The end

Well here we are. Finally at the end of the ICT module. Assignment in tomorrow... Hooray! I have gained a lot of new information and look forward to expanding this further in the future. It has made me open my eyes to the wonderful world of ICT and how well it is used or not used in schools. I do believe ICT adds benefit to a childs education, it has a positive impact when used properly and is a good tool for motivating the less willing children in the class. As BECTA state in Elston's book "Schools judged by OFTSED to have very good ICT resources achieved better results than schools with poor ICT." After doing this assignment i do believe that that would be the case. And on that note i will sign off my blog for the last time. For now anyway!!

Reflection

Well here we are, nearly at the end of the ICT module. Although i've enjoyed it i have to say it's been a long four and a bit months. It just seems to have gone on forever. There's been so many ups' and downs in that time, more downs than up's but thats life eh! Most of the lessons have been enjoyable and eye opening, although i hate been put on the spot and having to create something there and then in uni. I like to have a fiddle and create on my own as i seem to have an imagination blackout as soon as someone asks to me do something on the spur of the moment. I think the least enjoyable lesson was one very near the beginning of the module were we looked at validity and reliability etc of the internet. I understand why it had to be taught but i'm still wary of using the internet sites for anything other than official documents. I also don't particular like reading off the internet, give me a good old fashioned book to turn the pages of anyday!
The module has increased my awareness of the benefits of using ICT in Nursery and i now try where possible to integrate it into our Nursery sessions. However, as Moyle states  it only becomes a good use of ICT when the pupils become actively involved in the lesson, so i try to ensure it is used effectively and that the children are as involved and engaged as possible. I'm already thinking ahead of how i can use it for future topics. I still wish i had more time to play around with all the fab software i've now got downloaded onto my own laptop,2 ANIMATE, Textease and Photostory, but with work, family, GSCE science and my NVQ 3 in Better Reading something has to take a back seat and unfortunatly for the time being it has to be the fun things. Talking of my NVQ i better sign off now as i've got an assignment to have in on Wed about the 3 main reading strategies that i haven't even started yet. No rest for the wicked eh!

ICT Skills

I've found some really good information on the subject of ICT in the Foundation Phase in Carol Elston's book using ICT in the Primary School. It has made me reflect on how i view ICT in the Foundation Phase and how i can best support the children. Her book focus's on each year from Foundation through to year 6 and has a handy guide in each one that suggests what we should be encouraging the children to do. For the foundation phase she states that developing chidlren's ICT skills will come from us encouraging the children to:

• Use ICT resources independantly  - Easier said than done in Nursery but i do try
• Use a mouse to move around  - Yes, but need to consider getting a left handed mouse for our left handed children
• Use a mouse to select, drag and drop an object - Encourage them to do this but some of the hands are so tiny they have difficulty clicking the mouse button.
• Click on an icon to view a picture - have given them the opportunity to do this
• Insert a CD ROM into a drive - unable to do this as broken due to little hands and little toys!
• Use the basic functions on a cd recorder - yes, the children love taking charge of the music at tidy up time
• use a digital camera with assistance - yes, they have done this on several occasions recently

Unfortunatly i don't feel we spend enough time on ICT in Nursery. That isn't through any fault of the teacher but with everything else that is required to be done ICT often takes a back seat. Especially as many of the ICT resources need adult support and often this isn't possible.

Too tired to think of one!

I'm exhausted after a 3 hour GSCE science lesson that still means the same amount to me as it did back in September... Nothing!!!  If anyone can explain how to change a word equation into something else and how and why to balance equations please step forward because i'm at a loss.Think i must feel like my poor class teacher did today. Yes, the computer and IWB let her down again!! At least this frustration is recognised by many authors. Hayes imparticular sums it up brilliantly  " ICT is a very good learning tool and a good source of motivation but often very stressful for the teacher to administer" I couldn't agree more, and on that note i'm off to bed to have nightmares about equations!! Goodnight

This weeks ICT activities

This week's planning has 3 ICT activities on it, which are all related to St Davids day.

