ICT in Practice Issue 8

ISSN 2053-5104

ICT in Practice Transforming education through sharing knowledge and practice Created by educators from around the world ISSUE 8

P3 / ICT GARAGE ACADEMY Online platform for Computing

P5 / GIFS RE-BORN Making gifts and gifts in use

SUMMER EDITION JUL 2014

P18 / COMPUTING and an NQT Surviving and Thriving with Computing as an NQT

P22 / CODING RESOURCES Apps, Programs and Websites for teaching coding and game design.

www.ictinpractice.com

From the editor We have some exciting news.

Selcuk Ozdemir is one of them. I was so impressed with his work in

First, we now have an ICT in

Computer Science in Turkey, I felt

Practice Forum for you to come and speak out your mind about

the need to share it with everyone.

This is how we connect with

any issues related to the use of technology in teaching and

innovative minds from around the world. For me his work is

learning. Just visit

invaluable. He is someone who

http://forum.ictinpractice.com/ and start chatting!

has used extensive research to design tools to help young people

We have also decided to hold

to develop computational thinking.

Most importnatly he did not do this

Welcome to your space where we

monthly Google hangouts to

to make a name or get fame, he

continue to share and learn in full

discuss some exciting ideas related to Technology Enchanced

did it for the young learners. He wanted to help them to develop

Learning. The first one will look at the ideas of using Minecraft in

skills that would be useful for life not only in specific subjects in

education. So watch our forum or

school. I hope you will spend

follow us on Twitter to first find out about it. Any suggestions, just

some time to read about his work.

drop us an email.

YOU ARE AMAZING! I would also like to give a warm

Thank you for supporting us, you are our driving power. Please

I have met many people on the

spread the word and let more

hug to Elliot Plumb as a new

Internet over the years, some I clicked with, some I didnʼt get on

people join our learning journey!

well with. There are also people that when I met them made me

Yasemin Allsop Editor

gear!

I would like to start with giving big thanks to the wonderful educators from across the Globe who have shared their experiences of using technology in education through their articles in this issue.

member of our Editorial board. I am sure his positive energy and endless creative ideas will create a dynamic buzz in our minds!

say wooow! Assoc. Prof. Dr

Twitter: @yallsop

Contents ‘ICT Garage Academy ’

by Assoc.Prof.Dr. Selçuk Özdemir page 3-5

‘Gifs re-born’

by Tim Brook page 6-8

‘WEB 2 Tools in our Comenius Project ‘Citizen of Care-Land’

by Marijana Šundov page 9-11

‘Using Desmos To Explore Taylor and Maclaurin Series in AP Calculus’

by Daisy Zhang-Negrerie, Ph.D page 12-15

‘Children, mobile technology and eSafety’

by Jamie Mortimer page 16-17

‘Surviving and Thriving with Computing as an NQT’

by Elliott Plumb page 18-19

Scratch and Sniff

by Ian Stephenson page 20-22

‘Is technology damaging our children's Language Skills?’

by Yasemin Allsop page 23-24

“A quick evaluation of apps and Web Sites for Programming”

by Yasemin Allsop page 25-26

ICT GARAGE ACADEMY BilisimGarajAkademisi.com The “God Par6cle” needed to transform a Download Community to an Upload Community:

Bilisim Garaj Akademisi (IT Garage Academy) is an

smaller than 1%. The volume of the ICT market in

online portal supplying coding, web design, 3D

Turkey is formed by mostly communica@on

design and robo@c/electronic design curriculum for

technologies such as GSM operators and internet

children from the ages 7-­‐8, 9-­‐12 and 13-­‐16. On the

service suppliers.

portal, Turkish youths, star@ng from 7 years old, learn: * coding using Scratch or MS Small Basic, * web design using Notepad, * 3D design using Sketchup * robo@c / electronic design using various safe electronic materials, * and entrepreneurship through IT.

The youth is devoid of the skills required to produce with IT, because the educa@on system doesn’t equip the new genera@ons with the skills such as coding, web design or robo@c design especially at primary and secondary levels. Gaining produc@ve IT skills is postponed un@l university years. In the country, the general percep@on is that computer literacy is equal to computer use. However, computer use is a much broader concept covering computer literacy. In this informa@on age, proper use of IT in educa@on helps students to gain 21st

Why? The slogan of the plaSorm is “From a Download Society to an Upload Society.” This moXo aims to aXract Turkish people’s aXen@on to an important problem. Turkey is one of the top countries using social media and mobile internet. For example, Turkish people are among the top Facebook users.

On the other hand, Turkish people produce ICT technology much less than they consume. To illustrate, applica@ons produced for mobile devices such as smart phones and tablet PCs have the market volume of 65 billion US$ around the world.

Turkey’s contribu@on to this market volume is smaller than 0.5%! Another example is that Turkey’s annual ICT market volume is 36 billion US$. In this volume, high technology produc@on including hardware, sobware or embedded technology is

century skills such as cri@cal thinking, crea@ve thinking, scien@fic thinking, collabora@on with others especially in a problem based learning environment.

What?

technologies to produce many related solu@ons for a real life problem. U@lising this holis@c approach, in addi@on to advanced IT skills, the students have the opportunity to gain entrepreneurial competences defined by European Union. These

To change this percep6on and increase the

entrepreneurial competences are classified as

awareness of the concept of computa6onal

knowledge, skills and aitude. The students learn

thinking, Dr. Selçuk Özdemir started the

about “being ini@a@ve user”, “self-­‐confidence”,

BilisimGarajAkademisi.com portal 18 months ago

“thinking on what new things can be developed”,

in Turkey. Now, more than 40 training centres

“being op@mis@c”, “leadership”, “marke@ng”,

and more than 10 primary/secondary private

“collabora@on”, “the importance of being cri@cal

schools use his curriculum.

and crea@ve”, “the concept of supply and

The curriculum used in BilisimGarajAkademisi.com has two dimensions. The first dimension (called

demand”, “concept of cost-­‐benefit” and “the importance of patents”.

Package 1) aims to present kids with their first

Star@ng from this October, the students will gain

threshold experience. With the modules in the

more than 50 entrepreneurial competences whilst

Package 1, the kids realise that they can program

they develop a solu@on for the problem of energy.

computers, design web sites, 3d models and

The students will be informed that energy

robots/electronic devices. In the first year in

resources come to an end and the world needs

Package 1, the kids learn all of the four subjects

new and clean energy resources for especially

separately. The priority in the first year is to show

transporta@on. In four modules of the Package 2, a

the kids who is the boss, because the students

student’s task is to:

realise that they can tell computers what to do.

