filed under News July 22nd, 2009 Richard Anderson
Summer Term update
During the Summer Term, the CLC has worked with 5 Secondary Schools, 17 Primary schools, 5 Infants schools and 4 Special Schools from around the city.
Here are the projects that we’ve been involved in:
Secondary Schools
Each of the five secondary schools participated in a two-day Internet Safety project. During the first day, students learned about how to enjoy and utilise the Internet safely, and about the risks of having conversations with strangers online. We looked at the latest internet tools, from instant messaging to social networking, virtual worlds to online gaming and at simple rules to protect our safety when using these. During the second day, they created their own educational Internet safety film. Here is a sample film from The Northicote School (personal details included in the film are fictional!)
Each Secondary also participated in a bespoke 3 day project:
Aldersley - Digital Art Meets Evolution.
To mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth (and 150th anniversary of the publication of On The Origin Of Species), students learned about Darwin’s astounding insight into the the evolution of life, using Web 2.0 tools (e.g. blogging, Etherpad) to discuss their ideas. They then created and animated the evolution of a creature in response to a given environmental change. They documented their work in the form of short film. Here is an example.
Wolverhampton Girl’s High
Groups of Graphic Design and Product Design students learned how to model 3D objects in Google SketchUp. Here is a sample model, created by one of the students after a single day of learning to use the software.
Highfields Science Specialist School
Students created eportfolios to create their coursework, and learned how to embed video and audio into their websites using Adobe Flash and online video hosting service Vimeo.
Coppice Performing Arts College
As an induction to their KS4 Media course, Year 9 students participated in a three day Apprentice Project. Students were given a product to market, and created a logo, TV and radio ads for the product before pitching their ideas to Rob Smith, director of local community radio station kicfm (http://www.kicfm.com). Rob selected the winning group on the basis of the quality of their media work and ability to successfully pitch their ideas.
Here is a sample TV ad, created to advertise a new robotic vacuum cleaner:
Our Lady and St. Chad’s
Students worked in groups in MissionMaker to create demo games for a forthcoming Hollywood movie entitled “Time Agents: Battle For Survival”. They then had to create a TV advert for their games, and pitch their game ideas to Brian Cattell, who delivers games design courses at Wolverhampton University. Brian selected the winning group.
Here is a sample advert, created for one of their pitches:
Primary Schools
Schools have participated in three different projects during the term:
Environmental Awareness Day
Working with the Local Authority Environmental Awareness team, students learned about the problem of litter, created and blogged litter poems entitled “A World Without Litter”, then created short films to explain what they had learned. The films were delivered back into school in a special assembly where students explained what they had learned, and played back their films for the rest of the school to see.
Trentham Gardens and Monkey Forest
Students participated in an exciting set of activites, answering challenges posed by their Recorder Pens, following the barefoot walk, and listening to audio from their StoryPhones. Students completed the day with time in The Monkey Forest, experiencing the magic of having Barbary Macaques moving around them.
Journey into Space Day
Students worked together to save the world from catastrophe. They participated in a set of cross-curricular activities, including creative writing, problem-solving, rocket-building and programming robots to destroy a large meteorite on a collision course with Earth.
Infants Schools - ICT Yearbook
Year 2 students from 5 Infants schools participated in our Yearbook day. The children used ComicLife to collect and print their memories of Infants School and recorded a class song. Every child left with their own unique Yearbook of photos and memories, and a CD of the song recording.
Special Schools
Special school students participated in a one day Internet Education day. They learned how to use some of the latest web tools, including social networking and instant messaging, and about how to stay safe when using these.