Monthly eMagazine viewing figures from August 1st 2008

Note: A Learning provider will only appear as one viewer; in reality the identified IP Address may be one viewer or many!

The data below is cumulative, highlighting, from the initial tracking our viewers on 1st September 2007, their global distribution.

All the pictures and news shown on this eMagazine are the property of their respective owners.

• We don't hold any copyright about these pictures and news.
• These pictures have been collected from different public sources including different websites, considering to be in public domain.

If any one has any objection to displaying of any picture and news, it may be brought to our notice by sending an email to support@rsc-northwest.ac.uk & the same will be be removed immediately,after verification of the claim.

Links that have been included in previous eMagazines...

To visit the shared links go to http://www.only2clicks.com/pages/acljohn/ or use the live pages below...

Many eMagazine readers have said that it is 'difficult to find the time' to read one eMagazine before the next comes out.

My posterous Blog provides a 'drip-feed' of eMagazine items, throughout the month.

Either subscribe to the RSS feed or visit http://acljohn.posterous.com/ for your daily update.

Monthly Blog viewing figures from January 2009 - March 30th 2009

Where are our readers from? (as of 30 March 2009)...

(Note: - names emboldened are new)

In the UK we have viewers from...

Arbroath, Ayr, Banstaed, Beeston, Belmont, Billingham, Birmingham, Bishop Auckland, Blackburn, Blantyre, Bootle, Bury, Bushey, Cannock, Cheadle Hulme, Crawley, East Grinstead, Ellesmere Port, Folkestone, Glasgow, Halifax, Huyton-with-Roby, Kearsley, Kendal, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Loughborough, Manchester, Norwich, Oldham, Oxford, Plymouth, Poplar, Prescot, Reddich, Rochdale, Rock Ferry, Sale, Salford, Skelmersdale, Southport, Stalybridge, Stockport, Tonbridge, Wakefield, Walsall, Walton-le-Dale, Warrington, Wembley, Widnes, Windermere, Winsford, Wolverhampton, Wombwell and Woodley

We also had viewers from...

• Sydney Australia,
• Sao Paulo Brazil,
• Mont-Royal Canada,
• Bogota and Bucaramanga Colombia,
• Rennes France,
• Berlin, Bremen, Dortmund, Kassel and Stuttgart Germany,
• Chennai, Ghaziabad and Hyderabad India,
• Bandung and Bekasi Indonesia,
• Dublin Ireland,
• Givatayim and Ramat Gan Israel,
• Rome Italy,
• Juarez Mexico,
• Enschede and Oldenzaal Netherlands,
• Makati Philippines,
• Bucharest Romania,
• Moscow Russia,
• Koyang, Osan and Seoul South Korea,
• Goteborg Sweden,
• Tunis Tunisia,
• Balikesir Turkey,
• California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin, USA,
• Hanoi Vietnam

If feel that the eMagazine has ignored the Mac or you’ve just got yourself a new Mac and are totally clueless as to what to install, this article is for you.

If you are looking for alternatives for some applications you are currently using in your Mac, the following list might come in handy as well.

This blog entry showcases a list of useful yet free applications users can install on their Mac.

Go to http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/100-free-useful-applications-for-mac-part-i/ to find out more.

This Blog entry refers to a presentation from Samantha Dimmock from the Children's Rights Alliance for England, in which she delivered the findings in a new report called "Another Perspective: How Journalists Can Promote Children's Human Rights and Equality." This is a really meaty study on the systematic vilification of children in the English press, and the effect that this has on public opinion.

Read the full blog and/or download the report, as a  pdf, at http://www.boingboing.net/2009/03/06/how-kids-in-england.html. 

Making Teachers Nerdy is a blog that I've recently started reading via RSS Feeds. Each entry is well thought out, and, for those involved with initial teacher training, definitely worth taking the time to read. It is updated once a week. The most recent entry contains an interesting list of live webcam feeds that can be used in creating visual field trips.

Take a look at this blog or earlier blogs at http://mrssmoke.onsugar.com/.

another entry worth a closer look, Best Online Interactive Museum Exhibits for Students is found at  http://mrssmoke.onsugar.com/2871369#read-more.

For those of you who travel, as we do, around the region/country, you may well have come across The Rediculant in the free METRO paper.

There are some useful links/articles in the publication which can also be found online as a blog.

The blog can be viewed at http://theridiculant.metro.co.uk/.

Before I forget, the delegate booking is now open, for…

Effective Assessment of Problems at Computer Workstations

An AbilityNet Workshop

Employers are required to have a process of workstation assessment for all employees who use computers. When this process identifies a problem, or the employee reports a difficulty, the employer must further assess the situation in order to recommend and implement any necessary changes. This course aims to help those involved in workstation assessments respond effectively to reports of a problem and develop suitable solutions.

"This course provided me with so many new ideas and also gave me more confidence in my ability to carry out assessments." Occupational Health Nurse

Dates coming up for this course are -

Friday 24^th April 2009 - AbilityNet Warwick

For more information about the content of this course download Effective Assessment of Problems at Computer Workstations course information (PDF 491KB).

Using ICT to support people with Dyslexia

As we become more aware of how widespread dyslexia and other reading and writing problems are and how limiting their effects can be, there is a need for earlier identification and more effective remedial action. Computers are an extremely effective tool in making this possible. This course will equip delegates with information on software & hardware that helps those who have a reading & writing difficulty. At the end of the course, you will have a greater awareness and practical knowledge of how the computer can be used to help address reading and writing difficulties, such as Dyslexia.

"This is one of the most helpful courses of its type that I have ever attended. I would recommend it to colleagues!" Senior Lecturer, FE College

Tuesday 21^st April 2009 - Manchester

For more information about this course download Using ICT to Support People with Dyslexia course information (PDF 477KB).

To book a place on these courses please email courses@abilitynet.org.uk or call 01926 464095

 

The NIACE Conferences and Courses team is taking bookings for the courses listed below. For more information about each course and to book your place, please visit the NIACE Website at:

http://www.niace.org.uk

Readability: How to write so that everyone can read

Thursday 2 April 2009, Bristol (AM or PM Workshop)

Wednesday 22 April 2009, Manchester (AM or PM Workshop)

Demonstrating Impact for Quality using RARPA

Friday 3 April 2009, London

Booking forms to be available on website shortly for:

Enhancing success and achievement for learners with mental health difficulties - training to support you and your organisation to work effectively with soft outcomes in learning for mental health and well-being

Wednesday 18 March 2009, London

Tuesday 7 April 09, Birmingham

Up-skilling Frontline Staff: training to identify and meet the needs of customers through effective interviewing techniques.

Thursday 2 April 2009, Birmingham

Tuesday 28 April 2009, London

NIACE hope their training courses will be of interest and they look forward to hearing from you.

Raksha Kanani
Events Administrator
NIACE, Conferences, Seminars and Training Course

Tel: 0116 285 9661
Fax: 0116 285 9670
mailto:courses@niace.org.uk

 

To be held at...

The John Rylands University Library, University of Manchester
Wednesday, 1st April 2009,
9.30 - 16.30

Some comments from delegates attending this meeting in 2008:

"Fascinating insight into the world beyond Google " "One of the best workshops I've ever attended".. "A revelation! - enjoyed every minute"

Course Outline

With the major search engines claiming coverage of over 20 billion web pages in their databases, it is becoming increasingly difficult to locate relevant information. Most of us head straight for Google when we want to search the Internet but Google is not the only search tool. This workshop looks at recent developments at Google and the alternatives, especially the new kids on the block and Web 2.0 'stuff'. Karen Blakeman will take you through the best of the search engine world and highlight how they can be used to significantly improve your results.

By the end of the day, participants will have a vital toolkit to help them search more effectively, including key search tools, comparisons, top tips and essential search techniques.