* design a 3d model of an electric car which consumes solar energy (3D design module of the curriculum), * calculate the cost of the produc@on process of the solar energy car and protec@ng the confiden@al informa@on (Coding module of the curriculum),

In the second year, the whole curriculum runs

* produce and program a solar energy robo@c car

around an entrepreneurship problem. In Package

using real electronic circuit components (Robo@c

2, the students develop solu@ons for a given main

design module of the curriculum),

and sub-­‐problems using coding, web design, 3d design and robo@c design and programming. The entrepreneurship problem helps students u@lize all

* promote and market the solar energy robo@c car (Web design module of the curriculum).

Finally:

How?

Coding, in general producing with IT, is the “lingua franca” of the new age. In the future, all professions will need to do something which

Bilişim Garaj Akademisi has a very simple and

cannot be done by computerised machines. The

running methodology:

new genera@ons have to be equipped with produc@ve IT skills before their university years.

Curiosity

Produc@on

Exhibi@on

Thus, they will be aware what computers can do or cannot do. This awareness will help them to see

Curiosity is core to the Bilişim Garaj Akademisi

the innova@on opportuni@es in their professional

curriculum. Edgar Morin emphasizes that without

field.

curiosity, learning doesn’t take place. In each module, the students are presented a concrete task to complete. The students create a new produc@on in each hour of each module. Being able to create new things helps children to develop their self-­‐esteem. Finally, children love demonstra@ng to others what they can perform or produce. In accordance with our moXo “from a download society to an upload society”, the

Bilişim Garaj Akademisi aims to be an interna@onal portal. The en@re curriculum is being translated into English and the English content will be published via an English domain name.

Best regards, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Selçuk Özdemir The Founder of Bilişim Garaj Akademisi

students can upload their own works to the “Project Gallery” module of the portal so that

selcukozdemir@gmail.com

others can download and examine.

@drselcukozdemir Bilisimgarajakademisi.com hXp://w3.gazi.edu.tr/~sozdemir/index_eng.htm

GIFS RE-BORN

by Tim Brook

Gifs and Me Way back in the mists of Web 2.0, when YouTube was a glint in Google’s eye and Wikipedia was Encarta’s weedy rival, I built a website. I had neither the finances, nor the @me, to buy and learn to use Flash. So, to give my site a bit of pizazz, I used a fair old sprinkling of downloaded Gifs. Not too many because they can be preXy distrac@ng and, besides, in those ISDN days they slowed page loading to a speed that allowed you take a comfort break...

beard) gives an excellent starter tutorial here. I was par@cularly interested by the simple way mul@ple gifs and s@lls can be made transparent and layered allowing crea@ve combina@ons. Completed zeegas can be embedded in sites and blogs.

The great advantage of the gif is that it is an image format not a video, which means it can be added directly to a web page or included in a presenta@on without the need for video uploading to a host.

Making gifs has certainly come on a bit. Complex and sophis@cated work has given rise to the idea of gif as an art form My daughter’s phone made a gif from a series of pictures

When I came to build my new, improved site I had acquired Paintshop Pro which came with an applet called Anima@on Shop.

she took, without even asking her. There is currently a brief history of the gif on Zeega -­‐ all told with gifs, of course.

Anima@on Shop lets you create or edit Gifs frame by frame or by adding effects and transi@ons to images. You can download it these days for free, and it’s s@ll very

Making Gifs

useful, although the user interface betrays its age and it possibly won’t run on Windows 8. I’m s@ll

Googling ‘making gifs online’ produced a

very fond of some of the Gifs I created with

swathe of sites, all offering free conversion and

Anima@on Shop.

edi;ng of online videos. The ones I tried

I thought liXle more about Gifs for some years,

worked pre?y well, but when I got interested

un@l I began to become aware of a re-­‐birth through

in making my own stuff again, I wondered if

Tumblr sites I was visi@ng; but it was only when I

there was a free download for desktop use.

chanced upon Zeega that I became really

Need I have wondered? Several arrived

interested once more -­‐ enough to start making gifs

complete with irrita;ng toolbars or apps which

again. Zeega allows you to acquire gifs through giphy and mix and match them with text, and Crea@ve Commons licensed s@lls and music.

Zeega’s main man Jesse Shapins (of luxuriant

caused me to uninstall them immediately – and the junkware… (Note to self: do not download free apps when ;red).

delays and mul@ple anima@ons at the same @me.

Do choose the advanced @meline as you can drag the anima@ons to the length you require. You will only need to screen capture the anima@on Play preview window (rather than the full screen) as it’s plenty big enough for a gif.

Finally it occurred to me that by inser@ng the gif you had just made, into a Powerpoint page, and adding a Finally I came upon Instagiffer freeware, with a

mask on top (a picture with a

pleasantly func@onal interface and all the video-­‐

transparent hole in it) you

to-­‐gif func@onality I needed -­‐ and no ads or -­‐ erm

could create shapes with

– troubling -­‐ toolbars. It allows the clipping of

animated insides. You can do

online video or will convert your own videos. You

this too with the Powerpoint

can also capture gifs from any moving item on

anima@ons themselves. To make a mask, remove

your screen. Clips can be edited from your chosen

the insides of a simple line image. This easily be

start-­‐frame to end-­‐frame or individual frames

can be done by using the ‘magic wand’ selec@on

removed by double-­‐clicking. Size and quality can

tool of any half-­‐decent image editor (I use

be adjusted. Images can be cropped. There are

Paint.NET). Save it as a png. or gif, as JPEGs don’t

even some special effects. The finished gif will

do transparency. Bring it to the front of your stack

save to a folder of your choice. The only thing I’ve

of Powerpoint objects with the anima@on paying

found missing is the ability to iden@fy the number

behind the ‘hole’. Using Instagiffer’s screen

of plays, but Anima@on Shop can do this with your

capture tool you can end up with a TV with moving

finished gif if you wish and maybe to add a cross

images on the screen or a boat full of swimming

frame fade as well, to smooth the characteris@c

fish. My current personal favourite is a lightbulb

end-­‐of-­‐gif ‘jerk’.

