Stop Motion Animations – MonkeyJam

A colleague has asked me to help with some ideas for how to carry out stop motion animation that they wish to get their students involved in and this has made me pause to evaluate the options with regards to stop motion animation. I firstly remembered the useful video below which I blogged about back in 2010.

How to make a Stopmotion animation2

►

We have used stop-motion animation in the Geography Department for a couple of years to encourage students to apply knowledge and understanding in the formation and development of coastal landforms and also in documenting the processes and features created at different plate boundaries in the study of plate tectonics. We have used plasticine for students to create and manipulate models and used flip cams to record stills which have then been stitched together in moviemaker. The results have been variable, there have been some great films produced, whilst others have been less successful. The method we have used in the past has been quite time consuming which has meant that some have been started and not finished, some have also been quite ‘stop start’ and lack the smooth look of some animations. I am therefore keen to look at how we can rationalise the process and what other software could be used. I am therefore going to have a look at MonkeyJam, a free stop-motion animation programme.

There are a number of basic tutorials available on YouTube for how to use MonkeyJam (see below) and by all accounts it seems very user friendly.

MonkeyJam seems to work well with a web cam as shown in the video, however this tutorial video from the BBC show how to use a digital camera and simply then import the images into Monkeyjam to carry out 2D animation; the beauty of the webcam however is the ability to capture straight into the Monkeyjam software.

There are some great examples of stop-motion animations on YouTube using lego figures – for example this short one on Free Running

I am looking forward to seeing what our students might be able to produce!

Google World Wonders Project – bringing the Geography and History classroom to life!

Getting back into the new term has taken some time with so much going on but I am very much looking forward to continuing to explore the world of new technologies and the ability to use them to enhance classroom practise throughout the academic year. There are various school based projects on the go (more to come) and lots of new digital resources to explore! One such resouce is the Google World Wonders project.

The Google World Wonders project is based on bringing world heritage sites of the modern and ancient world online. The project uses Google’s Street View technology, 3D modelling, photos, videos and in-depth information, to enable exploration of the world’s treasures from the classroom.

There are useful separate primary and secondary teacher guides with ideas for using the Google World Wonders project in the classroom. There are also more in-depth lesson plans which can be downloaded from the education section. These include ideas for both Geography and History lessons, for example the Jurrasic Coastline (Dorset & East Devon) and Pompeii / Herculaneum and I am looking forward to exploring these – particularly the Geography ones for potential use with my Key Stage 4 Geographers studying coasts next year.

Exploring QR Codes in Education

Keen to continuing researching the use of new technologies in supporting students learning, I am particularly keen to look at the technologies which they are already familiar with including smart phones. Having entered the world of the iphone a couple of years ago I have since seen a huge growth in the number of students with some kind of smart phone. Although I have been aware of QR codes for a while I have never stopped to consider their potential uses in education until stumbling across some articles whilst doing some research for my AST role.

So what are QR codes?

A QR code is a barcode like logo which can be scanned by smart phones, tablets etc. These codes can contain a variety of information which they direct the user to once scanned, including weblinks and text.

There are already a variety of interesting articles on the use of QR codes in education:

QR codes in education

Can QR codes enhance student learning?

QR Codes in the classroom

QRC101 is an excellent resource site focusing on the use of QR codes in education with a whole series of links to articles, videos and presentations. There is a huge amount of information here and I have only just started exploring it.

I also found this very interesting ‘critical’ overview of QR Codes and Education (http://itbabble.com/2011/09/03/qr-codes-and-education/) which sparks debate and questions the value of QR codes and whether they are gimmicky rather than adding to the educational value. A very interesting read and something I am keen to respond to more when I have tried it for myself.

So where do I go from here?

I am keen to start trying out QR codes in the classroom, but don’t want to ‘force’ them into all my teaching so I am going to start with just a focus on the VI form and thinking about how I can use the codes to help the students connect more with their
learning and encourage them to read around the subject more. As a starting point I
have done the following:

(i) Year 12 – are currently working on river features along the course of the river and are going to be constructing A3 sheets for the Upper, Middle and Lower course with
detailed notes and diagrams on the formation of the associated features. QR
codes already embedded on the sheets links to photographs of the features.
These will also be used for homework to encourage students to describe features
from a photograph.

(ii) Year 13 are looking at the sustainable management of rainforests and tomorrow’s lesson will focus on looking at a range of strategies that can be used. It is important that the students become more critical and start to evaluate the strategies and QR codes have been embedded in the notes sheets that will be used in the lesson to a
range of articles providing different points of view on a number of management
strategies.

I have also created an interactive display for my Year 11 form’s careers board with details of VI forms and colleges with QR codes providing direct links to prospectuses and websites from the display itself.