Topics to be covered include:

• different types of search tools and how they work
• making the most of Google and new features
• alternatives to Google
• advanced search techniques to help you track down the so-called "hidden web"
• image, audio, video and news
• blogs, RSS, wikis and Web 2.0 resources
• setting up your customised search engine
• tracking down pages that have disappeared

Delegates will have ample opportunity to test out advanced search techniques and to compare different search engines. A significant part of the day will be taken up with practical sessions; exercises will be provided but delegates are free to try out searches of their own. This workshop is suitable for all levels of experience. The techniques and approaches covered can be applied to all subject areas.

N.B. Places on this course are strictly limited because of access to PCs so please book early to avoid disappointment

Course Presenter: Karen Blakeman

Karen Blakeman has worked in the information profession for over twenty years and has been a freelance consultant since 1989. Her company (RBA Information Services) provides training and consultancy on the use of the Internet, and on accessing and managing information resources. Karen writes for "Business Information Searcher". She also publishes a monthly, electronic newsletter called "Tales from the Terminal Room". Her publications include "Search Strategies for the Internet". She is a Fellow of CILIP and in 2002 received the Information World Review Information Professional of the Year award.

For more information or to book a place on this course, please visit www.ukeig.org.uk or email meetings@ukeig.org.uk

Costs (including lunch and refreshments):

• UKeiG members £160 + VAT (£188.00);
• others £190 + VAT (£223.25)

 

Please complete and return a booking form by 25th March 2009, to...

Christine Baker, Piglet Cottage, Redmire, Leyburn, North Yorkshire DL8 4EH.

Tel & Fax 01969 625751. Email: cabaker@ukeig.org.uk

 

 

Don't forget the UKeiG Conference 2009

UKeiG will be holding a residential forum that will provide opportunities for information and IT professionals to network, wine and dine in excellent social surroundings while catching up on the very latest developments in e-information.

Book now at www.ukeig.org.uk or by emailing conference@ukeig.org.uk to get your early bird discount!

UKeiG has the CILIP Seal of Recognition, which recognises high standards in the content and relevance of training courses. See http://www.cilip.org.uk/qualificationschartership/seal/ for details

UKeiG is a Special Interest Group of CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. 7 Ridgmount Street, London, WC1E 7AE. Registered Charity No. 313014

To be held at...

The Foresight Centre, University of Liverpool,
1 Brownlow Street, Liverpool
Tuesday, 21st April 2009,
09.30 - 16.30

Course Outline

Find out how 2.0 applications are being used in libraries and information centres, and what actually works. Blogs, wikis, RSS? YouTube, podcasts, Slideshare? Flickr, Connotea, LibraryThing? Facebook, Second Life, Twitter? This workshop will look at the reality of 2.0: what is useful and what is destined for Gartner's 'Trough of Disillusionment', never to be seen again.

The workshop will start with a brief overview of Web 2.0 and what it means. It will then look in more detail at how 'stuff' can be used as sources of information, as a means of enhancing services to users, and raising the profile of information services.

The areas covered will include:

• Blogs, wikis, RSS feeds
• Shared authoring tools
• Start pages e.g. iGoogle, PageFlakes, NetVibes
• Social bookmarking services
• Using YouTube and Flickr as information resources and to promote your group or organisation
• "Presentation" sites such as Slideshare and Authorstream
• Social networking sites e.g. Facebook
• To Twitter or not to Twitter

There will be a heavy practical element to the workshop so that participants can explore Web 2 and try out the technologies for themselves. There will be extensive notes and exercise sheets to guide participants through the day, and all the information and presentations will be available electronically.

Costs (including lunch and refreshments):

UKeiG members £160 + VAT (£188.00);
others £190 + VAT (£223.25)

Please complete and return a booking form by 15th April 2009, to...

Christine Baker, Piglet Cottage, Redmire, Leyburn, North Yorkshire DL8 4EH.
Tel & Fax 01969 625751. Email: cabaker@ukeig.org.uk

N.B. Places on this course are strictly limited because of access to PCs so please book early to avoid disappointment

Course Presenter: Karen Blakeman

Karen Blakeman has worked in the information profession for over twenty years and has been a freelance consultant since 1989. Her company (RBA Information Services) provides training and consultancy on the use of the Internet, and on accessing and managing information resources. Karen writes for "Business Information Searcher". She also publishes a monthly, electronic newsletter called "Tales from the Terminal Room". Her publications include "Search Strategies for the Internet". She was recently made an Honorary Fellow of CILIP and in 2002 she received the Information World Review Information Professional of the Year award

Fliggo allows users to create their own video sharing website in seconds.

Fliggo makes the process relatively straight forward by taking care of the technical part.

All users have to do is...

• select a title and address for the site,
• fill out a description,
• choose a site template,
• upload videos and invite learners/colleagues etc.

Users can build...

• a simple private site to share videos with learners/colleagues/etc.
• a video blog  or
• a full-featured community video site like YouTube, where other users can upload videos, leave comments etc.

Find out more by going to http://www.fliggo.com/ and watching the demo.

Highslide JS is an open source image, media and gallery viewer written in JavaScript.

These are some of it's advantages:

• Quick and elegant looking.
• No plugins like Flash or Java required.
• Popup blockers are no problem. The content opens within the active browser window.
• Single click. After opening the image or HTML popup, the user can scroll further down or leave the page without closing it.
• Lots of configuration options and scalability without compromizing on simplicity. A component system lets you strip away unused features down to a filesize of 10kB.
• Outstanding, unconditional and free user support for both commercial and non-commercial users.
• Compatibility and safe degrading. If the user has disabled JavaScript or is using an old browser, the browser redirects directly to the image itself or to a given HTML page.

Find out more at http://highslide.com/.

Keywordle: Auto-suggests Descriptive Keywords For Websites

Keywordle is a web tool which can automatically suggest descriptive keywords for websites.

It can help users improve websites by suggesting potential keywords to include in a website’s Meta-Tags. It can be used to compare websites and how competitor’s sites differ.

To get suggestions simply...

• enter the website’s URL in the field and
• hit on “Generate Keyword Suggestions” button.

A list of keywords will be generated for review. Users can delete keywords which are not required and then download the remaining list as text, CSV or Meta-Tag code.

Try it out at http://www.keywordle.com/. 

Collaborative mind mapping in your browser; In their words...

In Mind42, 42 is not only the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything! 42 means FOR TWO and indicates the collaborative character of mind42, because that is exactly what mind42 is: A collaborative browser-based online mind mapping tool.

It allows you to manage all your ideas, whether alone, twosome or working together with the whole world. As mind42 runs inside the browser, installing mind mapping tools is no longer needed - for a hassle-free mindmapping experience. Just open the browser and launch the application when needed - it behaves like a classical desktop application!

Mind42 is a web application - however, this doesn't mean yout have to set your comfort aside. Mind42 is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) mind map editor supporting...

• keyboard shortcuts,
• drag and drop,
• zooming and much more.

No forms and lists which are generally used in web application. A real application - within your browser.

Find out more and/or try it out at http://mind42.com/.

Thanks to Col Hawksworth  for flagging this within FaceBook!

Have you ever had a colleague or learner send you a file you have no idea how to open?

If the answer is yes, then you should visit...

OpenWith.org, a site that helps you find the program that will open whatever file you have — most of the time with free software.

• Search for your mystery extension
• OpenWith will find a program that can read it.
• You can also download a handy desktop tool to make looking up extensions even easier.

Find out more by visiting http://www.openwith.org/.

Free presentation resources for learners & practitioners!

PresentationsETC is a free presentations resource where users can select and download free...

• presentation templates,
• backgrounds, and
• themes from over 20,000 slides.

Most of the background images are available in...

• different sizes and
• a variety of designs with transparent cutouts.