with a firework display inside i.e. lots of brilliant

Aber giffing about a bit with my own and online

ideas!

videos, I wondered about screen capturing video from other tools that will animate images, like

Capture with Instagiffer and the surrounding blank

Photo Story 3, for example, which creates a ‘Ken

page area can be cropped. I use white pages most

Burns’ video from s@lls. And then I tried screen

oben but you could colour your mask the same

capturing from Powerpoint.

colour as your page. If you want a completely

If you have never tried Powerpoint’s object

Editor (no signup) has a transparency wizard that

anima@on buXon for fear of having your

will do this for you.

presenta@ons sneered at, now’s your chance to play. The custom anima@on sidebar allows a surprisingly large amount of flexibility including drawing paths for the objects to travel along,

transparent surround for your gif the Online Image

Two more gif must-­‐haves

Naturally movement is key but in a story perhaps

If you have never seen, or previously wriXen off,

to convey a sense of con@nuity. Perhaps, like all

the Pivot Animator freeware, download it now and

punctua@on, it best signals a changeover. My

start playing. Peter Bone, the deviser of Pivot has

Magic Lantern anima@ons were headings which

fairly recently produced the first non-­‐beta version

hinted at the page contents. A blazing fire could be

4, which will animate objects (sprites) as well as

the beginning or ending of a piece and used to

s@ck figures. Pivot anima@ons will now save as gifs

symbolize leaving or arriving home; ripples on

or video. There’s a good support site too.

water: dissipa@on or a response to a whim...

Microsob Research offers a free download of

Gifs can allow for close observa@onal wri@ng.

Cliplet which allows the crea@on of those

Ac@on clips could be used as scenes from the

anima@ons with s@ll backgrounds (known as

middle of a story, for which students can suggest,

cinemagraphs). It comes with free tutorials. Some

or write, beginnings and endings.

they need to loop without over-­‐obvious junc@ons

fairly sophis@cated anima@on can be achieved. In the classroom this could involve detailed planning and edi@ng while using very short ac@on clips which might take only a couple of minutes to capture saving groups wandering around with

Simple, moving diagrams can be made by you or, even beXer, students collabora@ng , to demonstrate processes in Science, Technology and Geography and assembled on a shared Padlet wall.

cameras for hours. The file sizes are rela@vely

Now, if all this has wheXed your

small as only part of the screen is animated, which

appe@te but the techtalk has leb

means you can have pages full on your class blog…

you cold, you’ll perhaps be glad

Gifs in use

to know I’m in the middle of

There is something strangely compelling about the animated gif. Students love them. There are some truly beau@ful gifs out there as well as a fair collec@on of the dull, obscene, sparkly or limp -­‐ preXy much like the rest of the web. They certainly add visual interest to your presenta@ons. If, like me, you are a fan of Inanimate Alice you’ll have some great models for wri@ng with anima@on.

I’m geing interested in the language of gifs. All stories need some form of punctua@on: pauses, full stops or slow fades for example. The animated gif sits between a s@ll image and video. It plays without the need for ac@on on the viewer’s part.

planning, wri@ng and recording a free online course, DIY GIF , covering all this and more. It should be finished by the end of August.

So keep your eye on my Digital Glue blog for regular updates on the progress of the work. You could be making some lovely autumnal gifs or maybe even moving scenery for your Christmas Produc@on.

And have some very engaged learners…

Tim Brook hXp://www.digitalglue.org/

WEB 2.0 TOOLS IN OUR COMENIUS PROJECT 'CITIZEN OF CARE-LAND'

by Marijana Šundov I work as a primary school teacher in Pujanke Elementary School for several years. I use modern teaching methods (Web 2.0 tools, E-learning, Moodle, E-twinning) with my pupils. Also, I have extensive experience with Erasmus+ international cooperation of European schools. I try to connect my pupils with pupils of other European countries, and empower them to use different web tools while they mutually communicate online and create various project activities together.

'You are only limited by your creativity' I introduced some web 2.0 tools in educa@on for

ac@vi@es; pupils make presenta@ons showing a

our commenius project mee@ng in Estonia (March

certain ac@vity and then present them at each

24-­‐29, 2014). The project was called 'Ci@zen of

project conference. I therefore first decided to

Care-­‐land', 2013-­‐2015. Teachers from 12

show them how they could improve their

european coutries aXended the conference,

presenta@ons by using Prezi tools for crea@ng

amongst them my school, Pujanke Elementary

presenta@ons instead of the more tradi@onal

School. I decided to make a presenta@on and

Power Point.

show it to the teachers in order to bring them closer to some of the web 2.0 tools. My main aim was that teachers returned back to their schools and disseminated their findings about web 2.0 to their pupils, as our project's aim is to use ICT amongst teachers and pupils. We have our Twinspace (private area of our project) on the E-­‐twinning plaSorm, where we share all project ac@vi@es. Teachers and pupils have their separate areas to communicate with each other, upload and share photos, videos etc. Our project is focused on pupils

My presenta@on for that purpose was created in

ar@sts in Prezi, where they decide about the

Prezi, and it was interes@ng that teachers could

appearance of their presenta@on. I showed them

learn how to navigate with Prezi whilst they were

'a wheel' that gives them easy access to all of the

watching at the presenta@on at the same @me. All

main tools where they simply clicked and dragged

of the teachers were in front of the computers,

what they wanted. If they wanted to write

listening to me and following the steps. First, I

something, they could just double-­‐click anywhere

explained what Prezi is; that it is a new way of

to begin typing. It was very interes@ng when they

crea@ng, collabora@ng, edi@ng and sharing user-­‐

realised that they could insert files (pdf, power

generated content online. Prezi allows you to

point, video, photos..) into their Prezi. I also

design your own dis@nc@ve, eye-­‐catcing

introduced them to very important tools in Prezi,

presenta@ons.

to paths that allow them to create the order of their presenta@on aber they have put all the text, videos, photos etc. Using paths, they began clicking

on the element they wanted to zoom into first and I also showed them that these presenta@ons can be

they con@nue clicking on each object in the order

flowing; that they can arrange text and images in

that they wanted them to appear in their

any way they like, they can also choose the order

presenta@on. I highlighted that they can always

and amount in which each element will be zoomed

edit everything. Finally, I showed them that they

into. I then explained the process for crea@ng an

can edit, delete or download Prezi, and what is

account on Prezi.com (I suggested seing up a free

more important, share Prezi using 'embed code' or

account for the first @me). Finally, I showed them

copying the link. We shared our Prezis on the

how to create a presenta@on aber crea@ng an

educa@onal plaSrom E-­‐twinning, on Twinspace. In

account simply by clicking on 'New prezi' and using

May, during our Project conference in Spain, pupils

basic tools on a blank canvas (A place where you

had the task to create presen@ons about 'Women

create your presenta@on). The teachers were

rights in Europe', and the great surprise: -­‐ many

fascinated with the fact that they become like

presenta@ons were created in Prezi. It was great!

