Category: Primary School

If technology was unlimited…

Posted on by primaryt

Technology can be used to solve so many practical problems, I’m curious to find out what technical problems teachers actually want solved.

I’m not expecting actual answers, I just want to get people thinking.  I have 3 days of AGM meetings and part of our AGM is trying to predict the market place for 3 years. I loathe the fact classroom technology is treated like a market place but recognise it is a necessary evil so I try to do as much as I can to speak to as many pupils and teachers as possible to voice your thoughts.

The announcement of the additional capital for “free school meal” pupils got me thinking about this.  I wonder how many schools will spend that money to buy one computing device per child and/or how many people think that computer technology can actually be used to improve a child’s education.

If you had unlimited funds and computer could do anything you want, how would you use that resource?

A lot of products come out promising to be solutions of this and that but I have learned that the most useful pieces of technology are simple, easy to adopt tools with no barriers.  Solutions tend to be the bane of most teachers existence.  Am I alone in realizing this?

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Chrome OS notebooks. What you need to know

Posted on by primaryt

Want a 30 second summary?  Scroll to the bottom!

Google released a new Operating System (Chrome OS) and to go with it a new laptop.  Did you wake up this morning thinking how you need a new operating system or yet another supplier of notebook?  If so, this post isn’t’ for you.

I’m getting really tired of blogging about Google’s latest this and that, to the point where I wish they would just STFU for a few months and let us absorb the latest technology.  If I feel like this and I work full time in tech then I can imagine how tired teachers are getting of new technology landing on their desk that claims to make their life easier but really ends up consuming more time.

I’m not bored of tech as a whole, the industry is still great and Google is still a big player so that sort of forces me into a position of having to give a crap.  It was cool when I got of my own ass to give a crap, now I feel like the crap is flicked in my face in a predictable timely fashion.  This poop barrage would be okay if it was targeted specifically at my face but Google are so big that educators jump on every possible bandwagon and we have to develop something new to accommodate their growing needs.  A lot of this development time is wasted as we are simply re-creating something for a new platform in a new language.

It’s not all doom and gloom.    I love the depth perceptive abilities of Microsft Kinect and I think that is exciting new tech.  It gives us a tool to solve problems unsolvable before without expensive equipment.  It’s a strange world when Microsoft are giving us the breath of fresh air and the technology that really captures my imagination..

It does what?

The Chrome OS netbook boots as fast as Windows XP. BFD.

Your settings/documents etc are stored on the internet. This has been available for years and it isn’t great.

You are always connected to the internet.  Constant signal with Verizon, are you kidding me?  Does Google actually read any consumer reviews?  I’m in the UK and I know Verizon sucks so bad.  PS I’m already already constantly connected to the internet. Actually this is pretty cool but contention is going to be a huge problem if you try this in your classroom.  More than a few devices and the 3G will fall over.  From a business perspective this shows that schools should preparing their wireless infrastructure.

Security built in & auto updates. I get that with any other OS I use.

Web apps. Yea, erm, websites put into some sort of market place..  How is this healthy for the internet as a whole?  Can anyone say sourceforge, tucows, download.com, itunes(spit)?  I’m probably missing something here..  I assume the experience is like Google TV where one creates some web objects specifically with Chrome OS in mind.  An example would be something like Satpin where you would be able to cache a lot of the data locally, but erm, wait, there is no disk.  I’m also expecting the Chrome Web store is open for anyone to publish to assuming you don’t care for your Oprah(spit), IE and Firefox users.

The device will probably be free on contract in late 2011 and enter an already saturated market.

A warning to grand parents

Don’t end up being the one that has this conversation…

Grandparent: “Grandson I got you one of these netbooks”.

Grandson: Oooh sweet now I can play Diablo 3.

Grandparent:  It’s one of those Google ones, I saw Google on your screen the other day so I knew you would like it….

You talk a lot of crap John..

So here’s the thing, from now on I’m only going to talk about problems that Google actually solve that need solving.  When it comes to operating systems they are few and far between.