Users can either download slides one by one or download them as ready made PowerPoint Templates and Keynote themes.

Note: The PowerPoint Templates - Have both the traditional title and content slides and color schemes and the Keynote themes - offer 10–20 slides, plus variety of designs with transparent cut-outs.

Note that the license allows practitioners and learners to use up to 50 items in a single, non-commercial project without further permission.

Find out more at http://etc.usf.edu/presentations/.

• No resources this month
  

Ile Aux Canards Coral Reef Noumea in Noumea

Flying over Easter? Do you listen to the Emergency Instructions?

This flight attendant is fed up with delivering the standard, boring reading of instructions so...

Isn't it entertaining and the flight attendant still manages to deliver the same message as you would get from someone reading off a card.

How many of our learners would be more engaged if they could choose the method in which they demonstrate understanding? As practitions, how much more enjoyable would it be to assess?

Please don't try this at home!

From http://eviljaymz.com/?q=node/33.

We've all probably all sat through a tortuously long and boring Death-By-PowerPoint presentation featuring someone reading from bullet points on slides. Don't let the next bad presenter be you or your learners, take a look at Slide Magnet.

Slide Magnet is a website full of free advice to help practitioners and learners produce slide presentations that are more effective and to make them better presenters. Slide Magnet also has a feature called the Deck of the Day which is chosen as an exemplar for good slideshow design.

Find out more at http://www.slidemagnet.com/. 

• Play your name
• The eyeballing Game
• Train Tracker
  
  • Take a look at Physics Games in the Resource Section (Found under Science)
    
• Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,

in our Over2U section

Here's a fun little web game that turns user keyboards into a synthesizer, allowing literally minutes (well seconds) of 80s-throwback fun. "Writing this text sounded like someone playing every Duran Duran song simultaneously". This works well on an interactive whiteboard and has applications within Specialist Colleges.

Try it out at http://www.ronwinter.tv/drums.htmlj.

The Eyeballing Game is an interactive visual estimation game.

In the Eyeballing Game players are presented with...

• a drawing or
• a line segment, or
• angle, or
• shape.

Players are then given a task like "find the spot equidistant to all sides" or "bisect the angle" etc.

Try it out at http://woodgears.ca/eyeball/.

I'm sure TrainTracker will be a big hit in Family Learning and for some learners within specialist colleges.

It's also one of those great websites to bookmark at home and have children learn how to use a mouse while building their own little adventure world.

Practitioners could also utilize this site as a fun "memory helper" by drawing out a train track layout on an interactive White Board and then see how well the learners can recreate the layout using TrainTracker.

Have a play at http://www.helpkidzlearn.com/creative/traintracker/traintracker.shtm.

I've embedded it below in case you want to play now...

 

 

• Readability
• Word Talk
  
• Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section
• see also Advisory booklet - Delivering Equality & Diversity in the Publications section.

Readability provides the tools that allows 'surfers', 'wilfs', 'learners', 'presenters' etc. to remove the distracting clutter, that can make it difficult for many readers, and focus on the primary content on web pages.

This application couldn't be any easier to install or use...

• Set the type-style,
• text-size, and
• margin-width. Then...
• drag and drop a bookmarklet onto the bookmark toolbar of your browser.

When doing a presentation, and delegates/learners/etc., can't read the text and/or users want to remove clutter to focus on primary content...

• Click on this book marklet and your preferences are applied.

To change the settings, for different browser users, simply...

• right-click on the bookmarklet to delete it.
• go to the Readability site,
• select the settings you want, and
• add a new book marklet.

I'll be using this at my next workshop; why don't you try it out at http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/.

A new more feature rich version of WordTalk has been released recently by CALL Scotland. (Communication, Access, Literacy and Learning).

WordTalk 4.2 is a free add-on for Microsoft Word that povides users with a text-to-speech option which offers...

• powerful editing support for writers who will be able to listen to what they have written.
• a talking spell checker which is extremely helpful for writers who have difficulty identifying the correct spelling of a word from those listed in a typical spell checker.

WordTalk reads aloud any file open in Word, working with all versions of the program from Word 97 through Word 2007.

Users can use OCR software to scan text into Word and have it read aloud with WordTalk.

One of the new features, in version 4.2, is that WordTalk will now convert text to either .wav or mp3 audio files, for use on audio players away from the computer.

WordTalk's features can be accessed via buttons on a toolbar or with keyboard shortcuts.

Find out more and/or download the add-on at http://www.wordtalk.org.uk/Home/.

• Acas Code of Practice on discipline and grievance procedures
• Acas launches new guide

The draft Acas Code of Practice on discipline and grievance procedures, has now been approved by Parliament.

For the full article with further information go to http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2180.

A copy of the final approved version of the Code, which will come into effect on 6 April 2009, can be downloaded from their website at http://www.acas.org.uk/dgcode2009.

Acas, the employment relations service, has launched a new guide on management. It advises senior managers on how to get the best out of their...

• Frontline Managers (FLMs) - 
• supervisors, 
• team leaders, and 
• project leaders.

Read the full article at http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2169.

• College renovations put on hold
•  Renewed push for adult learning
  

Renovation work at eight further education colleges gets the go-ahead but another 79 go into a priority review.

Eight schemes postponed in December have been given the go-ahead by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC).

"...the eight projects that had now won approval for their detailed plans and costings were in Stoke-on-Trent, Coulsdon (Surrey), West Kent, Liverpool, Solihull and Northampton, and two in Bolton."

Read the full article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7924563.stm.

Pubs, museums and churches could be used for adult education classes in a £20m government plan to promote informal learning in England.

The government's White Paper on adult education proposes that more than 7,000 rooms in public buildings and private firms could provide space for lessons.

Read the full article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7958945.stm. 

• Are social networking sites really infantilising our teenagers?
• Just eight colleges get go-ahead for rebuilding

Adults should be wary of criticising young people for spending time on the internet. They are taking control of their lives...

There are some strange things being said at the moment about the mind-warping dangers of young people using the internet too much, especially for social networking purposes.

Read the full article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/mortarboard/2009/feb/25/facebook-greenfield-social-networking.

Denham tells 144 more that their plans must remain on hold due to lack of funds
- article by Peter Kingston

"...Stoke on Trent sixth form college, Bolton community college, Bolton sixth form college, West Kent college, Liverpool community college, Solihull college and Northampton college were informed that the programme was being suspended until March."

Read the full article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/04/colleges-building-denham.

• Subject Learning Coach (SLC) and STEM Programmes: Subject coaching networks

An open letter to Learning Providers... 

Building on the strengths of last autumn's events and looking to a bright and challenging year ahead, the Teaching and Learning Programme (TLP) brings you the next phase of our subject coaching networks. 

These are taking place this March with a summer series to follow later in June.  These events are for:-

• SLCs from the 12 priority subject areas
• Advanced Learning Coaches
• Colleagues considering becoming an ALC or SLC  
• Managers
• Anyone else interested in joining the Programme.

The subject coaching networks are a valuable opportunity for ALCs and SLCs to explore our exciting and innovative approaches to teaching and learning in their own subject and across a range of generic themes. 

At the spring networks, there will be an opportunity to obtain a copy of the new Rethinking induction resource and to have time during the day to explore and practise the approaches and techniques contained within.  You can also find out about how this useful resource can support learners as they begin their learning journey.  The resource provides advice and ideas on planning a learner's induction programme, whether it lasts a few days, or where a longer period is used to establish a solid foundation on which future learning can be built. 

The networks will include facilitation by our new SLC network facilitators who are practitioners  working alongside our subject specialists and mentors, preparing to take a much greater role in network planning and delivery in the future. 

All activities at these subject coaching networks support the Institute for Learning (IfL) CPD requirement.  

We expect demand for these events to be high so places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.  You can book your place online by visiting the SLC website. 

