know – be able to demonstrate this to their class and with you asking important – how and why questions lets them explore their problem solving skills. With a range of educational games, bringing in the game console is not as revolutionary as you think. For starters you might want to try Big Brain Academy Wii Degree

Simulate Real world objects

I remember (a long time ago) as a practice teacher trying to get my hands on a range of MAB blocks to teach a class about decimals. Getting my hands on enough equipment took most of my lunch break and when I didn’t have enough even for a demonstration then my whole lesson took a turn for the worse.

Virtual manipulatives are therefore a stress less way of demonstrating real world objects without worrying about quantities. An example of easy to use, readymade collection for mathematics is the Mult-e-Maths toolbox. With things like clocks, scales, and aforementioned MAB blocks, teachers have access to the tools they need to demonstrate and explain key concepts without having to worry about whether another teacher has the required resources.

The internet also has a wide range of virtual manipulatives. One of my favourites for science is the popular Phet website from the University of Colorado, that can also be downloaded entirely via a zip file found on their site. With open ended tasks you can demonstrate a range of concepts and ask “what if” questions with the ability to answer them.

Use it as a microscope

For around $200 you can get good quality USB digital microscopes that hook up to your computer, and can get to X200 magnification. Brilliant for showing the whole class what you are talking about in real time with real stuff.

Another way of making the really small really big is to download the free Virtual Lab from NASA. With prepared slides from both optical and electron scanning microscopes it give you the ability to show your class things that you usually can’t get your hands on such as moon dust and heat shield tiles from the space shuttle.

Go for a ride

Did you know Google Earth has a flight mode? You can virtually fly over the world via your computer. When you team that up with the 3D layer available via the interface, you can fly through cities and landscapes. Imagine being able to take your students the Swiss Alps or fly past the New York skyline.

There are also a range of web based mash ups that take information from Google maps, street view, and earth; and let you create a drive through from one place to another. Drive through the streets of San Francisco , or follow route 66. It may even give your class the motivation to put more local buildings into the database using Google Sketchup.

http://www.gaiagi.com/3d-driving-simulator/index.html

Drive Smart is free software for Victorian students developed by Monash University, designed to help new drivers with scanning and hazard perception. Use this software with your older students to make them more aware on the roads as pedestrians, cyclists and future drivers. Again you can use annotations to visually mark the image to explain key points.

Video Call

As a Star Trek fan, I am constantly amazed at how large amounts of the technology envisioned in that 60’s TV have come to pass. A video screen the size of Captain Kirk’s view screen is now in your classroom. So now you too can use video / audio communication across vast distances.

Skype and MSN have the ability to do video calls with free software and simple inexpensive webcams. Think about linking up your classroom with a counterpart in another state or country. Australia is in a great position as we share a time zone range with a diverse range of languages as you head north. Linking up an Australian Japanese class, with a Japanese English class would bring benefits that could only be achieved with an expensive field trip.

Student Response Systems

The IWB’s can have a detrimental effect in the classroom. You may find that the “sage on the stage” is back and your lessons start to get centred on you and the technology rather than the students and their learning.

SRS (Student Response Systems), used in the right way with an interactive whiteboard can have really positive effects in your classroom and make the classroom environment more participatory. Rockingham Senior High School have successfully done this in their science program, through the use of both eBeam portable IWB system and TurningPoint SRS

By integrating an SRS into your IWB use you can enable a continuous dialogue between you and your students. You can adapt your teaching and ensure understanding and cover learning styles. This combination makes for a truly interactive classroom, with the added ability to account for and monitor student interaction.

Use a document camera

Prices for document cameras have come down significantly. For around $600 you can get a good quality camera to bring documents and small realia and manipulatives to the big screen. It’s like having your old overhead projector back but updated to a digital form. The Epson DC06 even has a freeze button to hold the image while you move something else into place – useful for surprising your students.

They are not just for documents either, those pesky MAB blocks can be manipulated and used to great effect with every student being able to see. Take that idea further with science lessons as the camera can record and project your “on bench” experiment.

