The National Curriculum for KS1 suggests:
-children should use technology purposefully to create and organise data.
For KS2:
-children should collect, analyse, evaluate and present data and information

Big data is taken from sites such as Facebook and Google

Computers are able to process instructions in seconds, storing data on just the tinest microchip, with the ability to store billions of giga bites (the whole of wikipedia can be stored on a microcard!!!).

In one internet minute there are 2.70 iliion Youtube hits- the data goes on and on and it’s fascinating- can use this to give the children an idea of how large the world is and how all computers are connected!

Data handling in schools:

Data loggers can be used to test the temperature of different liquids and see which cools down more quickly (use in maths, science).
Google docs are great for producing a class survey.
collecting data needs to be made relevant to the children- they could collect data from an old people’s home, and use this to make graphs and the end goalcould be to create a community event.

The issues:
-Where is our data being stored? The Cloud? Big storage buildings?
-legal/ethical issues- are the children asking appriopriate questions? Identifible data?
-e-safety?
-data protection act
-weird ads- shared browsers- you can get ads from what other people have been browsing

‘Gap Minder.org’ is an excellent tool to show the children. It shows the data explaining history that changed the world from the past 200 years. This can be used as excellent cross-curricular links to visualise Geography/history and could be used as a tool to inspire data and thinking skills at the start/end of the day.

Data on schools:
-Edubase (find more info on specific schools)
-Fisher Family Trust (FFT)
-teacher toolkit EEF (use for essays)

Apparently there is a difference between the terms ‘internet’ and ‘web’. And children need to know and understand these differences to understand what’s going on and to see the coding.

To address misconceptions a nice starting activity would be to get the children to draw the internet and web and discuss their initial ideas.

The internet= is a massive network of networks connecting millions of computers globally, forming a network which your computer can communicate with any other computer as long as it’s connected by the internet.

The Web= is a way of accessing information over the internet.The web uses HTTP protocol to transmit data.It also uses browses such as Firefox and Internet Explorer to access web pages which are linked to each other via hyperlinks.

We discussed how ‘net neutrality’ preserves our right to communicate freely online, and yet certain powers in countries are able to block sites, for example Trump wants to change net neutrality laws: https://phys.org/news/2017-02-donald-trump-net-neutrality.html

-visual ways to show children the extent of the computer:
– green cabinets
-telephone exchange
-Linx0 server internet exchange
-Satellite image- can put up your own satellite in space
-telephone cables across the sea bed (show a map of the physical cables- shark eating them in Vietnam!!!)
-Telegeographys Submarine cable map
-Stuffin.space- see all the ‘stuff’ in space!
-cross curricular- flow of water in terms of the interne
-Youtube- the internet is not the web Time Berners-lee 1989
-very first server
-www.W3. org
-https://googles.mozilla.org/
-barefoot computing
-Barefoot computing

KS2 lesson ideas:
-search for copyright free images: Creative Commons (CC)
-to make smaller + to make bigers
-erase all kittens (EAK)
-X-ray goggles
-Thimble Mozilla
-Codecademy on HTML
Made with code (KS2)
The Foos
-Computing CDP
-Queen Mary’s CS for fun
-MitchResnik- learning from Scratch
-Scratch website

Make fake newsapers by changing headlines online!!!
For children to be exempt from copyright it must be funny!
Danger: it can be found and traced! Be careful!

In session 5: ‘an intro to programming’ I learnt how fun programming can be and how it can be ussed effectively in the classroom.

Through computer-aided instruction we are making the computer teach the child.

Programming= algorithms +code

Set of instructions-give to the computer
code- thinking about instructions
solving instructions
learn about science- computing

There are many programming programs which can be used in the classroom to make prgramming fun and engaging.

For KS2, children can use ‘Scratch’ to program. It is very easy to understand and will teach the children to read, create programmes and learn through the wider online community:

https://scratch.mit.edu/

For KS1,children are expected to use algorithms implemented as programs, debug (fix programs through code) and use logical reasoning to predict behaviour.

We had great fun experimenting with the cute little Bee Bots I remember being 3 times bigger when I was at school! They are simple and can be programmed to make sychronised patterns and shapes and follow courses!

‘Scratch Junior’can be downloaded as an app and is simple, colourful and great fun to use with KS1.

other useful programming sites to use with children are:
-Kodu (use to make your own Xbox games)
-Micro bits BBC (physical computer)
-Phython (how google works)
-Scratch (can be linked to robt programmes- get physical crocodile to bite your hand!)
-S4A, Kinect 2 scratch (scratch based)

Whilst on my BSE1 placement, I had the priviledge to watch a sequence of actual ICT lessons take place with a year five class.
It was interesting, as not only was this the first ICT lesson I had seen, but it was so different to the way we’d been taught ICT at school, when the whole class had to fight over the only two computers in the whole school- here every pupil had their own ipad!

The lesson was about creating ‘safe online profiles’, taking place over a sequence of lessons, to give the students a chance to discuss the topic and create their own video in pairs, using ‘MyMovie4’.

The first lesson was to recap what the students remembered about e-safety and discuss the seven main categories, which included:

1. What does e-safety mean?
2. Creating safe online profiles
3. Three Cs- content, contact and conduct
4. Film and game ratings
5. Fact or fiction information online
6. Copyright
7. Digital footprint

Their task was to choice one of these areas to base their film on and start planning!