Please visit: www.subjectlearningcoach.net or call our helpline: 0845 6029154.   

When and where will the subject coaching networks be held?  

There will be separate subject coaching networks for...

• Science,
• Engineering and
• Mathematics in each of the regions led by the STEM consortium. 

They are advertised separately on www.subjectlearningcoach.net  

To find out further details and book any of these events please visit www.subjectlearningcoach.net If you have any questions, please contact us on 0845 602 9154. 

OTHER DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Advanced Learning Coach Professional Training Programme

For more information and to book please go to www.subjectlearningcoach.net and click on the events page 

This Programme is for those who have already completed their Subject Learning Coach (SLC) training and wish to train others to become SLCs in their own organisation.

• LONDON Wednesday 22nd and Thursday 23rd April 2009

Subject Learning Coach Professional Training Programme

We continue to offer the Subject Learning Coach training and the dates for training are listed below.

• COVENTRY, WARWICK UNIVERSITY: 23rd April 2009 and Thursday 4th June 2009

• No articles this month
  

• No articles this month
  

• No articles this month
  

FiTES - I'm inviting you to Find, Try, Evaluate and Share.
You are the experts in your field of work, management, administration, practitioners etc., and you know what works for you! By sharing not only will you raise the awareness of your colleagues but you should also benefit from their submissions.

Share your resources by completing the form available at http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=p6ZzsRcFe4Rh71c9ArHs2OQ&email=true. or use the embedded form below...

 

• No Suggestions this month - Editor (John Dalziel)
  

If you are a member of the Microblogging service Twitter, you can now receive updates from the JISC RSC-Northwest by following us at http://twitter.com/JISCRSCNW

Acas, the employment relations service, has launched a new equality and diversity guide addressing the vital role monitoring plays in equality and diversity in the workplace.

The new publication helps employers review, implement and monitor their equality policy.

Read more at http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2183 and/or

download the booklet at http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=818. 

The new Acas guide, 'Front line mangers', will help employers recognise the critical role FLMs play in business success.

The guide looks at the important connection FLMs can make with employees and why they need to be:

• Recruited and selected to ensure they have the right people qualities to motivate staff and deal with difficult problems
• Trained so that they can carry out their duties effectively and develop their careers
• Given a balanced workload that recognises the need to allocate time for performance management duties
• Coached by senior managers so that they openly discuss problems and actively participate in decision making.

Find out more and/or download the publication as a pdf file at http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=802.

1: -

The state of Virginia (USA) has published a new open source physics textbook under a Creative Commons license.

This peer-reviewed textbook was produced in less than six months by a team of authors, which included...

• active researchers,
• high school teachers, and
• college professors, as well as some retirees.

Is this a new world of textbook publishing.

• Quick to press,
• vetted,
• easy to revise,
• produced at a low cost by publishers,
• free for students.

Find out more at http://flexbooks.ck12.org/flexr/workbench/?searchTerm=cwv&mode=search&autoSearch=1.

2: -

Motion Mountain is another physics ebook, in pdf format, which is free for everybody...

• to store,
• read or print for personal use, and
• to distribute electronically, but only in unmodified form and at no charge.

Find out more at http://www.motionmountain.net/download.html.

Note: Permission is required from christoph@motionmountain.net if downloaders wish to use any part of the text in any product or service

For lovers of Sci-fi, Shimmer’s tenth issue is being given away for free!

They’ve included...

• "twelve fantastic new stories" and
• an exclusive interview with Cory Doctorow.

Download your free copy today, or buy the print edition, by visiting http://www.shimmerzine.com/issue-ten/.

The March issue of the Spotlight science magazine is now available. Written for Intute by science writer David Bradley, Spotlight contains topical science articles and news features.

This issue has articles on...

• using Solar power to convert carbon dioxide into methane,
• the sudden development of Antarctic ice cover 35 million years ago, and
• new extraction materials for hydrogen for fuel cells.

Go to http://www.intute.ac.uk/sciences/spotlight/ to find out more.

• Absolutely pointless but fun!
• eyePlorer
• Flag Identifier +
• Topmarks: Educational Search Engine
  

In their own words...

"Googleman is a fun and pointless application for launching Google.com in the style of the Batman 60s TV show, complete with spinning Google logo and sound effects."

Now when a learner or colleague says “Look in Google!” you can open your favourite search engine in style." 

Download from http://googleman.codeplex.com/.

Simply launch the application and keep it running on the taskbar. Then whenever you have to open Google.com, yell “To the Googlecave” and press Win+G to launch Google; just like this...

eyePlorer is an online research tool that I think is worth a look. I feel that there are many learners who will probably find it helpful.

Note: If you do not read German, please don't be put off when you discover that the website is in German. It appears that English is the default language of the application!

In short...

• eyePlorer searches Wikipedia for specified topics and displays search results graphically.
• Facts about a topic are represented by “eyespots” on a circular graph.
• Each eyespot is a heading.
• If you click on a heading/eyespot, you open a text box containing a summary sentence about it.
• These sentences can be dragged and dropped onto a notepad and then conveniently copied to the computer’s clipboard for use elsewhere.
• Double-clicking on an eyespot connects that heading with other headings to show that they are related in some way.
• Clicking on a line between two headings, opens a sentence that summarizes the relationship.

Try it out at http://www.eyeplorer.com/eyePlorer/.

Other supporting videos are available at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=videonto&view=videos.

Vexillology the study of Flags!

Flag Identifier is a web site that helps you identify different flags of the world -

• national flags of countries,
  
• military flags,
  
• civil flags and so on
  

...through their flag search engine.

Using the search engine users can search flags by...

• color,
  
• shape,
  
• geography,
  
• history,
  
• objects and so on.

Try it out at http://www.flagid.org/default.asp.

There are an increasing number of practitioners who are keen to find resources to use with their interactive whiteboards. Topmarks offers a helpful focus on precisely that - FREE "Interactive Whiteboard Resources"

Topmarks...

• bills itself as an "Educational Search Engine". It is a site where users search from pre-selected resources that are some of the best available on the web.
• claims that "All of the content on Topmarks is carefully reviewed by qualified practitioners and regularly re-checked because of the changing nature of the web."

Users can...

• do a general search. For example, if you enter "number line", the search returns 30 activities that use the number line to help learn mathematical concepts. The majority of these are high quality flash activities that lend themselves to use on an individual computer or on an interactive white board. The targeted learning level is suggested for each activity.
• do a search for learning activities by subject area and by age level. The list of subjects is extensive, and the age range extends from early years through higher education.

Topmarks also has a place dedicated specifically to helping practitioners find resources that work well on an interactive whiteboard.

If you are a busy practitioner who wants to find and use digital resources in your teaching, using an interactive whiteboard, then I think you need to check this out!

Find out more at http://www.topmarks.co.uk/.

Overview of Resources, in this month's eMagazine, that could be use in Art...

• No resources this month - Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,

in our Over2U section

Overview of Resources, in this month's eMagazine, that could be use in Business Courses...

• 100+ Free Sites for Learning about Business
• Business video education portal
• Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section

Jane has yet again come up trumps with this resource...

The websites in the list cover all aspects of business...

• strategy,
• management,
• leadership,
• marketing,
• finance,
• accounting,
• economics,

...as well as business skills.

A range of sites are included, suitable for...

• business studies education,
• workplace learning, and for
• educators,
• learners and
• managers alike

The sites include both formal and informal learning resources...

• games,
• podcasts,
• blogs,
• videos,
• books,
• PDFs,

...as well as online courses, communities and other general resources.

Find out for yourself at http://c4lpt.co.uk/Showcase/100business.html.

MBAvid is an educational resource that contains free mba video lectures - a “YouTube for Business Knowledge”.

It lists video lectures from...