Let go!

As I said before, there is a great temptation to be the didactic teacher when you have this type of technology. While it is fun to play with the toys, you will be surprised when you give your students the opportunity to try their hand at working on the board – and not just to write one word or to circle the mistake in a maths problem. Give groups of students control of the board for extended lengths of time, use your IWB as a station in a learning journey. Even just to brainstorm what they have learnt at the end of the day.

Don’t be afraid of what is possible, experiment and play.

Lower Primary IWB Resources

I've just finished a three day country school tour, visiting clients and demonstrating technology to new schools.

I'm constantly asked for resources for lower primary - so here are a few new ones as well as some old favorites.

iBoard -a free website specifically for use with an IWB and specifically for lower primary. The iboard is perfect for warm-ups as well as a main teaching point resource. It's all in Adobe flash so can run on any board (including eBeam), and is grouped by subject area and grade level.

Starfall - A graded site for early reading, again free. lots of colour and good use of sound. Perfect as an interactive bigbook on your IWB.

Crickweb - Another graded site - this one has interactive for IWB's from lower primary right through to lower hight school. A bit of advertising on the main page but otherwise and excellent resources

topmarks - Yet another UK site. This one is very comprehensive and has a huge range of interactives with lesson ideas as well.

BGfL - yep another UK site. This one is set up by the Birmiham Grid for Learning. A great collected work of some of the best flash interactives around. All sorted by subject groups

Scootle - If you are in an Australian Government, Catholic or even at some idependant schools, you have access to scootle. Designed by the Learning Federation with funds from the federal government. Scootle/learning federation resources cover a huge range of subjects and levels. Government and Catholic schools usually access this site via their portal - in the case of WA its the DET portal - then look for the learning federation resources.


There is more - let me know if you have found any that you use on a constant basis.

Educational Technology - IWB's

eBeam Montage" style="border: medium none ; display: block;">Image by eBeam via Flickr

OK I know that this article from Bill Ferriter published in "Teacher Magazine" is just one guy, but it is doing the rounds and I feel I should respond. "Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards"

First off I have to agree with his point about expense - IWB's generally are very expensive. (warning! employer plug). That's why I like selling the eBeam solution because of the reduced cost of both the product and installation.

I also have to agree with assertion that this type of technology is teacher centric. Yep it is a teacher mostly tool whether that teacher is the teacher or a student using it to teach/explain a concept to an audience. The IWB is a presentation tool - that's it. If you are not a presentation type teacher or more importantly your students are not presentation type students then it's not going to work.

A furniture maker is not going to value a chainsaw the same way a lumberjack is, even though they do work with the same basic material.



I liken teaching to being a tour leader on a bus in Europe. There is the complete package tour where everything is done for the client, where they stay, what they eat, what they see and what information is given to them (think people within a certain older age (55+) bracket or a very young age bracket (18-21). It suits these groups of people as either through lack of experience or physical condition they find that this is safer and reduces cognitive load so they can enjoy and take in their physical surroundings.

Then there is the the JOJO (Jump On, Jump Off) Tour, where you have a choice of where you stay (hotel, hostel, B+B, camping ground) and whether to stay with the group, stay longer and wait a couple of days for the next JOJO bus to come through. There is a tour leader who can help and guide you and there is generally a set path around the Continent with some choices to make.

Of course then you have the people who are confident enough to plan their own trip without a physical guide, just the "Lonely Planet" that is completely thumbed through and treated like a holy text and their research on the Internet. Using local transport options they head out and explore on their own.

At different stages of my "traveling" career I chose all three of these options. Four months in Europe on a JOJO bus tour was great as I have an interest in architecture and I knew that the complete tour experience would probably only give it minimal service - so I could stay for four days in Barcelona marveling at the work of Gaudi, but when I needed help I could always contact the tour guide for help. When we travelled through South America we went with a package tour for safety and convenience reasons, once that was over my girlfriend and I continued on our own with only the guide book to help as we explored Brazil on our own.

