Music Technology

I've always loved to see technology being used as a tool for making music. No matter how 'musical' you think you are, or aren't, technology is one of the methods that can enable anyone to create and experience making music. 

Year 7 have been using USB keyboards connected to MacBooks to record their own compositions. Although I haven't heard the results yet, they all seemed to be totally absorbed in the music making process, and Mr Paul was very pleased with what they have achieved so far. 

Yr8 Animate

A whole day of animation, where teams battled it out to make the best advertisement using their skills in Stop-Motion animation. To get it right, teams had to consider the story, lighting, frame rates, props, characterisation, editing, sound effects, music, titles and much much more. 

This team chose to make a box of Lego come to life. 

Game Building

Intense concentration, advanced problem solving and tough personal challenges - that's what's going on in this Yr8 class. 

They're busy designing, coding and creating their own computer games using the Scratch programming platform. I had a go with several of them, and even though they were 'work in progress' they were still very playable. 

Digital Art

All students throughout secondary school experience the use of digital tools for creating artwork. I'm regularly amazed at speed which they learn new techniques and skills. Under the expert guidance of our Art teacher, Mr Daniel, students create quality work, often high levels of creativity.

The piece below is the work of Alyssa (Yr9) and is a lovely example of what can be produced with the aid of a computer.

Peer Support

This photo was taken in an IGCSE ICT lesson where we were building tables on a webpage using HTML code. What does it look like to you ... the boys helping the girls out?

Actually, the boys came over to find out how the girls had done it! Haha. 

IGCSE ICT

Learning with technology is very often great fun and highly satisfying. Learning about technology isn't necessarily exciting for everyone - especially when you have to do it as part of an IGCSE course that has seen little change since 2007. 

This week we were learning about the components inside a computer and what they do. My two friendly students in the picture were demonstrating what happens when the computer is switched on. In this 'scene' the OS (Operating system) is being loaded into the RAM, so it can be accessed and used much more efficiently. 

We figured that, as Operating Systems become more complex, computers will need more RAM to allow it to be used. Similarly, applications are becoming more powerful too, so they will need more RAM in order to function. 

Maybe it's time to boost your Main Memory by a few Gigabites!

iPads for tracking performance.

There are many ways technology can be (and is) used in PE lessons. This is a great example. At the start of the lesson these students in Yr7 are doing a quick 'self-assessment' on their iPads. The information they give is instantly available on the teachers iPad and will be used to guide this and future lessons. 

Data can be added over the coming weeks, and at the end of the unit students will complete a similar task, providing feedback and evaluation. They will then be able to track their own performance and improvements. A powerful and easy way of using their technology to improve learning.