• university professors and
• prominent business leaders and
• thinkers like Milton Friedman, Carly Fiorina, Guy Kawasaki and others.

Browse video lectures by business categories e.g.

• Finance,
• Strategy,
• Entrepreneurship,
• Sales & Negotiation etc.

View recent and most popular videos, search videos by keywords and leave comments.

Note that the Videos are pulled from YouTube and uploaded by site members.

Find out more at http://www.mbavid.com/. 

Overview of Resources, in this month's eMagazine, that could be use in Catering...

• Cookthink
• Perfect Portions
• Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section
  

CookThink is a food recipe search tool that lets you find recipes by...

• ingredients,
• dish types,
• cuisines and
• moods.

All listed recipes are easy prep meals and dishes, ideal for home cooking. Each recipe is tested in-house or by site’s contributing recipe partners such as top food bloggers, chefs and cook book authors.

There is no to register if just searching for recipes, however if users register they can...

• keep track of their favorite recipes,
• leave comments and
• build their own meals from several food recipes using the Meal Builder.

Additionally users can...

• read useful food reference articles,
• see most popular recipe searches,
• subscribe to site’s Root Source weekly newsletter to learn in detail about a single ingredient...
  • best ways to buy it,
  • how to store it,
  • prepare it and
  • cook with it.

Try it out for yourself at http://www.cookthink.com/.

A Food Portions Calculator

Perfect Portions is a food portions calculator that removes the guesswork from how much to buy/cook when catering for varying numbers of adults and/or children; "being on the save side" i.e. guessing, usually results in some food left over and going to waste.

Perfect Portions works like this...

• Choose the food ingredient. You can either select it from food category or choose one from the popular foods.
• Select how many people to cook for (Number of adults + number of children)
• Get the exact amount you need cook

The suggested portions are given in terms of...

• standard mugs, table spoons etc. for a rule-of-thumb measurements, as well as in
• grams and milliliters for the exact amounts.

Note: This service is provided to encourage everyone to eliminate food waste. Other sections on the website include...

• Save Time & Money
• Recipes
• Top Tips & Storage
• About food waste  

Find out much more and/or try it out at http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/perfect_portions. 

Overview of Resources, in this month's eMagazine, that could be use in Design...

• Google SketchUp: free & easy 3D modeling
• Imagination at work
• MakeUp: Online Photo Enhancer
• Squid Spot
• VunkySearch
• Web 2.0 Badges
  
• Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section
  
  

I wonder how many learners, and practitioners come to that, use Google Sketchup for their 3D projects? My Architect son-in-law tells me that his company are using it as are many other companies.

Google's SketchUp is a free download that lets people create virtual 3D models with just a few clicks of the mouse.

I found it relatively easy, especially as I tend to "play first and read tutorials later". My motto is "if in doubt right-click" - if some help is needed, users can find tutorials on YouTube by the author of SketchUp for Dummies (http://www.youtube.com/aidanchopra).

SketchUp can also be used for many things such as...

• to teach area and volume, or
• to plot out a room arrangement or
• design a car.

Users can import elements from the 3D Warehouse, where others have done the work for you.

The program is a free download for both Mac and Windows.

Note: users will need to look below the "Download Pro" button to find the free version.

Find out more and/or download at http://sketchup.google.com/index.html.

A sample video can be viewed below...

ImaginationCubed is an online drawing application that lets you draw sketches and diagrams with peers/colleagues/etc., over the internet.

The interface of the site is excellent, easy to use and there is no registration process.

Just go to the site, at http://www.imaginationcubed.com/, invite collaborators and start drawing.

Note: The application lets users draw with up to two people at the same time.

Users can...

• draw free lines,
• add shapes
• add stamps,
• add background grid,
• type in text,
• print
• send drawnings to others.

The recipient of the drawings can replay and see how that picture was created.

MakeUp is an online photo enhancer that lets users quickly enhance portrait photographs and make them look like a picture of a model from glossy magazine.

The application automatically...

• applies eye and skin makeup,
• removes imperfections,
• whitens teeth and
• adds special glamour soft focus effects.

To start...

• select image from the computer or the web URL.
• MakeUp will then automatically upload and enhance your image.
• Once image is ready you can...
  • compare before and after views,
  • download it onto a computer,
  • save it online (registration needed), and
  • share with others by forwarding a link or embedding.

Try it out and/or find out more at http://makeup.pho.to/.

Squidspot has created a table representing a list of the most “popular, influential and notorious typefaces today”, in the format of the Periodic Table.

The Periodic Table of Typefaces presents the typefaces grouped by families and classes like...

• san-serif,

• serif,

• script,

• blackletter, etc.

Each cell of the Periodic Table of Typefaces lists...

• the typeface and a one or two character ("symbol"),

• the designer,

• year designed and

• a ranking of 1 through to 100.

Take a closer look at http://www.squidspot.com/Periodic_Table_of_Typefaces/Periodic_Table_of_Typefaces_large.jpg.

VunkySearch is new web resource that aggregates and lists hand picked Photoshop and Gimp tutorials.

The application...

• provides users with a quick visual way of browsing,
• doesn't contain any actual tutorials, but functions as a jump-board towards websites where tutorials are hosted.
• lets users search for tutorials and browse them by tags.

There are currently around 300 tutorials and more being added; find out more by visiting http://www.vunkysearch.net/.

Web 2.0 Badges are used to grab website visitor’s attention on something, such as a promotion or important update-

Web 2.0 Badges.com is an online web badge generator that provides a collection of badges which users can customize.

They can be used in eXe, and other authoring tools, to grab learner attention.

Take a look yourself at http://www.web20badges.com/.

Overview of Resources, in this month's eMagazine, that could be use in Economics...

• Take a look at the Business video education portal, in the Business section.
  
• Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section

Overview of Resources, in this month's eMagazine, that could be use in Engineering...

• Engineering Interact
• Take a look at Physics Games in the Resource Section (Found under Science)
• Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section

An ideal resource for Intitial Teacher Training and Family Learning.

Engineering Interact is an excellent resource created by the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering.

In their own words...

"Engineering Interact is a new and exciting free educational resource for primary school children aged 9 to 11."

The resource provides fully interactive, engaging game environments and high-quality learning material tailored to the National Curriculum.
 
Information about real world applications and cutting edge research motivates learners and introduces them to the exciting subject of engineering.

The site contains interactive learning activities covering:

• light,
• sound,
• forces and motion,
• earth and beyond, and
• electricity.

Each area is broken down into multiple modules and each module contains an interactive learning activity, an interactive review activity, and a slide-show containing information about how the science is applied in the real world.

Practitionerss should check out the Teacher Information page that will help them utilize the resources more effectively.

This is one of those sites that really makes learning and teaching science a lot more fun and exciting, especially if you have an Interactive Whiteboard Board in the classroom.

Find out more at http://engineeringinteract.org/interact.htm.

Overview of Resources, in this month's eMagazine, that could be use in English Language - Literature Teaching & Learning...

• Listen & Write
• Story Spieler
  
• Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section

• Take a look at Shimmer: FREE Issue in the Publications Section
  

This resource has been highlighted before in the eMagazine but one of Nik Peachey's Blogs "Nik's Daily English Activities" has highlighted an activity that helps learners to...

• improve their listening skills and
• approach dictation activities without being defeated by them.

Visit Nik's blog at http://daily-english-activities.blogspot.com/2009/03/dictation-to-improve-your-listening.html.

OR

go directly to the Listen and Write website at http://www.listen-and-write.com/.

The following clip provides an overview of a learner using Listen and Write...

Classic Gutenberg project books read aloud by Roy Trumbull

Roy Trumbull, I'm reliably informed by the Boing Boing Blog, is working his way through the best of Project Gutenberg's texts, reading them aloud in a podcast called "Story Spieler."

