Roma Antica

ICT News!

25 February ‘09 Vol. 05 No. 01

For staff and students at DBIS

ICT Curriculum Development Here’s a quick update on our curriculum review and redesign... as you know, we are in the process of refining and extending the units of learning to further enable our students to incorporate the use of ICT into their learning in meaningful ways. Our ICT lessons will continue to provide a sound basis for students and class teachers to draw on and in many cases will work hand in hand with classroom studies. In the past couple of years we have covered a lot of ground, from the introduction of the QCA framework as a consistent approach across the school to our current position where we are able to review the QCA content and applicablity and move even further ahead. Along with the curriculum focus we have also been working to implement a faster and more secure network, to significantly increase the hardware and software available, to increase our technical staffing support, to design our new website, to provide a range of PD opportunities for staff and to implement the secondary school curriculum. We know we have achieved a lot and are really excited about the further developments to come. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK As our student capabilities develop we have to ensure our curriculum design meets their needs. The QCA suggests teaching Powerpoint basics in Year 6! At DBIS our To help with the professional students are beyond the need for this unit at that year level. The curriculum design development of ICT in school it would will include a reassignment of units valuable to retain to challenge our younger be great to get a bit more two way students as well as the introduction of new units not covered by the QCA guidelines communication and feedback going in response to the updates and at the at all. We now have a flexible curriculum of 8 units per year instead of 6. Teachers are invited to discuss when units can be taught in ICT so that they can reflect subjects and contexts being taught in class, making everything more connected and more relevant. Over the next few weeks there will be more information available to you about the developments underway and how these will provide increasing opportunities for you and your students.

What is the fuss about Adobe CS4? Adobe is one of the top four software and technology providers in the world. It produces industry leading software for design, web creation and digital imagery.

The school license allows us to provide the software to staff so that they can use it to prepare materials on one home computer. Many of the staff have already taken up the offer for the software and DBIS is has purchased a site license for are waiting for installation. the use of its latest CS4 Design Suite which includes Photoshop, InDesign (for Learning to use the software is easy. magazines and leaflets) Illustrator (for Adobe provides clear basic tutorials that graphics) and Dreamweaver (for web will guide you through their products in design). order to qualify for Adobe certification. These can be found at www.adobe.com/ It also contains Adobe Acrobat Pro to education/resources/k12/instructional/ allow you to create and edit PDF files If you would like to learn more please drop easily. There are many other exciting into the Monday ICT training for support. benefits from the software too.

same time modelling the use of blogs as a communication / collaboration tool.

We have set up a blog to encourage this. All ICT updates along with other useful information and references will be posted on our ICT blog for you to access any time. This one is set up through ‘Posterous’, a great blog site, particularly for beginners as it allows you to update it by a simple email and all the work is done for you at the Posterous end. You can email photos, files, links etc. and they will be added to your site.

ICT Top Tip

The hardest thing is remembering the site name!! I thought a nice simple one would be a good model, why not set one up for your class - you can even add a link to it from your class web page. Check out

http://dcmatdbis.posterous.com/

If you are working on several documents at once, you can save them all without closing Word in the process. Just hold down Shift a n d c l i c k o n t h e Fi l e m e n u. Yo u w i l l see a new option Save All. There is also an option to Close All if you want to do so without closing Word.

Word shortcut keys

Most of us spend more time using Microsoft Word than any other Office application, so make use of our handy guide t o W o r d ’s s h o r t c u t k e y s a n d c u t d o w n t h e t i m e y o u s p e n d hunting for what you want among the many menus and toolbars. Ctrl+C Copy Ctrl+V Paste Ctrl+ S Save Ctrl+ P Print Ctrl+1 Single-space all the lines in selection Ctrl+2 Double-space all the lines in selection Ctrl+Del Delete the word to the right of the cursor

Ctrl+ Z Undo Ctrl+B Make selected text bold Ctrl+U Underline selected text Ctrl+M Indent paragraph or selection F7 Run a spelling and grammar check

Ctrl+Backspace Delete the word to the left of the cursor Shift+F7 Use the Thesaurus Ctrl+L Align selection or paragraph to left of the screen Ctrl+I Make selected text italic Ctrl+E Align selection or paragraph to the centre of the screen

Moving from PC to M a c

Now I am not sure if the picture on the left is can always ask for help from David. Drop in on accurate as I love the PC but we do have a suite of Monday or request a PD session for your year 12 Macs at school. The whiteboard and projector group. are even connected and nearly functioning! So what is the difference between the two? Am Apple have also created this rather simple video I going to be able to use them? Well, the suite is to help you work around the differences. It available for bookings in the staff room and you is available at www.apple.com/findouthow/ mac/#tutorial=switcher

Google Earth revives ancient Rome

Google has added a new twist to its popular 3D map tool, Google Earth, offering millions of users the chance to visit a virtual ancient Rome. Google has reconstructed the sprawling city - inhabited by more than one million people as long ago as AD320. Users can zoom around the map to visit the Forum of Julius Caesar, stand in the centre of the Colosseum or swoop over the Basilica. Researchers behind the project say it adds to five centuries of knowledge. “This is another step in creating a virtual time machine,” said Bernard Frischer of the University of Virginia, which worked with Google on the Roman reconstruction. “The project is a continuation of five centuries of research by scholars, architects and artists since the Renaissance, who have attempted to restore the ruins of the ancient city with words, maps and images,” he said. Also involved was Past Perfect Productions, which reconstructs archaeological and historical sites through virtual reality.

