Computer Coordinator Update Term 3 2008

General Stuff

• Kidcyber is an Australian site with hundreds of current topics listed in categories. There are two ways to search.  A google search will bring you results based on your keywords, ranked by popularity and other measures.  A category search will bring a list of websites that have been verified as relating to a particular category you select.  Kidcyber is an Australian site with hundreds of topics listed in categories.  Remember each method has advantages and disadvantages.
• It is now really easy to annotate maps for use in many different curriculum areas.  Mapbuilder is a great tool to help you do this.
• Also Paul Clark has provided a collection of quiz, excel and word templates that are great for the primary school classroom.  Let me know what you need and I'll see if I can find something for you.

Infants

• Internet Picture dictionary is very cute and easy to use.
• Funschool Kaboose - cute animal letter printable sheets, lots of different types of games including spelling, science and geography
• The Little Big Book Club: E-books, there is current one book about cats available in different languages.  Great sound effects and presentation.

Primary

• Gimp is a photo-editing tool that is easy to use and free for installation on school machines. 

         The tutorials on the Sydney Region website will provide you with an idea of the programs  applications and capabiilities.  Let me know if you are interested in using this tool by adding a comment at the end of this post.

• Copyright is an important issue for students to understand.  Frankhardcase.com is a resource for students to understand copyright.  Smartcopying is a resource to help teachers understand the detail of copyright legislation.
• KidsView: Parliment in Focus  - flash-based interactives for teaching about Government.
• Bullying: No Way - An interactive website with lots of information on different aspects of bullying.
• Mick Leigh poetry - wonderful poetry from an Australian poet.
• Discovering Antarctica - beautiful imagery, lots of different media and lesson plans.
•  Double Jeopoardy is a great way to engage the students, developing quiz questions and answers on current classroom  or grade topics and then playing this interactive game as revision or just for fun. Double jeopardy is in the Stage 3 2008 Folder. The questions are easy to load, if you would like a little demonstration please let me know.
• Wordle is a fascinating tool that will convert a slab of text into a visual form. Words that appear more often in the text become larger, therefore highlighting keywords.  Check out this example from a homework news response that my class has written.     http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/185376/Sport

If you would like to keep abreast of some creative ways of  using technology in the classroom then check out Concetta's writings on this topic. Follow the link. http://me.edu.au/b/cgotlieb/entry/stage_2_social_skills

Tags: updates tips li
Posted at 06:54PM Sep 18, 2008 by Maria Marshall  |