For Staff And Students Of Dbis

DMC News!

Nov 9th 2009 Vol. 06 No. 01

For staff and students of DBIS

New Direction for ICT

We are working through some significant developments in the area of ICT to ensure we maintain momentum in this area, building on from the work completed in previous years. This subject area will no longer be known as ICT, instead it will be called Digital Media and Communications Literacy (DMC) in keeping with our student learning needs and global educational developments. This may seem like a simple thing, but we believe the new curriculum name will better reflect our increasing focus on the application of a range of digital media and our inclusion of these media within a range of literacies. We have moved beyond having our students just learning and applying a range of skills to a more integrated and broad ranging set of learning processes and outcomes. We are currently working through a review of the existing curriculum, which is based upon the QCA scheme of work. Our refined curriculum will continue to draw on the QCA guidelines but will include a wider scope of study and the inclusion of a broader range of applications and media. The refined curriculum will accommodate a cross curricular approach and will be closely aligned to each year groups contexts of study and associated learning outcomes. Our expanding / refined curriculum will embrace new technologies and the skills and knowledge our students bring with them. Our curriculum will work towards encompassing a set of essential concepts that include; Digital age literacy for our students and staff. Digital age literacy encompasses the development of core literacies (reading, writing, listening and speaking), technological literacies, visual and information literacies, multicultural literacy and global awareness. A teaching and learning culture that encompasses and encourages creative thinking A focus on inventive / creative thinking to enhance student and staff capacity to be adaptable, to manage complexity and to self direct their learning. Effective communication Effective communication is a critical life tool. Opportunities to enhance communication skills can be presented by way of team or collaborative learning opportunities, a focus on personal and social responsibility and interactive communication. Quality processes and outcomes for students and staff This is a critical concept in all areas of the curriculum and in life in general. To support and encourage these quality processes and outcomes we will assist our students and staff in prioritizing, planning and managing the effective use of digital media and communication literacies for enhanced student outcomes. With a focus on these essential concepts we hope to further enable our students to: - Extend their thinking and learning skills to produce creative and innovative insights. Develop more productive ways of working and solving problems individually and collaboratively. - Demonstrate their understanding of concepts, issues, relationships and processes. - Express themselves in relevant ways. - Communicate locally and globally to solve problems and share knowledge. - Understand the implications of the use of DMC and their social and ethical responsibilities as users of DMC. DMC will be sub divided as the diagram shows below. An element of each strand is taught progressively across all years.

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

On Wednesday 11th November at 3.15, there will be a series of mini ICT workshops in the ICT suites. Don’t forget to make your selection from the choices advertised.

ICT Top Tip

When you have a long Word document containing a lot of different information pertaining to the same thing, it can be difficult to create a summary of the document. AutoSummarize is a feature in Word 2007 that scores the document by giving points to sentences that contain frequently used words. You can then use the highest scoring sentences to create the summary or use the Auto function. First we will add the AutoSummary shortcuts to the quick access bar. Click the Office Button \ Customize \ Choose commands from \ All Commands then scroll down and highlight AutoSummary Tools click the Add button. Now click the quick access AutoSummarize icon. Now that we have the AutoSummarize dialog box open we have different options to choose from. The Highlight key points will allow you to go through the document and find most commonly used words and phrases so you can conclude your own summary. Using the Executive Summary basically auto generates a summary of the document and places it at the top of the document. Creating a new document will just take the below summary and place it in a new Word document.

What have the Year Groups learnt this term? Year 1 The year 1 classes have focused on E safety and have been following a series of programmes that help them begin to understand about being safe online. This has included identifying trusted people and what information it is not safe to share online. Although we have also talked about stranger danger online, it is important to note that the students are beginning to be aware of information security. They have now started refining their skills with computer based art packages. This included using a wider range of skills to develop texture in the work that they are producing and creating pieces of work in the style of famous artists like Mondrian, Kandinsky and O’Keefe, using Dazzle and Art Rage. Year 2 The students started the year investigating search techniques on the internet. They have practiced finding websites using Google and have used an online animal database to skim and scan for relevant information. Search techniques they have used included using the contents, site map, search and index functions on website. In preparation for Word processing development we are developing basic keyboarding skills using free online applications. Soon they will return to formatting documents, text and pictures in Word. Starting with text appearance, the students will create documents with photos, graphics and text to help develop the meaning of their work.