• St David's Day online jigsaw
• Sequencing the pictures of the St Davids day story
• Making Dragon Pictures on Tizzy

When the teacher planned the activities the first 2 were to be done on the IWB. However, you guessed it!!, it's not working again so the activities had to be carried out on the PC. As usual some of the children took to it like a duck to water and impressed me with how quick they were completing the activity and the great fine motor skills they were using controlling the mouse. Others found it difficult and needed lots of support. This was no problem when the 3 adults were there and the PC had 121 support, but not so easy when one had to go and we were still trying to make Welsh Flags, paint daffodils, make daffodils out of play dough and generally supervise the in class bickering and fighting that is constant. No sooner would we get them started and walk away they would be calling you again. It's so hard to balance your time and to know where you are best placed to be. As i think i remember saying right back at the beginning of my blog i think the use of computers in class is essential for children these days but there has to be a high level of support to ensure it is been used correctly and especially to help those chidlren who have little or no chance to use a computer out of school time. The web site we used for the activities was http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/eng/index-new.htm. The children loved the activities and as usual it was a great crowd puller with lots of children watching and waiting for their turn, although again, this had to be highly supervised and we kept having to remind them who was next. They're going to start their Dragon pics tomorrow but i'm in uni so hopefully will get chance to sit with them on Friday to do some with them then.

ICT at home.

After seen how easy it was to use SKYPE and hearing about all my friends who use it, i have finally succumbed to technology and downloaded it onto my computer. Both my parents and sister, who live in York and West Sussex, have it so i'm looking forward to been able to keep in touch with them by it and seeing my niece and nephew weekly instead of twice yearly. When my son was born i did buy a webcam to keep in regular contact with parents but i only ever got it working once so hopefully i'll have more success through SKYPE. Well, once i've bought a microphone that is. Why can't anything ever be simple??
I was bought a Digital Photoframe for my birthday so spent a couple of hours yesterday setting it up and transferring photo's onto it etc.How easy... i think my nursery children could even manage it.  I'm desperate to add music to it but haven't been that clever yet. Hopefully will get chance to try again at the weekend.

Museum Technology

On our visit to Bath we went to the Roman Baths Museum. A fascinating insight into how clever the Romans were 2000 years ago and a sad reminder of how little we've actually moved on from the Romans. Apart from ICT!!!  The building tools we use today, coins, combs, jewellery, utensils etc are all very similar to the those used in Roman Times but i didn't see any eveidence of ICT so at least in 2000 years we have managed to progress in that area. The Museum was amazing, my son even said it was the best he'd been to and i put that down largely to the super duper audiology equipment they had for us to use when we went round. A great use of ICT to involve and keep the children ( and adults) interested and engaged. At different points around the museum there were boards with numbers on that you needed to type into the equipment. It then told you the story about the part of the museum you were in. It was like having your own tour guide but only better as you could go at your own pace and you could turn the volume up or down to suit your liking. It was so easy to use. My little boy loved it and could use it independantly. He was in his element and was so engrossed in the information given. Without this technology we'ed have probably been round the museum in an hour tops with very little increase in what we already knew. As it was we all learnt so much and i would highly recommend a visit to anyone. Below, my son demonstrating how easy it was to use. The children had their own numbers and stories to listen to.

Back Again

Eek, it seems like forever since i last blogged. Well actually it's just under two weeks and this is the first time i've had chance to have the computer to myself, what with holidays, visitors, chores etc etc  I've been making little notes of things to blog for when i eventually got back on it so here goes. Think i may need a couple of blogs to get through everything.
Firstly our Commenius evening went really well. The parents thought it was fab and thanks to SKYPE we had live link up's to our fellow countries, Italy, Latvia, Belgium and Germany. The children loved been on the webcam and the parents / governors were amazed at how we were able to link to all the countries and the confidence the children had in using the technology. Below is a photo of the live link up in the reception class.
It's not that clear in the photo but all four countries are represented at the same time.

