Category: Apple

This year at Language World I was invited to present some ideas for using technology for collaboration in language learning. I teach primary so the focus was on that age group but there are many ideas and tools that are equally applicable for young and old! In spite of some technical hitches and running out of time as there was so much to share, the ideas were well received and I hope that this will serve as a reminder/update for those who attended, and a snapshot for those who didn’t.

Below is my presentation. Whilst all the links work, the videos don’t I’m afraid but you’ll find some below to give you a taster.

My first presentation at ICT Links into Languages Conference aka ILILC3 was entitled I want to break free.

The blurb promised –

In I want to break free  we’ll be looking at ways to break away from ‘chalk and talk’ and involve learners, encouraging them to interact with and demonstrate their understanding as they learn using (mobile) technology. We’ll investigate some ways of doing this using tools such as Nearpod, Socrative and Memrise and whilst I’ll be using my iPad and Mac to present, that doesn’t mean you need a fruity device to join in as some tools are web based and others are both Android and iOS. And on top of that, we’re a friendly bunch so I’m sure people will share!

Below are my slides which were more a summary of the session for those who weren’t there, and an aide-memoire for me to make sure I said all I wanted as we were flipping between apps most of the time! We did a Socrative quiz on the MFLTwitterati, learned about Healthy Eating in Spanish using Nearpod, saw how rubbish I really am at German using Memrise, looked very quickly at how to use Book Creator app and explained everything using Explain Everything!

(Apologies for the weird typeface – Slideshare has done something odd as it’s fine when I open in PPT!)

[slideshare id=16645089&style=border: 1px solid #CCC; border-width: 1px 1px 0; margin-bottom: 5px;&sc=no]

This clip combines two of my favourite things  – Spanish and iOS devices.

Made completely on iOS devices like iPhones, iPods and iPhones, here is NorthPoint Community Church wishing you a Merry Christmas.  Funky and fun!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcexJQM-8W0

And here’s more Christmas music from the same place if you enjoyed that.

Second of my upcoming ‘gigs’ is in Enfield, London, at London ATI.

Another of my ‘hats’ is as an Apple Distinguished Educator, and it’s in this capacity that I’m taking part in the Apple Teacher Institute (ATI) at Enfield CLC on June 16th-18th.

As the blurb says –

Over three days you will have many opportunities to explore and discuss with Apple Distinguished Educators how digital media and Apple technologies can be used to engage and motivate students. The aim is to promote teacher confidence and develop capacity in a relaxed and friendly manner for everyone, regardless of experience.

There will be workshops on iMovie, animation, podcasting, iWeb, music in Garageband, iPod Touches in the classroom and also a couple of more advanced workshops on Final Cut and Logic.

A great way to start off using a Mac:  you choose several workshops over the first two days then, on the third day,  work with a group of delegates to complete a project of your own devising, using the skills you have learnt – and quite possibly a few more you discover as you go along!

If you want more details you can download the following PDF giving details of how to register – London ATI

And if London is inconvenient for you, there are other ATIs around the country too – Doncaster, Liverpool and Stockton all host an ATI  in June / July.  If you want to know more, send me a message below or  via the contact form.

Both my boys wanted to play on the computer this morning at the same time on different things – 9 year old is a fan of Fizzy.com and was playing Swords and Sandals 3 (about Roman gladiators apparently) whilst 6 year old was eager to visit Cbeebies and BABW. Eldest had grabbed the house PC and youngest looked at me with his big brown bush baby eyes…

So I did something I haven’t done for weeks – I got out my laptop! And I could not believe how SLOOOOOOOOOOW it was! I’m so used to the speed of my MacBook that the slowness of my laptop was even more marked than it used to be. After nearly eight minutes of waiting and clicking, it finally got working – only to immediately crash! Started it up again – and although it looked promising, it’s just crashed again. Consequently, boys are now exercising cooperation and playing on house PC together – and whatever they’re doing is obviously tickling them as I can hear belly laughs as I type!

So – my advice? Get a Mac!
And if you can’t, perhaps investigate these products –

There are lots more adverts on the Apple site – always worth a look if you need a giggle!