Teaching is a lot like guiding the tourist - Sometimes a subject or concept just has to be planned out the the nth degree just to get through it all and to get to the overall concept quickly. Sometime you can facilitate them as they move through the curriculum but not be on their case about being at the bus by 8:30am that morning. And sometimes students will go off on their own to pursue knowledge and understanding on their own.


After working in schools in Australia, the UK and Japan, sometimes you need to be the tour leader, guide or just the guy at the information desk pointing them in the right direction and hoping they get there.

In a strange sense of coincidence someone on echalk forwarded a link to a paper the contained the following history

The Summit County (Ohio) Educational Service Center Newsletter (December 1995) reprinted some historical responses to new educational technologies:

"Students today can't prepare bark to calculate their problems. They depend on slates, which are more expensive. What will they do when the slate is dropped and it breaks? They will be unable to write." From a Teachers Conference, 1703.

"Students today depend on paper too much. They don't know how to write on a slate without getting chalk dust all over themselves. They can't clean a slate properly. What will they do when they run out of paper?" From a principal's publication, 1815.

"Students today depend too much on ink. They don't know how to use a pen knife to sharpen a pencil. Pen and ink will never replace the pencil." From the National Association of Teachers Journal, 1907.

"Students today depend on store-bought ink. They don't know how to make their own. When they run out of ink they will be unable to write words or cipher until their next trip to the settlement. This is a sad commentary on modern education." From The Rural American Teacher, 1928.

"Students depend on these expensive fountain pens. They can no longer write with a straight pen and nib. We parents must not allow them to wallow in such luxury to the detriment of how to cope in the business world, which is not so extravagant." From the Parent Teachers Association Gazette, 1941.

"Ballpoint pens will be the ruin of education in our country. Students use these devices and then throw them away. The American values of thrift and frugality are being discarded. Business and banks will never allow such expensive luxuries." From Federal Teachers, 1950.

Brings you back to the old pencils in classrooms metaphor?

To me the the biggest value of the IWB is reducing workloads of teachers and making them think differently and openly about the resources available while providing focus for teaching and presenting. The fact that students find it engaging is in a way secondary.

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Fast eBeam Introduction

Just a quick introduction to eBeam for those who like their sound bites. Makes me want to make a video myself.

Lower Primary Resources

It is usually hard to find good interactives for lower primary. So when I came across Toy Theatre, posted on echalk John Gowland, I had to repost it onto TIC.

It works very nicely with eBeam and has a huge range of interactive tools for demonstrating on an IWB or working one to one with a student. They cover Maths, English, Art and Music as well as some great puzzels that are simple to play yet difficult for adults.

Nice and bright and easy to navigate this is going to be one of my demonstration websites for primary school presentations.

IWB Conference - Sydney

Just a short note to let you know that I will be at the Australian IWB conference over the next couple of days. So if you are in Sydney and particularly near Waverly college feel free to pop on down. I will be presenting on each of the three days as well as running around like a madman helping people with TurningPoint. Iwill also be twittering (@halljackson) with my new iPhone or laptop so you can follow that - Now that will make me use it.

Image via Wikipedia

Being Googable

I just got an email this weekend from the president of our state association of computer educators. I seems someone was looking for me an found to their dismay that I'm "ungoogable" - his word not mine.

It got me thinking, in the old days you were nobody if you weren't in the papers or on TV, now if people can't find you on Google, then your pretty much a nobody.

Now there are certain advantages to being a nobody. Being able to do things without people recognising you, your work or your mistakes means that some stuff can be accomplished more successfully. It also means that you can change direction without the baggage of your previous life catching up to you.

Unfortunately in my current role I have to be "somebody". It suits me fine by the way. It forces me to step up and to put 100% into everything I do everyday. So building my somebody status includes making a mark on the nets, be they interpersonal or electronic.

So the purpose of this and coming prose is for me to be found by those who seek, to give to the open source community the only thing I can - publicity, and to push the barrow of my current employer (Keepad Interactive).

Feel free to comment on the posts I put up, and if you have any suggestions for inclusion on my links page of FLOSS software for educators, please send it along.