Secondly, my weekend to Bath went ahead and i had been successful in booking the premier inn over the Internet. On the Saturday afternoon we went to a National Trust village called Laycock, which is often used as the setting for the period dramas like Cranford and Downtown abbey. It was like going back into Victorian times! No evidence of ICT anywhere, apart from the electrical till, which of course is obligatory in any shop these days as no one can seem to add up anymore. My apologies to  those of us who can but my experiences latley show everyone relies on the electric till, even to add up very simple maths. Anyway, i'm going off track, back to Laycock. There were no telegraph cables, telephone wires, tv aerials OR wait for it .... SKY DISHES! My Husband spoilt the illusion by saying all the cables would be buried under the ground. I was fantisising about a life free of TV's, phones etc and was on my way to the estate agents!!



My use of the internet.

After signing off i thought i'd just check out the weather forecast for the weekend for my trip away. So number one website http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast wish i'd never bothered as it shows heavy rain ALL weekend!!  Bang goes my nice leisurely stroll round Bath! So then i checked out number two website http://www.aquaterra.org/bath-sports-and-leisure-centre/swimming.aspx and number three website http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/. So looks like we'll be hitting the Roman Bath museum and then finsihing off in the swimming pool. Harry will be in his element. Need to remind myself that this was meant to be my weekend and try and sneak off to the SPA baths. Better go and check out the price first. I've been on the internet for my own personal use more tonight than in the last couple of months put together. It amazes me how easy and quick it is to find out anything. I have found out all the information within no more than 10 mins, it was probably 5 but i was too busy admiring all the lovely photo's attached to websites. Now i really am signing off. Night night

SKYPE

Technology has been on our side this week!! Hooray! As part of our Comenius week the children have been able to Skype our fellow countries each morning. For those of you like me who up until a few weeks ago hadn't heard of Skype, it's basically free video calling that can be done on your computer providing you have a webcam. The children have loved it, especially the juniors. I think the infants have been a bit overwhelmed by it all and become much quieter than normal when they see their image at the bottom of the screen. I think it's amazing that children from other countries can talk to each other at school and see what each is doing real time. When i was at school it was a good old fashioned pen and paper that allowed us to keep in touch with penpals. I wonder if i'd had the technology available today if i'd still be in touch with them now? I used to find it such a drag putting pen to paper. Eh oh, enough of reminicising. There has been a big increase in the use of the internet this week also, with each class looking up information on the country their class has been allocated. I'm amazed at how much my 7 year old has told me about Italy! Again, years ago it would have been a trip to the library or the encyclopedia britannica. Crikey how times change, and even i have to admit in this instance i think for the better. The information that children have available to them today is amazing, through ICT i believe  there are so many more learning opportunities open to them.
My little boy was on http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize/ earlier. I couldn't believe how quick he was flying around the screen, without any support from myself. Quite amazing as he only goes on the computer a couple of times a week at most and not for a great deal of time. Their ability to grasp how to do things so quickly is mindblowing, but to him it's the norm. He can't understand it when i tell him i didn't have computers at school.
Well it's late now and i've got things to get ready for our open evening tomorrow. Roll on Friday and half term. Only 3 more days and i'll find out if my premier inn booking was done right! Hope so. To any of my readers i hope you have a fab half term and a well deserved break. TTFN

Inset Days

One of the things i have always said in school is that i think we should have an inset day dedicated to ICT. Yes Forest School inset was great as was setting up an art area, as was how do children learn. Not so great was the cleaning of the art cupboard and other associated cleaning duties, although they are essential i know. But i have to ask myself the question how much knowledge do any of the staff have in the use of ICT. I know they know the basics but how aware are they of what we can actually do with all this software and do they utilise it as best they could. I've spoken with my fellow TA's and the only knowledge they have of the software is what they've picked up through trial and error. As Walton and Goddard state in their book Supporting Every Child "Education in the twenty first century will almost certainly involve the exploitation of ICT and both teachers and teaching assistants will be required to acquire ICT capability for it's effective integration into the classroom". Even Becta, the government agency that promotes the effective and innovative use of technology in education, states that they know that technology has the potential to transform learning. They also go on to say that they are commited to inspiring education providers to realise that potential, and equip learners for Britains future success. If this is the case why isn't more been done to give us the opportunity to acquire this knowledge and so enabling us to transfer these skills into the classroom. Without this course i wouldn't have dreamt that there was so much technology available to children in school. As teachers and TA's we need the knowldge so we can pass on to our children. Without this some children may not have another opportunity to learn these skills if ICT is unavailable to them at home.