Other more general ideas to explore for the term ahead:-

• · Interactive Geography in the News Wall display – pictures and headlines of major geographical news stories with associated QR codes linking to online news video clips, websites and further images.
• · Interactive Revision Guides – to help ensure students have a fully integrated and interactive revision programme at GCSE. Current revision guides updated to include QR codes with links to the online resources, specific podcasts and where relevant model answers to exam questions.
• Further Extension links in presentations used in A’level lessons to encourage students to undertake further background reading.
• · Use of QR codes on information posters around school (thanks to mrjmutton for this idea)

A working list which will hopefully be updated as inspiration strikes!

There are undoubtedly a number of issues I am going to need to consider. What about students without smart phones? Am I getting over enthusiastic about something that will turn out to be just gimmicky? Or will it genuinely provide another way of encouraging students to interact and connect with their learning? I look forward to finding out!

6 Starter Ideas using the IWB

Danny Nicholson of the Whiteboard Blog has published this short video (8 mins) from a recent Teachmeet session he did showing 6 quick ideas for starters using the IWB – some great ideas here to get you thinking and easily adapted for all curriculum areas! Well worth a watch!

ICT Support on Teachers TV

Teachers TV is an excellent source of inspiration for ideas for using ICT in the classroom and has many excellent programmes which can be watched online. There is useful search function on the website. The videos can be played directly from the website (see screenshot) or downloaded. Below are just a few examples of some of the fantastic videos available:

General Videos linked to use of ICT

• Using ICT to engage parents
• Online Social Networks – Friends or Foe
• E-Assessment – Where next?
• Mobile Phones, Mobile Minds – mobile phones and potential impact on education
• Hi-Tech Transition – easy the tradition between schools for students
• PDAs and Webcams - use of PDA’s on fieldtrips and the use of webcams for animation
• Blogs and Wikis
• Enhancing Visuals (Using Digital Videos) in PE (Use of Digital Video)

TOP 10 ON THE WEB SERIES – For subject specific areas – a series of programmes based on secondary subjects and websites that can be used to support teaching and learning in these subjects:

• Secondary Art
• Secondary Music
• Secondary Citizenship
• Secondary Maths
• Secondary ICT
• Secondary Science
• Secondary Geography
• Secondary English and Media

Hard to Teach:

• Secondary Science - Using ICT
• Secondary English - Using ICT
• Secondary Maths – Using ICT

Lesson Activity Toolkit Tip of the week – 1. Using the Random Group, Random Name & Spinner! (all subjects!)

Some great little tools from the SMART Lesson Activity Toolkit (2.0) to use in your lessons – suitable for all curriculum areas! To find them simply click on the gallery tab in SMART notebook, select Lesson Activity Toolkit and then in the search box type what you are looking for i.e. “Random Word Chooser”; “Random Group Chooser” or “Spinner”. Let me know if you have any problems. Please also let me knows of any particular ways these have been useful in the classroom so we can share the ideas with others.

RANDOM WORD CHOOSER

A great little tool – simply type in a set of words and click select, the tool will flick through the words and randomly select one:

Ideas for use:
I’m sure you can all think of lots of uses for this little tool, but a few ideas to get you started……. let me know of any other ways you think of and we can share them on here.

• AFL tool for identifying students during questioning – input class set names and randomly select a student for answering a question
• Key word terminology – Revision activity – input a set of key terms related to a particular area – randomly select one and ask students to define the key term.
• Maths starter – you can type in numbers (thus equations or sums) and not just words – could get computer to select 5 at random as a little starter?
• MFL – key words in the target language for a particular topic area – randomly selected and students have to give the translation.

2. RANDOM GROUP GENERATOR

A great little tool for any activity in any subject involving group work and for which you want to randomly mix students.

(i) Simply insert the names of the students in your class and select the number of groups you want to split them into

(ii) Click generate…. and hey presto…!

3. SPINNER

A simple spinning tool – you can add text or simply have colour coded segments. To edit click on the arrows on the right of the spinner and you will get the selection box below. To type a word into each segment, make sure you keep clicking on the relevant segment or it will simply save over the one you have just named.

Ideas for use:
Again I’m sure you can come up with lots of ideas for use – just drop me an email so I can add to the list!

1. Name selector (again add names and then set the spinner) – would work ok for smaller groups like VI form
2. Revision - topic areas on spinner – ‘hot-seating’ – students have to select a topic area and then answer a question from it
3. Revision – simillar to above but student selects a key term / case study using topic and then has to tell the rest of the class as much as they know about it, or describe the key term etc.
4. Again numbers can be inputed as well as text – enabling maths equation style questions.

