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Teacher ICT toolkit
Submitted by krittayat on Fri, 22/07/2011 - 08:20
eTwinning is an online community for schools in Europe. It is funded by the EU and supported in the UK by the British Council and is free for schools in EU countries to use. The eTwinning team runs regular training events around the UK, and helps individual teachers to set up projects, find partner schools for languages or other projects. To get an idea of what the Twinspace offers to teachers, you can look through the Step by step support which introduces each collaborative tool. www.britishcouncil.org/etwinning Once you have registered on eTwinning you can find partner schools then use the Twinspace to organise collaborative projects between pupils across Europe, including forums, shared documents and even live chat – all accessible by the students in your linked schools. Twinspaces are free to use and there is lots of support available. After your work is complete you can make your Twinspace public and use it as a showcase for your project outcomes. eTwinning is also the official platform for finding and sustaining Comenius partnerships.
Submitted by krittayat on Fri, 22/07/2011 - 08:20
ePals is an emailing and forum community for schools. It offers a secure emailing service for use with partner schools that is easy to set up and use. The emails go through the teacher's account before they can be sent or read. Teachers and students of all ages use ePals email and the giant student forums for free. Schools also use ePals to extend learning because the pupils can securely access their email accounts from home. www.epals.com With over 5 million students and teachers from over 191 countries, ePals is huge, so it can take a while to find a link, but the teachers who use the site are friendly and the nature of the site is fairly informal. In the forums, students can meet other students of all ages from USA, Canada, India, Colombia, almost anywhere, safely. The forum discussions are lively, use good English, and are fully moderated. It's easiest to ask pupils to form small groups and post messages in a forum of their choice, or one that suits the lesson topic (they cover many topics). Come back next week to see what comments and answers you have got! ePals is ideal for Spanish as you can link with schools in southern USA (often Hispanic) or Latin America and then exchange emails in target language. ePals has just launched a better equipped collaborative space for schools, called Learning Space. This is a premium product and is costed from around £4 per pupil.
Submitted by krittayat on Fri, 22/07/2011 - 08:21
Skoolville, or SuperClubs Plus as it use to be called, is a social network for children. Monitored 24/7 by trained moderators, it provides learners with a safe way to connect with other schools across the world. www.scplus.com A range of safety features can allow your school to enjoy the benefits of social media without the concerns. Above all, Skoolville emphasises the importance of changing young children's online behaviour so they are better equipped to protect their own wellbeing. The service is priced separately for home- or school-use.
Submitted by krittayat on Fri, 22/07/2011 - 08:21
Rafi.ki is a not-for-profit online community for schools all over the globe. The idea is that your class can log in and will be able to chat online to children in other schools around the world, or contribute to projects. www.rafi.ki (for secondary, 11-17) www.rafi.ki/kidogo (for primary, 5-11) Rafi.ki’s globally-themed projects cover topics such as slavery, climate change, conflict prevention, recycling, Modern Foreign Languages and Fairtrade. Each project comes with lesson plans and additional resources such as videos, pictures and sound clips. Features include:
Costs: In the UK, the cost is from around £600 for a whole school to sign up; small schools can contact for special rates. Due to its charitable remit, Rafi.ki is FREE to schools outside the UK.
Submitted by krittayat on Fri, 22/07/2011 - 08:23
Makewaves is a safe social media network for schools, with a focus on multimedia, where schools can broadcast their own podcasts, videos and blogs. Each school has their own space to host multimedia privately and securely (in their 'media station'), or they can publish it on the Makewaves site, where parents or the wider community can see it. Registered members of the site (other Makewaves schools) can log in and post comments on each other's work. It's easy for your partner school to find all your work because they can search by school name. Makewaves is free to join - and the 'basic' package gives you full access to everything you need. (You can later upgrade to a pay-for option which gives you more storage space if you need it). |