Assignment

Well another week over and a new one about to begin. Last week was a complete write off with regards to ICT in school but i'm positive this week will be better. It's our comenius week in school and as i mentioned before Nursery's country is Latvia. On Friday the plan for the week involved making Rye bread ( a Latvian delicacy that i couldn't take to) and doing lots of Latvian crafts. However, I'm hoping that there will be an opportunity for me to show the children where Latvia is using the internet even if it's in our circle time after the register. I've been on some sites today and found a couple that would be nice for the children to see. I'm also able to show my photostory that i'm looking forward to and on Thursday technology allowing we are hoping to have a live link up to our fellow comenius countries. I can't wait to see the children's faces if that goes to plan.
Although i've done my resource and carried out the lessons which went really well and that the teacher was pleased with i look at everyone else's resources and panic that mine isn't in anyway as detailed. I do feel confident that the resource enabled the objective to be met and keep reminding myself that i am only in the Nursery class and they are only there for 2 and a half hours a day. By the time they sit for the register, have toast and milk, tidy up, go outdoors there's probably only about an hour to an hour and a quarter of actual teaching time (or should i say learning through play time) and when there's 30 in the class a focused activity can take the whole week to complete. Sometimes 2 weeks. Eh oh, i just have to keep telling myself that my lesson was aimed at mainly 3 year olds and if i am given the opportunity next year of moving out of Nursery i'll have lots of ideas ready to go to the teacher with. Thats if i keep practising and don't forget how to use everything i've learnt.

Technophobia!

What a fab word. After reading about technophobia in Steve Wheelers book Transforming Primary ICT i've decided that up until a few weeks ago that was me. In fact i think most of my teacher friends are technophobes as well. Whenever i ask them what they use ICT for their response is always the same... " as little as i can get away with using". So for all those of you who may read my blog here's what it means... an extreme negative response to ICT which may be the result of fear or anxiety. Yep, that was me. As Wheeler says "No matter how good a technology is , it will fail if people either find it too difficult to use or percieve no use for it". Yep, that was definatly me! However... after spending several sessions looking at different aspects of ICT and how they can support the children's learning, as well as been able to play around with the software at home, i'm definatly a convert. Don't panic Mandy, i'm not ready to take over your ICT class yet.. infact never, but i am more in the corner of using ICT than i was before. Infact i better sign off my blog as i've got some work on textease to do. Who would have believed i would be using textease to make games a few months ago.. certainly not me! Good night.

The big clean

So far this week i can report on NO ICT useage in school. To be fair to the teacher it is because we have been having the biggest clean up and sort out of the class on record. I can't believe how much can be acquired in such a few years. I have touched the ICT equipment when i was putting it in our new super duper storage but don't think that quite counts as useage!! At least it's all together now and we've sorted out the broken from the unbroken, as well as investing in many batteries! I'm quite looking forward to going into work tomorrow, knowing how easy it will be to find the ICT equipment for the children to play with.
I did use the internet last night to research any games that i could use for my year 5 /6 literacy support. Even though i don't have access to a computer when supporting these children i thought i might be able to adapt them for their lessons. The website that i found really useful was http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/eng/index-new.htm. We have used this in nursery a few times but i didn't realise i would be able to access it myself from home. Another one to add to my favourites now i know how to do it!!

2Animate

I have to say i'm glad there are no more sessions of ICT! Not because i didn't find them interesting but completely the opposite. So interesting, that all i've spent today doing is downloading the Notebook for the Smart Board and 2 Animate and playing around with them. Also done another photostory. Nothing else is getting done! I've just shown my son how to use 2animate and have attached his first attempt. Better than mine i have to say. He loves it and wants to move onto the advanced one but i've said to practise on the simple first. Partly because i need to get my head round the advanced mode before he does. I don't want him showing me up!

Things i'd forgotten to blog!

