Raspberry Pi Computer

The Pi is a small computer based on a single motherboard. It is not immensely powerful – hardly a surprise at about £25 a unit.
 http://www.raspberrypi.org/

Read the story here: http://www.itpro.co.uk/639292/raspberry-pi-a-bbc-micro-for-todays-generation

TeachMeet Belfast 2012

TeachMeet is an un-conference ‘for teachers, organised by teachers’, and this year for the first time it is being held in N. Ireland.  Come along to the CELIL building in Stranmillis College on Friday 2nd March at 18.00 - 20.30 where the organisers are hoping to welcome as many interested (and interesting) teachers as possible to the event where they will have the opportunity to either present something that they’d like to share with their fellow professionals, or simply enjoy the evening and take home some great ideas.

To find out more check out the wiki:
http://tmbelfast.wikispaces.com/

or contact Dáithí Murray from St. Paul's High School Bessbrook by email or twitter:
dmurray742@c2kni.net
@dmurray742

Northgate Named As Preferred Supplier For Education Network NI Contract

Newtownabbey based Northgate Managed Services (Northgate) has further cemented its reputation as one of the UK’s leading providers of ICT services by being named as Classroom 2000’s (C2k) preferred supplier for the new ‘Education Network Northern Ireland’ (ENNI) contract. The news was announced today at BETT 2012, Europe’s largest education ICT event in London

Read full story here

Wallace High School

On the 15th December 2011 Wallace High School, Lisburn held an information seminar to update ASCL members on the progress made with their one-to-one iPad learning solution. All KS3 students have leased an iPad2 and the school staff has been trained to support the integration of the iPad into teaching and learning. Monitoring the outcomes and evaluation of the project is being carried out by the University of Ulster. So far the school report the following interim outcomes:

• improved engagement in lessons

• improved social cohesion and collaboration between KS3 students

• Increase in programming activity using apps

• Faster sharing of information

• Board of Governors using iPad technology

• Less paper being used

• Narrowing of the gap between parent understanding and pupils use of the technology

A group of students demonstrated their work in a variety of subjects including, Music, Science, Maths & Geography. Core productivity apps that are widely used across all departments include Keynote, Pages and Numbers. Garageband, iMovie and some freeware apps have also been used by a number of departments. Check out the ShowMe app for free. This turns your iPad into a whiteboard and makes it easy to record and share text, images and movies.

ShowMe app for iPad

Check out the ICTmagic wiki site for a comprehensive list of free software to help put a little bit of magic into your lessons.  Use the links in the left menu to navigate different categories of resources. Teachers can follow this site using Twitter, Facebook or email.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/
http://www.scoop.it/t/ictmagic/

Sesame Tree E-Learning Resource

LNI have added a new Seame Tree Course into their Library. This E-learning resource has been designed for for Foundation Stage teachers who wish to use the Sesame Tree Series Two episodes and related educational outreach materials in their classrooms.

It includes,

• An introduction to the Sesame Tree television series and the Series 2 educational materials
  


• An introduction to the characters of Sesame Tree
  

To find the Sesame Tree resources, go to the LNI homepage and select the Go To Library link. Select the Staff section and from the Topic area dropdown menu choose Resources for Courses.

PDFtoWord

Convert your PDF files back to editable Microsoft Word documents using Nitro's industry-leading technology. Convert files one at a time online for free, or if you have sensitive files and don't wish to use the web version download the Nitro Pro version and convert all your files free for 14 days.  After this free evaluation period the current cost of this software is $84.99.  Check it out now using the link below:
http://www.pdftoword.com/

(Thanks to Brenda Murray, St. Paul's Bessbrook for sharing this information)