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Zoho have announced that a plugin is now available for Zoho Writer which allows users to open documents directly on the Internet without first having to download them to their hard drives. Why is this important? Well, as Techcrunch state, ‘it removes one more reason people must have Microsoft Office installed on their machines.’

There’s a good post over at 43 Folders which looks at mind-mapping and, more specifically, mind-mapping using a Mac. Most of the programs mentioned are cross-platform, however and it doesn’t just discuss software. Worth a look if you’re interested in using this visual method with your students!

Microsoft have a useful page on their website that shows how to construct timelines using Excel. It seems fairly straightforward, so give it a go! (via Lifehacker)

I love Google Earth (GE). Whether it’s creating a virtual tour or an overlay of an historical event, or working out how far I’ve travelled on my bike, it’s a great visual resource. Developing a sense of place isn’t just something which should be left to the Geography department; it’s important to make things ‘come alive’ for students by coming at it from different angles, so to speak. Here’s a brief guide to get you going using GE… :p

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BBC News reports on a poll which suggests that 39% of pupils labelled as having ADHD have been excluded from classes and that in 11% of these cases this has been permanent. The implication is that schools are doing something wrong. In my experience, children labelled with this condition often don’t have boundaries set at home, which is why I call it BPS… (Bad Parenting Syndrome) And whilst I’m talking about this, why is it that we’re afraid to tell people that they’re bad parents? There have to be bad parents in order for there to be good ones!

It never ceases to amaze me how the themes of edubloggers around the world come together in my weekly roundups. Granted, we tend to read each others’ blogs and I have interests which shape the those posts which I decide to read in detail, but still it’s good to know there’s a zeitgeist which is forward-thinking and reflective! This week I’m going to be looking at the changing nature of literacy, how curricula should change for 21st-century learning, and a bit on educational technology (obviously…) :p

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SynchroEdit is ‘a browser-based simultaneous multiuser editor, a form of same-time, different-place groupware. It allows multiple users to edit a single web-based document at the same time, and it continuously synchronizes all changes so that users always have the same version.’ It seems to me that it’s basically browser-based wiki constantly keeps all users up to date with changes. (via Stewart Mader)

Ah… Powerpoint. The piece of software probably most loved and most reviled in equal measure by most of the computer-using population. On the one hand Powerpoint has given us visual learners something to scaffold lectures and talks around that we are on the receiving end of. On the other hand, it’s led to the, frankly shootable, offence of reading from Powerpoint slides – sometimes with the presenter being somewhat surprised by what comes next! In what follows here I’m going to look at ways you can use Powerpoint as an effective, interactive teaching and learning tool… :)

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Blufr uses the huge database of information at Answers.com to present simple true/false choices to users on a wide variety of statements. A wide variety of topics are represented about which you have to decide either ‘No way!’ or ‘Way!’. Whether you get it correct or incorrect it gives you some more information and some links after you press the button, along with how many people were fooled with the bluff. Might be useful to fill in some spare minutes with students if you’re in a computer room…

As I’ve mentioned on this blog before, when I’m teaching I time pretty much everything. Why? Well, for my benefit so I’m always aware of lesson segment timings, but also for benefits it has for students’ motivation. Here’s a brief guide to how to incorporate timings effectively into your lessons using ICT… :D

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