1. My teacher loved my Latvia photostory. I couldn't quite believe it actually worked in school. It'll be used for Comenius week which is the 14th Feb.
2. Thank you Mandy for getting Textease back on my PC. You're a lifesaver.
3. Completed my ICT activity with the children that i did the resource for and was really pleased with how it went. The children loved it and want more games making!!  I'm already thinking of how i could have improved it and what else i can do using ICT to support their learning if given the chance. I also remebered Mandy's top tip of hitting the F5 button to get rid of the icons at the top of the page. This was a life saver and prevented any of the children been tempted to touch things i didn't want then touching.
4. Even used ICT in this weeks PE lesson! The Learning Objective has been for the children to crawl properly. Trying to demonstrate to the children proved amusing so we turned on the IWB, dusted off our PE resource box, took out the disc, inserted into Laptop and hey presto a full interactive demonstration of how to teach a 3 year old to crawl! Yes, i thought they could all crawl anyway, but it's far more technical than you would think. Honest!
5. I'm starting to use the internet more to order things on line and so far so good. Everything has turned up as planned. I've even managed to changed credit card details etc. Have also started using online banking more, although i'm still very sceptical of how secure it actually is. I even managed to book a weeked break in a premier inn for half term. Fingers crossed i did it right and when we turn up they have our booking reservation! Oh ye of little faith!!
6. Still can't fathom out how to renew library books on line. Have tried again this morning. Will have to resort to the good old fashion telephone!

Digital Camera

After making Chocolate Rice Krispie cakes with my 3 and 4 year olds on Mon and Tues ( Very Yummy) i spent the last half of the week on a focused activity with them using the Digital Camera. The activity gave them the opportunity through ICT to experiment with the digital camera and they were all given the chance to take photo's of their classmates playing in their favourite areas of the class. The photo's taken are been used to complete an activity of 'Our daily routines' but i've also made a photostory out of them so the children can watch on arrival at school. The children love looking at photo's of themselves and are engaged in what they see as a little film show.
As with all activities some children fared better than others. Some were extremely confident taking hold of the camera independantly and able to focus themselves and take the photo. Others needed lots of support to take the photo's, with some who were even unable to hold the camera for themselves.  On Monday i'm hoping to have the time to show a few of the children how we can print these photo's off, giving them the opportunity to learn more skills.

IWB / Smart Board

Well thank goodness this weeks over. Harry's had something on every night and all day yesterday which ultimately means i have something on every night been the taxi!!! Thankfully it's raining today which means football cancelled so i'm taking the opportunity to get my blog updated.
On Wednesday we learnt about the IWB or Smart board as also known. Carol Elston in her book Using ICT in the Primary School describes the IWB "as an erasable writing surface that interacts with a computer to capture writing electronically and enable interaction with a projected computer image. IWB's work by either using a special pen or finger touch. As the pen or finger is moved across the whiteboard the mouse cursor follows. Tapping the screen twice with a finger provides the same action as double clicking the mouse."
I couldn't believe just how much it could do. It was amazing. I didn't even realise there was a notepad on it that could be used. All i've ever seen it used for in 3 and a half years is as a projector for the laptop. The teacher will either find a website that can be used interactivly or it's used for the children to draw / mark make using Tizzy. As with Textease and Photostory I'm looking forward to been able to start having a play around with it on my own and hope at some point next half term to make an elctronic book to help the chidlren with their number recognition which will re-inforce the work i've been doing with them over the last few weeks. I've also managed to acquire 2Animate, ( Thankyou my friend... you know who you are!!) and am also looking foward to having a play around with that. My 7 year old loves drawing ( he wants to be an artist when he's older!! i keep trying to persuade him to be a doctor / vet or architect but no such luck yet). and i think he'll love 2Animate when he sees what it can do. Might have to invest in another laptop, with all this fab software to use we'll be fighting over who gets to use it.

Latvia

We were told a few days ago that in a couple of weeks time we will be having a Comenius week in school. Comenius is a project our school has been involved with for the last 18 months which links Wales with other countries in Europe. Each class has to focus on a different country from our group and fortunatly for me Nursery has been given Latvia. I say fortunatly for me as i went to Latvia as part of the project back in May so have first hand experience of it. I also have a fab collection of photo's which i thought would make a great base for a photostory to show to the children. I haven't spoken to my teacher about it yet but i'm hoping she'll give the go ahead to show it. I thought it would be nice to have showing on the IWB when the children come in in the morning while they wait for the register to be taken.
I've attached it to this post if you want to see what schools in Eastern Europe look like. I have to say it's not what i envisaged!! We stayed in Riga and it's a beautiful city. I would highly recommend to anyone wanting a long weekend break. For the purpose of the photostory i have removed some of the photo's as i deemed them unsuitable for the children!!

