Merlin John Online

Positive feedback from schools PlayStation project

Midlands games-based learning project reports improved engagement and skills
Sixteen schools across Wolverhampton that have involved students and teachers in a research project involving Sony PlayStation 3 games consoles using LittleBigPlanet2, the creative adventure game, are already reporting positive feedback.

Presenting his interim findings at the Learning Without Frontiers festival at Olympia, London, Don Passey, senior research fellow with the Department of Educational Research at Lancaster University, said the game players had developed team-working, communication and thinking skills while the "ambassador" students who worked with them felt their team-working leadership and planning skills had improved. The teachers felt the skills they improved most were thinking, team-working, planning and generating ideas.

New school's ICT empowers hard-to-reach learners

Sally McKeown meets educators with a remarkable record for helping learners most in need
Professor Lord Robert Winston, world famous scientist and TV presenter, opened the brand new £2 million North West London Independent School in Ealing last week.

The school educates some of the most challenging young people in London and offers them a chance to use first-rate ICT facilities to get qualifications and to nurture often hidden talents.

New-generation ICT steps up for 2012 BETT Awards

Innovation lies behind the fresh crop of BETT Awards. Maureen McTaggart had some surprises in store
A virtual dental chair and a web service featuring everyday gestures for communicating with babies and young children using British Sign Language were among the winners at the 2012 BETT Awards held in the London Hilton Park Lane Hotel.

But this was no celebration of new trends in baby communication, or, unfortunately, the end of visits to the dentist. The 2012 BETT Awards are a reflection that “ICT in the UK is still innovative and world-beating”, says awards organiser Ray Barker. And this website was honoured too.

Jonty Hearnden shares dyslexia ICT insights at BETT

Sally McKeown picked up some dyslexia software tips at BETT 2012 from a TV antiques expert
Antiques expert Jonty Hearnden was on the Microlink stand at the BETT 2012 educational technology show at Olympia, London, to talk about his personal experience of dyslexia.

Cash in the Attic TV regular Jonty Hearnden attended Henley Business School to extend his skills as a business coach and mentor. "You never know how long a shelf life you have as a television presenter," he joked, "so you need to plan ahead."

Welcome to the world of 'apptivities' – Purple Mash

2Simple beat Microsoft to the cloud, and Chris Drage is impressed by the result – Purple Mash
You have to hand it to 2Simple. This small UK creative software publisher has achieved a task that many bigger companies with massive resources have struggled with – made the treats, tricks and triumphs of its lauded 'hard disc' programs available to any teacher and learner using a web browser. It's risen to the cloud!

Welcome to the world of "apptivities" that is Purple Mash, 2Simple’s successful, cross-curricular online space. It's been built on the achievements of programs like 2DIY and the feedback from schools and users, and gives customers even more – to use at school and at home.

'Google it' takes on fresh meaning for UK schools

Douglas Blane visits East Lothian, an influential Scottish authority doing important work with Google
If there’s one person who knows what works and doesn't work for teachers it’s the ICT expert in an education authority who takes their calls for help when things go wrong.

“It’s the big difference I’ve found since we introduced Google Apps for Education in all our schools,” says East Lothian’s David Gilmour. “I’m not getting endless emails from teachers saying ‘We’ve got so far and now we’re stuck.’ It's really striking. They're taking the tools, learning to use them immediately and doing useful things with them.”

Bryanston pushes assessment envelope with eChart

Bryanston School has built a dynamic digital embodiment of its education philosophy – the 'eChart'
At recent keynote presentations, former schools minister Lord Jim Knight asked his audiences, "Where's the school app that tells you how your kids are doing at school?"

The good news is that what he’s looking for is just down the road from his Dorset home. It's called The Bryanston eChart and he can get a powerful demonstration of its effectiveness at Bryanston School where it has been jointly developed with learning platform company Studywiz.

'Be driven by next-generation needs' - Mick Waters

School leaders should plan for learners' future, not external pressures, writes Mick Waters
We are in a time of great change in education with the emergence of new, innovative and exciting structures, thinking, learning design, technologies and freedoms.

The 21st Century Learning Alliance believes there has never been a more crucial time to capitalise on new thinking and it provides the space, incentive and opportunity to draw together those leading our changing landscape, to discuss, debate and offer practical opportunities for schools and teachers.

Birchfield ports all its materials to students' mobiles

Birchfield leads way in getting content to students' mobile devices, writes Gerald Haigh
When you have developed an extensive CD-Rom library of multimedia content covering virtually the whole of the curriculum, what do you do when alternative technologies and methods of delivery begin to appear?

Birchfield Interactive, just one of many software companies facing that challenge, has taken the bold step of anticipating the inevitable increase in the classroom use of mobile devices – particularly the ones owned by the students themselves.
Win Birchfield Mobile materials worth £10,000 for your schools – see below

Student mobiles powered up for text by VOICEYE

John Galloway likes a powerful new mobile tool for working with text – VOICEYE
VOICEYE is a mobile app to help those who struggle with text. They can carry it around on a smartphone in their pocket, and use the phone's camera to read a special VOICEYE code (like a QR or barcode) embedded in a document which transfers the text from the document to the phone. There it can either be read using preferred combinations of fonts and colour schemes, or listened to using text-to-speech if the phone has that installed.

It's a very impressive application which has won a 2012 BETT Award.

Lumens brings 'go anywhere' visualiser for teachers

Visualisers are cutting their cables. Chris Drage welcomes the award-winning Lumens Ladibug DC120
Described as an "ultra-portable, high-definition document camera", the Lumens DC120 wireless version of its eponymous visualiser is "go-anywhere" technology for teachers. For the first time these devices offer real portability, and this opens up interesting and useful applications for teachers and learners.

The Lumens Ladibug DC120 Digital Visual Presenter was designed for teachers to use in schools and colleges. While visualisers are ideal for classrooms, especially when linked to Interactive whiteboards, until now they have not been truly portable, and this innovation won a 2012 BETT Award.

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Logo BETT awards Welcome to Agent4change.net, the website of Merlin John Online Ltd. It's a free site and comments no longer require registration, but they are moderated.

What's new: Coverage of the BETT 2012 education technology show at Olympia, London, January 11-14 where editor Merlin John was presented with the "Outstanding Achievement in ICT Education" award at the 2012 BETT Awards.

Agent4change.net has been set up to share and celebrate the enormous changes to teaching and learning and school administration being brought via the appropriate use of ICT. This coverage is made possible by advertising (advertising rates here), so please take time to check out our advertisers as they help us build an independent source of editorial and advice for learning with ICT.

Stay with us, give us feedback and be part of a service dedicated to learning and innovation with ICT.

One of the most illuminating educators working in the UK today is Professor Sugata Mitra. View the complete video of his keynote presentation to the Blackboard Teaching and Learning Conference 2011 by clicking on the "Videos" tab above.

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Jonty Hearnden shares dyslexia ICT insights at BETT

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For iPad add-ons it's iLuv at first sight

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Positive feedback from schools PlayStation project

Midlands games-based learning project reports improved engagement and skills
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