The second tool that I wanted to introduce to them was Voki, a speaking avatar that is a great tool for classroom ac@vi@es and makes learning fun. I wanted teachers to incourage their pupils to communicate with pupils from different countries using Voki. Voki can easily be embedded on our Twinspace, so we decided to create virtual presenta@ons with Voki tools. Voki is a very simple tool, on www.voki.com you create your username and login. When you enter, you decide upon the appearance of your Voki character (you can choose a character that is similar to you or not), and when you click 'Customize your character' you can change the colour of its eyes, clothes, even the colour of the skin etc. The most important is to give your Voki a voice, and you can select from a few op@ons how to do it (recording with a microphone, uploading an audio file or the easiest op@on – you just type in your text). Aber you have typed the text, you can even choose the language and the voice and accent of your avatar. Sharing Prezi is also great (you can email your Voki, copy the link or embed the code).

project, because in our project we have pupils visits other countries, not just the teachers.

Pupils from one country host pupils from another country in their home. I found this tool great for introducing each other, making a poster of him/her, and he/she can write, draw, add videos and everything else that chracterises him or her. In this way, our pupils learned about each other, and made closer connec@ons before their visit. They enhanced many skills using this tools-­‐crea@vity, effec@ve communica@on, student collabora@on, literacy skills etc. It can be done in a short @me, so our pupils used this tool .You simply register at Glogster edu, write some info about yourself and start playing by clicking and dragging text, image, graphics, video,

Our pupils use Voki to communicate with each other about ceartain topics, they like it very much as they find Voki interes@ng and funny. Our teachers have made their own Vokis too and shared them on E-­‐ twinning to present themselves to other teachers.

My final tool was Glogster – online interac@ve posters that allows you to combine text, pictures, graphics, video and audio into an interac@ve poster.

I wanted to introduce this tool to teachers in the

sound etc, and share your Glogster on website or somewhere else. Our pupils shared their Glogsters on the Pupils' area on Twinspace, and through email.

I encourage my colleagues all the @me within my school, within the project and my pupils to use ICT as it is fun, crea@ve, and pupils learn faster through games without realising that they are actually learning at the same @me.

Using Desmos To Explore Taylor and Maclaurin Series in AP Calculus

by Daisy Zhang-­‐Negrerie, Ph.D Concordia International School, Shanghai

I am a fan of Desmos, a web-­‐based graphing

the results were no more than marginally

calculator completely free and accessible at

posi@ve.

www.desmos.com. There is no download needed,

The discovery of Desmos revolu@onized the way I

and it is extremely easy to use – the func@ons are

teach this chapter, and as a result, students’

well organized, and all are available at the click of

learning experience, as well as the learning result,

a mouse. Most of my students learned how to use

was improved by leaps and bounds. In this ar@cle,

the calculator within 15 minutes, by using the

I share some examples of using Desmos to teach

site’s tutorial.

the Taylor and MacLaurin (a special case of Taylor series with a=0) series.

Even though Desmos does not contain as broad a variety of func@ons as a tradi@onal graphing

In the first example, students were asked to

calculator (e.g. TI-­‐84) does, I do appreciate its

construct the Maclaurin series of , wri@ng out one

dynamic feature of a built-­‐in slider, as well as the

term at a @me first and then express the series of

colored graphing lines, the much faster speed of

y= sin (X), with the sigma nota@on. Students were

carrying out calcula@ons, and the ability to project

asked to type out the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 10th-­‐

the image on the whiteboard in a classroom. All

degree Taylor polynomial as a func@on in Desmos,

these features make Desmos superior to the

and have each func@on ploXed out (Figure 1).

handheld TI graphing calculator.

As Figure 1 shows, each func@on is color-­‐coded

“Infinite sequences and series” is one of the last

corresponding to its graph. Students were guided

topics covered in the AP Calculus (BC) course.

to discover that:

Personally, I find it is an exci@ng topic, the

1. The one-­‐term Maclaurin polynomial, y=x, gives

content of which touches on all the fundamental

a very poor representa@on of the sine curve, with

concepts of calculus, i.e. evalua@ng limits (in the

no matching at all except for the point at x = 0 .

ra@o test), finding deriva@ves (in construc@ng the

2. As the number of terms increases, the area of

Taylor series), and applying all the techniques of

superposi@on between the curve of the

integra@on (the integral test to determine the

polynomial and that of the sine expands

convergence of a series), and taught during an

symmetrically on both sides of x = 0 .

exci@ng @me – one month before the AP Exam.

3. As the number of terms approaches infinity,

Therefore, it serves as a natural bridge between

the polynomial curve is foreseen to match with

wrapping up the learning por@on and moving into

the sine curve in the en@re region, extending

the review por@on for the big Exam.

f r o m

Unfortunately, students oben find the content of

4. Based on observa@on 3, the interval of

this chapter unforgivingly abstract, and the @ming

convergence, which is, in other words, the group

of it effec@vely shakes their confidence. For years,

of x values that yield the same y values by the

I have been trying to find a way to improve my

infinite series as the original func@on y= sin(x), is

teaching methods, including leaving more @me

surely

for it and giving more exercise for prac@ce, but

-­‐ to

Figure 1. Graphs of and its Maclaurin series containing 1, 2, 3 or 10 terms.

The second step in this exercise is to take Similar tasks were to carry out, such as wri@ng out each term in the Taylor polynomial, expressing the polynomial in sigma nota@on; construc@ng the 2nd and 4th-­‐degree Taylor polynomial and ploing out the expressions in Desmos (Figure 2). In addi@on, a slider func@on was incorporated in this exercise, where the number of terms was set as a variable, , and was scanned through from 1 to 15. Students were guided to observe that, 1. Each mathema@cal expression of the polynomials in the new series is visibly different from that in the Maclaurin series. The ones in the Taylor series are

even func@ons, while those in the Maclaurin series are odd func@ons.