Photostory 3

My plan for today was to start getting on with my assignment. My boys were having a boys day out!! to give me some peace and quiet. I had all my books ready and pen in hand, and then i remembered about Photostory!! We learned about it in Uni on Wednesday and although it looked good and i wanted to try it out i'm not one of these who likes to fiddle about with things on the night and with lots of people about and distractions. I  prefer to have a go on my own. So thats what i've ended up doing today. I started off by Googling Photostory 3 and after a few attempts and flicking back and forth i was successful in downloading the programme. Photostory is a programme which allows you to make a film show of all your photo's, allowing you to add music, captions and special effects. I decided to make a photostory of our Legoland holiday we had back in the Summer. The programme was so easy to use and i was impressed at how quick i was able to put the show together. When it was all done, i pressed play, sat back and really enjoyed looking back at all those happy memories. Although i've looked at the pictures several times since the Summer i've not felt the same way about them as i did watching them through photostory. It bought the holiday to life, made me smile more and laugh more. I've even managed to download it onto my blog!! Impressed? I am!!
The class teacher has planned for an ICT activity in the next few weeks for the children to use the digital camera and i think incorporating that with Photostory would help enhance the children's learning further. Something for me to look forward to!!!

ICT Activity

Well after my very stressful Sunday i went into school on Monday armed with my memory stick and am pleased to report that all my textease work had thankfully saved and i was able to start doing the activities with the children. I still haven't been able to get textease back on my own PC but i'm hoping Mandy will be able to help rectify that situation. I was only able to work with a couple of children on Monday but the activity is planned for all week so i'm hoping that by Friday most of the class will have been able to have a go. My teacher thought both activities were great which was fab and reassuring that i hadn't gone down completely the wrong route. I'll leave it till Friday before i say how well or not the activity has gone, i don't want to tempt fate. I took a few photo's of the activity just incase the ever unreliable ICT lets me down again and i don't get another chance.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

Three hours ago i was completely ecstatic! I had made another resource using textease that i was really pleased with and couldn't wait for my son to test out. Then, been the ever cautious person i am, i saved it both on my hard drive and memory stick. Once saved i closed down and decided to check it had saved ok on memory stick. When the file opened it said part of the file may not have save properly so recommended using a scan. This all went ahead perfectly and it said all was ok. However, when i came to open file would it let me??? NO!!! Not only will it not let me open the file it won't even let me open textease! I have spent the last 3 hours removing textease, trying to reinstall it, modifying it, repairing it and anything else that might help and nothing at all is working. It doesn't help that i don't have a great knowledge about computers but i've tried my best. I now haven't got textease at all on my computer which i'm really frustrated and upset about. I was starting to really enjoy using it and had loads of ideas for resources for children. Also it was great to use at home with my son. I'm supposed to be doing the activities with the children tomorrow and can't even redo them in school before it starts as i've got to do breakfast club first. I'm so fed up, this is just reinforcing my dislike and contempt for ICT. Three hours ago i was on such a high and now i'm at the lowest of the low. My poor boys sunday dinner went out the window been replaced by a sandwich and bowl of cereal and for what!! Nothing, zilch, nadder!! aaggh! Anyway, ive wasted long enough on it now. I've sent Mandy and SOS which she may be able to help with, aside from that i can't do anything till Uni on Wed. It's just so damn annoying. Rant over, although it's still going on in my head. Better get on with the ironing and a small matter of my GCSE Chemistry practical exam to revise for which i've got tomorrow night! Why am i putting myself through all this stress?? Answers on a postcard please to ............