This provides, for learners and practitioners, both text and audio which can be down loaded for FREE.

Take a closer look listen at http://radio.weblogs.com/0143840/.

Available by RSS Feed at http://radio.weblogs.com/0143840/rss.xml.

Overview of Resources, in this month's eMagazine, that could be use in Family Learning...

• PEEP and the Big Wide World
• Write like an Egyptian
• Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section

Ideal for Family Learning, Peep and the Big Wide World is a site designed to engage early learners in a comprehensive science program.

Activities and games are anchored in a daily video about a newly hatched chick named Peep and his adventures in the "big wide world".

Appealing graphics, dramatic musical accompaniment, and narration by Joan Cusack, the videos are extremely well done. Closed captioning is available for those who need it. The closed captioning provide excellent practice for beginning readers.

Find out more at http://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/.  

 

Write Like an Egyptian as the name suggests is an online tool that lets users write names using ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Type a name into the field and press “inscribe”. The hieroglyphs are presented in a vertical form. Users can save generated picture on to their computer using right click”Save As” option.

The application is provided by University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Try it out at http://www.upennmuseum.com/hieroglyphsreal.cgi/hieroglyphsreal.cgi.

Here is one I made earlier...

Overview of Resources, in this month's eMagazine, that could be use in Creative Writing...

• Take a look at Onboard the Titanic in the Genealogy - History Section,
  
• Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section

Overview of Resources, in this month's eMagazine, that could be used in a number of curriculum areas...

• e.ggtimer
• morgueFile
• Next Vista For Learning
• Recycle
• Tiny Tags
• YouTube EDU
  
• Why don't you suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section

I've included a number of count down timers in the eMagazine but none of them is as straight forward as e.ggTimer.

To set a timer on E.ggTimer, all you have to do is...

• enter the URL http://e.ggtimer.com/ and then in plain English
• type the time you need counted down. For example for 10 minutes you wound enter http://e.ggtimer.com/10minutes.

There is no limit on time period, it can count down...

• seconds,
• minutes,
• hours,
• days and
• years as long as they are entered in logical order. e.g.
  

  Example usage:

• http://e.ggtimer.com/2minutes
• http://e.ggtimer.com/1hour14minutes35seconds
• http://e.ggtimer.com/5years3months
• http://e.ggtimer.com/30 (when you just put a number it assumes seconds)

The timer will start once the URL is loaded, and when time expires it will alert you with beeping signal.  

Finding free images that learners can use in their digital presentations can be a time consuming and occasionally frustrating experience. Morgue File makes it easy to find good free images for learners to use in their digital presentations.

The morguefile free photo reference archive provides the public and creative community with a repository of free raw photo materials.

The Morgue File photo collection contains thousands of images that anyone can use for free in academic or commercial presentations. The image collection can be searched by...

• subject
• category,
• image size,
• color, or
• rating.

The Morgue File also features a "classroom" where visitors can learn photography techniques and get tips about image editing.

Find out more or browse the images at http://www.morguefile.com/archive/.

Next Vista is an academic video sharing site.

Next Vista has three video categories, as can be seen in the image above.

• The Light Bulbs category is for videos that teach you how to do something and or provides an explanation of a topic.
• The Global Views category contains videos created to promote understanding of cultures around the world.
• The Seeing Service category highlights the work of people who are working to make a difference in the lives of others.

Note: Next Vista is designed for classroom use so all videos have been screened for inappropriate and inaccurate content.

Next Vista has the potential to be a good video resource for teaching & learning.

A good learner project could be to create videos to contribute to Next Vista.

A big plus, especially for those who have YouTube Blocked, is Next Vista videos can be embedded into blogs or eXe or websites or VLEs etc. The videos can also be downloaded directly from Next Vista. The download option is great for practitioners that work in PCDL/ACL and/or OLAS where internet access isn't available.

Take a closer look at http://www.nextvista.org/.

Explore the Cycle is a resource for teaching about...

• recycling,
• consumerism, and
• environmental science.

Explore the cycle is a series of short animated videos that explain the cycle of recycling consumer goods. It explains, in very clear language, how paper, plastic, metal, and glass are recycled.

Each video segment can be...

• downloaded or
• shared via the embed code provided.

You can find out more at http://explorethecycle.com/.

TinyTags lets you create little customized graphic tags with your own text.

To start simply...

• insert your text,
• choose colour -
• size -
• tag direction - and
• press “Make Tag”.

Once image is created you can...

• download it onto your computer or
• save onto your ImageShack or Flickr accounts.

Note: To make your text bigger, break it up in different places.

Try it out at http://wigflip.com/tinytags/.

YouTube Edu is the aggregation of more than 100 college and university videos from the US institutions themselves.

The videos include...

• college campus tours and
• lectures from professors.

YouTube Edu can be searched by...

• institution,
• popularity, or
• topic.

If YouTube isn't blocked by your learning provider, YouTube EDU could provide a nice complement to instruction within a teaching & learning setting.

Go to http://www.youtube.com/edu to find out more.

Overview of Geography Resources included in this eMagazine...

• No resources this month -why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section

Overview of Genealogy - History Resources included in this eMagazine...

• Onboard the Titanic
• Women who changed History

On Board the Titanic is a virtual field trip produced by Discovery.

To take the "field trip" learners...

• select one of five characters to be as they set sail on the Titanic.
• do not know who they are or if they will survive until the night of the sinking.
• spend four or five virtual days learning about the ship and their character.

Only on the night of April 15, 1912 do they learn who they are and if they will survive.

As well as the obvious uses in teaching and learning history, "On Board the Titanic" could also be used as a resource for creative writing.

Find out more at http://www.discovery.com/guides/history/titanic/Titanic/titanic.html.

Discover women who have made a difference. Celebrate Women's History Month!

Includes...

• Dr. Mae Jemison - First African-American woman in Space
• Amelia Earhart The flight of
• Rosa Parks - "How I fought for Civil Rights"
• Sally Ride - Challenging the Space Frontier
• Melba Pattillo - Integrating Central High

as well as Women's Suffrage etc.

Visit http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/women/ to find out more.

Overview of Hair - Beauty Resources included in this eMagazine...

• No Resources this month but why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section

Overview of Key Skills Resources included in this eMagazine...

• Body Parts
• Eyercize: Learn To Read Quicker Online
• Kid's Kits Online
• Spreeder
  
• Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section

• Take a look at Listen & Write in the English Language - Literature Section and...
  • The eyeballing Game in the eGames Section
    

An interactive body part identification website that works great with an Interactive White-Board.

It is a basic program for learners- identifying only 12 body parts, but is available in 6 languages. This makes it a useful resource for...

• Key Skills
• Science
• ESOL, EFL, etc
• Family Learning and much more...

Learners drag and drop the words to match the pictures. Clicking on the pictures or words will elicit a verbal reinforcement.

Try it out at http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks1/science/body_parts_p/index.htm.

Eyercize is a free online speed reading tool that can help users become an accomplished speed reader.

There is no download or registration needed...

• Either  go to the Eyersize site, paste text and click the Now Read It! button. Users will be redirected to Eyercize text player where this text will be shown to them at certain rate and only few words at a time. The rate and number of words can be easily customized.
   
• Or just drag & drop provided bookmark onto a browser and users are ready to go. To start speed reading simply highlight text and click on “Speed read it” bookmarklet. Users will be redirected to Eyercize text player where this text will be shown to them at certain rate and only few words at a time. The rate and number of words can be easily customized.

Find out more at http://www.eyercize.com/.

Don't be put off by the "Kids'" reference. This is excellent for use on an interactive whiteboard.

The website has a choice of 4 kits; each kit has a work area on the left side of the screen and a collection of words and/or phrases on the right-hand side. To use any of the kits, learners simply touch and drag the words into the work area. Words can be moved around with ease and placed anywhere the learner or practitioner desires.

