The resources are all sorted into learning areas so finding something for your class should be fairly easy. I do like the story section.
These are all links to other sites and then you can go on from there exploring for more interactive resources at each site.
For those of you who have an interest in computer history / code breaking the Bletchley Park site has a virtual enigma machine running in JAVA - link here.
TurningPoint ARS/SRS/CRT (new one I discovered - Classroom Response Technology), uses PowerPoint 2003/2007 to display questions, answers and responses as well as run the session. If you want to add a bit more competition in to the mix there are the team and individual leader boards and the new wager slide.
What you can also do is replicate game show styles - Jeopardy, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and even the Price is Right - and adapt them to your learning area. Again it is a way of engaging your students and making learning more about participation rather than just listening.
For a range of game templates here is a great source
We have a few Universities here in Perth trialling and using TurningPoint in their courses and doing research on its effectiveness in both large and small group environments. There have been a few books published both here and over in the United States on the same topic.
Here are two that are available on (in preview) Google books
Back in the day when I worked for a different company, I designed their website (amongst other things). I had to hand code a form to get customers information when they wanted someone to get in contact with them. Needless to say I haven't had much use or inclination to create more web forms recently...
If you already have a Moodle set up then you don't really need this, but for those who don't this is a great way to quickly set up surveys or question forms for their students without the auto marking. Forms are submited to and email address.
Sometimes you feel like your are so far behind the 8 ball....
I've just come across Augmented Reality and I am just blown away.... if you haven't seen it before have a look at the video on this blog. Check out Boffswana.com and then start googling AR.
The education potential for this type of technology is Huge!! Imaging being able to look at any object in the world in a mixed reality. Here are a couple of application I have seen and thought about.
What is in the box? - Lego have put glyphs on their boxes - you can, using a kiosk, see what the finished model will look like life size, just by holding up the box to the camera.
Advertising - No longer will print be only 2D - Mini in Germany put an ad on the back of a magazine - when you went to their website you could hold the magazine up to your webcam and see a mini in full 3D.
Animals on your desk - You will be able to bring any animal into the classroom - put it in an environment and see how it reacts to both real and digital artifacts.
Animate anything - If you want to show a working model of a nuclear reactor, you can. Same with engines, systems both natural and man made.
Imagine in 3D - An architect rolls out the plans for your new house - point your webcam at the plans and all of a sudden you can see the house in 3D - Turn it around look at it from every angle.
Interactive books - This would be the ultimate pop up book, and interactive 3D image right there on the page.
I'm sure there are many more applications. Certainly the wow factor plus that much of the software is free and the hardware is off the shelf means teachers can play with this and find their own uses.
Software to try out... These two allow you to import your own models onto a glyph of your choosing Build AR ARive
So after finding the website last week I was looking at something completely unrelated...
And found this.
Moviestorm
More power, more features, more fun and it's a downloadable. This allows your student to make animations and dramas with virtual actors and includes the important camera angles and scenes.
I can't wait to try this out.
On another note I will be at the primary science conference at the Vines over the weekend. I will presenting with Dr Jennifer Lane from ECU. Which will be interesting because she is still making up her presentation with only 10 hours to go.... ah well it's a workshop.
I've made up a CD of some cool open source applications for a range of uses so I will be giving away copies of that as well.