 Examples:

Topic areas / Revision use:

Name selector:

Games for the IWB

A quick reminder as we start the new year of the value of interactive games in the classroom, particularly now all teaching rooms have access to IWB facilities. There are lots of free games aimed at particular subjects available on the web, however remember we also have access to software in school, including the Content Generator software (Penalty Shootouts etc.) to make our own games. For more details please see last years post on Using Games in the Classrom.

HOT POTATOES QUIZ SOFTWARE - Now free

You can find out more about what Hot Potatoes quiz software can be used for including examples in the using games in the classroom post. But you should be aware that the software is now freeware and therefore can easily be downloaded and used at home.

You can download instructions from the website – but if you come and see me I have 3 spare printed help guides.

Hot Potatoes have also now made their Quandary software free. This software enables you to create web based action mazes which can be used for problem-solving, diagnosis and surveys/questionnaires etc. Students are faced with a series of options – the option they then choose will lead them on a particular path for which they are then given further options. To get the idea – try out this Henry II and Thomas Becket history action maze from Andrew Field.

Here is a list of just some of the many websites offering online sources of educational games:

• Business Studies
• Interactive Games http://www.teachingbusiness.co.uk/index-12.html
• Geography
  Games4Geog http://www.games4geog.com/
• GeoBytes Games  (St  Ivo School) http://cgz.e2bn.net/e2bn/leas/c99/schools/cgz/accounts/staff/rchambers/GeoBytes/GeoGames/geogames.htm
• GeogOnlineGames (includes both Geography and History Games) http://www.geogonline.org.uk/GeogGames.htm
• English
• English Language Games http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/exercices/games.html#contentgeneratormatching
• ICT
• Revise Computing  http://www.revisecomputing.co.uk/
• Revise ICT http://www.reviseict.co.uk/
• ICT History (History of ICT) http://www.icthistory.co.uk/?cat=12
• Maths
• Online Maths Games http://www.crctlessons.com/math-online-games.html
• Maths Games http://freemaths.net/games
• Maths Games (Congleton High School) http://clc2.uniservity.com/GroupHomepage.asp?GroupID=56757
• MFL
• Large number of Modern Languages Games (Thorpe St Andrews School) http://www.thorpelangsdept.info/interest.htm
• Includes Quizzes and Games (Notre Dame High School, Norwich) http://www.yjc.org.uk/
• SCIENCE
• Science Review Games http://sciencereviewgames.com/srg/
• RE
• Online Games (RS Revision) http://www.rsrevision.com/contents/games.htm

Remember there are also lots of templates for creating games using the Lesson Activity Toolkit in SMART notebook - I will be posting a reminder of some of these over the next few weeks.

IWB – Science Training – July 2009

The following resources will provide support to back up what was presented in the training session, including the presentation notebook from which you can copy, paste and edit examples as you want.

Getting Started with SMART Notebook – The Basics

Download – Unlocking the Potential of your IWB – SCIENCE (presentation notebook – .nbk file).

10 Tips, Tricks and Activities for use on the IWB (Blog Post)

IWB related Posts on ICT Across the Curriculum – IWB Support

This is a great little video clip giving 5 tips and tricks for using the IWB – some of which you were shown in the training – but might have forgotten!

Other Resources to support the use of the IWB in Science:

Interactive Whiteboard Resources for Science (Kent ICT)

ThinkBank Science – Science IWB

Year 7 Science Quizzes

KS3 Science – Interactive Whiteboard Resources

KScience – Flash Animations

6 Interactive Whiteboard Strategies in Science

Secondary Science – Whiteboard Resources (Birmingham City Council)

Ideas to Inspire

Today I came across this superb site relevant to most curriculum areas and it certainly does what it says on the tin – it has many  “Ideas to Inspire“! The site has been put together by Mark Warner and is a collaborative project including a series of presentations giving short overviews of creative ideas for use in the classroom. The presentations have been put together using ideas contributed by classroom practitioners and provide real inspiration for engaging students.

The site is divided into 3 areas:

(i) Curriculum Ideas – specific ideas and resources for areas across the curriculum (e.g. Maths, Science, Geography etc.)

(ii) Interesting ways to use ICT in the classroom - one of my favourite sections – this takes particular ICT tools such as the IWB, Visualisers etc. and looks at creative ways of making the most of these to enhance the teaching and learning experience.

(iii) Other Collaborative presentations – such as this superb one on “Techy” tips for not so “Techy” teachers!

The site is rapidly increasing and Mark has reported 500 ideas already and 50 new ideas on the site just this week!! A brilliant site – well worth frequently returning to (I have added it to the Professional Development links) – a huge thanks to Mark and all the other collaborators for sharing such a wealth of ideas.