Practitioners could easily prepare the work area to contain words for the learners to use to build sentences or they could allow learners to explore the word collection and choose their own.

This may help practitioners to differentiate the learning process and control the difficulty of the task.

Some examples could include...

• Finding all the nouns in the top part of the work area and putting them in the bottom part
• Finding verbs that describe what can be done on a rainy day
• Making sentences that contain a noun, a verb, and an adjective
• Building different 10 word sentences from the group of words in the word collection

...and there is so much more.

Remember it is not the software it is what you do with it!

Try it out at http://www.magpo.com/kidspoetry/playonline.cfm.
 

Spreeder is an online speed reading utility to help train users to read faster. It does this by flashing words at a rapid rate, which helps in three ways:

1. Reduce subvocalization
2. Increase chunk comprehension
3. Eliminate backreading

Go to http://spreeder.com/index.php to try it out; visiting the tutorial at http://spreeder.com/tutorial.php may be a good idea.

Overview of Language Resources included in this eMagazine...

• euronews
• Pronunciation Animation
• Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section

Euronews is an excellent resource for the post 16 languages practitioner and learner.

Euronews provides online access to news items in...

• English,
• French,
• German,
• Italian,
• Spanish,
• Portuguese,
• Russian and
• Arabic.

However, what sets it apart and makes it more valuable to language practitioners and/or learners is that, as well as audio and video, each news item comes with a transcript of what the news reader is saying in each of the languages. Does anything else need to be said!

This service offers learners an excellent opportunities to practise and improve listening skills.

Find out more by visiting http://www.euronews.net/.

Pronunciation is a vitally important aspect of learning any language.

• Learners need to pronounce words and sentences well, otherwise listeners will struggle to understand them.
• One aspect of pronunciation is 'intonation'; the rise and fall in pitch of the voice.

Cambridge University Press has produced a web site with some interactive activities to help learners improve their intonation.

Go to: http://www.cambridge.org/elt/resources/skills/interactive/pron_animations/index.htm to find out more.

By selecting 'intonation' from the menu, learners can listen to some short conversations. The conversations are animated so they show users where the intonation goes up or down.

Learners can be encouraged to listen to them and then try to copy them. Learners can get more practice at developing their intonation using appropriate clips from YouTube movies.

Learners can also try some of the other activities on the website that deal with...

• word stress and
• sentence stress and
• learning the phonemic alphabet.

Overview of Mathematics Resources included in this eMagazine...

• Alphabet Geometry
• Interactive Algebra
• Interactive Number
• Square Root Day: Did you miss it?
  
• Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section
• See also The eyeballing Game in the eGames Section

Alphabet Geometry is an interactive site built for the visual learner!

It introduces geometry concepts to learners by relating them to something they're all familiar with, letters! Done in a way that grabs learners' attention:

Flash movies (Downloadable) animate letters so that learners see more than static images (like the ones in textbooks).

Find out more at http://www.misterteacher.com/alphabetgeometry/home.html.

Interactive Algebra provides fourteen Algebra lessons divided into three units.

To use Interactive Algebra simply...

• choose a lesson and
• start trying the randomly generated problems.

After trying each problem the correct answer and an explanation is provided.

Find out more at http://www.veazeys.com/math/lessons.htm.

Interactive Number Line is from the Oxford University Press and is an ideal resource for the Interactive Whiteboard.

A number appears at the top of the page and learners are challenged to find that number on the interactive number line. Learners must estimate where the number would appear, make a selection and then narrow down their selection until they match the exact number.

Note: Interactive Whiteboard Users will need to touch either to the right or to the left of center on the number line to get the number line to scroll. The farther they touch to the right or left, the faster it will scroll.

Try it out at http://www.oup.com.au/__data/assets/file/0019/154045/Numberline.swf.

Square Root Day is an unofficial holiday celebrated on days when both the day of the month and the month are the square root of the last two digits of the year.

For example...

• the last Square Root Day was March 3, 2009 (3/3/09); did you miss it?
• the next Square Root Day will be April 4, 2016 (4/4/16).
• the final Square Root Day of the century will occur on September 9, 2081 (9/9/81).

Note: - Square Root Days fall upon the same nine dates each century.

One suggested way of celebrating the holiday is by eating square radishes, or other root vegetables cut into shapes with square cross sections (thus creating a "square root"); how sad is that?

Overview of Media Resources included in this eMagazine...

• we7
• Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section

We7.com whose slogan is ‘Don't steal it, We7 it!' is a website which has a lot of music that you can downstream but not download.

That means that users need online connection to listen. The catch is that in between each track, you will hear a micro-ad that lasts 2 or 3 seconds but that's how we7 makes it's money and keeps everything legitimate.

In their own words...

"We7 is an outstanding new music destination where you can listen to, share and discover music for FREE, legally and safely. You choose the music you want to hear and play full songs and albums online, on-demand at anytime. We also offer you the ability to buy the music you love in high quality mp3 downloads which you can play on iPods and most other digital players.

The We7 site and a series of high quality sharable widgets have been created to help you discover and share your favourite music, from major and independent labels as well as music from unsigned bands. We7's unique ad-funded model ensures that while you listen for free, rights owners and artists still get paid."

Try it out for yourself at http://www.we7.com.

 

Overview of Music Resources included in this eMagazine...

• Get-Tuned
• P22 Music Text Composition Generator
• Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section

Get-Tuned is an online string instrument tuning service where musicians can tune and learn how to tune their musical instruments.

The site offers set of different tuners for the...

• Guitar,
• Banjo,
• Bass Guitar,
• Cello,
• Ukulele,
• Violin,
• Mandolin and
• Viola.

Each tuner comes with a clear instructions and set of tips.

Find out more at http://www.get-tuned.com/index.php.

This website was inspired by the late great John Cage, considered by many as one of the most revolutionary composers of the last century.

What the site does is convert text into musical notation with a midi music file to play the notation.

It's quite simple to do. You just...

• copy and paste your text into the field,
• give it a file name (with no spaces or punctuation)
• choose the speed and instrumentation, then just
• click to generate the notation and midi file.

The site is called P22 Music Text Composition Generator and it can be found at: http://p22.com/musicfont/.

This music was produced using this text...

"JISC Regional Support Centres (RSCs) provide advice on how to integrate ICT and eLearning into educational and business activities to learning provider organisations throughout the UK. RSCs deliver services regionally, within a national context.

We support FE colleges and small HE institutions, Specialist and Sixth Form colleges, Adult Community Learning providers and Work Based Learning Providers within the Northwest of England.

The JISC RSC Northwest is led by Lancaster University through the ICT Focus department of Information Systems Services.

The RSC is based within Bailrigg House at Lancaster University."

With these settings...

And just in case you want to play it a pdf of the music - Why not give it a go yourself - go to: http://p22.com/musicfont/.

Overview of Science Resources included in this eMagazine...

• ARKIVE
• Before and After Humans
• Biology in Motion
• Open Chemistry
• Physics Games
• The Future of Human Health
  
• Why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section
• Also see - Open Source Textbooks x2 in the Publications section of this eMagazine

Arkive is a great website for biology teachers and learners.

Arkive has...

• thousands of images and videos of threatened plants and animals.
• a Google Earth layer that learners can use to view marine species habitat.
• in the education section
  
  • complete lesson plans including video clips and slideshows that teachers can download.
  • lesson plans appropriate for use in junior school and high school.
• educational games that learners can play independently.

Find out more at http://www.arkive.org/.

Human evolution, past, present and future.

Before and After Humans, an interactive resource from MSNBC.

Take a look as far...

• back in the past as 7 million B.C. and
• forward as 4 million years into some possible future scenarios.

