Exploring Learning

Almost a year ago, I wrote a post about Split Screen, as a way of making notes from online reading. This involved having one screen as notes and the other as the source material. Recently, I have been using it in my role as Project Manager of Global Youth Debates , a Flat Connections project (read more about this  here ). In Global Youth Debates, teams from all over the world take part in an asychronous debate about a current issue - this year's theme is Global Peace and Security and the topic is, 'Revolution a Justifiable Means for Global Peace and Security'. Using Voicethread , learners record their arguments in stages; the opposing teams can then listen and respond, recording their opposition in the same place. Part of my job is to organise the brackets - who argues against whom - in each round. To monitor the progress of each team, I have been using Split Screen as a management tool: Tracking Debate Progress On the left is each bracket's Voicethread,...

A project for my MEd this week, was to explore banners and free tools that can be used to create them. I was to create a 650x50 banner advertising me. I found this size outdated and small, so played around and added the one you can see in my Blog above! I decided to use the images I have for my educational 'brand' across Twitter and Blogger and email; to ensure  colour   matching ,  I used eye -dropper to select the exact shades for continuity. First I went to Bannersnack , which allowed me to create an animated banner:- Next, I went to BannerFan to create a simple static version:- Finally, I had a lot of fun on PicMonkey creating a few different versions:- Version 1 Version 2: added squiggle at the top Version 3: added background texture of bubbles Version 4: added a scrunched paper texture Version 5: added a striped texture

I spoke at the Google Summit KL in 2013 about tech that enhances the reading and writing process. One of the apps I shared, Ginger, was one that I had been using as an assistive technology with a targeted number of learners who particularly struggle with spelling or who are dyslexic . Whilst there are in-built  spell checkers in a lot of word processing systems, Ginger differs because it ... analyzes the context of an entire sentence, and its corrections conform to the writer’s intended message. This method is especially successful for dyslexic students who often confuse words which sound the same but are spelled differently.  (http://www.gingersoftware.com/ginger-for-schools) Ginger is more sophisticated and identifies homophones, which helps many EAL/ESL learners too. In addition, rather than being isolated to one system, it highlights words in all online writing - including Blogger, email, Twitter etc.   Areas that need attention are highlighted and s...

Split Screen Extension, Chrome Store I am fairly comfortable with technology and have been using it for as long as I have been working, though it did not pay a big role in my education. My father did recommend my taking a GCSE in Information Technology, one of the first ones that came out, as he said that computers were the future. I wanted to do art, but I did as my pops suggested. During the time I was studying for my degree, the Internet made its debut appearance. I do remember a boyfriend at the time excitedly showing me a page on an American punk band we were into , but it took about ten minutes for the page to load and I just didn't see the appeal. My degree essays were researched from actual physical books and journals and my essays, in the main, were handwritten, though I did invest in a word processor in my final years. Being able to see four faint lines of my 4000 word essays was progress... I think. My first job out of University was as ...