iPhone enters UK Classrooms

iphone,education,classroom,teacher,UK

The following is an article published in February of 2008

Studywiz 'takes mobile learning to a whole new level'

Anna Lagerkvist

05 Feb 2008 14:36 GMT

Learning using books, pens and paper is so last century - now, UK school children are to use Apple iPhones in the classroom.

Studywiz, an online learning management system, has just been made accessible on the Apple iPhone for the first time in the UK. Good news for school kids then, as having a cool new device to hand is likely to encourage learning on the go, outside the classroom.

Using an Apple iPhone, teachers, students and parents can log onto the Studywiz system through the Safari web browser to access various interactive and media-rich tools. For example, students can take tests, access real-time information, submit assignments or join in blogging. Parents can keep on top of their child's performance by accessing student reports and view their assignments from the Apple iPhone.

Works on iPod touch too

Australia-based software firm Etech Group is behind the Studywiz system, which has already been trialled in Edinburgh, Australia and the US. Geoff Elwood, CEO of Etech Group, told us Studywiz has proven to work on the Apple iPod touch and now it's "perfect for the Apple iPhone".

"What is really is exciting is that the Apple iPhone takes mobile learning to a whole new level because now students have full functionality and mobility of Studywiz from the palm of their hand," Elwood said.

"Studywiz is designed to integrate seamlessly with an Apple iPod touch and now we have adapted the Studywiz interface so that it's fully compatible with the Apple iPhone - making it even easier for teachers, students and parents to interact with and use."

Studywiz is currently used in 16 countries around the world. It is accredited by the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) to supply the learning platform to 29,000 schools in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. The Studywiz Apple iPhone interface is currently in being piloted and is due for release in the coming months. End Article-----------

Are we missing the ball here in the good old USA? Something to think about.

ISSUU.com

education,technology,publishing

ISSUE.com is a tremendous resource for school staff, teachers, and even students.

ISSUU is an online publishing tool that can be used to turn any pdf file into an electronic book with incredible features and controls. 

The following is an example of assessment data we have loaded in this format.

 

By going to the ISSUU site http://www.issuu.com you will find a huge variety of publications from magazines to childrens books.

 

Membership is free and once you have signed up, it is a very quick process to begin converting your pdf documents to interactive online books.  To do this you simply click upload, select your file, and choose the format.  It is that simple.

 

Check out this great tool.  I think you will find it to be a tremendous addition to your work.

Google Earth

Google Earth,Seth Sorensen,rantings,prophead,teacher,david warlick,david pogue,technology,education

Google Earth in the Classroom

One of the most incredible online tools I have found for classroom integration is Google Earth. This tool is absolutely free and can be downloaded at the provided link. http://earth.google.com/ This tool has huge potential in teaching subjects such as social studies at most grade levels and can be tied to math and many research projects.

General map work

Zoom in and out centered on a particular locality. Observe the relationship with other places, seas, borders and features.

Fly from one locality to another. What seas are crossed? How far is it? Which direction was the flight in?
Look at famous sights round the world. How would we travel to them? What country are they in?

Measure distances between places.

Overlay the latitude and longitude grid. Use to practice grid references.

Use the rotate feature to look at the Earth with North in different positions. Use the ‘view’ menu to remove the compass. Guess when north is at the top of the page.

Construct a quiz to be answered using Google Earth –

How many borders do various countries have?

What are the capitals of various countries?

Which countries have no coast?

Where are the continents and which countries are part of them?

Rivers

Follow the course of a river (local, linked with a locality study or famous) beginning in one location and tracing it both ways. Zoom in and out along periodically.

What settlements are observed?

What crossings are they? Are they road, railway, footpath or canal?

Are any tributaries observed?

Does the river diverge at any point?

Does the river meander?
Is there evidence of a floodplain?

Locality studies

Measure the distance from the school’s locality.

Investigate geographical features nearby.

Observe transport links.

What are the main towns and cities?

Mountains

Locate mountain ranges and peaks.

Tilt the view to see the mountains in 3D.

Rotate the tilted image to see the mountain in context.

Move the cursor around and compare the elevation measurements.

Coasts

The detail needed for much of the work on
coasts is not contained in these images. However there may be some aspects
which can be useful.

Look at contrasting localities, built up areas, sand dunes, cliffs, rocky coasts, etc. .

Put known coastal features into context by zooming in and out form them.

Ancient World Studies

Have students explore3D renderings of historical sites and structures.

Provide students with overlays of historical maps and photographs.

Locate Wikipedia and Google information on historical sites.

Provide students with explorer’s routs and travel information so they can retrace the journeys.