2014 Computing Curriculum

Most of you reading this will know that schools in England are expected to introduce the new Computing Curriculum by September 2014. That gives schools this academic year to get to grips with what is expected in each phase.
Do these words leave you scratching your head in frustration? Dont worry, I feel exactly the same! 

• algorithm
• ambiguous
• non-ambiguous
• debug
• program
• object orientated language
• Java Script
• non-sequential

If, like many other teachers, this is something you've never had to teach before and are left feeling confused and/ or overwhelmed by what you have read so far, you may find this outline useful.

And if you're still bewildered by some of the terminology then you might like to consider some of these products to help you deliver it.

Espresso Coding 

• Free until October 2014 to all schools - click the link to find out how you can access this in school right now. 
• Includes a wide-ranging Scheme of Work, providing teachers with a comprehensive coverage of the new coding aspects of the updated Computing curriculum for Year 1 to Year 6.
• Teaches pupils how to create and publish their own apps and games, which can be shared with parents and friends. 
• Designed to stretch upper primary children by offering the option to Code using elements of JavaScript (an industry standard).

iPad apps

Bee-Bot Garden - FREE KS1/EYFS

Bee-Bot Pyramid KS2

Daisy the Dinosaur - FREE KS1

Hopscotch - FREE KS2

Gamepress - FREE KS2

Roamer 

Allows you to program from EYFS using the simple keypad to upper KS2 programming Roamer to react to its environment through the addition of sensors. 

PC/Mac computers:
Kodu
Scratch

NC Computing Curriculm 2014 Requirements:
Key stage 1
Pupils should be taught to:

• understand what algorithms are; how they are implemented as programs on digital devices; and that programs execute by following precise and unambiguous instructions
• create and debug simple programs
• use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs
• use technology purposefully to create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve digital content
• recognise common uses of information technology beyond school
• use technology safely and respectfully, keeping personal information private; identify where to go for help and support when they have concerns about content or contact on the internet or other online technologies.　

Key stage 2

Pupils should be taught to:

• design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems; solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts
• use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; work with variables and various forms of input and output
• use logical reasoning to explain how some simple algorithms work and to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs
• understand computer networks including the internet; how they can provide multiple services, such as the world wide web; and the opportunities they offer for communication and collaboration
• use search technologies effectively, appreciate how results are selected and ranked, and be discerning in evaluating digital content
• select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to design and create a range of programs, systems and content that accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information
• use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly; recognise acceptable/unacceptable behaviour; identify a range of ways to report concerns about content and contact.

DFES © Crown copyright 2013

Downloading YouTube videos to mac/ iPad

Since Apple have put a stop to downloading YouTube videos to iPad using the iCab Mobile app Ive started to use this workaround. In my lessons we use YouTube videos as much as possible for making the news, voice-overs for adverts, weather forecasting, exploration, science transcripts and much more. Great for speaking & listening, working on script writing and performance.

I now use MacTubes on my Mac to download the video as an mp4. Just click download on the web page and the app is downloaded to your downloads folder. Double click to open the app.
A window something like this will appear.

In the YouTube search box enter the URL of the video you want to download.
The video icon will appear in the MacTubes window- as above.
Simply right click this and choose Download mp4 from the options. The downloaded video, for some reason, dropped onto my desktop, not into my downloads folder - easy to locate though.

My next step is to send this to my iPad/s. I now use Photo Transfer for this purpose - so easy. Click here to read a previous blog entry on how to do this.
Now I can access the video in my Photos on the iPad and this makes it automatically available in the iMovie app to edit and record voiceovers.

Sharing Class Books on iPad

The class have used the Book Creator app (£2.99) to make Books but they want to be able to share them with other children in their class and between classes and different year groups.
We decided to export the books to a teacher Dropbox account and from there copied the link to the clipboard. This is it – Where I Live

https://www.dropbox.com/s/utknbvck0j05146/Where%20I%20Live.epub

This next book example is from a hairdressing department in a college.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nl6t075m36hez5q/Hairdressing.epub

As a teacher I’m interested in how we can now share that link so that all the children / students can open the book on an iPad in iBooks. It should be as simple as tapping the link in this blog and choosing download then open in iBooks. You don’t need to have a Dropbox account to do this. But the teacher/ tutor will need a common place to host the URLs for the books. 

A class blog is perfect for this or a school website. The other way to share might be through the use of a QR code which adds an extra fun dimension to learning.

This next example book about WWII is created in Creative Book Builder – again, simply publish to a Dropbox account and then share the link from there. Tapping the URL in a blog will allow you to open the book in iBooks.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ny05riruf8frbps/World%20War%20II.epub

There are book apps for iPad available that allow you to export a URL directly from the book which cuts out the step involving Dropbox.
Check out the My Story app – you can choose the option to copy the book link or email it and then start creating your QR codes.
Try it now and let me know how you get on.

