Tikatok - Imagine a Story. Create a Book.

Tikatok is a free creative community for children under 13 where they can write, illustrate, and share their original stories, and have them printed out into real hardcover and paperback books. It was developed to encourage the imagination and creativity of children everywhere. Tikatok can be found here.

Allowing students to upload work to the school's server space

Quite a number of our schools have 'bought' their own hosting space for either their school website, their own VLE or both.  I have been asked by a number of these schools as to how their students can upload work to this web space, in particular their websites which have been created for a specific task such as their GCSE coursework or A-level coursework, in order that they can be viewed live.

I have produced a brief tutorial here which demonstrates this process.

Blogger celebrates its 10th Birthday

To celebrate its 10th birthday, Blogger has introduced some really useful new features.  The first one of note is the "Read more" link.  Back in December '08, we blogged about how it was possible to add the 'Read more ...' link by changing the HTML code in the template.  This was a bit messy and problematic. Blogger now has a build in feature that easily allows you to insert the Read more link anywhere within the article.  Details of how to set it up can be found here.

Physical Storage v Digital Storage

Recording information is an inherent part of our humanity. As we evolve, we create more efficient means of storing this information. Since the creation of computers, we have greatly increased our ability to store and access large quantities of information. Find out more about the Digital Storage Evolution by clicking here.

Findings on the impact of Web 2.0 on learning

Becta has recently published findings on the impact of Web 2.0 technologies on learning. The research was carried out on their behalf by Nottingham University and surveyed 2,600 students aged 11-16 in 27 schools.
The findings recognise that development in this area is still at an early stage however they are cautiuosly positive.

Google Translate

You want to develop links between your students and those in another country but are worried that your language skills may not be up to it? Why not try the new translation tool from Google.
Simply enter the text and choose the language that you require and hey presto! a fully translated version of your text appears that can be copied and pasted into any document including emails and discussion forums.

Website blocking

We all know about the frustration that we feel when we come across a link to a website that is blocked on the network that we are using. In a recent article on Flux - the Futurelab blog - Ben Kirkland talks about the missed opportunities associated with blocked sites and argues that although eSafety is obviously a very important issue just blocking websites may not solve the problem. Read his article to learn more - what are your views on this controversial topic?