The Taccle project ran workshops at the National Digital Learning Event for Wales last week. One of the many ideas we presented for embedding ICT across the curriculum was using QR codes to enhance books. Here’s a link to download ready made codes for The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cut them out and stick them in […]
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I joked about it six months ago, “if Brexit happens I’m out of a job”, happy in the knowledge that Britain is better off in Europe, that Wales is better off in Europe. I still believe that. For me there are no compelling reasons to leave, the least of which is ‘getting back control of […]
Curiosity got the better of me and I had to find out what the #blimage was going on in my Twitter feed. Turns out there’s some viral edu-blogging going on. Give someone a picture and challenge them to turn it into a learning related post. This youtube video from the originator @AmyBurvall explains it nicely. […]
Jen and I went along to the National Digital Learning Event and Awards in Cardiff earlier in June. We handed out Taccle books and went to some workshops. There were a few to choose from but I attended a technocamps session which explored some ways of teaching computer science using lego bricks, (build a simple lego structure, now explain to your partner how to build an identical structure without them seeing what you have built) using people, (direct your person around the room using simple commands) and using Cargo Bot. I like what technocamps do, kit like Lego Mindstorms is pretty expensive, so they take the kit around to secondary schools and colleges across Wales for one day workshops. For lots of ideas about how to teach computing, coding and programming for the rest of the year you could check out the Taccle2 blog and the Babitech page.
In the afternoon I had fun playing with Sonic Pi , which uses code for composing and performing music, you can see me in the video below (just after the 2 minute mark) getting flustered because there was a mistake in my loop. Don’t let that put you off, it was really good fun and a great way to get instant and useful results form your code.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRq1W7ffdDE?rel=0]
The best thing about the day was seeing the great things being done across Wales with Ponty locals Big Click scooping the Commercial Digital Project Award
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRVhWD9sjkY?rel=0]
You can see all of the other inspirational kids and teachers getting their tech on at the Hwb website with projects like e-safety, coding with minecraft, creating an interactive local map and staging a robot wars competition.
Keep an eye out for next years entries, Welsh kids are good with technology, the competition should be tough!
Originally posted on Babi Tech:
I’m sure you’re all dying to know which apps made it to the current BabiTech list. If there’s something missing that Babis 1 and 2 really need to have, stick it in the comments and we’ll try it out. Toca Boca Toca Boca’s Hair Xmas, Toca Builders, Toca Band, Toca…
I had a pretty exciting and busy couple of days in London during their annual technology week. Straight off the train I met Vini from Quizalize which is hands down the best online quiz creator for educators I have used yet with the added bonus feature of live feedback. I don’t think they are embeddable but […]
The RadioActive project has produced a Funding Guide with lots of great ideas to raise money to get your internet radio show up and running.
We’re not saying you’ll need the money but it’s always nice to have a helping hand with the overheads and new equipment.
Check it out here
Filed under: RadioActive 
The EU funded RadioActive project is in its final days but that doesn’t mean we are suffering from RadioActive decay! Shows are set to continue with our prize winning Portuguese partners securing funding for another year, UEL funded Post grad courses, DragonHall and co.in the UK have made the RadioActive system their usual way of working and there’s no stopping the teams at Deichstadt Radio and KO-N-RAD in Germany.
Along with the great radio shows and podcasts we have produced a number of useful products;
For more information and a wealth of other resources, check out radioactive101.eu or follow @RadioActive101 or like us on Facebook
Filed under: RadioActive Tagged: internet radio, RadioActive 
Cyber bullying is when someone uses technology like texting, online chat rooms and social networks to bully someone. Children may find it hard to talk about cyber-bullying so it’s important to let them know that they can talk to you about anything.
Top tips for broaching the subject;
Stay calm. Children need to know that you’ll listen without judging or threatening to deal with a bully yourself.
Conversation starters;
Who’s sent you a message today? What did you talk about?
How to deal with it;
Keep the evidence, find out how to take screen shots on http://www.take-a-screenshot.org
Don’t punish the victim by removing internet access or phone use as fear of this may prevent children from wanting to tell you if something is going on.
Do monitor internet access and phone use and take an active interest in what’s going on.
Don’t feed the trolls. As with all bullies, ignoring…
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Filed under: Dissertation distractions 😉 
Live show 7PM, Friday 30 Jan 2015
radioactive101.org
RadioActive101: Learning through radio, learning for life!
RadioActive 101 presents ‘Mental Health and Young People: Experiences and Perspectives’. In this show we explore what different groups of young people in the UK think about mental health, discussing their experiences and giving their perspectives on perceived differences in help and support for mental health issues at school and college.
The show is hosted by Tom Gerken from the University of East London (UEL) and goes out to you, live at 7pm on Friday 30 Jan 2015.
Go to the website radioactive101.org and click ‘Listen Live’
http://listenlive.radioactive101.eu
Connect with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RadioActive101
Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/RadioActive101
Filed under: RadioActive Tagged: RadioActive 
Cyborg patented?
Forbes reports that Microsoft has obtained a patent for a “conversational chatbot of a specific person” created from images, recordings, participation in social networks, emails, letters, etc., coupled with the possible generation of a 2D or 3D model of the person.
Racial bias in algorithms
From the UK Open Data Institute’s Week in Data newsletter
This week, Twitter apologised for racial bias within its image-cropping algorithm. The feature is designed to automatically crop images to highlight focal points – including faces. But, Twitter users discovered that, in practice, white faces were focused on, and black faces were cropped out. And, Twitter isn’t the only platform struggling with its algorithm – YouTube has also announced plans to bring back higher levels of human moderation for removing content, after its AI-centred approach resulted in over-censorship, with videos being removed at far higher rates than with human moderators.
Gap between rich and poor university students widest for 12 years
Via The Canary.
The gap between poor students and their more affluent peers attending university has widened to its largest point for 12 years, according to data published by the Department for Education (DfE).
Better-off pupils are significantly more likely to go to university than their more disadvantaged peers. And the gap between the two groups – 18.8 percentage points – is the widest it’s been since 2006/07.
The latest statistics show that 26.3% of pupils eligible for FSMs went on to university in 2018/19, compared with 45.1% of those who did not receive free meals. Only 12.7% of white British males who were eligible for FSMs went to university by the age of 19. The progression rate has fallen slightly for the first time since 2011/12, according to the DfE analysis.
Quality Training
From Raconteur. A recent report by global learning consultancy Kineo examined the learning intentions of 8,000 employees across 13 different industries. It found a huge gap between the quality of training offered and the needs of employees. Of those surveyed, 85 per cent said they , with only 16 per cent of employees finding the learning programmes offered by their employers effective.
Our Wikispace for teaching and learning
Join our Sounds of the Bazaar Facebook goup. Just click on the logo above.
We will be at Online Educa Berlin 2015. See the info above. The stream URL to play in your application is Stream URL or go to our new stream webpage here SoB Stream Page.