Focused ICT activity

My lesson plan will have to wait, just remembered i didn't blog anything about the ICT used in Nursery this week.
This is the first time since September that the children have used the computer for a focused activity so i was really pleased the teacher asked me to carry out the activity. The learning objective was to see if the children could add the correct number of objects to a night scene, this been 3 objects. ( Our topic this term is day and night). The activity was carried out using Tizzy and the first step for the children was to be able to create a black background. Some children were able to carry this out independantly, others could choose the black colour but needed support on which ICON would enable the whole screen to be filled at the same time and then there were others who had no clue how to even highlight the correct colour. Approx half the class needed lots of support, with most of these children having very poor mouse control and knowledge of what the mouse did. After the screen was coloured black or dark blue they then had to add 3 planets. Again a couple could do on there own and knew which ICON was used for the pictures, but for most of the class i needed to show them which it was and how to be able to scroll down etc to find the picture they needed. Some of those with good mouse control and understanding of number could do this with ease. However, some children who can count objects with ease normally and have a good understanding of how many, struggled as they didn't have good control of the mouse or didn't feel confident using it. There were also children who were able to use the computer confidently but were unable to add the correct number of objects.It was great carrying out this activity individually as it gave clear evidence of who could do what and will enable the teacher to use these observations in future planning. It  also opened my eyes to the differing degrees of knowledge that all the children have.  One little girl even looked at me nervously and said can you help me! She had no knowldge of how to use the computer and didn't even know the name for the mouse. Thats when it struck me that how would she know if nobody had told her or explained what it was for. It made me aware of the importance of ensuring i use the correct terminology and giving the children correct instructions. I hope the children were able to take something away from that lesson because i certainly did.


Crikey, i am getting good. Even managed to add some photos of the children doing the activity. Right really must get on with my lesson plan now.

Uni

Eek, i really thought i'd got my head round ICT in the nursery and then i went to Uni on Wednesday, spoke to Mandy and now feel i'm back where i started! Ok, thats not strictly true! I do feel i've progressed a little bit but still got lots to learn. Am hoping by the time this assignments finished i'll have got my head round it and be able to confidently answer any questions about how ICT is used in the Nursery class.
Wednesday's lesson was all about 2animate. A great piece of software and even i managed to use it and impress myself. Started getting all these ideas of how i could use it with the children but.................. yes, you guessed it we don't have it on any of our computers in school!! Unlike Textease i am unable to download it privately so for now that is the end of my 2animate experience. It also makes me feel like Wed was a bit of a waste of time for me as i don't have access to it.
Anyway, back to been positive!!! I showed Mandy my ICT resource that i've made which she said was good so that made me feel better. However, after explaining to Mandy that i wanted to add a cheer when the children matched the objects correctly she said this wouldn't be possible so i'm a little disappointed. She did give me an idea on how i could reinforce the learning further so i'm going to get on with that after i've finished my blog. My teacher has planned for me to do my activity this week so i'm feeling quite nervous about it. Infact i think i'll sign off my blog now so i can get me lesson plan done. Sorry Harry, Sunday dinner will have to wait a few hours.

Catchphrase

Guess the ctachphrase!!!

ICT in Nursery

What a difference a good book can make! I'm refering to Primary ICT for Teaching Assistants by John Galloway. I found it via Blackboard on the reading list of last years ICT module. Anyway, i ordered from Amazon via a private seller and it was here in 2 days and i have to say it has opened my eyes to ICT. Until now the reading i've done has been from books which have covered all aspects of primary teaching with just a chapter given to ICT. In these books ICT has just focused on the use of computers, whiteboards, webcams, scanners etc etc. However, this book has helped turn a light bulb on in my head and realise that the toy microwave, kettle and toaster, the class cd player etc are all equipment that has the ICT tag attached to it. They all have batteries which means they are all electrical, therefore all classed as ICT. Now why couldn't every book put it in such simple terms and be such an easy read. Admittedly the book would be even more beneficial to me if i worked from year 2 up but at least it's given me a start.
Mr Galloway even says himself how easy it is to forget that these are all classed as ICT. We tend not to notice the role of technology anymore as it's so embedded into what we do on a daily basis. He also goes on to say about the inportance of teaching the children how to use the equipment properly. Now i know that may seem like common sense but sometimes when it's the most obvious you don't do it. But... tomorrow when the boys fill up the kettle with the multlinks, and try and stuff playdough into it instead of just asking them why they've done that and telling them that the multi links belong on the maths table and the playdough on the dough table i'll take time out to sit with them and talk about the kettle and how it works and what it's used for etc.
I know at one point we did have a Tuff Cam and Microphone in class so i need to try and find them this week and get them working again. The bee bot we did have went to year 1 as it was classed as not been suitable for Nursery.
Yes, i'm feeling more positive tonight about the assignment. How long it will last who knows, but i will go into work tomorrow with a fresh pair of ICT eyes on!
PS . The hardest part of keeping this blog up to date is thinking of a Title every time!

