I have had the pleasure of working a lot in Wales, mostly in Bridgend and Monmouthshire, and beyond. It was a joy today to meet a lot of new folk from Bridgend , Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil,  and Rhondda Cynon Taf 

The conference was also looking at implementing and using the BECTA Self Review Framework (SRF)

After a presentation from myself, Sally Davies, from Edwardsville Primary School, shared some of their good practice using the SRF. There are links to some examples of good practice on the ESIS Wiki.

Pam Mahoney also presented some impressive work from her school Maes-yr-Haul Primary in Bridgend. Visit both of these schools’ expansive websites.

Throughout the day, I worked with groups looking at Communication in the 21st Century, and ways to inspire children of all ages and abilities.

A great site I stumbled upon recently, and one that I refered to today, encourages great discussion and interaction in a range of classes:

‘Inanimate Alice’ tells the story of Alice, a young girl growing up in the
first half of the 21st century, and her imaginary digital friend, Brad.

Over ten episodes, each a self contained story, we see Alice grow from an eight
year old living with her parents in a remote region of Northern China to a talented
mid-twenties animator and designer.

‘Inanimate Alice’ tells the story of Alice, growing up in the early years of the 21st century. Written and directed by writer Kate Pullinger and digital artist Chris Joseph, this series of multimedia, interactive episodes uses a combination of text, sound, images, and games as Alice takes us on a journey through her life from the age of eight through to her twenties. Alice becomes a games animator; not just any animator, but a creator of characters for the most successful games company in the world.

And one character stands out: Brad, Alice’s only true friend in life. The ten episodes of ‘Inanimate Alice’ become increasingly interactive and game-like, reflecting Alice’s own developing skills as a game designer and animator. ‘Inanimate Alice’ is a study of human/computer relations in a world where having friends means never having to meet them.

I promised I would put a link to a couple of the sites I refered to today…

blogs4schools

A really useful tool when recording podcasts or filming films with a large amount of script (e.g. reading out some Myst writings) is Cue Prompter, a free autocue.

Cut and Paste text into the window and it automatically scrools up the screen at the speed and size you find most useful.

Try this nifty little tool: an on screen/ whiteboard friendly way to make your own word magnets. This clever idea transforms your text into ‘magnets’ which can be dragged around the screen, colour coded and re-sized. You can also add new magnets at any time and remove any magnets that you no longer wish to use. Great for writing a shared text or looking at word order in sentences.

Thank you to Louise and Tina, and their colleagues at ESIS for a superb, very well organised and motivating day. Thank you.

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