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March 2000
What a lot going on at present! First do not forget to sign up for the seminar programme that runs from now till June. The first seminar took place on Friday 10th March but will be repeated in April. This was a fascinating session and Alan the Alien stole the scene. Cannot guarantee he will be there in April though, he is so in demand as a speaker.
Ann Sparrowhawk is running a series of sessions on the subject of software evaluation. These will be well worth going to. Apart from anything else you can become an accredited evaluator which should prove useful. The session on the 20th May will be followed by an introduction to the new skin for Think.Com in the afternoon. Again, well worth attending.
- MirandaNet/TEEM : NGFL Professional Development seminars
- Seminar : Developing Software Evaluation Skills
- Dates: 20th May, 22nd May (same day as building Online communitiesseminar) or 17th June
- Time: 9.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m.
- Venue: Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, WC1H 2AL (Nearest Tube Russell Square)
- Organiser: MirandaNet/TEEM (sponsored by Oracle)
- Audience : Teachers and advisors who want to understand more about the use of software in the classroom.
This half day seminar, run by Anne Sparrowhawk from TEEM, aims to develop teachers software evaluation skills as a means of professional development. Teachers will be using the TEEM model of evaluation, which is supported by the Department for Education & Employment.
In this seminar, focus will be mainly around Think.com. Teachers who have trained to become TEEM evaluators are paid for completed evaluations and case studies of software titles and these evaluations and case studies are published on the web.
Attendees will be invited to become Early Adopters of Oracle's Think.com.
Further details about this model of evaluation can be found on the TEEM website www.teem.org.uk.
Virtual Drives
Remember mainframes? All your stuff was miles away and access was dead slow via a dumb terminal? well the latest incarnation of this idea uses the Internet and is miles better. It is a sort of second cousin to Think.Com but with significant differences. The two examples I am aware of are to be found at www.idrive.com and www.xdrive.com. So a lot of imagination there then.
What is it? Simply put some kind person offers you 25mb of space on his server. You can store files, web pages, anything you want really. You upload from your own machine using a system that looks rather like copying files from your cd to your hard drive - except it is a lot slower. You can choose to put files in a private directory or into a password protected public directory.
Why would you want to do that? Suppose you have some data you always want to be able to get at but you do not have a lap top. Put it on a virtual drive and you can always access it from a web enabled computer. You can place files you want other people to be able to use there as well and unlike a web site you have control over who can access them. I will be in Australia this summer but if I put my latest novel on my idrive site then I can do re-writes using my brother's Mac - cos there is no way I'm lugging a computer around the world. (The novel exists only in my dreams but you get the idea)
Jane's Bit
There is no Jane's bit this month! she is in Japan for some reason. But, have you got a copy of her book yet? I have and a good read it is too. Excellent value for money.
The Internet:
A Writer's Guide
A & C Black, £9.99 208pp
Visit Prague : 29th May - 2nd June 2000
Opportunity for MirandaNet Fellows/Scholars to participate and present at a seminar with Czech Miranda on the 31st May in Prague. The seminar will be based on teachers sharing their classroom activities and experiences. This trip is unfunded so those interested in going to Prague will have to pay for themselves. There are now flights to Prague from Stanstead with GO for £70 and Boba Mannova is able to get hotel rooms for participants for approx £20 per night. Anyone interested in this trip needs to get in touch with Tina quickly. Presentations can be on power-point, on-line or just eye-balling Hopefully there will also be a social programme - those who were there in 98 will know what that portends.....
From Tony Fisher comes the following. www.lighthouse.org.uk Lighthouse is a video and digital arts organisation. At their website, in the education section (move your pointer across the squares at the top of their interactive homepage) you will find some outcomes of exciting work done in schools involved in the Brighton Media Arts Project. IMHO some of this work is stunning and, for those of us who, like me, didn't realise, shows the degree of sophistication of what kids can achieve with new media. Raising standards is about more than numeracy and (print) literacy!
Party with Mara and Friends Oracle are sponsoring an International Gala Evening at Hermitage Primary School on Saturday April 8th, starting at 7p.m. There will be musicians and artists from Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, America and the East End and celebrity appearances from the casts of "Brookside" and "From Hero to Zero". Lots of great crafts, auctions, raffle prizes- Playstation and games, portable CD player, tickets for Mamma Mia and the Lion King, booze, meals out, beauty treatments and lots more.
A great night is promised- do come and support us. Tickets are £5 / £2 schoolchildren (£1 off each if booked in advance). Proceeds are going to be used to enrich the children's literacy experience with music, art and drama. Should be fun!
Miranda Roses this month from John Potter
We think the March Educational Site of the month should go to Stories from the Web - a wonderful interactive book-oriented site supported by libraries in Birmingham, Bristol and Leeds. It features, stories, reviews and interviews with authors (like the amazing Ms. Rowling) written by children. hosted.ukoln.ac.uk/stories/
And the Education Support Site to Wordpool for the quality and range of support it offers teachers... www.wordpool.co.uk
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