Using QR codes in your class to share books
Link the QR Code to a book URL as in the example above – the Red Laser QR app (free) gives you the option to generate a QR using a URL from within the app itself.
Simply print the QR code, laminate and stick them around the classroom on the walls to make your own learning quest or adventure/ hunt.

Sharing Sound files on iPad

I’ve been working with a class recording poetry -speaking & listening, poetry & performance.
1. We used AudioBoo to record the poems and then clicked on the export arrow to copy the link.
This can now be pasted into a blog or onto a website or you could create a QR code to open it.

Click on the link below to listen to the poem.

The Castle Poem

2. Another way to share sounds is to create the poem in GarageBand, export to sound cloud and open the sound in the SoundCloud app. A teacher could have a single email address eg. Class4@gmail.com that children use to log in to the account.
Castle Poem – SoundCloud

To alter privacy settings in SoundCloud, log in online. If you click on 'my stream' you can make specific recordings public or private. You can also delete recordings from here and share with others.

3. A third great way is to record a sound/s in Book Creator. Teacher sends to Dropbox and copies the link from within Dropbox. Create a QR code using this URL ( red laser) and children can scan & listen to the instruction or sound.

4. The Audio Note app is simple for use on the iPad (£2.99). You can paste additional notes into the area & record your instructions/ ideas.
Notes can be saved in iCloud or on the iPad and shared across devices or computers either by email or wifi. Useful 'how to notes' here.

To put an AudioNote into DropBox: Install the DropBox App on your iPad Dropbox - App Store Open the note you want to transfer in AudioNote Hit the Share button Choose 'Open In..' Select DropBox from list of Apps that can open AudioNote files. DropBox will open and ask where you want to save the file. To open a DropBox file in AudioNote: Find the audio file in DropBox and hit the Share button  Select AudioNote in the list of apps that can open it. It will be added to your file list in AudioNote as a new file. 5. To keep things simple you could just use the camera app in video mode and record performance poetry or similar. Cover up the camera so its just audio. This saves back to the camera roll and you can email the file and link it to a QR code as above.

Specialist Crafts Animation Workshops

Ive recently been involved in delivering taster animation workshops to secondary teachers from Art and ICT departments. Many of these teachers have never attempted stop-motion animation with their students.

Its amazing what can be achieved with good, intuitive software in just 2 hours. With a little more time to focus on sound, these projects would be brilliant!

London Group A 

London Group B

Newcastle 7Stories

If you would like to find out more about stop-motion animation and how to get started in your school then check out the Specialist Crafts website for more information about their creative courses they run across the UK throughout the year.

It's an inexpensive way to get you trained up and you come away with a £75 voucher to spend on resources in your school! - exceptional value for money.

You can view recent projects here on YouTube and maybe share them with your class to give you some ideas. I also have a blog page devoted to animation with links to additional resources here.

Follow Specialist Crafts on twitter to find out more: @SpecCrafts

Make your own talking books with a QR Code

Image Karen Gruener

This is a great idea for primary schools, and what a motivator to get children to read! Thanks to karen Gruener for the idea and the SnapGuide she created.

More details here on SnapGuide:

1. Log into a google or Youtube account before you begin.

2. Use the iPad video camera to record the child reading the full story. If you dont want the child to be seen you can cover the camera up.

3. Go to photo gallery/ photos on the iPad and locate the recording.

4. In the top right corner click the arrow jumping out of the box – export option and choose Youtube.

5. In Youtube add a title, description, tags & click unlisted – click publish.

6. Log in to your Youtube account – locate your upload, click info and settings – grab the URL – highlight and save the URL.

7. Create a QR code – you will need a QR code generator to do this. There are lots available online – do a google search for one - Red Laser is great for this, easy to use and free. To generate a code, paste the URL of the Youtube video into the relevant box and click generate.

8. Copy and paste the QR code ready for you to print it – its a good idea to add the child’s name underneath it.

9. Print – Cut out and tape the QR code to the front cover of the book.
10. Use a QR scan app to scan the code on the front cover of the book and listen to the story.

Sharing class books created in IBA

For those teachers wondering how they can share an iBooks Author project with their
class this is a simple solution.

Lets say that a student has created a book but you don't want to publish it to the iBooks store. However, you do want to make this book available to other students - to download, share and read it.  

1. Export the book as an iBook from the Share menu in iBooks Author and the finished book will have the .ibook file extension. 
2. Next, upload this copy to Dropbox and share the link with your students.  
3. Place the file into the Public folder in Dropbox, this takes less clicks to download. 
4. Finally, students need to visit the Dropbox site in Safari on their iPads and click the option to open the file in iBooks.
5. All students now have access to the finished book and can read it in iBooks on their own iPad.