The following lesson was the fun one- they were shown a few exampled of films previously made and were told to go, explore, experiment!

What followed were some very inventive films, in which students had used pictures, photos, filmed themselves and added music and text to create short films about their chosen categories.

They enjoyed this lesson very much, but in a lesson like this it is very easy to lose sight of the actual aim and I feel the students could have benefitted with more time to plan what text they would add to the video, as this came more as an after thought.

Overall, this experience gave me a great insight in to teaching technology and the importance of teaching e-safety in a fun and engaging way, at a time when children are constantly exposed to technology and may not be aware of how dangerous it could be.

It must be a sign of the times. We are surrounded by technology and the youth of today grow up using it. They use it for everything, know everything about it and depend upon it…yet do they know how many dangers lurk behind it and are they really safe?

Just like when we were in school, learning about ‘Road Safety’ with squirrels and hedghogs to highlight ‘safety’, learning about e-safety in schools has become elemental, and the earlier it’s taught, the better.

The issues surrounding e-safety are monumentuous and very worrying. Schools teach children to be respectful, honest, hardworking, ambitous, positive and a good citizen, so they should be able to trnsfer these skills whilst online…surely..and yet behviour can change when you’re online…

The three main dangers are content, contact and conduct. Everything can be traced online, nothing is private, who are you socialising with?, is what you read true? what inappriopriate content are you watching…

The main principles of e-safety are:

-keep information private

-be aware of the long term implications of content posted online

-do not upload and post inappriopriate information

-read and adhere to the website’s terms of conditions

Filtering is not the sole solution!!! Kids are smarter than that!! They need to be taught how to use and access data safely and responsibily!

Children should know who to turn to if they have concerns, this could be a teacher/parent or CEOP (child exploitation and online protection).

Good websites include:

CEOP- Think u Know

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

COOPA (child privacy protection act)

https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule

SWGFI digital literacy

http://swgfl.org.uk/products-services/esafety

BBC

Here’s the start of the presentation Fiona, Istiab and I started on Scams and Hoaxes:

scams-for-children

What is computational thinking? Do computers actually think?

What is an algorithm?

And what does it all have to do with odd socks and jam sandwiches?

In our session 2 seminar we explored the above questions in terms of computational thinking.

Computers can teach children (‘computer-aided instruction’), but what about if the child could teach or program the computer?

In 2013 the National Curriculum for computing was changed to address the key issue of understanding how computers actually work. now children get t explore the key concept of programming. If you miss out programming, you miss out on a huge chunk and creativity. Like learning how to drive but not understanding how cars work. Like Froebel who invented building blocks so children can play in order to come to an understanding of how the world works. It’s the same as with computer science.

Computational thinking is about getting computers to help us solve problems in a two part problem.

1. think about the steps or rules to solve a problem
2. use technical skills to get the computer working on the problem

For example: how does google work? Type in the key words in the search engine and the computer will come up with the answers.

This is where algorithms come in. An algorithm is a sequence of steps or set of rules to get something done, for example on the drive to uni, you follow a set of rules. If a child runs out, you stop. In order to program you need algorithms + the code. In key stage one children are taught what an algorithm is and use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs and in Ks2 children are taught to solve problems by breaking them down.

It’s about thinking about the whole, it’s about technical skills, it’s about logical problem solving. It’s about drawing a ‘crazy animal’. It’s about filling in a missing number. It’s about sorting weights. it’s abot converting between graphemes and phonemes. It’s about making jam sandwiches..

Wait a minute? Jam sandwiches? Crazy animals? Weights?

You can use these examples to teach the importance of using clear steps to solve a problem.

We had great fun testing some of these ideas! We listened to a set of instructions to draw a crazy animal. We asked questions to find a number in as few steps as possible (apparently according to the passport system it would take just 40 goes to find a number up to 1 trillion!! Fascinating fact!). We sorted eight weights in order. We talked about using a dictionary to find words. We used ‘Voki’ to create an avatar, who converts text into speech using different accents and languages. We wrote a step by step precise guide on how to make a jam sandwich and tested it out on Robo Miles. (see video example below).

All these processes highlight the point that the need for precision is absolutely fundamental when programming a computer.

By using some of these examples you can teach children about what an algorithm is in order to use clear steps to solve a problem.

And here’s what odd smelly socks have to do with it!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/ Continue reading →

Oh the joys of having technology at the tip of our fingers in the classroom! The use of the interactive white board in the classroom has made learning more accessible to all learners. It’s a real time safer- you don’t have to go through the laborious  process of writing everything on a blackboard, it’s big enough for everyone to see and you can use a range of media, resources, colours and characters to keep everyone engaged, benefitting the learners greatly.

The only thing I would mention is, it’s only a good tool to support teaching and it should not be the only resource teachers use. It’s easy to become lazy and use this as your main tool. Children need all types of different input, and using the IWB is great for presenting ideas, but in order for children to learn they need to be active and learn for themselves through doing and exploring!

I have only just started to get to grips with ‘Notebook’ and all it’s amazing functions- from adding pictures and videos, hiding and revealing texts and creating quizzes- the world is our oyster!