2. The area of superposi@on expands as the number of terms increases, same as in the Maclaurin series, except that in this case the area expands symmetrically around

.

3. The interval of convergence is, again, the en@re domain Students are further guided to conclude that: 1. The Taylor series with different a value are seemingly different, but each represents the original func@on and therefore they are equal to each other.

2. The a value corresponds to the value where the matching area expands. The graph helps one visualize what it means by “expanding about x=a ” in Taylor series containing the .

3 . T h e i n t e r v a l o f convergence (as well as the radius of convergence) remains the same and is independent of the a value for the sine func@on.

Figure 2. Graphs of and its Taylor series (), containing 2, 3, or 10 terms.

The second example was a logarithmic func@on,y=In(x+1). Students were asked to repeat what they did in the previous example.

Through this exercise, students were guided to observe: 1. As the number of terms increases, the area of matching increases.

2. As the number of terms becomes sufficiently big, the interval of the matching area is restricted to between , which agrees with the interval of convergence predicted by the ra@o test.

3. The Maclaurin series cannot be used to express they y=In(x+1) func@on outside of the interval.

Figure 3. Graphs of and its Maclaurin series containing 1, 2, 3, 4, or 23 terms.

Figure 4. Graphs of y=In(x+1) and its Taylor series (a=1), containing 1, 2, 3, 4, or 30 terms.

The second exercise in this example was to construct the Taylor series a=1 . The graphs are shown in Figure 4.

Results help students conclude that the interval of convergence is (-­‐1, 3), twice as big as that in the Maclaurin series. This observa@on is in sharp contrast to the sine func@on.

Figure 5. Graph of the Taylor polynomial of y=IN(x+1) with a=7 in a dynamic exploration of the relationship between the interval of convergence and the value of a.

The third exercise was to explore the rela@onship between the interval of convergence, by seing the value as a variable and using the slider feature. This exercise helps students to visualize the rela@onship through seeing the playing out of how the intervals expand as the value increases.

Students were assigned addi@onal problems containing more complicated func@ons to be ploXed out in Desmos, and where then tasked to write up their observa@ons. Students’ feedback of these exercises indicated that they were finally able to visualize the radius and interval of convergence, what the value of “means and does” in the series, and the fact that each func@on can be represented by an infinite number of Taylor series, but not all Taylor polynomials represent every point equally well. Their feedback signifies their deep understanding that any teacher can be proud of. Another bonus of this exercise is that students aberwards became experts in deriving the terms in the Taylor polynomial as well as wri@ng the sigma nota@on, thanks to the interac@ve nature of the Desmos graphing calculator. Any wrong terms will be immediately recognized, with “debugging” involving coming up with the correct term or sigma nota@on un@l the curves match.

I hope this ar@cle encourages AP Calculus teachers to try out Desmos in classroom and develop new projects around the capacity of this sobware. If you would like to discuss this topic, or exchange @ps, please feel free to contact me at: daisy.zhang-­‐negrerie@concordiashanghai.org.

CHILDREN, MOBILE TECHNOLOGY AND E-SAFETY

by Jamie Mortimer Children and young people love our phones. I don’t mean landlines, a prac@cally obsolete piece of technology that we all rent for a monthly fee just so we can then pay another monthly fee to get an internet connec@on. I’m talking about our mobile phones, and more specifically our smart phones. It’s not a surprise. From the moment our children are born they see us holding them, looking at them and talking to these liXle shiny boxes. The same applies to Jamie Mor@mer is a husband and father of two boys and has a real passion for technology, learning and the outdoors. Once a week he volunteers with his local Scout Group as a Beaver Leader and loves introducing children to technology in new and exci@ng ways.

He graduated from Newcastle University in 1998 with a degree in Mapping Science and since then has held a number of roles in the sobware and technology industry. In 2009 he took up post as Computers and Technology curriculum manager for Community Learning and Skills Development, Adult Learning in Suffolk, where he completed his PGCE and has led the curriculum to a recent good Ofsted Inspec@on.

He was part of a collec@ve that established the Suffolk E-­‐Safety Strategy and currently sits on the Advisory Panel for the Jisc Regional Support Centre in the Eastern region, who support FE and Skills in the use of technology in teaching and learning.

uk.linkedin.com/in/geekylearner @geekylearner jamie.mor;mer@realisefutures.org

tablets. When we grew up we used to see our parents reading the paper, reading a book, using a telephone, wri@ng leXers and having a cup of tea with friends.

Now we do all of these things on our phone or tablet.

My son is nearly 7 years old. One of the first phrases he uXered when he was liXle was, ‘oo tube’. He knows that Facebook is a website. He knows that people post messages on twiXer. He knows that you need a wi-­‐fi connec@on to get on the internet. He knows what the internet is. He knows that an iPhone, an iPod and an iPad all use an iTunes account. He knows what an account is and why you would give your personal informa@on to create an account.

So when he was 6 he was given an iPodtouch and I’ve stuck to a few very simple rules when it comes to him using it. Let’s start with the device. Its setup using my iTunes account, which means I get the email invoices for all purchases once a week. So what did I lock down? I kept it straight forward. No Safari; that’s the internet browser, so he can’t get on to websites with his device.

A password is required to purchase apps; this includes

typically promote other apps you might want to buy

free apps as you s@ll have to technically ‘purchase’ the

and download and there is always one for a game that

app. No Face@me or iMessage app; that means no

requires you to blow the head off something or a

video chaing or text messaging to anyone, and that’s

zombie dripping in blood. It may only be 20 seconds

it. He can then do preXy much anything else; I don’t

but its 20 seconds you don’t want your 7 year old to be

need to block content based on age ra@ngs or content

viewing, at least not for a few more years. He now

as he can’t get access to it anyway. You’d be surprised

knows he must not view the adverts and thankfully we

how easy it is. You just go in to the seings and

are well on our way to developing a healthy respect

restric@ons and you literally toggle the apps on/off.

towards technology together.

