Another blast March 9, 2013
Posted by bremhillbob in General Info.3 comments
Some of you will have noticed that ICT Nuggets has been very quiet for a while ….. This is because I was wondering “What’s the point?”
I still wonder but thought that maybe the time is right to give it all another go with the hope that I will get some feedback and encouragement to carry on.
I was looking for an image for ‘BLAST’ and found this one – I liked it because it also conveys the idea of ‘impact’
Bob
School Website now a legal Requirement September 9, 2012
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There is now a requirement for all maintained schools in England to publish a website and provide basic information to cover:
- contact details
- admission arrangements
- link to latest Ofsted report
- Key Stage 2/Key Stage 4 results
- link to DfE performance tables
- curriculum information
- behaviour policy
- details of the pupil premium grant, SEN and charging
- statement of ethos and values
Full information at www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1124/made;
more on this from the DfE here,
and an FAQ here.
Building a full size house in Lego June 29, 2012
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A US estate agent has put a calculator online that works out how many bricks would be needed to make a Lego copy of your home.
Apparently the average is around 10Million not including internal walls, stairs etc. Approximate cost would be £1.1M
XBox SmartGlass June 17, 2012
Posted by bremhillbob in General Info, Hardware, Software.add a comment
I’ve just has a look at there two trailers and am trying to get my head around what is going on here.
Initially I was thinking that it looked like the sort of functionality found in Apple AirPlay/ Apple TV but clearly there is a LOT more going on. I note the ‘Windows 8’ design influence in the gaming and web experience designs – both seem very ‘touch enabled’.
The worry (for me) is that whilst the technology looks developed and thought through the user experience is the critical thing. Microsoft Surface and Kinect both look fabulous but both mean little to the man on the street. The voice activated remote control COULD be superb, coupled with Kinect then it’s possible that you could really have something.
Microsoft Unveils XBox SmartGlass
Of course the ‘leap’ that we spoke about a few weeks ago could superseed all of this, who knows?
Idea for a news paper February 12, 2012
Posted by bremhillbob in General Info, Teaching.Tags: news, paper, report
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I’ve just been told about ‘The Day’ by a friend of mine – thank you John.
At one level The Day is another blog but it is cleverly organised and presented in a consistent and ‘child friendly’ way (without being condescending).
The Day provides a summary of the news in a way that is digestible to schools and is lined to both curriculum foci and to cross curricular themes. As well as an RSS feed there is an email service and a printable PDF service.
The service is by subscription so I guess you’ll need to be sure that you will use it but given that it’s a really difficult job to get daily news to pupils this could be something that is VERY worthwhile.
Geeky Christmas December 18, 2011
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After a few fairly serious posts I think it’s time for something a little more light hearted so here are a few Christmas presents to feed the inner Geek.
Recycled CD decorations (also circuit boards (and look out for the potato raincoat))
Social ornaments
Snowman USB Hub (robotic sound, scanning eye moving arms)
8 Bit ‘old school’ holly Wreath
Three interesting design ideas and a snowman!
Michael Gove to open BETT 2012 December 7, 2011
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eMap confirmed today that Michael Gove will open the BETT show this year.
It’s normal of course to have a high profile figure opening BETT but this announcement is significant because of the various curriculum reviews happening at the moment and the mounting pressure for leadership and guidance relating to ICT and ‘computer science’.
Michael Gove himself has said that he will be making significant an announcement(s) in the new year and this might be an obvious place.
The last significant proclamation came in 2007 when the online test that so many people had invested time and effort in were dropped.
![382677_278524245527277_100001091116902_803958_1282470686_n[1]](http://ictnuggets.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/382677_278524245527277_100001091116902_803958_1282470686_n1.jpg "382677_278524245527277_100001091116902_803958_1282470686_n[1]")
News from the ‘Department’ December 5, 2011
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Michael Gove spoke to The Schools Network (formerly SSAT) on the 1st Dec.
The speech is very interesting and addresses some (but by no means all) key concerns. You can see the transcript here.
I’m particularly interested in the second part as this really starts to address the teaching and learning aspects and chimes with my own ideas to a surprising degree. Mr Gove provides a lot of generalities with few specifics though.
I am absolutely committed to ensuring that our school system not only prepares pupils for this changing world, but also embraces the technological advances which are transforming education.
A nice statement simply backed up by:
we’ll be saying more in the new year.
I am pleased however that he has ‘got’ the bit about transforming learning rather than just doing the same as we do now but with a computer. I’m pleased that gaming and programming appears to be small parts of a much bigger picture and I’m pleased that he has seen that the picture is about ICT AND cross curricular use and that there are other element sin the mix (eg, teacher training and school efficiency).
The Rasberry Pi still gets a positive mention – not bad given that you can only buy keyboard stickers (as in a single sticky image), as do books by Chubb & Moe and by Michael Nielsen (so there are two books for the Christmas list maybe?)
It all kind of points to BETT being a little higher profile than normal? – maybe?
The jobs that are most in demand are: December 5, 2011
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The most commonly advertised vacancy in school is….
According to analyses by E-Teach the most commonly advertised vacancy in schools in the past 10 months has been…. Administrator, with 1500 vacancies advertised. BUT
The highest teaching subject total was English with 1171 adverts, followed by maths with 1159. There were 482 adverts for headteachers.
The other most in demand subjects were science, DT and ICT.
At the other extreme, geology, home economics, communication studies and global studies each only had one vacancy advertised.
Of course these are just the numbers of adverts on one website, and not representative of the total across the country.
How on earth did Home Economics get there?