For the history of evolution, this interactive draws conclusions from scientists and their fossil record analysis. Six species of hominids, and their corresponding sub-species, are examined.

Find out more at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7348103/.

Dr. Saul's Biology in Motion features excellent interactive activities and animations for learners to use to learn human biology concepts.

The activities and animations seem to be targeted toward a school audience but there is a lot of content, in Biology in Motion, for post-16 GCSE students too.

Biology in Motion offers some tips for teachers planning to use these activities in the classroom. Most of the tips are things that might seem obvious, but are good reminders none-the-less.

Take a closer look at http://www.biologyinmotion.com/.

Find out more at http://openchemistry.co.uk/.

Physics Games.net is a website of games based on simple physics concepts.

Physic Games offers 54 different games, each one can be...

• played directly on the Physics Games website
• embedded into a learning resource, blog, website etc.

Note: Before each game starts there is a short commercial. Users may find this a drawback.

Being able to embed a game can be a good way...

• to make sure that learners are on task
• to keep students interested in a blog, website etc.

Try them out at http://www.physicsgames.net/.

For Example: - Rotate and stack Tetris shapes to build the tallest free-standing tower possible. You have 99 pieces to achieve your goal.

If the embedded file is blocked, go to http://www.physicsgames.net/game/99_Bricks.html to play online.

 

 

Stanford University has posted seven video lectures from professors whose research explores the frontiers of human health, specifically the brain.

For example, Brian Knutson's fascinating explanation of how brain scans are illuminating the neurology of...

• desire,
• financial decisions, and
• mental health.

Inspired by a format used at the TED Conference (http://www.ted.com), each speaker delivers a highly engaging talk in just 10-20 minutes about his or her research.

Learn about Stanford's newest and most exciting discoveries in...

• neuroscience,
• bioengineering,
• brain imaging,
• psychology, and more.

Go to http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=32BC95C9D7E5959C&gl=US.

Overview of Thoughts-Beliefs Resources included in this eMagazine...

• No Resources this month but why not suggest a resource, that you use or feel has potential,
  in our Over2U section

Compendle is a free web-based application that allows users to...

• create,
  
• organise,
  
• review and
  
• publish e-learning courses and material.
  

Using uploaded images and text, Word documents, PDF’s, or even podcasts and videos, users can create engaging and interactive e-learning.

In their words...

"Our new authoring tool is so easy to use.
Why not take our "3 minute e-learning challenge" and get first hand experience of just how simple it is to create some fantastic e-learning content."

"Simply click on the image to the left and go straight to a tutorial that will give you some great ideas of how to make the most of our new tool." Or go to http://www.compendle.com/three-minute-e-learning-challenge.aspx.

I think many practitioners, like me, will be impressed by the simplicity and potential however, the Free version is limiting and £20 per month for the Subscription is something many will think twice about

In response to this feedback...

Sarah Saunders replied...

"I think the free trial account can at least offer people the opportunity to explore its functionality without commitment. We feel that Compendle is a really cost-effective resource, individual accounts can start from £23 per month and site licences for some institutions can cost as little as £2,600."

 

The website does tell readers... "Remember: You can upgrade or downgrade your Compendle package at any time." so with some serious planning costs could be affordable.

Go to http://www.compendle.com/ to find out more and or 'give it a try'.

P.S. Take a look at the Education section

FunPhotoBox is an online photo montage maker that allows you to apply effects on user images.

All users have to do is...

• select one of the provided templates,
• upload an image and

...let FunPhotoBox do the rest.

Once the montaged image is created users can...

• download it onto a computer or
• get a direct link to it and publish it anywhere on the web.

The site lists around 60 different effect templates and more being added every week.

Try it out at http://funphotobox.com/Default.aspx.

Video with a KICK!

KickLight is a new Youtube tool that lets you add text, graphics and links to YouTube video without obscuring it any way.

The application inserts a space just below a video and then lets you add text, images and links into that space. It also allows you to customize how and when added content should be shown. WOW!

In their words:

"KickLight is an online service that allows video producers to add synchronized visual elements (“Kicks”) to their online videos. Wherever that video is ultimately sent or embedded, the Kicks go with it."

1. Sign up for an account and click green “Create” button.

2. Search and grab a video from YouTube.

3. Create your kicks by uploading images and/or typing text and/or adding hyperlinks.

4. Add transitions to your kicks.

5. Drag and drop the created kicks onto the video time-line.

6. Save, and publish the video online.

Once the video is published it can be shared it by forwarding the link and/or embedding it on a website in an eXe learning iDevice etc. You can also browse videos created by other users rate and comment on them. Just take a look at this...

Register and/or find out more at http://www.kicklight.com/.

StoryTop is an Online Story Board application for making cartoon-like stories

StoryTop is very intuitive for both learners and practitioners, letting users create multiple page cartoon-like stories and share them online with others. The application is free, and easy to use.

To start, simply drag...

• text,
• backgrounds,
• people,
• animals,
• fish,
• reptiles,
• plants,
• buildings,
• furniture,
• transport and
• weather...

...from the menu onto the page, add your own text, and when done use snippy or screen dump or save it online.

If users register (FREE) they can share the end product by forwarding the URL to anyone they want. There is no limit on stories and pages you can create.

Find out more/try it out at http://www.storytop.com/.

 

A number of delegates attending last month's workshops liked the use of the Einstein picture where they can write any text. A number asked if they could use different images. Well Writeonit is a fun website which allows users to do just that and more (Including the Einstein image); they can create fake...

• photos,
• captions and
• magazine covers.

Currently offering more than 50 picture styles to choose from. To get started simply...

• click on one of the three options
• Add text and/or image from your computer
• click Create your picture (I personally remove the tick from the Publish Checkbox)

Try it out for yourself at http://www.writeonit.org/.

"At many venues we use for teaching and learning, the internet connection is very slow; practitioners and learners are finding this very frustrating. Is there anything we can do to relieve their stress?"

"We use FireFox as our browser and repeatedly get an 'unresponsive script' warning"

Yes, I think there is...

The following tip-n-trick might relieve your stress.

Note: - By default a script is only given 10 seconds to respond before it gives an unresponsive script warning; you can increase the script responce time by doing the following...

• Open FireFox
  .
• In the address window type 'about:config' (without the quote marks) and type the enter key
  
  .
• The following warning will appear...
  
  ...Click the I'll be careful, I promise! button
  .
• Scroll down the list and locate the Dom.max_script_run_time as shown below...
  .
• right click and a menu will appear as shown below...
  
  Click Modify
  .
• A dialog box opens where you can change the default value from 10...
  
  
  ...to an appropriate time (in this example 30)
  
  .
• Click the OK button when the change has been made.

I hope both your practitioners and learners have a less stressful time.

"I find myself sending the same email messages out periodically to staff and/or learners (such as exam schedules, dates for observation of teaching & learning, SAR reminders, Course evaluation forms etc.), is there an easy way that I could make this an easier task? I now use Outlook 2007"

There is one solution that I find useful... 

1. Open Outlook.

2. Go to the Navigation Pane.

3. Right-click on Drafts (see above) and select New Folder.
   

4. Label the new folder something like Premade Messages.
   

5. If you are going to create messages for both home and work, you might consider creating subdirectories for your new folder.

6. Create a New Message as you normally would.

7. Use a proper (but descriptive) subject for the message.

8. Save the new message (don’t address it or send it!).

9. After you have created your premade messages, drag them from Drafts into your PremadeMessages folder (or subfolder).

The next time you need to send one of these out...

1. go to the PremadeMessages folder,

2. right-click, drag and drop the email into Drafts and select Copy from the dialog menu.

3. Select the copied email, address it and send it out.

 

August 1st - Mar 30th 2009

The data below is cumulative, highlighting, from the initial tracking our TV viewers on 1st September 2007, their global distribution.