We have just two rules. Firstly, I look aber it and he has to ask when he would like to use it. The second

Community Learning and Skills Development delivers

and most important rule is that he only gets to use it

courses across Suffolk to complete beginners to gain

downstairs. I’ll explain. I need to monitor what he’s

confidence in using technology and the internet safely

doing on it and his behaviour or how he responds as

and also to support parents or carers with promo@ng

he plays games or reads books. It’s my job to make

safe use of technology to children and young people.

sure I promote acceptable behaviour and make sure he

To register your interest or enrol on a course in a

isn’t accessing inappropriate content. When he gets

centre near you contact us on 0300 456 2050 or at our

older and I do grant him access to the internet I want

website: www.clsd.org.uk.

us to have formed a rela@onship of open trust when it comes to discussing what he has read and viewed on the internet. Once he has access to the internet it’s going to be crucial that he isn’t using his device on his own in his bedroom. If he’s been allowed to use it like that before, he isn’t going to want to change his behaviour because ‘he’s always been allowed to do it that way and it isn’t fair’ and he’d kind of have a point.

Here’s the warning shot across the bows though. We all know technology changes at an ever increasing pace and that’s where I was caught out very recently. His favourite game at the moment is Sonic Racing and it pops up that there is an update, so he updates it. He even tells me he’s got an update and he’s going to download it. Brilliant! Thanks for telling me; I’m really pleased you told me. Well the next day I can hear

Happy and responsible gaming!

Jamie Mor4mer uk.linkedin.com/in/geekylearner

machine gun fire. Mobile gaming is shibing towards

@geekylearner

more free apps with ‘in-­‐app’ purchases to enhance the

jamie.mor;mer@realisefutures.org

game play. This means games allow you to purchase tokens to buy extra content and features, and to draw you in (and generate adver@sing revenues) they give you free tokens for watching adverts. These adverts

Surviving and Thriving with Computing as an NQT

by Elliott Plumb

3 ways you can engage primary pupils in ‘Computing’ during your first year of teaching

Compu@ng co-­‐ordinator. If there is not a co-­‐ ordinator, ask your phase leader. Some schools have a Compu@ng suite and some have trolleys of iPads and laptops. Importantly, every school should have a range of technology that you could

Whether you are about to enter teaching or you

incorporate into your lessons. Flip Cams,

have just finished your first year, there are always

Raspberry Pi’s and a whole host of useful

subjects that you feel you haven’t sunk your

programs could all be available in your school.

teeth into as much as you may have wanted (P.E.

Don’t forget to ask staff for successful Compu@ng

for me!). There may have been @metable clashes;

lessons they may have completed in the past.

a lack of resources or it may be a lack of

They may even offer you the planning they used.

confidence in the subject (Again, P.E. for me!).

You don’t ask, you don’t get!

Compu@ng can some@mes be that subject. 2014 will see huge changes for the Compu@ng

Looking beyond your school is also a great way of

curriculum. ICT has evolved into ‘Compu@ng’ and

finding useful Compu@ng resources. There are so

with the name change comes a huge shib in the

many different (free) resources available to

content we are required to teach. Out go the

schools from your local borough. Some boroughs

PowerPoint presenta@ons and spreadsheets and

have centres with computer suites that can be

we welcome coding and algorithms. This ar@cle

used by local schools for free. This could be a

aims to provide three ways in which you can

brilliant opportunity if your school lacks the

make the new Compu@ng curriculum easier and

resources you might be looking for. Do your

more engaging for the children in your class.

research and search wide for what free resources are available to you.

Resource Awareness: A fantas@c aspect of teaching is the community you are immersed in. As an NQT most teachers are willing to help and assist you with your prac@ce. The same goes for the borough you work in and any educa@on centres that you may be fortunate enough to have in close proximity.

Before you begin swea@ng over all of the new technical vocabulary, go along and see your

Lastly, Educa@on Officers and Advisors that are spread across your borough can be a great help.

These people come in many forms; some work at local museums, some are class teachers and some work at your local Civic Centre. Developing strong links with the local council can provide amazing opportuni@es. They oben have a great vision and access to resources that you might not have thought existed!

Cross Curricular Planning

differen@ate into ability groups and also differen@ate the ques@oning in your planning.

Pupil-­‐led compu@ng sessions whereby par@cular children take the lead in groups and troubleshoot issues that may arise is worthwhile not only for the pupils, but for the teacher too. Being brave and leing the children guide the learning and the discussions can be hugely beneficial and more enjoyable for everybody.

Another way in which you can flex your Compu@ng muscles is to assure that you consider Compu@ng in all aspects of your planning. Whatever the subject may be, ask yourself – Could I incorporate any computer skills here? From Literacy through to Geography, you could take your topic of choice and make links with the new Compu@ng curriculum. Not only will the children enjoy it but it could also give them a chance to consolidate learning. Children could make a game using ‘Scratch’, they could build

2014 will see almighty changes across the Compu@ng curriculum. Many schools are ready for this change and can offer fantas@c opportuni@es and resources. If you are applying for a post or interested in taking on Compu@ng in your current school, ask a plethora of ques@ons about resources and where the school is going next with Compu@ng. Compu@ng is taking an extremely exci@ng new direc@on and rather that shying away, embrace it and let the children run with it!

Lego robots or you could use iPads to make anima@ons or films. The possibili@es are endless.

Pupil Involvement: Finally, you must not underes@mate the prior knowledge that the children of today have when it comes to technology and computers. Pupils have been an invaluable resource for previous projects as u@lising their knowledge has benefiXed everybody.

Ways in which you can involve children in the teaching of the subject can range according to how comfortable and confident you feel about your class and their knowledge and behaviour. Discussions as a class about their knowledge before you begin planning can be an extremely informa@ve guide.

Genera@ng a discussion can draw out how much the children know already. This allows you to

Eliot Plumb is a Year 5 teacher at Wilbury School in Edmonton. He graduated in Educa@on from the University of Cambridge in 2013 and enjoys inspiring children through teaching Compu@ng, Dance and History.

Scratch and Sniff

by Ian Stephenson ——————————————————————————————————— As a university lecturer in a computer related subject I as invited last year to run a CPD workshop for compu@ng teachers from local schools, introducing them to some technologies that they might use on STEM projects. I hope they learnt something from the sessions, but what I learnt from them was that they were very excited, but also apprehensive about the new compu@ng curriculum.

