Digital Media & Computer Control

This week was our 3rd ICT workshop and we were introduced to digital media and computer control.

Digital media is an electronic way of storing information such as cameras, videos etc.

Computer control is giving a set of instructions to a machine to programme it to act in a specific way. This is seen all the time in our society inside the home in equipment such as microwaves, cookers, burgalar alarms. It is also frequently used in the outside environment in traffic lights, CCTV cameras and barcode scanners.

Computer control is an efficent way of getting things done because they never get tired, they do not make mistakes, can repeat the same instructions over and over, and they are cheaper to employ than humans! So basically technology has become our slave to do all the jobs we don't want to do!

In the workshop we looked specifically at:

1) Programmable toys
2) Dataloggers
3) Digital Microscopes.

We got given time to simply play with these technologies and consider how they could be used in the classroom and the benefits of using them. I will explain in detail about the programmable toys and then briefly give an overview of dataloggers and digital microscopes as well. 

Programmable toys

There are various programmable toys available such as Bee-bot, Pippin & Pixie but in the workshop I looked at specifically at the Bee-bot. It works by inputting simple instructions such as move forward, left, or right to get the Bee-bot to move to certain places / do certain things. This is a handy tool for many areas of the curriculum, especially Maths. For instance - using the Beebot to support learning of shapes and angles. The Bee-bots come with mats as well which can be used for Geography. For instance, you could programme the Bee-bot to reach a particular destination (given on the mat) or use it for co-ordinate work. You can also get mats with letters which is good for Literacy and learning to spell words and some mats have shapes on them which can help children practice making shapes.  This makes it a useful piece of equipment to have in the classroom as it can be used for so many different purposes. 

The Beebot develops thinking skills when deciding on how it should be programmed to get the desired outcome, and this can consequently develop discussion skills with other children when working with the beebot in groups. It also develops skills for particular subjects areas too depending on what context it is being used for. These programmable toys can be used for mixed abilities with the work extended or simplified depending on the child's level. For example to challenge pupils working with the Beebot it is possible to limit the amount of directions inputted to reach a particular place / make a certain shape. On the other hand, to make things easier children could focus on giving the Beebot simple directions and trying to get the Beebot to reach a close destination. The beebot is a great way to assess subject knowledge and understanding, as the children can apply their knowledge of particular topics when using the Beebot.

These videos show how the Beebot can be used effectively for Numeracy and Literacy!

 However, like anything there are points to consider before investing. The average price of the Beebot is around £50 and therefore it may be difficult for schools to afford enough for each child which would mean it would work as a bigger activity. There may not necessarily be enough room in the classroom for large group activities with the beebot and so it may be beneficial to take it outside or rearrange furniture to have adequate space when working with it.

 

Dataloggers

I did not get to spend much time with the dataloggers so would have to research them further before I used them in schools, but it would definitely be worthwhile to have in the classroom. They work by taking readings of light, sound and temperature and this can then be logged and recorded onto a computer with the results presented in tables and graphs. This would be great for scientific experiments. It makes it simple for children to collect their own data and also interpret it accordingly. By using data loggers, data can be inputted quickly, it can also be entered into spread sheets electronically saving even more time, they have lots of memory to store lots of data and data can be logged over long periods of time (Allen et al., 2007: 144). As data can be stored over a long period of time, this lends itself to longtitudanal studies and long term projects!



Digital Microscopes & Flexiscopes

Both the digital microscopes and the flexiscopes are great tools to use especially for subjects such as Science - we certainly had a lot of fun playing with them! (maybe too much fun?!) However I thought that the flexiscope was slightly better than the digital microscope as it has the ability to move around quite easily which would be more beneficial if you were examining minibeasts for example. By using the flexiscope you would be able to follow their movements, whereas this wouldn't be possible with a digital microscope. However the digital microscope is still brilliant for focusing on small items and would be excellent for working with different types of materials. All schools should have their own digital microscope given to them as part of a Government scheme from 2002 which means there is no excuse not to use one! (Go and dig them out!)

It has been insightful looking at these forms of digital media and programming as there is so much that you can do with each one within the primary classroom. They can be used across the curriculum and the activities can be varied depending on which age group you were working with. Next week I will be looking at even more types of digital medias and I look forward to informing you all about equipment such as webcams and digital cameras.

References

Allen, J., Potter, J., Sharp, J., Turvey, K. (2007) Primary ICT. Knowledge, Understanding & Practice. Exeter: Learning Matters LTD.