Panic sets in!

After i'd updated my blog last night i thought i'd have a little peek at everyone elses and really wish i hadn't. To see that some people have been able to make ICT resources actually in school time and just how much others use ICT in their classes as put me into major panic. I'm with the Nursery children in the morning and year 5/6 support in the afternoon. In Nursery, apart from the Computer and IWB there is very little ICT used and as i've mentioned previously they are not the most reliable pieces of equipment. Yet again Baglan spent all morning trying to fix the IWB remotely which was hindered by lots of little hands removing the pens and trying to draw on the board. Telling them several times a day not to remove the pens or draw on it unless Tizzy is on is not having any impact. The positive side is that we have found out that a lady in Baglan gives training on the Smart Board so we're hoping it's free and she can come to see us one afternoon after work. Fingers crossed. In the afternoon i do withdrawn literacy support with the Juniors but don't have access to a Computer or IWB. Everything is paper based or on the small whiteboards. I have spoken to the Nursey teacher and asked her if she does plan any ICT activities if i can do it with the children and she has said yes so fingers crossed it will be soon.
I did manage to post a comment on someone elses Blog last night so that was something knew learnt and after reading about Mandy's Amazon kindle and not having a clue what she was talking about i saw it advertised twice on tv! So now i'm completely up on the latest technology! Well not quite, but at least i know what it is now and what it does.
I also printed off all the fab instructions for Textease so am going to have a bash at that this weekend. Might make me feel a bit better about things. TTFN

Happy New Year

Crikey, were did the last 6 weeks go? December was hectic both in school and personally. Plus i had the dreaded flu which knocked me for 6. I will have full empathy the next time someone tells me they have flu!

Well were to start this blog? I was very happy that i managed to log onto both Blackboard and my blog tonight so thats a positive start.

I have to admit i am very concerned on how successful i will be at this assignment considering how little ICT i actually come into contact with at school. There wasn't any opportunity for any ICT work throughout the whole of December. The mornings were taken up practicsing for the Infant Christmas concerts and in the afternoons the Juniors practised. When i say we practised everyday that is not an exaggeration! The last week of school was then taken up with the actual concerts, trips to the cinema, school parties and practising for the Christingle service.
The New Year hasn't started off much better. Yet again the man from Baglan ws called as our Interactive board was once again not interactive. Then when he came the teacher requested he loaded TIZZY onto the computer as that is what we use in Nursery but he said TIZZY couldn't be put on as we already had Textease. Panic set in as it is textease i'm hoping to produce my ICT resource on! Anyway, he did manage to fiddle a bit and as managed to get both resources installed, although i haven't yet checked to see if Textease is working properly! (Note to myself to stay behind tomorrow and check.)
On Tues we were able to use the IWB for our Maths lesson. The children were learning how to write the numbers 1 - 3, by overwriting on the IWB. However when the teacher came to save and print off the childrens work it kept coming up with a little ICON and when we closed the ICON the children's work disappeared. The only way to save their work was to copy and paste the page onto a word doc and save in there in order to print. (my idea, which i felt very proud about!) I thought the poor teacher was going to cry! Also fiddling hands and fingers kept touching the IWB which means it can't be used properly!

At home i haven't had much to do with ICT. The Christmas holidays took me to London and York so i didn't have access to a computer. Also i must be one of the only people who doesn't have an IPOD, Iphone, DS, Wii or any of the other pieces of technological equipment that most people have. I can't even borrow my sons as he doesn't possess any either. I might have to cave in next Christmas and buy him a DS!