There seemed to be a preXy good consensus that at KS2 the go-­‐to tool was Scratch. Both teachers and pupils loved it and were keen to show off any number of fun projects they’d produced. They loved the immediate feedback, and being able to build programs from simple blocks.

However this relaxed confidence disappeared abruptly somewhere around KS3. At this point there was a vague no@on that they should move on from Scratch to something more serious, but there was no clear plan as to what that might be. There were mumblings that Raspberry Pi was supposed to help, but no real idea what it was good for. Python seemed to emerge as a grudging consensus, but not with any enthusiasm -­‐ rather that people had heard that other people were using it and they probably should be.

Both staff and children appear to be geing lost in the transi@on from Scratch to “real” programming.

To address this we need to consider why and when we transi@on from Scratch, and subsequently why children who were happy and enthusias@c working with Scratch fail to successfully transi@on to (for example) Python.

Why Stop Using Scratch?

The first ques@on “Why stop using Scratch?” is actually quite tricky. Why isn’t Scratch suitable for KS3, KS4 and beyond? The obvious answers: “Because its just for beginners”, or “its not powerful enough”, are quite simply wrong. While its true that Scratch has limita@ons, most seriously with respect to data structures, children in KS3 are almost certainly not scratching the surface (sorry!) of what it can do. It’s possible to implement many degree level algorithms in Scratch. In fact Scratch’s model of parallelism is far in advance of most other common programming languages.

It may be that Scratch’s worst enemy is it’s logo -­‐ the same cat that made programming friendly in KS2 looks childish to the cynical minds of KS3.

Scratch simply looks like a KS2 program. It would be interes@ng to compare how older children would approach a version of Scratch with more age-­‐ appropriate art work.

However artwork alone isn’t enough to keep Scratch viable for more experienced users, regardless of age. The real reason to move on from Scratch is that graphical programming is tedious.

Like a menu in a restaurant it provides helpful sugges@ons as to what you might choose, but if you already know what you’d like, then looking for it in the list of available meals is tedious. New Scratch users can browse the tools paleXes un@l they see something they think might help, but experienced programmers become frustrated looking for the block they’ve already decided they need.

Why Not Python?

At a certain point programmers become sufficiently experienced that they’re ready to write code rather than choose it. So why might they fail to transi@on to Python? It would be easy to pick on Python here, and note that it has a number of problems. It also doesn’t help that Python has aXracts the type of programmers who love to show off all its quirks and features. All the strange features you can do that Python advocates love are best kept away from children. (If you Google “python hello world” the current top result is a post asking why the exact code recommended in the second search result

found on the Scratch blocks. The new programming language “Sniff” implements all of the blocks from Scratch 1.4, with the excep@on of those rela@ng to sprites, as these of course don’t exist without the GUI. The only significant change is that variables are now declared as being either numbers or strings (or lists of number/string) as this allows the code to run efficiently and effec@vely on low powered machines.

Programs like the above are essen@ally iden@cal in Scratch and Sniff, which means pupils bring their Scratch experience with them, and can immediately

doesn’t work.)

However the real problem isn’t Python’s fault. The real issue is that any mainstream programming language would be big leap. We’re asking novice programmers to go from “choosing from the menu”

start crea@ng in Sniff. In fact the transi@on can

to “invent your own meal”. While they should be

Long before Sniff is formally introduced teachers or

ready to do that (if not s@ck with Scratch), they’ve

children are likely write something similar to Sniff on

been training to “pick their own Pizza toppings”, and

the board, without sugges@ng its anything other

suddenly they find themselves in an Indian Restaurant. Not only are they asked to create a meal

than Scratch. It’s perfectly reasonable to support both languages in parallel: either moving stronger

by themselves, but the whole meal structure is

children to Sniff, while others retain the support of

completely different to what they’ve seen before.

Scratch, or even allowing children to build code

Scratch programmers ready to move on from

fragments in Scratch before typing them into Sniff.

choosing to wri@ng are ready to write Scratch. It’s a big leap to go from choosing in Scratch to wri1ng in

Being Engaging in a Screen Based World

Python.

Wri4ng Scratch

happen gradually, and at the students own pace.

When I got my first computer the first program I wrote printed my name on the family TV set. Its impossible to overstate how big a thing that was.

If Scratch is more powerful than we give it credit for,

Televisions were the only screens we had, and TV

and the only obstacle to wri@ng more complex

was something that was sent to us by “the powers

programs in Scratch is the graphical programming paradigm, then the obvious next ques@on was “what

that be”. To have your name on television was totally subversive, and was in a very real way the

is it like to write Scratch?”. What would Scratch look

first steps to the screen based environment we have

like if you took the blocks and GUI away, and just

today. While broadcast television is s@ll important,

kept the bare, text based language? The short

developments from those first home computers

answer is surprisingly powerful and nice to work with!

(and first home computer users) have democra@sed our screens to the point they’re ubiquitous.

Unfortunately this also means the appearance of a

I implemented a compiler which would handle text

screen is no longer exci@ng in the way it was when

files containing almost exactly the same words

home computers were new.

Sniff can be run on a desktop computer, but it most

I’m in the early stages of taking the system out into

of the work is targeted at Raspberry Pi and Arduino.

schools, so if you’d like to get involved, download an

To flash an LED on an Arduino the Sniff code is:

install the code from www.sniff.org.uk. There’s demo code there, including a bunch of physics

make LED digital output 13

experiments just wai@ng to be turned into lesson plans.

when start .forever ..set LED to on

About the author

..wait 1 secs ..set LED to off ..wait 1 secs which takes us effortlessly from the GUI based Scratch into physical compu@ng. Being able to engage with the real world beyond the screen creates real opportuni@es to integrate compu@ng into the wider curriculum, controlling robots, controlling stage ligh@ng, displaying a heart beat logging weather, and measuring the speed of toy cars have all been implemented in Sniff with only a few lines of code, and provide a jumping off point to explore other issues. Wri@ng code to “actually do things” rather than just display things on screen is perhaps the most important tool for promo@ng compu@ng engagement.

Ge;ng Involved Sniff is free to download, and currently runs on Mac, Linux, and Raspberry Pi. Compiled programs can be run on the host plaSorm, or on an Arduino board.

