Catch the Wave » teachers

My Software Folder

Lyn — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 03:38:56 +0000

Web 2.0 tools are fantastic, however on one of my pen drives I have a folder called ‘Software’ which contains the setup files of the PC freeware I think a teacher needs on his/her laptop and might not have. The list is pretty basic, but I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve used it. In the folder are:

Audacity An easy to use sound recorder which is so useful in the classroom.
Lame 3.97 Enables the export as MP3 function in Audacity. (Without Lame you can only export as a .wav)
uLead Gif Animator Makes a series of graphic files into one .Gif file. This version dates back to when it was freeware.
Image Resizer Powertoy A useful Windows add-on.
JPG4 Email This resizes photos in bulk. Great for adding photos to your blog.
Photo Filtre The free version. You can create some neat effects using the filters.
Umajin Creative You can blue screen and save as a .jpg using the trial version.
Picasa3 Try out the collage function.
Photo Story 3 A freebie and a goodie.
Switch Converts sound files in bulk e.g. wma to MP3.
Tux Paint A neat little drawing program for junior students.

Some of these are available on my website - the others you’ll track down easily on the Internet using Google.

Zoho Creator – a fantastic online tool

Lyn — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:16:56 +0000

Zoho Creator is one of the ‘Zoho Work Online’ applications and it really is fantastic! It’s an online data base and form creator and is so useful for easy data collection. If you need to collect any sort of information from your principals and teachers, why not walk the talk by using the Internet and online resources to do this? Zoho Creator has many uses and the extra bonus is that teachers are developing ICT confidence and skills at the same time.

Recently, in preparation for a cluster trip to Palmerston North, I added a trip registration form to the eBest ICT cluster website for the teachers who were going to add their details. I alerted the ICT Lead Teachers to this form by email. The first photo shows the form and the second is a part of the spreadsheet of collected data. I then exported it into Excel. It worked perfectly and saved me a lot of time. And no, I didn’t lose anything! Click on the graphics for a bigger view.

Zoho Creator is easy to use and free. (It has been so far!) You simply drag and drop the fields you require from the selection (see below) and add your questions or choices. The result looks really professional and has many uses for principals, teachers and students. Try it out.

Renaissance

Lyn — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:43:34 +0000

I’ve been travelling around a bit lately. First came the Nelson ICTPD Conference, then last week I spent 2 days in Palmerston North with 22 school leaders from the eBest ICT Cluster. Today I was in Tauranga at the Bay of Plenty ICT Clusters home group meeting. In fact the last six years has been like this for me – lots of meetings, conferences and workshops. Lots of professional development and learning. Lots of new ideas and skills. Change has been constant, necessary and stimulating. Why do some teachers resist it? There are times I’ve gone from student (with the Internet as my teacher), to teacher in a matter of days. Perhaps other ICT Facilitators can relate to this.

ICT Clusters have had an impact on New Zealand education. They can take a lot (if not all) of the credit for the education renaissance that has has happened during the last six years. And in true Kiwi style, while we all have a vision and goals, there is no ‘how to ‘, ‘what to’, or ‘when to’ blueprint provided. And yet we make a real difference – talking to a teacher who hasn’t been in an ICT cluster will prove that.

eBest ICT Cluster Website

Lyn — Fri, 23 May 2008 18:40:45 +0000

I’ve been with the eBest ICT Cluster in Whakatane, New Zealand for four months now. Our main cluster goal for 2008 is to develop a thinking programme for each school that reflects the needs of the 21^st century learner. Each term we have a whole day ‘Leaders Think Tank’ and an ‘ICT Lead Teachers Workshop’. This year we are looking at a variety of thinking strategies and ways to implement them in daily classroom practice.

The eBest ICT Cluster website is our sharing and collaborating environment and contributes to our development as a learning community. Here, teachers share their planning and resources and the files reflect the use of Bloom’s Taxonomy, Thinkers keys and Habits of Mind in their teaching practice.
The website URL is www.ebest.co.nz

You don’t need to be a member to use the site and the resources are available for everyone to download free. If you find the resources useful, please add a short post to the eBest Blog. I’d love to hear what you think of the website.