Joel Myers, the firm’s chief executive, said: “Cultural heritage, although based in the past, lives in the present, as it forms our identity. “It is therefore our responsibility to ensure its conservation, to nourish it and make it accessible, with the objective of promoting global understanding. Ancient Rome in 3D is a major step towards this goal,” he added. ‘Ideal allies’ Ancient Rome is the first historical city to be added to Google Earth. Google’s blog said the model contains more than 6,700 buildings, with more than 250 place marks linking to key sites in a variety of languages. “Whether you are a student taking your first ancient history class, a historian who spends your life researching ancient civilisations, or just a history buff, access to this 3D model in Google Earth will help everyone learn more about ancient Rome,” said Bruce Polderman, Google Earth 3D production manager. Within ancient Rome there are some 200 buildings scholars know a lot about - classified as

Class 1 -which Google says have been rendered as faithfully as possible. The 3D models are based on a physical model of the city called the Plastico di Roma Antica. The model was created by archaeologists and modelmakers between 1933 to 1974 and housed in a special gallery in Rome’s Museum of Roman Civilisation. The new map was unveiled at an event in the Italian capital, and the modern day Mayor

of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, praised the project. “It’s an incredible opportunity to share the stunning greatness of ancient Rome, a perfect example of how the new technologies can be ideal allies of our history, archaeology and cultural identity,” Mr Alemanno said. More than 400 million people have downloaded Google Earth since it was launched in June 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/ technology/7725560.stm

What will stop you from pirating? Feargal Sharkey feels that education could help stop illegal file-sharing The problem of illegal file-sharing has become a global one but the way governments go about tackling it changes from country to country. In the UK, internet service providers (ISPs) have recently voluntarily agreed to engage and educate their customers about file-sharing. Virgin Media is one of the most recent ISPs to write to customers whose net connection may have been used to download unlicensed content. However, coming up with a logical and viable solution is proving difficult because of the fast pace of technological change. “Who would have ever predicted five years ago that there would have been such a thing as iTunes, which now has an 80% global share of all downloads,” said Feargal Sharkey, chief executive of UK Music, which is an umbrella organisation representing the collective interests of the UK’s commercial music industry. “The music industry is often having to wait and see what works,” he told the BBC World Service’s technology programme, Digital Planet. “For several years now, the music industry has been the ‘canary down the coalmine’,” said Mr Sharkey. “It’s not just the music industry now. Over the last six months, you now have the film industry, the games industry and even ironically national newspapers that are now beginning to face exactly the same kind of issues that the music industry has been trying to grapple with,” he added. Websites like YouTube warn users against infringing copyright Music piracy is not a new problem - people have been copying

Digital Planet, Alka Marwaha , BBC World Service

music since the day cassette tapes were introduced. “Someone said to me the other day, ‘when I was young I’d pop the odd cassette over the garden fence to my next door neighbour’. “The reality is because of the modern world we live in, the next door neighbour’s garden is now global in size and populated by billions of people. “It’s an astonishingly easy thing to replicate a digital file, and the one millionth copy that you make of it sounds just as good as the first one,” he said. The music industry is facing a huge challenge making sure the artists get paid for the work that they produce. More than six-and-a-half million people in the UK have admitted illegally accessing and distributing music. “We did research, speaking to 14- to 24-year-olds and it does get a bit disheartening when you realise that 63% of them were telling us that they were downloading music from the internet and not paying for it,” said Mr Sharkey. “The bit that we are trying to get people to understand is this does have an impact and it is becoming unsustainable.” In New Zealand new laws set to come into force next year will mean that ISPs are responsible for monitoring

people’s online activities and cutting them off if there are allegations of illegal file-sharing. Earlier this month in France, the government voted overwhelmingly in favour of a “three strikes and you’re out” policy, where suspected file-sharers would get two written warnings before their internet service is suspended. The British Phonographic Industry, which is a record industry lobby group has tried to persuade ISPs in the UK to do the same. However, nothing has happened so far as they could not agree on who would pay for the costs of monitoring or sending letters and who would be liable for the inevitable lawsuits when innocent users were disconnected. “There was some research done earlier this year that seemed to indicate that up to 80% of people would actually stop doing it with nothing more than somebody sending them a letter indicating they knew what they were doing,” said Mr Sharkey. “That was backed by the research that we did, where young people were telling us that the reason they kept doing it was because they didn’t think anybody would ever notice. “And again, it came up with a

similar answer that if someone did come along and say we know what you are up to, can you please stop - that they would stop,” he said. Feargal Sharkey feels that educating people about music rights is essential. “The British government themselves actually changed what schools have to teach back in September this year - music lessons now look at the role of the musician, the industry and copyright. “To help that, we launched a website aimed at teachers called Soundrights, which can be displayed on white boards in classrooms, so that they along with young people can learn more about copyright and the music business,” he said. As a former musician in popular 80s band The Undertones, he does realise the implications illegal file-sharing has on those who create the music. “At some point, our song writers and musicians have to be treated with enough respect that they can at least carry on with some basic quality of life that will allow them to carry on creating and performing year after year.”