While Arduino is ideal for physical compu@ng, you can also use the Pi’s GPIO ports. Wri@ng code to handle Pi boards such as the PiBrella, and 7Seg is oben easier in Sniff than using the provided Python library.

Ian Stephenson is a lecturer at the Na;onal Centre for Computer Graphics at Bournemouth University where he teaches compu;ng within an art based framework. Through the University's Centre for Excellence in Media Prac;ce, and STEM outreach programs he is also lead developer on the Sniff, post-­‐Scratch programming language.

IS TECHNOLOGY DAMAGING OUR CHILDREN’S LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT?

by Yasemin Allsop ——————————————————————————————————— Recently I read many ar@cles on the internet

appeared in our classroom as a teaching tool used

blaming technology for children's lack of language

by teachers, remember our IWBs, then it swibly

skills. I can't say I am surprised. I agree that

changed posi@on and became a learning tool in the

technology is changing the way we use language. I

hands of our learners. I believe this was more

am sure that you have spent @me trying to

confusing for us than the learners. Our learners

understand your child's text messages. I certainly

quickly adapted into their new role. But us teachers

did. When I receive text messages from my son, I

we are s@ll thinking about where we fit into this

some@mes have to google them or phone and ask

scene. If the learners are holding the tool, what are

him exactly what he meant with all these acronyms

we going to hold? How are we going to teach? Do

and abbrevia@ons.

we need to teach? Do they need us? Are they listening? Are they learning? How do I manage the

Looking at my own teaching prac@ce, I have used

classroom now? We all go through these endless

wikis, blogs, anima@ons, films, podcas@ng, web

worries. I think the reason for this confusion is that

design, game making and many other technology

we don't exactly understand how children learn

tools to teach over the years. Each one of these

with these new technologies and we haven't got

mediums offers great opportuni@es for children to

the @me to find out about it. So, why not blame the

develop their language skills. I remember when our

technology?

Year 5 students wrote their own children's rights raps and recorded them using their backing music.

They didn’t just create their songs, they spent a

Once one of my tutors told me

long @me discussing their ideas before deciding. I

that a pencil is also a technology.

also remember our web design ac@vi@es. Where

It didn't make sense to me at the

children had to create their own content and use

9me, but when I think about it,

html to design websites to present their work. The amount of reading and wri@ng they had to do and not even one complained.

So what is the problem here? Are we s@ll thinking of technology as a magical wand designed

he was right, a pencil is also a technology tool.

You can use it for different purposes; for wri9ng stories, for drawing, for taking notes or mixing your tea which I have done many 9mes.

But if your hand wri/ng is not very good,

specifically to solve our long standing issues in

would you blame the pencil for it? Something

educa@on. We need to abandon this idea by now as

to think about!

technology never had such a claim. Technology

Let's go back to our conversa@on about language. For

they do with what they had learned from the book.

many years language was seen as just a tool for

Have a discussion? Create things? I don't know, but

communica@on. This approach today is s@ll very

today when our learners in their expression 'can

current and impacts on our pedagogical approach to

touch their learning' on their smart phones or tablets,

learning. But I am thinking about my own

you can imagine they would have completely

observa@ons of children learning using technology for the last 10 years. Especially over the last few years where we have focused a lot on computer game design, there is a clear shib in the use and purpose of language. I watched children touching the computer or tablet screen and mumbling when making their own computer games. I observed them planning their work-­‐some@mes aloud when crea@ng their own world in Minecrab, or ques@oning their own decisions when crea@ng websites. What was interes@ng is that as the task became more complex, the percentage of children’s self-­‐talk ac@vi@es also increased. It seems to me that they did not use language merely as a tool to communicate, it become a func@on in their minds. For my learners, language became a func@on to think with, a func@on to decide with, a func@on to regulate their own learning. This is

different learning habits.

When will we realise that learning is not an outcome, it is a process and the process doesn't just stop with an end product. Learning is a quest powered by

not a new concept either, Vygotsky men@oned

endless adventures spur@ng out from every corner of one's mind on the way. It is the next stage of what

private speech in the 1970s. He argued that private

learners do with what they have learnt that is

speech is form of thinking, problem-­‐solving and self-­‐

remarkable. They use their experience to share,

regula@ng. All this self-­‐directed talk helps my learners to focus, plan, make decisions, organise. In other

make, or to create something, in other words go on a

words it supports them to process tasks using their

photos, stories, songs, games shared online by

cogni@ve resources.

Another issue is that we don't seem to grasp how new technologies impact on our learning behaviours.

new learning journey. Look at the videos, podcasts, children, young adults and adults. Surely we are not learning in the same way as we did before.

Look at the image below, does it look familiar to you?

So let's go back to our ques@on 'Is technology damaging our children's language development?. My

Probably not. This is a travelling library for people in

answer is, it depends on which specific technology is

Turkey during the 1940’s. It was aimed to help those

used and how. If we focus on how technology shapes

living in rural areas to have an opportunity to read. I recently found out about this and I am so fascinated

our learning habits rather than poin@ng fingers at

by the idea. I am not familiar with it as I was brought

support our learners.

up in a city, not that I have been to the library. I didn't even know what it meant. But my friends have seen these government librarians travelling from

technology, we could develop beXer strategies to

But the magical key is to teach people,

village to village on a donkey. What kind of learning

young or adult, how to learn and love to

habits would they have developed when they

learn.

accessed knowledge through this way? What would

A BIG LIST of apps, programs and websites for teaching coding and game design

by Yasemin Allsop

Web based Programs

Programs for your PC/Mac

http://www.crunchzilla.com

http://www.kidsruby.com

http://appinventor.mit.edu

http://hackety.com

http://www.playmycode.co.uk/

http://www.appdesigner.com

http://gamesalad.com/ http://scratch.mit.edu/

http://www.sploder.com/

http://education.mit.edu/projects/starlogotng

iPad and Android Apps for teaching kids coding

Hopscotch-­‐ iPad Daisy Dinasour-­‐ iPad

Scratch Jr-­‐ iPad (soon) Move the turtle -­‐iPad

A.L.E.X -­‐iPad i-­‐LOGO-­‐iPad

KineScript -­‐ iPad Cato’s Hike-­‐iPad Light Bot for iPad and Android

http://forum.ictinpractice.com/

EDITORIAL TEAM

Š ictinpractice.com

Yasemin Allsop

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responsible for its content and accuracy.