Year 3 To help prepare the classes for all the fantastic work they are going to do in the IPC we initially focused on refining skills with the internet to search for and find information about treasure and particularly Howard Carter’s exploits. The students could then skim and scan for interesting information and pictures and copy them to a word document. Importantly, we introduced the concept of referencing by copying the website address. We are now moving on to further develop the use of Word processing skills with formatting document layouts and appearance particularly focusing on columns, headers and footers, tables and charts. The students will be actively investigating many of the other formatting tools in Word and PowerPoint to develop multimedia content in their work. Year 4 The Year 4 the classes also chose to start the year with work on Internet searching. The students used and compared a variety of search engines that search and present information in different ways. They learnt and developed simple search strategies and also referenced their sources of information and pictures after learning about plagiarism. After the research unit, they continued to use their skills to investigate E-Safety issues – identifying causes for concern and then creating safety posters with rules to keep students safe. Finally we watched and discussed PHSE documentaries on Cyberbullying.

In line with the current IPC topic, we are moving next onto 3D design work using Photoshop. In this unit the class will be modeling ordinary objects and turning them into art pieces by designing wrap around skins. Year 5 In preparation for the research in the year ahead Year 5 started the year with work on Internet searching. The students used and compared a variety of search engines and worked on questioning the validity of their sources. They developed search strategies and also referenced their sources of information and pictures after working on plagiarism. At the moment classes are working on animation. They have discussed the various ways of creating animation and used 2D animation software on the internet. They have worked on the basic tools of Photoshop and developed their use of specific tools for selection and well as those directly related to animation using. They will continue to refine this skill and use it as a multimedia platform for a PHSE project on Cyberbullying in the next term.

Year 6 In Year 6 the students began the year investigating and developing skills in Desk Top Publishing. Comparing 3 software programs (Word, Publisher and InDesign) the students designed and created the layouts for the front covers of their own magazines. The next unit is Internet Research where the students will be developing more advanced searching skills and looking at Boolean techniques for searching. Increasingly we will be questioning sources and discussing bias on the net. The students will be preparing for the next IPC unit on Oil as well as the next DMC unit where the class teachers have selected a unit for them to produce an animated documentary on how oil is formed.

Minimizing the damage of Social Networking Sites

Many people join social networks like Facebook to reconnect with old friends, network, meet new people, and stay connected to their current friends. However, the generation gap has caused friction regarding what pictures are fair game to post on the network. What happens when incriminating photos are scanned into a social network? After all your photos could be observed by friends, family, colleagues, pupils and their parents, particularly in DB. Here are a few tips on how to handle the situation when old photos of you appear on Facebook. Use Common Sense The ‘granny rule; that we teach the

children is still valid for adults. ‘If you would not show your pictures or comments to your granny, would you want to share them with the rest of the world?’ Minimize the Damage Unfortunately, with everyone joining social networks, it is likely that old, incriminating photos will be posted somewhere. With employers and coworkers all connected through social networks, sometimes the best thing to do is minimize the damage. On Facebook, one option is to explain away the photo in a comment. Another way is to simply be up front about old pictures that have been posted. Most people understand indiscretions made during college, as long as that behavior

is still not going on.

Remove It As a last resort, a picture that has been posted can be removed by the person who posted it. So, if a photo is so bad that it cannot be explained away, you may consider asking the person who posted it to remove it. This however, is generally not an acceptable request on Facebook, especially if you have made comments on the incriminating photos of others. Use the Privacy Settings Most social networks, including Facebook, have privacy settings. This will allow a person to minimize what information is shared with other people. If you post a picture of yourself on Facebook, you can determine who

sees it. However, if someone else posts a picture of you on Facebook, you will only be able to minimize how it is distributed among the networks. While this is not a fool-proof way of preventing people from seeing old incriminating photos of you, it is at least one more way to make that less likely. Social networks can be great tools to help friends keep in touch or to meet new people. Nevertheless, in the professional world, old and new photos can be incriminating. If there are incriminating photos of you floating around Facebook, there is a chance they will be seen. However, by taking a few precautions, it is possible to prevent this from happening.