This week, the City Learning Centre has been supporting Deansfield High’s Gifted and Talented Summer School. Following a visit to Dublin on Tuesday, the students have been creating textiles, calligraphy, artwork and writing based around the theme of “Wish You Were Here”.

Working with CLC staff, the students have created a short film entitled “Dreams of Dublin” to showcase their writing talents. Download the film from the session reports:

• Deansfield High Summer School Session Report

 Dreams of Dublin (iPod-compliant version - 39MB) [12:26m]: Download
 Dreams of Dublin (3gp mobile phone version - 6.5MB): Download

This week, I have been helping with Deansfield High’s Gifted and Talented Summer School. Current students, and students moving into Year 7 in September, worked together to create artwork, textiles, calligraphy and film based around the theme of “Wish You Were Here”.

On Tuesday, the students travelled to Dublin to experience the sights and sounds of the Irish capital: O’Connell Street, Christ Church Cathedral, the Dublinia exhibition, Trinity College and the Book Of Kells, and the Guinness Storehouse. On their return to Wolverhampton, the students created pieces of descriptive writing to reflect upon their Dublin experience.

Here is a film we created during Thursday and Friday morning to bring together video, photography and the students’ beautiful pieces of writing.

Alternatively, use the download links at the top of this post to download an iPod-compliant or 3gp mobile phone version of the film. You can also subscribe to our podcast in iTunes to download the film: Read more

 Pendeford Podcast [5:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today, a small group of Y7 - Y10 students from Pendeford Business and Enterprise College visted the CLC to learn how to create a podcast. The students created a podcast to describe some of the latest developments and activities in their school:

• School productions
• School events
• Sports
• Healthy Eating changes.

We hope that you enjoy the podcast. Remember to add your comments by clicking on the podcast title (”Pendeford Business and Enterprise College - School developments podcast”) and filling in the comment form.

Over the last few weeks, gadget-lovers in the US have been going crazy for Apple’s entry into the mobile phone market, the iPhone. Estimates indicate that about 700,000 of the devices were sold in the first weekend of sales in the States at up to $599 each. Expect the hype around the iPhone in this country to build dramatically prior to its launch in Europe before Christmas. The iPhone will be the “must have” gadget for Christmas 2007. Parents of teenagers need to either prepare their wallets, or their resolve, for the direct hit that the iPhone is likely to make upon their lives.

For those who haven’t seen details of the iPhone, here are some links you might find useful:

• Engadget iPhone review - a balanced review of the iPhone
• Apple.com iPhone homepage

Early reviews of the iPhone in the US have been largely positive, and 85% of those who’ve bought one would recommend it to a friend. While there are some obvious deficiencies to the device as it currently stands - no video camera, no Flash support, no support for third-party applications, no cut and paste (!), plus of course the expense - I believe that the iPhone may give us clues to the educational possibilities of the next generation of handheld devices.

Read more

Today, Year 5 students from Northwood Park Primary School visited the CLC to use Kar2ouche for creative writing. The students worked collaboratively to create their own fantasy stories, selecting appropriate characters, backgrounds and props, then added voice-overs to create their finished stories.

¨I approached the steel gates. What were those odd-looking figures? I heard weird thunder sounds as they appeared. Why were they circling the square? I struggled to reach for my small camera. Two turned to three, three turned to four. How many were there? Their eyes were like goggles on top of slimy, bony, bodies. The shadows sheltered me from their vision¨.

What the teacher said:
Read more