I think that Google Chrome OS is basically Google’s first troll product.  Troll in the sense that it doesn’t fix any required problem but upsets a crap load of other players in the industry.  Safe to say you wont be able to play Diablo 3 on it so I won’t be buying one to replace my main laptop/notebook.

On the topic of me talking a lot of crap it is kinda needed once in a while.  I know a few Google staff members and we have a lot of open and frank discussions about different technology.  While I am an expert in no specific technology I try to get across the needs of a child in a classroom and at home.  Google is a big company but if you kick it hard enough it does react.

And what the deuce is with 3G only.  Wasn’t it about 4 years ago we figured out 3G wont scale to modern demands, did they go and re-create 3G without telling anyone?

Brief summary

  1. It’s a pay monthly device through your mobile phone provider.
  2. It does nothing new for you that your current computer doesn’t do(probably).
  3. The 3G will be useless in a lot of classroom scenarios.  Your school will need a good Wifi system.
  4. It will make accessing facebook easier and more reliable.
  5. Parents will probably end up buying kids one of these.
  6. It will make your life difficult initially if you are a power user.  Let’s face it if you are a power user and loathe MS/Apple then go Ubuntu.
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Using Kinect to teach control?

Posted on by primaryt

Let’s face it, the “forward 3,left,forward 2” type of programming is dead.

How about Kinect watches you do something then programs a robot to do it by copying your movements?

The same logic applies, you are dictating how an electronic device interacts with a physical space but in a much more natural (human gestures) way.

Watch the video to get a better idea of what I’m trying to explain.

Oh and at the risk of supporting Microsoft (2 posts in a week, I know it’s crazy.) here is a reminder that Microsoft still suck really bad from time to time (although they are getting better imho).

New promethean board

Posted on by primaryt

What we now think we know about this board:

Multi touch
Gesture recognition
Short throw projector (obviously)
No pen required (yay)

You can multiplayer..  Player 1 would use pen.  Player 2 would use finger(touch), obviously no gesture recognition with the pen.   Player 3 stays at home.

Possible uses for multiplayer other than Powerpoint?  Not many yet.  All On-line services only support one controller as far as I am aware.  Scholastic has something out though which is for multiple controllers, this might work?

Here is an article by Promethean about this

Big brands get educational games horribly wrong

Posted on by primaryt

Consider a big organization (lets say a bank) decide to create some web based educational content because y’know Natwest have done such a great job of sending people into schools to talk about finances and lets face it banks have money to burn.

We know this because it’s our money they are burning. We know they are doing it because we get loads of requests every day to promote their content on Primary Games Arena.

PGA is an open non biased platform. If your game is good it will end up on the front page. If not then don’t moan at me when it gets a 1 star rating.

So.. Some PR douche bag at a bank employs a development company to make some game.    The development company has a little experience creating flash games so off they go making a load of “out of the box” template games that really offer nothing but an educational wave of fail.

Kids can smell this shit a mile off – don’t do it. Get a proper game mechanic first then build around that. Examples: Civilization, Sim City, Diner Dash.

Don’t be precious. Research how children in Primary Education use the internet. They do NOT use the back button nor will they search for “your bank + game name”.

Sites like Primary Games Arena use iFrames to make the pupils educational/learning experience better, we don’t care about your click through or brand recognition. If you are making Educational games with a sole purpose to increase your brand awareness then you are guaranteed to fail.

Don’t spam call me or my company or send me crap loads of urgent emails that aren’t urgent. This will get you ignored and your company blacklisted.  Isn’t this common courtesy?  Do certain organizations think they are above common courtesy or something?

No I wont do free consultation on how you can gamify or use gamification. If you want a decent a gamification consultant then hire one. Here are a few: Jesse Schell, Gabe Zichermann, Dru Wynings & of course I will be happy to help.

What is even worst is when you see “educators” create educational games but then don’t want to see their games linked to on other websites. I completely disagree with these people. The Rings of Saturn will not be kind.

Rant over. Trust me, it was needed 🙂